When people hear I’m vegan, they immediately tell me one of two things:

1. “I ate a veggie burger recently. It was actually good.” Then sheepishly, “I mean, they’re so processed though, so it’s probably not even better than eating a real burger.”
2. “Oh, I could never be a vegan. I don’t like salad.” Then I reply, I eat a ton of different foods, definitely not just salad. To which they reply, “Well, sure, you could eat fake meat or something, but that’s so processed.”

The backlash is real.

Years ago, it was the same convo but replace fake meat with tofu, due to the Western A. Price Foundation thoroughly smearing soy as unhealthy/unnatural.