‘Hey buddy did you hear the news?
It’s [how good is Anthony Fantano for veganism]
review’
Anthony Fantano, theneedledrop, "the internet's
busiest music nerd", Thatistheplan, Death
Grips stan, Roommate of the acclaimed rapper
Cal Chuchesta, Fantano is a man who wears
many hats.
One of his hats, however, is in the shape
of a vegetable.
According to his Youtube fandom, Fantano vegetarian
around the age of 18 or 19, so around 2003
or 4 and later in life, as early as 2009 from
what I’ve seen, he went vegan.
Since then, Fantano has actively used his
Twitter to sometimes speak about veganism.
From being excited about new celebrities who
have gone vegan in the past like Mike Tyson
or Ariana Grande, to even giving shoutouts
to artists for including pro-animal messages
in their lyrics.
He seems to be pretty modest about the positive
effects of a vegan diet, by saying it could
be a factor that’s led to his clear skin,
but he’s also not afraid to express that
it’s merely “a” factor that’s worked
for him.
He doesn’t seem to be making some grand
declaration that veganism will be beneficial
in the same way for everyone.
He’s also stated that music, for example,
hasn’t had an impact on him going vegan.
So he has a good understanding of his own
motivations at least.
I think that because of this, he’s able
to reach out to people, like PETA when needed,
to explain why what they’re doing might
be bad for veganism.
He’s certainly not ok with vegans likening
veganism to human struggles and states that
it will turn people off, who are oppressed
and will make veganism look like a lifestyle
choice for the privileged.
Beyond that, he’s even branched into being
the internet’s busiest Netflix critic by
giving Joe Exotic saying is ‘Not Good’
– because the show centers a profession
of animal abuse without really highlighting
the issues
One issue some vegans have with Fantano is
that in the past he’s been pretty outspoken
about vegans who “go too” far and forget
about human life.
I can understand why this might seem like
a negative statement towards veganism when
he says that, but I believe that he actually
says this because he cares about the movement,
not because he’s being some sort of bootlicker
or “some industry plant”.
I actually get a different impression.
In fact, I said this about vegans verbatim
in my Bible video, sometimes we do go too
far.
I think Fantano cares a lot about animals,
as evidenced by his decade as a vegan.
But he also cares about the perception people
have about the vegan movement, so that more
people will go vegan and that we can ultimately
save more animals.
He’s slow to judge people on what they actually
eat, but he’s definitely quick to help them
when they ask.
He might be the only contact with a vegan
that a lot of his fan-base will ever have.
So, the fact that he’s chill, level-headed,
and open about his veganism, might in fact
turn a lot of people towards the idea that
living this way isn’t so bad after all.
Obviously, this approach isn’t for everyone,
and we certainly need more forward activists
and people who go out and do street activism
as they will reach a specific set of people.
So, what I believe Fantano is trying to foster,
and what I hope I can do as well, is a public
image geared towards just everyday people.
We might be their only exposure to veganism.
Outside of his more obvious activism, Fantano’s
pretty open about his endeavors to the gym
so he can stay a Thicc boy and he even makes
sure his youtube comments stay strictly vegan.
‘Damn boi, he’s thicc boi, that’s a
thicc-ass boi’ (that was weird).
People sometimes ask Fantano about what he
eats, and he always seems to be willing to
let them know what some of his favourite vegan
alternatives are and how to make them.
He’s also pretty quick to joke about his
veganism, not seeming to take this aspect
of his lifestyle too seriously.
It really just seems like he’s loving animals
and enjoying the many different vegan options
that he can eat, even if it’s sometimes
just as simple as a potato.
‘Alright so today we’re going to be cooking
something a little bit more cooking-intensive.
None of that crunchy, sweet hippie granola
– sh*t.
We’re cooking Tofu scramble with some nice
roasted breakfast potatoes - let’s go’
Some people have even followed the specific
recipes that Fantano has shown on his Youtube
channel, and because of him they really enjoyed
veganism and eating tofu scramble, which is
something they might not have ever tried before
him.
I eat tofu scramble myself from time-to-time
and I really love it.
Fantano even took a crack at becoming the
“Internet’s Busiest Vegan Food Reviewing
Nerd”.
‘It does mimic the taste of meat pretty
well.
I haven’t had meat in a while so I can’t
tell.
You’re gonna have to take my word for it.
I take your word for it.
Even though it’s probably not very likely
that I’d be interested in meat ever again,
this makes the likelihood way lower’.
Alright, so he eats food, he pats people on
the back, and keeps people in check.
But what else -
As a public figure, sometimes Fantano is simply
going to put out a review with which people
disagree.
He’s going to have hot political takes,
and if he’s lucky he might even be accused
of being Alt-Right.
So even though he was accused of being Alt-Right
because of one of his past Youtube channel’s
“Thatistheplan”, he had this to say about
it:
‘which I’m pretty sure Anthony [Fantano]
is currently on a mission to destroy his reviewing
career and sully his already mediocre reputation
through a series of unbearable attempts at
being funny on a second Youtube channel that
shall remain nameless.
I’m predicting a Youtube enforced full channel
deletion within a year though’.
And ironically enough he predicted his own
channel’s termination within 1 year and
it followed a few months after he posted this.
To be honest, I didn’t follow him then,
so I don’t know much about this channel.
I’ve heard his response regarding the allegations
that he is Alt-Right, or racist, or misogynistic
and I have to say that from what I’ve seen,
especially his “Vibe Check” posts on Instagram,
he seems to be pretty liberal, pretty involved
in wanting social justice, and honestly, the
opposite of what you might expect to find
from someone who is supposedly “alt-right”.
Fantano has made some videos in the past to
also help people who might think eating vegan
is expensive, by proving a list of cheap vegan
food that he purchases.
‘here are the things that are vegan and
cheap, and they will taste amazing if you
teach-youself-to-cook.
Ok, rice, kale, bananas, dried beans … ’
As I mentioned he’s actually done quite
a few videos where he shows how to cook, or
how to make smoothies, and if you email him
about veganism, or at least this is what he
used to do in the past, you’d get an email
back with a “vegan primer” that he wrote.
So this was basically a prewritten vegan response
outlining some of the different things that
you can eat as a vegan and his take on certain
nutrients and how he stays energized as a
vegan.
So, this is a pretty good resource for someone
who doesn’t really know anything about veganism
but they’re interested in starting.
One thing that is for sure is that music is
deeply personal to Fantano, obviously, as
is veganism.
In his “Let’s Argue” series on Youtube,
he responded to the question:
‘Would you rather give up music or being
a vegan – that is a hard question, that
is a tough, tough question’.
So this clearly required a lot of reflection
on his part and he gave a pretty nuanced answer
about what makes a person vegan specifically,
and how we do determine that and draw that
line.
And he also mentions that there’s not like
some magical amount of cheese or one egg that
you can eat that suddenly makes you “not
vegan”, it’s just the act of abstaining
from those things completely, so basically
there’s a grey area where if he just ate
one piece of cheese once, you know, then he
could just be vegan afterward and not have
to give up music.
Fortunately, we live in a world where he doesn’t
have to give up veganism or music, and honestly,
I don’t think he ever will ‘give up’
veganism.
Often, we see celebrities and public figures
go vegan, and I can pretty much tell right
away which ones of them are going to stay
vegan and which ones are just doing it for
some sort of trend.
With Fantano, I don’t think that he would
immediately give up on all of his morals if
he did have to eat fish or something for health
like we do see with a lot of ex-vegans who
will suddenly go to hunting and other extremes
like buying leather handbags.
I think that Fantano is great for veganism
and we can expect that he’ll continue to
share a more relaxed, level-headed and almost
subconscious approach to his vegan activism.
It’s entirely possible that he is the only
vegan that a lot of his fans will ever really
get to know, or have the feeling of interacting
with and so I think he’s a good influence
and we, the collective vegans, are lucky to
have him doing his form of activism and reaching
his audience.
Although his approach may be shamed by some
more hardcore vegans, as he’s responded
to those hardcore vegans himself and he’s
equally shamed them, you could call him a
bootlicker or perhaps a devil’s advocate,
however, I think there is a need for his type
of broader appeal to veganism through not
shaming people, so that he can actually save
more animals.
I definitely think that there is room for
forward vegan activism though and that’s
one of the main reasons I went vegan, like
I mentioned, however I think he’s going
to reach people who would have otherwise hated
veganism, if it weren’t for him.
That’s about it guys, thanks for watching
and remember to subscribe and hit the little
bell over there, whichever side it’s on,
I feel like nobody actually does that.
Hit “Like” you know, all that good stuff,
share this.
And, transition.
And hello to the 250 new subscribers I appreciate
you for all for your comments and everything
and I’ll see you in the next one.
‘Eat your vegetables dude, eat your greens,
eat some spinach, have some kale, or some
chard, or some collard greens, eat a tomato,
have some asparagus, apples, bananas, blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, kiwis, papaya,
mangoes
MELONS’.
