I'm not a vegan -- or vegetarian -- but I've noticed that, too: I see lots of people complaining about pushy smug vegans always being pushy and smug at them, but see very few vegans being actively pushy and smug. One kind of suspects that it's simply letting people know that you're vegan that they're reacting negatively to. The smug pushy vegan is the one in their head.
Personally, I like a fair number of the "plant-based meats" that are out there. When I cook vegetarian I'm often interested in finding ways to get a satisfying taste without using a meat substitute, but that's because, well, I find it interesting. If I want a burger, I want a burger, and this whole "you can't name it after a thing that traditionally comes from animals if it doesn't come from an animal" nonsense is nonsense.
(And, as a long-time Mac user, I'm not sure it's entirely off-topic, as for many years I saw lots of people complaining about pushy smug Mac users always being pushy and smug at them, but saw very few Mac users actively being pushy and smug. It was pretty clear that just mentioning "oh, I use a Mac" was enough to set people off. The smug pushy Mac user was the one in their head.)
Personally, I like a fair number of the "plant-based meats" that are out there. When I cook vegetarian I'm often interested in finding ways to get a satisfying taste without using a meat substitute, but that's because, well, I find it interesting. If I want a burger, I want a burger, and this whole "you can't name it after a thing that traditionally comes from animals if it doesn't come from an animal" nonsense is nonsense.
(And, as a long-time Mac user, I'm not sure it's entirely off-topic, as for many years I saw lots of people complaining about pushy smug Mac users always being pushy and smug at them, but saw very few Mac users actively being pushy and smug. It was pretty clear that just mentioning "oh, I use a Mac" was enough to set people off. The smug pushy Mac user was the one in their head.)