Why should I go VEGAN??

Bumbeen

I'm against the violent and exploitative practices of factory farming.

It is also more environmentally "sustainable" to be vegan (For example, 60% of the grain grown is for feed for animals for slaughter. Land clearing is the biggest release of green house gases)

It's less expensive to feed animals grass. No grain needs to be grown to feed ruminants in the first place. If you want to stop that practice, write your government to end the corn subsidies.

hbunting86

I cannot STAND people being pious and sanctimonious, telling me what I should or should not eat. It's all down to personal choice. You're probably eating sprayed crops - and?!

Stuff like this gives vegans and vegetarians a bad rap. By all means do whatever pleases you - just keep it to yourself. You don't find omnivores parading around on crusades trying to force these people to eat meat, so why the reverse? I get annoyed with people who do exactly the same with their religious beliefs. I'm not a fan of people wearing this on their sleeve as part of being in a club, or defining their self-identity to the world.

Anyway, yeah. What I eat is my business.

DogTrainingGal

veganbodybuilding.com

chocl8girl

DogTrainingGal

Also, you might want to google "Jim Morris"

Wade406

If veganism appeals to you, you shouldn't require convincing.

This is true love. But it is one part appeal, but an overwhelming part of what is right for life. Everyone chooses. Some choose to live. Miss you.

mizroxy13

Hey, I just started this blog, if it will help or encourage you at all! I have been vegetarian most of my life, and originally switched to veganism after reading "Vegan:The New Ethics of Eating by Erik Marcus" years back. I was surprised at how it made me feel, though. I had never felt so clear and energetic in my life! It was a reward in itself.

If you need anything, I'm here to help!

mizroxy13

Oh, and umm...

themodestvegan.blogspot.com

ninerbuff

Also, you might want to google "Jim Morris"

If you don't think this guy is juicing and looks like he does from just eating vegan, then I have a great used car to sell to you.:laugh:


A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness industry for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

vanguardfitness

I won't go vegan because no plant TASTES LIKE MEAT. Especially BACON.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness industry for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

You mean bacon doesn't grow on trees?

RonnieLodge

I am extremely well informed about all of the terrible things caused by the meat industry. I try to eat grass/natural-fed free range beasts, but in the end I just don't care.

Do you not believe that I'm perfectly willing to butcher my own food? I am, but why would I want to do that when I can pay somebody else to do it for me? (like building a home, or assembling my phone or my computer)

I also disagree regarding the health claims.

I agree with this. I grew up on farms, am very well aware of the conditions animals are farmed in. However, I still enjoy and consume animal products.

I don't eat meat/animal products every day (or even every second day) but will never go vegetarian or vegan.

Although I have managed to cater for dinner parties for 10 including vegetarians I find vegans to be a bit of a pain in the *kitten* to try and cater for.

But I am genuinely curious, do any vegans here cater for meat eating people they invite over for dinner by providing animal products?

spamantha57

There's a million reasons to go vegan, but I'm not going to preach or try to convert someone that doesn't want to.

I'm not vegan, but I'm "mostly vegan" usually. I don't drink milk or buy meat. I also don't buy processed crap, which you can technically still do if you're vegan, but most of the reason for me to eat the way I do is health, so that would be counter-productive & cancel each other out. I also refuse to stop eating cheese, so in that sense I could never be vegan. Vegan cheese is fairly disgusting unless you're cooking it with stuff, & I don't eat fake meat besides vegan sausage patties. I never really liked a lot of meat to begin with so it helps.

My health has gotten a bajillion times better since I switched my eating habits. That's reason enough for me.

Hbazzell

I love animals so I am a vegetarian. Ihave a lot of trouble staying healthy vegan and where I live (rural coastal town) there are very very little options for vegans.

Hbazzell

in regards to asking about catering to meat eaters...I did make a turkey for thanksgiving but i cried while I cleaned it. i cant to it again.

thedandylion

I'm slowly working towards becoming a vegan, I'm doing it slowly so my body adapts and so I myself can get used to it. I have been a meat eater my whole life but have been reading a lot more about the meat and dairy industries and I simply decided that I love animals more than I love meat. I feel no need to force anything on anyone, this is my choice and I feel a lot better from making this choice.

You will never be able to convince the whole world to not eat meat and vice versa. I just wish there was less abuse (from both sides) I also don't think sarcasm is necessary, something I have witnessed upon reading a lot of the replies.

fuzzieme

...Can you imagine all people in the world as being vegetarians/vegans? How much land we would then need to grow enough crops to feed the population? That's why vegetarians/vegans create sort of balance for meat-eaters...

:noway: I'm speechless.

It was my opinion and you have a right to disagree with it. I respect it. :}

I hoped that was a joke! WOW, now I'm speechless too!

fuzzieme

But I am genuinely curious, do any vegans here cater for meat eating people they invite over for dinner by providing animal products?

Not when guests come to dinner, but that is because I only cook for very close friends and they know me, they know I can cook and they know they won't miss the meat. And they never do either, but if I am throwing a party, and make say, ten different finger foods, I will put about three containing meat. Cocktail sausages, half the pizza will be cheese, the other half cheese and pepperoni.... and chicken and bacon vol au vonts. I'm not happy doing this but occasionally you have to do it when catering a party. The other seven, there will be tofu stuffed potato skins, Italian "sausage" rolls, two things people don't know is vegan until they see me eating it, potato wedges, garlic bread knots, bruschetta, falafel nuggets. The plates are always cleared and people are shown vegan foods are just as tasty. And my friends aren't the kind to tell a polite lie, they admit it begrudgingly or I overhear it. I gave a wedding cake as a gift, it was vegan, I didn't tell anyone, I figured this is my gift, I can save 80 eggs if I wish. 250 people were raving about it


edit: Oh, I forgot to say - when cooking the meat, I never use my own cooking equipment - my boyfriend has a frying pan and a pot for when he makes eggs or bacon, I use this

Firefox7275

the majority of the responses on here are from misinformed a-hats. there's a herbivore group on here that you should join if you want more information or you can add some vegans to your friends list. the only thing you might need to supplement is b12, everything else is plentiful in a vegan diet.

DHA, EPA, calcium, bioavailable vitamin D, haem iron are not all freely available in natural plant foods, many rely on vegan frankenfoods, supplements or go short. I'm not in any way suggesting a vegan diet is any more deficient than the standard US/ UK diet which we all know is appalling.

The conversion rate of short chain to long chain omega-3s can be as low as 10% and is affected by the levels of omega-6s in the diet which are plentiful in many nuts, seeds, soya, vegetable oils and grains. The amounts of things like flax oil, ground flaxseeds or chia you need to consume each day can be prohibitive to get an optimal intake. I always recommend vegetarian and vegan nutrition clients take a marine algae extract for DHA and EPA.

Calcium I calculated you'd need ~400g of flaxseeds or almonds or ~750g of spinach a day to hit the US target for an adult female (1g), again it's prohibitive. And that's ignoring the mineral binding factors in spinach and other plant foods. For both calcium and vitamin D many vegans and some veggies rely on fortified soya or almond 'dairy', let's be honest fortifying is just supplementing by another name.

Additional problems occur when you do the maths for different nutrients and try to combine - eating too many leafy greens doesn't leave you much room for the blue/ purple, red, and yellow/ orange produce, eating piles of almonds is incredibly high in calories and fat, and contains very little omega-3s. The reality is few want to eat solely for nutrition, they'd quite reasonably rather have peanut butter than gritty ground flax. But you'd need over a kilo of peanuts to get enough calcium, by contrast I can get the full amount in just 60g of grana padano cheese leaving me plenty of calories for a serving of oily fish for the DHA, EPA and B12.

We didn't evolve on a vegan diet and IMO it shows (not pushing primal nor paleo agendas, I am a lifestyle healthcare professional).

leantool

It looks like some people feel we can make up things like "animal rights" to help sooth our conscience. Well....how about we create "plant rights"? They are living things too.

Ya kind of a *kitten*, ain'tchya?

IT'S A TRAP.

what about giving up automobiles and airtravel,even less carbon foot print, cross Atlantic by sailboats manned by vegan sailors!!!:glasses: vegan food for thought!!!?:bigsmile:

thedandylion

Well at least I'm being proved right on the sarcasm front. For heavens sake just grow up and accept that we are all different.