Why did you become vegan/vegetarian?

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We all have different reasons for doing so- but what's your real reason?

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  • Dandawa
    Dandawa Posts: 97
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    I have been vegatrain for over half my life. When I was a teenage I worked at a grocery store.
    I would scan raw meat, blood would run down my arm, gross.
    One day after.work my mom wanted me to put a roast in oven. I took one look at n said r u kiddimg me u want me to eat that.cooked blood. I never did.
    hard lifestyle though so i have raised my kids on meat
    hope they never choice this.
  • Stephanie_Autry
    Stephanie_Autry Posts: 228 Member
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    I have been vegatrain for over half my life. When I was a teenage I worked at a grocery store.
    I would scan raw meat, blood would run down my arm, gross.
    One day after.work my mom wanted me to put a roast in oven. I took one look at n said r u kiddimg me u want me to eat that.cooked blood. I never did.
    hard lifestyle though so i have raised my kids on meat
    hope they never choice this.

    Gross!!! I don't like touching raw meat- never have never will. Yes, I was always a big chicken eater though and fish. Mostly because I was raised on it and everything. I watched a video Earthlings it linked me to that video from Ellen DeGeneres video about being vegan on Youtube. I changed my lifestyle to becoming vegan today. I hate that they do that to the poor animals- I've always put in my mind they were happy and died at an old age. That's not the reality of it- and I no longer want anything to do with the slaughter of poor animals. I'm vegan because of the welfare of animals and there rights.
  • alliwithaneye
    alliwithaneye Posts: 163 Member
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    Honestly my love for animals. I have been a vegetarian since I was a kid, I hated meat and did not want to eat my friends. I was always against any type of animal cruelty (circus, mills, testing).. How I never realized the dairy industry was just as bad as the meat industry is beyond me but luckily my eyes were opened to the horror of it all and I wanted to have no part in it anymore. I get SO much hate for saying this but I do not understand how someone can say " I am an animal lover" yet go out and eat a cheeseburger. It just baffles me. I don't believe in humane slaughter, that is just sugar coating it for the people who do not want to feel as guilty when they eat it. My husband is far from vegetarianism or veganism and I do not look down on him because of it, he has actually learned a lot from me that he was oblivious to before and has cut back a lot for his health. Our daughter is a vegan until she is old enough to understand what she is really eating and where it comes from to make her own decision.
  • JennetteMac
    JennetteMac Posts: 763 Member
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    I don't actually like pretty much any meat. Boring as that.
    My parents are real 'meat and 2 veg' people, but as I grew up I just didn't like the tastes/textures, especially fat and gristle etc.
    Only exception was chicken, cos the fat is pretty easy to avoid.
    When I went to uni it was easier to say "I'm vegetarian" (even in those far off days) than to appear fussy about my food.
    So I just carried on. The whole thing was pure selfish convenience, sorry, no higher motivation at all!
  • katymcd81
    katymcd81 Posts: 73 Member
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    I have been vegetarian for almost 2/3 of my life. I just don't like meat. I didn't mind turkey or chicken slices, or fish fingers, as a child, but pretty much hated everythng else. Beef, pork, liver :sick: I hate the smell of raw chicken, I hate the thought of eating meat that might not be cooked through, and I spend all day handling body parts at work, I don't want to have body parts on my plate for dinner.

    I will quite happily eat quorn and other 'meat substitutes', but if this makes sense I am not eating them to substitute for meat. I see it as just a component of my diet, same as pasta and mushrooms and broccoli and yoghurt.

    My husband is an omnivore, though he eats what I eat most of the time. Once or twice a week at most he will have chicken, steak, sausage or bacon, and I buy those for him, but he gets the 'good' kinds, lean, locally produced if possible, not full of antibiotics and fillers and c**p. He cooks his own meat, I have never really tried to cook meat and would probably give him food poisoning if I was to do it.

    I can't stand it when people tell me I'd be healthier if I ate meat...I give blood the maximum number of times each year, I have never been anaemic, my nails and hair are strong. Also my in-laws and a few people at work tell me 'vegetarian food is fine...once you put some meat in it' :mad: :explode: I never tell anyone how to eat, where do they get off telling me what to eat! (/rant) :grumble: :laugh:
  • HappyHag
    HappyHag Posts: 20
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    My "conversion" started with my love for animals. I had pet chickens and soon learned what amazing personalities they had! I couldn't imagine one of my chickens being slaughtered for someone to eat. The same goes for my rabbits. Just down the road from my house is a field that's full of about 2 dozen cows right now that are being fattened for killing later this year for beef. I see them every day when I walk and a handful of them have gotten to recognize me and come up to the fence for a scratch behind the ears. How could I eat one of them? (And trust me, I ADORED cheeseburgers)

    When I researched more and saw the treatment that animals intended to be eaten receive, I just couldn't stomach it anymore. Even "humane" methods don't cut it for me. Dairy and eggs are the same.

    Most of my family continues to eat meat, although three of the kids will eat my vegan meals when they find out what I've cooked over what my husband has cooked for the meat eaters in the family. It's a very personal choice, but I like knowing that my choice isn't harming any critters!

    On the upside, because I avoid processed vegan/vegetarian stuff and carefully plan my meals to be as healthy as possible, I'm losing weight and actually feeling better!
  • bluefox9er
    bluefox9er Posts: 2,917 Member
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    My Daddy was a proper hippy and was opposed to harming animals in ANYWAY. he raised me to be a vegetarian ( that means no fish) until I turned 13, then he let me choose what i should eat and was happy for me to peruse a carnivorous diet.

    By this time, I was sufficiently educated enough to know that there is not one SINGLE reason a human being needs to eat dead animals for survival and never touched meat.


    Oh..and fish eaters..you are NOT vegetarians. get over it.
  • spiritsattain
    spiritsattain Posts: 15 Member
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    It started as "I don't digest red meat well", but I started leaning more and more away from all of it. You start looking into practices, where this stuff is coming from, and the suffering that goes into it, and well, it wasn't a hard choice.
  • Family_Man
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    For the love of animals.:heart:
  • Stpjudge
    Stpjudge Posts: 129 Member
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    I adopted a plant-based lifestyle in July 2012 after watching the inspiring documentary, "Forks Over Knives". My father, had triple bypass surgery when he was 55 y.o. He was healthy and did not smoke or drink. I don't want that to me and I'm only 7 years away from 55! I think, overall, plant-based eating is healty!
  • annadolezalova
    annadolezalova Posts: 51 Member
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    My faith in the Buddha's teaching. I believe that every living creature on this small planet deserves to live and I also believe in reincarnation. I started to feel guilty about eating animals.
  • Lina4Lina
    Lina4Lina Posts: 712 Member
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    It initially started because as I changed to a healthier diet, I lost my taste for meat. While reading Eat To Live, at the time, there was something in the book about just trying veganism for a few weeks so I went from full omnivore to vegan overnight. That was about 5 years ago.
  • rubyjune27
    rubyjune27 Posts: 87 Member
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    I started in my teens as my 'protest' against the rearing,transportation and slaughtering of animals. Over 30 years later I still do not want to eat flesh.