Just sounds like a bunch of excuses to me. The only reason for continuing to eat other animal products is the selfish need to satisfy your taste buds.

There is no such thing as a perfect vegan. Anybody who tells you otherwise is full of it. We ALL do things that could be considered "unvegan." The important thing is doing the best you can.

For me, if I have the ability to make what I consider a more ethical choice, I do. For me this means no animal products in my food, clothing, or personal care products. It means donating my time, money, and/or energy to animal welfare organizations. It means buying fair trade products whenever I can afford it (humans are animals too). It means doing my best not to support companies with shady business practices.

Doing a little bit is always, always, always better than doing nothing. As vegans, I think we do more than a little bit. You should feel proud of yourself for making the choices you deem most ethical. If everyone lived by that principle, we'd all be a lot better off.

YES.

Not being able to be perfect isn't an excuse for not trying to be better. I read something like that once and it makes sense. If we all just threw up our hands because we couldn't solve ALL the world's problems, we'd never get anything done. Just focus on doing better all the time and you will be making a difference.

"Never do nothing because you can't do everything. Just do something." - Colleen Patrick Goudreau
Most important is that we have been given a light that we need to share. When we live a life that
makes veganism attractive, the world will most certainly change.

@C4RL05 - Really seems to me, that you're battling the internal justification for eating and exploiting animals. At the end of the day, why do you care what the rest of the world does? The essence of the journey is to do what's right, for the sake that it's right. Nothing more, nothing less. If I have saved the life of a single sentient being, I have done my part. If I can save more, all the better.

Independent of that, we need to speak in strictly vegan terms. A plant based vegan diet requires 1/12 the land area required for agriculture. Advances in hydroponics mean we could cultivate plant based foods indoors or underground. Heck, one day we'll be able to cultivate plants in orbit or in space. If you are as concerned as you appear to be, about sentient beings and the environment, vegetarianism isn't even a choice. Sure, you don't eat the meat, but what do you think they do with the helpless bovines after they've given the last of their milk for your cheese. What about their male offspring that become veal, and their female offspring that are relegated to a similar life of impregnation and milk production. The chickens after being spent for your eggs. And how much land is contaminated by the methane they produce, how much water do they need, how much land does it take to feed them? Meat consumption is one of the most inefficient ways to obtain protein.

At issue, is that we need to STOP talking happy meat - i.e reducing suffering, and start talking abolition. What if the northern US prior to the civil war was sold on 'happy slaves', would that have made it ok? Every time we talk happy meat, we reduce guilt, increasing consumption, exploitation and suffering.

hmmmmm...arguing the PROBLEMS and FLAWS of veganism in an attempt to "switch to veganism"...sounds like a maze of circular logic that leads nowhere.

i am vegan because I don't want beings to die for my tastebuds. yes, beings still die at the hands of others. yes, animals are killed during veggie harvesting.

the simplest thing i have control over in this world, the only thing, are my actions. what i put into my mouth. just because beings are dying anyway, does not mean i need to add to that suffering.

if you do not want, NEED, to go vegan in the deepest fiber of your being, you will not. or you will for a time, then quit, adding to the world's belief that veganism is not "do-able".

i used to eat meat, then i was vegetarian for years. i finally went vegan when i could not imagine anything else. watch a slaughterhouse video--your mind will be made up for you.

until you make the decision from inside you, as automatic at helping a dying person in the street, or refraining from stealing in a store, no argument or persuasion will make you. veganism should never be something you force on yourself.

As far as the land use question, I think it is an important point that food animals are not being raised on air -- they are eating grain, which could be used much more efficiently if it went straight to feeding people instead of being converted into meat. It takes a lot more calories of grain to make one steak than it does to feed someone the equivalent amount of calories in grain. It may differ across the world, but in the US it's hard to find purely grass-fed meat that is not supplemented with grain. I think in the Western meat industry instances where the animals are making use of otherwise unusable resources and no other resources are rare to non-existent.

As for wild animals being killed in the harvesting of plants, I agree it's a problem but this is obviously happening with the grain used for animal feed too so pretty much anyone who eats anything is party to this. We also kill a million bugs when we drive to work, even if we work at PETA. I don't think it negates trying to do our best.

the reduction in land is fairly well established, and a little bit of research will prove that out. the vast majority of land is not for human consumption, it's for animal consumption, and what's worse, is that because of subsidies, farmers are encouraged to grow single crops like corn (which becomes ethanol) and soy. believe it or not, pigs are now the largest consumers of fish because it's a cheaper way to raise them for bacon.the best thing for you to do (when and if you can) is to buy local from sustainable organic farms (look for a csa), which will minimize the suffering caused by industrial methods, supports your local economy, and encourages you to become re-attuned to the seasons. my point, like so many others, as that there's no such thing as the perfect vegan. donald watson, who coined the term, aid 'we are to try our best'. many die in car accidents. should we speak ill of cars or stop driving? i understand and respect your sensitivity because i was there once too.

the best you can do is focus on yourself and do the best you can with little regard to others. when you become the powerful change that we speak of here, then others will naturally want to follow. in fact, that's my harp on PETA. They have become the antithesis of that. Instead they are a compelling reason not to try vegan, and i'll bet more than half of their members / employees aren't vegan themselves.