Reactions to veganism

The only time I care about a person's veganism is when they get all uppity/holier-than-thou/pompous about how they're so much more awesome than anyone else because they live on plants.

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JustinAnimal wrote: »

This isn't a response to the OP. Just need to get it off of my chest. Wifey and I just did five days of eating vegan to kick-start the ol' weight loss mobile. I hated it. So much. Like so much I can't even describe it. I wouldn't wish veganism on my worst enemy. If it works for you and you like it, then I'm happy for you. I couldn't get enough protein to save my life and that included eating *kitten* meatless products and quite a bit of vegan protein powder, which, by the way, tastes like *kitten* and makes whey protein powder taste like effing gold. There are some vegan recipes that I like, such as certain soups or PF Chang's style lettuce wraps (sub mushrooms and tofu for the chicken), but being that limited in terms of dairy (which is in so many things) and meat (meaning I couldn't just eat some goddamn chicken or fish for protein) made me want to slay everything I saw, including babies, the elderly, homeless and people committing random acts of kindness. I will never, ever in a million years eat vegan for more than one meal ever in my life or any others.

Amen. Before I was diagnosed with diabetes and was expected to partake in the fast for Great Lent, I had close to two months being as close to vegan as I ever could possibly manage to get. I spent most of my day feeling hungry and angry at the world. I was constantly dizzy, tired, and weak, usually in concert with terrible headaches. I couldn't tolerate soy, physically, so there was a major source of protein gone. In my opinion, veganism is more about the desire to control one's food and one's life and less about an actual way of eating.

I know a girl who chooses to be vegan, but not for any ethical or moral reason. She started out going vegetarian because her husband wanted to try it (he didn't last long), she kept at it and eventually went vegan just to see if she could.

I get confused between vegan and gluten free sometimes, with both diets I feel like there is so much you can't eat and both diets make social/food situations incredibly difficult. My friend just never eats in social situations because she can't be certain how something is made. I think I've seen her nibble on a strawberry in public once.

I hope my negative post didn't kill this. I am truly impressed that vegans can and do eat the way they do. I just found out, the hard way, that it wasn't for me. My wife is a vegetarian (well... also eggs and fish) and I eat that way plenty of the time, so any hardcore red meat-eaters are welcome to take away my man card.

I still don't understand what is so ethical or moral about eating a vegan diet. If you don't want to eat meat, that's fine. It's the whole packaging to turn vegans into sooperspeshul people that makes it so obnoxious to so many other people. There's nothing special about it. Lots of animals die to feed vegans and veganism is an unsustainable diet on a global level.

Only evangelistic vegans propose to spread veganism to a global level. The argument that it's not sustainable on that level is a straw man. Only evangelistic vegans "package" veganism.

There are evangelistic types for every special diet out there. I recently saw a Paleo website supporting a world-wide paleo-eating agenda.

That's ridiculously extreme too.

There are lots of "packaged" ways of eating now that are almost fetishized: clean eating, paleo, whole 30... and some of their followers are "sooooperspeshul" too.

I can't see why anyone would have any issue with someone making a personal choice to eat in any way for their own personal reasons. Presuming that they share the same issues that the zealots do? That's your problem, not the person eating that way over there minding their own business.

FTR? Not a vegan.

I actually did a month of Vegan Before 6 http://markbittman.com/tag/vb6/

I did this because like others, I thought it could kick start some weight loss and I would feel better reducing my intake of animal products. The one problem I didn't count on was not being able to be away from a toilet for any length of time - not good for someone who does home visits to other people's houses for a living. Other problems arose from there. I will spare everyone the details but let's just say, it was not sustainable for me.

Oh, and I gained 5 pounds.

yogi323 wrote: »

mamapeach910 wrote: »

Only evangelistic vegans propose to spread veganism to a global level. The argument that it's not sustainable on that level is a straw man. Only evangelistic vegans "package" veganism.

There are evangelistic types for every special diet out there. I recently saw a Paleo website supporting a world-wide paleo-eating agenda.

That's ridiculously extreme too.

There are lots of "packaged" ways of eating now that are almost fetishized: clean eating, paleo, whole 30... and some of their followers are "sooooperspeshul" too.

I can't see why anyone would have any issue with someone making a personal choice to eat in any way for their own personal reasons. Presuming that they share the same issues that the zealots do? That's your problem, not the person eating that way over there minding their own business.

FTR? Not a vegan.

You ma'am, are absolutely my favorite person on this website. Every post that you make is strong with the sensible, and it's very much appreciated!

Aw, thanks!

The one thing that annoys me about vegans (and it is also true of those doing restrictive or fad diets): They fail to acknowledge that that way of eating requires extra time that a lot of people do not have (as well as extra money, since I think I would have to start using a lot more protein powder in order to hit my 90-gram minimum). Everyone cares about the planet, everyone acknowledges that factory farms frequently fail on moral and ethical grounds, but not everyone is able to adopt such a stringent lifestyle.

But I'm acquainted with a woman who is a level five vegan (she doesn't even cast a shadow) and every time I'm at some place with her, I'm ready to eat someone's family pet by the time she gets through haranguing the host. She is insufferable. I can get on with most vegans, but she is special.

Ang108 wrote: »

LoupGarouTFTs wrote: »

I still don't understand what is so ethical or moral about eating a vegan diet. If you don't want to eat meat, that's fine. It's the whole packaging to turn vegans into sooperspeshul people that makes it so obnoxious to so many other people. There's nothing special about it. Lots of animals die to feed vegans and veganism is an unsustainable diet on a global level.

You are somewhat wrong. You should check out how much food/fodder and water it takes and how much space is used to produce a pound of meat, you will be surprised !
That food and water could go right to the end consumer and most likely will be the only way this planet can feed itself in the future. Maybe not in the near future, but with every couple of generations it will be more difficult to feed the planet, if most of the space is used to grow animal food and if we don't make major changes in our diets. And no, I am neither a vegan, nor a vegetarian.....

No, it's simply not sustainable. First of all, where would we get the fertilizer for all those plants? Much of our planet's land mass is not arable land. Food animals can graze on land that will not support plants grown for human consumption. I won't even go into all the objections that go with attempting to globalize veganism.

Another major issue I have with veganism is that it is NOT simply a dietary choice. Other people's dietary choices make no nevermind to me--clean eating? Have at it. Paleo--have a chop, on me. Keto? Not my cup of tea, but if you can get past the cruds, awesome. Veganism, at least "ethical" veganism is a poke in the eye at everyone else. "Ethical" vegans are not just casting judgment on other people, but they also attempt to force their beliefs on other people. They walk hand-in-hand with animal rights activists, who feel that animals are "not ours to own or use," not because they love animals, but because they want to control what other people have in their lives. Don't want to own animals? Fine. Don't want to eat meat? Your prerogative. Don't tell me what I can own or eat and don't try to make my life miserable for owning it or using it. IN MY PERSONAL EXPERIENCE, vegans and animal rights activists are unpleasant people who want to take away my dogs, my goats, and my favorite foods. They all need to get lives, so I can keep mine.

LoupGarouTFTs wrote: »

Another major issue I have with veganism is that it is NOT simply a dietary choice.... Veganism, at least "ethical" veganism is a poke in the eye at everyone else. "Ethical" vegans are not just casting judgment on other people, but they also attempt to force their beliefs on other people.

I wouldn't say that's been my experience, actually. Most ethical vegans I know of are making their own judgement of what they think is ethical, and follow that path. That's no different than every other person out there. We all act on our beliefs, you know?

But I would say that ethical veganism is a dietary choice that simply ALSO attracts some people who feel that they should decide what's right for themselves AND for others. I've seen this behavior in feminists, and homeschoolers, fundamentalist Christians, and so on. And it's always the same thing: a loud minority can often end up giving the wrong impression of an entire group, as though they are the elected spokesperson for the group, when in actuality they are simply the ones with the loudest soapbox.



That said, I'm not a vegan, although I have many vegan friends so I've got to hear some really oddball things that get said to them.

However, the confusing/annoying comment for me, from a few vegans over the last few years...

Sometimes, a vegan discussion will pop up on what it means if you would die if you had to eat a vegan diet. Usually, most vegans will say that yeah, if you would die otherwise, then eating meat would what you'd have to do.

The thing is, I am that rare person who would quite literally die on a vegan diet. I've got so many food allergies (due to a disorder, unfortunately) that I have to eat meat to get enough protein and iron. I nearly DID die before we found meat sources I could eat (I'm even allergic to most types of meat). And when this comes up, the response is almost always: you just think you'd die. You could eat vegan if you really wanted to.

usually I just shake my head and let it go, but a couple times, I actually challenged this and showed them the diet I have. They looked it over, agreed that it wasn't enough to live on without meat, and then still continued to say, 'but I'm sure that you could still eat vegan if you really wanted to.'

Like this massive disconnect with reality when they were confronted with the theoretical situation they had paid lip service to accepting. Really odd.

CM_73 wrote: »

It's surprising just how passionate people can get about other peoples choices!

I totally agree - it's as though a person making their own choices somehow becomes a commentary on other people's choices if it's too different from them. As though we can't all make our own choices, based on our own beliefs and needs.

You feel like you wanna be cheesy and say 'can't we all just get along.' ^_^

peachyfuzzle wrote: »

The only time I care about a person's veganism is when they get all uppity/holier-than-thou/pompous about how they're so much more awesome than anyone else because they live on plants.

Yep