Go vegan! (it’s great, really!)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: Not vegan. But I am (mostly) vegetarian. I’ll eat meat if we have dinner with friends, for example. Vegan just requires so much substitution, and those substitutes aren’t great for you.

My compromise - We eat a plant based diet. I buy eggs directly from a friend with backyard chickens who are treated like pets. I get milk from a cruelty free dairy farm. I just could not continue eating meat knowing what I now know about how the animals are treated. I felt like I was ingesting their suffering.

if they’re producing milk for humans it means the baby cow was taken from its mother. Not cruelty free if you are the mom or her baby.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don’t want to bring anyone down, but there’s still a huge environmental toll with “sustainably raised meat.” They still kill the animal. Beans, if cooked properly, don’t make you have more gas than anything else.

The point is, it’s one thing people can do to make a difference. But like anything else, it takes a commitment to change. You have to enjoy cooking, but I already do.

I wanted to be a voice to say to people, if you’re curious, it’s worth it. You will get pushback from people who still want to eat meat and dairy, but I don’t think that should stop you. If anything, it makes me realize it touches a nerve.

I fully agree with the sentiment, but it’s also somewhat angering to me that individuals feel such personal responsibility for climate change when researchers have found that just 100 companies have been responsible for 71% of global emissions since 1988. It’s still helpful to recycle and eat more sustainably, of course, but individuals are statistically blameless for greenhouse emissions compared to these giant corporations.

I’m vegan for the animals, but I don’t want to let these guys off the hook when it comes to cries for individual responsibility over corporate greed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If your concern is environmental, it would be much more effective to advocate for people to eat less meat/dairy, not to go Vegan. 1,000 people who go meatless M-F is much more effective than 50 vegans.

Weekday Veg!! (Video only 4 min)

[Anonymous]

Vegans lost me with “No honey”.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So if you did go vegan, did you do it all at once? Were you a vegetarian first? Are there books or cookbooks that guided your choices?

I'm pretty far away from a vegan lifestyle, but I am at least interested.

Highly recommend trying a meal plan that gives you recipes and shopping list to start or if that’s too much work, do hungryroot or vegan meal delivery for a month to start. That will help you avoid having times when you are starving but have no idea what to eat/cook, get frustrated and order a cheeseburger. Not that a little cheating would be so bad but I think it’s good to jump all the way in for a few weeks to see if you feel better in any way.

[Anonymous]

If it works for you, yeah! As an omnivore, I like a little bit of everything.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don’t want to bring anyone down, but there’s still a huge environmental toll with “sustainably raised meat.” They still kill the animal. Beans, if cooked properly, don’t make you have more gas than anything else.

The point is, it’s one thing people can do to make a difference. But like anything else, it takes a commitment to change. You have to enjoy cooking, but I already do.

I wanted to be a voice to say to people, if you’re curious, it’s worth it. You will get pushback from people who still want to eat meat and dairy, but I don’t think that should stop you. If anything, it makes me realize it touches a nerve.

That’s not an environmental toll.

And regenerative farming - dependent on ruminants - is absolutely one of the things that can save the earth.

I agree with the PP who said that there comes a point when some of this stuff is just silliness. It is corporate behemoths that pour 71% of the carbon into the air and the rest of us are just nibbling at the edges. I will not ever willingly go vegan. I already appear to have some sort of malabsorption issue (I don’t know if it’s MTHFR as I haven’t been tested) plus I have ulcers; I cannot write off entire groups of food. But I am the main food purchaser and meal planner/preparer in my family and I do try to serve vegetarian meals several times a week as well as minimize driving and air travel, recycling, no fast fashion, buying as little as possible and the thing that will last the longest, shrinking our turf and we don’t use lawn chemicals, we compost, etc… It just feels pointless. The right thing to do, but ultimately pointless when these corporations and boneheaded humans are just ruining the earth.

[Anonymous]

OMG the endless excuses people make. Grow up and do something for the greater good people!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was vegan for two years (vegetarian for more than 10) and felt terrible. Turns out I have a ton of food allergies and a tofu and seitan heavy diet was just about the worst thing for me. Beans tore up my stomach. Veganism also is associated with a higher risk of depression. I now eat sustainably raised meat and feel a ton better.

So it's great that veganism works for some people, but it's definitely not for everyone - and I don't think that people should be encouraged to "try again" or otherwise ill if they have ended up severely anemic on a vegetarian or vegan diet.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t want to bring anyone down, but there’s still a huge environmental toll with “sustainably raised meat.” They still kill the animal. Beans, if cooked properly, don’t make you have more gas than anything else.

The point is, it’s one thing people can do to make a difference. But like anything else, it takes a commitment to change. You have to enjoy cooking, but I already do.

I wanted to be a voice to say to people, if you’re curious, it’s worth it. You will get pushback from people who still want to eat meat and dairy, but I don’t think that should stop you. If anything, it makes me realize it touches a nerve.

That’s not an environmental toll.

And regenerative farming - dependent on ruminants - is absolutely one of the things that can save the earth.

I agree with the PP who said that there comes a point when some of this stuff is just silliness. It is corporate behemoths that pour 71% of the carbon into the air and the rest of us are just nibbling at the edges. I will not ever willingly go vegan. I already appear to have some sort of malabsorption issue (I don’t know if it’s MTHFR as I haven’t been tested) plus I have ulcers; I cannot write off entire groups of food. But I am the main food purchaser and meal planner/preparer in my family and I do try to serve vegetarian meals several times a week as well as minimize driving and air travel, recycling, no fast fashion, buying as little as possible and the thing that will last the longest, shrinking our turf and we don’t use lawn chemicals, we compost, etc… It just feels pointless. The right thing to do, but ultimately pointless when these corporations and boneheaded humans are just ruining the earth.

Regenerative farming dependent on ruminants is the way.

Everyone here should read The Vegetarian Myth by Lierre Keith. We need the cycles of animals regenerating the soil to keep the earth healthy. It's the circle of life. Death is part of it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Going vegan won't make you live forever - it will only seem like it.

Ha! LOL

A vegan friend tried to tell me being vegan was awesome because she never overeats anymore. All I could say is, I know what you mean...

But seriously, you can do a lot of good for the planet and for reducing harmful livestock practices by eating less meat and seeking out sources with better practices. If full-blown veganism works for you, that's great. For me, I get 80% of the benefit with 20% of the work by just cutting way back.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Every time I have tried to go vegetarian, let alone vegan, I have ended up severely anemic. I wish I could avoid that, but I can't.

DP. You can talk to a nutritionist and doctor about this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Every time I have tried to go vegetarian, let alone vegan, I have ended up severely anemic. I wish I could avoid that, but I can't.

DP. You can talk to a nutritionist and doctor about this.

Not sure if you need to see both, btw

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Vegans lost me with “No honey”.

You could cut out or reduce the other foods and keep honey.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OMG the endless excuses people make. Grow up and do something for the greater good people!

What you call “excuses” I call “reasons.” I have multiple vitamin deficiencies. I am not cutting out all animal products.

And you would do well to learn about regenerative farming. Don’t make “excuses,” either. Just go read a book or three.