Go vegan! (it’s great, really!)

[Anonymous]

I’ve been vegetarian on and off for 35 years. Even working with an RD, I ended up anemic each time. I also have gastroparesis so high fiber protein options like beans don’t work for me.

I’ve been dairy free for 4 weeks due to a health issue. I really like most of the plant milks and actually prefer oat milk in some situations. But the plant cheeses are just awful. The texture is never right.

[Anonymous]

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

Or figs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

+1 Eating small amounts of pastured meat is not an inherently bad thing. Eating factory farmed meat 2-3 meals/day? Not good.

[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.

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.

+1

Meaningful environmental change will only come from institutional and governmental action. Sure, everyone should do what they can, but your time is better spent lobbying your elected representatives than shaming people (which never works) or evangelizing your veganism.

I only eat meat a couple times a week, I compost, I use the "good" light bulbs, etc, and that's all great, but it doesn't move the scale at all.

[Anonymous]

I think many people are rightly turned off by the vegan and vegetarian substitutes. Guess what? Nowhere is it written that if you don't eat meat you must consume seitan or soy. Nuts are still fantastic sources of protein. I have been a vegetarian for nearly a decade and do not need the fake meat products either. I also do not try to convert people.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I just wanted to say, while it’s a small, but personal step, I think going vegan made me feel like I was doing what I could about the environment. It’s not everything, but it’s a huge statement of values. Honestly, I want to tell people, as someone who was a skeptic at first, I really love living this way. I don’t miss anything I used to eat all that much and I feel so healthy. If you’re curious about it, ask me anything. I swear I will be honest.

Nothing like the zeal of the newly converted! I once had a conversation with a newly vegan person. He marveled at his new diet, pointing out how even large, powerful animal like horses can survive on oats. As if his body was akin to some kind of grazing, hooved herbivore. That was years ago, and I’m willing to bet he fell off the wagon.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You know what holds me back from vegan eating? All of my vegan friends eat so much heavily processed and fake food! And so much soy which has complications if you don't want extra estrogen in your body.

I think my household has a pretty healthy and varied diet based around our CSA veggies, organic whole meats (not lunchmeat, sausage, etc.), vegetarian dinners roughly 2-3 nights a week, and making many things from scratch (like all desserts, homemade bread, grind our own meat if we have burgers, fresh pasta, make our own stock for soups, etc.). To me that seems like a good compromise.

I use vegan recipes here and there, but not if they include fake "cheese", fake "meat", and the like.

[/quote
I mean, you don’t have to though, right? My non vegan friends eat a ahi& ton of processed foods - lunch meats and sausage and all kinds of crap. Grinding your own meat doesn’t make it magically healthy. It’s still bad for you. Who cares what it ate or whatever. It’s meat.

You're all over the place, OP. First, it's for the environment. Then, it's about killing the animal. Then, meat is bad for you (untrue). Make up your mind what you're going to evangelize.

+1

I love how some of these types like to say that meat is bad for you, as if it’s just common knowledge. Our species evolved over millennia eating meat. If it was bad for us, we wouldn’t have gotten to this point.