Why are vegans so preachy?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Op, how often do you ask people why they don't eat meat? I'm a vegetarian. Over the years, I've had so many people ASK me why I don't eat meat, then get all defensive and huffy with me about why humans should eat meat. In my younger years, I felt the need to stand up for my beliefs, thereby becoming preachy. Now days I don't engage. It's very strange. It's like somebody asking you why you don't like XYZ restaurant, then getting all bent out of shape about it. Dude, why did you ask me about it if you can't handle the answer?

For those who think vegans are preachy, pay closer attention to what you're saying to them.

+1. I really don’t know what they want us to say.

[Anonymous]

Especially the fat ones! It's crazy! I have now met several people who are definitely obese, saying they are vegan and I asked if they had cheat days. I cannot imagine how they must strap on the feedbag all day long and the portion size in order to still be that large. And oddly judgy, considering their appearance!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't know, I'm a vegan. My kids are vegetarians, but eat a lot of vegan meals. We don't care what other people do or eat, but we don't buy meat, so if someone wants a steak, they aren't getting it here for dinner.

We eat a lot of different kinds of foods. One big thing is that we eat tons of Asian, Indian, West African, and tex-mex meals. I think cooking requires looking beyond meat, start, veg, fruit meal planning. I cook lentils, quinoa, beans, tempeh, seitan (I make amazing seitan wings inspired by City o City in Denver that even my meat eating friends requests). I like cooking and for me being a vegan requires some creativity, but it can be a great thing.

I don't like the meat industry and like a PP has issues with dairy. So, it was a combination of social and health concerns that led me here. But I'm happy, I make food that I think is yummy, and I don't begrudge anyone else's choice.

What's weird about this time in our world is that there is this sort of zero-sum view of life choices and a view that if someone isn't doing what you're doing, it's wrong. I don't think this is the case, but I see that in so many different contexts. Politics. Religion. Sex and sexuality. Racism. I wish we'd just spend more time focusing on our own happiness and less time caring about what people do.

+1.

I would love the seitan wing recipe if f you don’t mind sharing!

Here you go! It's basically this (but I add nutritional yeast to the breading). https://www.theedgyveg.com/2014/01/20/vegan-buffalo-wings-recipe/

I stand by my main point: the entire point of this thread is to divide people and judge people's choices. It's to make someone a victim at the expense of someone else instead of looking at reality and shrugging at other people's choices. This thread is an exercise in division, judgment, and oddly, bashing of people who are claiming to be the bashers. This thread is everything that is wrong with the world in terms of how we speak with each other as people and how we treat our fellow human.

I am a happy, healthy vegan. I don't think about other people's choices. I don't care because we are all evaluating and engaging in a moral calculus, weighing what's right and wrong and that is a good, personal thing. We should have have the freedom to define our own choices and we should leave it at that (and I mean it for everyone judgy vegans or judgy meat eaters...maybe we can stop being judgmental, huh?). When we denigrate other people's choices, we put them down, we de-legitimize them -- that is the first step of taking away people's freedom. Like I said, I see it across our discourse, but I do think we ought to call it out and protect our right to live the lives we believe are the best for ourselves.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:NP I don't ask them; it comes up in conversation, like when I ask them if they want a hot dog at the team party. Who would ask someone why they're veggie? That's personal. Also they're asking for a lecture.

Who would ask someone why they're vegetarian or vegan? Tons of people ask me. Frequently.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And where do we get the fertilizer for all those veggies? They'd rather have petro-chemicals sprayed all over the ground and feel good about eating tofu? Makes no sense.

Rather than feeding the crops to animals instead? It takes a lot more plants to produce a lb of beef than you realize.

cows eat grass silly

[Anonymous]

I've been vegetarian for over 20 years and there are usually some radicals that annoy me as well. It's usually the newbies.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And where do we get the fertilizer for all those veggies? They'd rather have petro-chemicals sprayed all over the ground and feel good about eating tofu? Makes no sense.

Rather than feeding the crops to animals instead? It takes a lot more plants to produce a lb of beef than you realize.

cows eat grass silly

No, not the vast majority of them. https://www.npr.org/2010/04/08/125722082/the-truth-about-grass-fed-beef

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Almost all of the Vegans I know use it as a tool to control an eating disorder. So, for example, instead of having to explain why they're not eating the eggs, baked goods, fish, chicken, steak, etc, they just say "I'm a Vegan."

Since veggies are so low calorie, they get to lose or control weight and their food intake without having to explain themselves over & over to watchful friends.

Most vegans I know don't use it as an excuse to hide their ED, but I do know a few female friends parading as vegan who have had disordered eating since H.S. and are using it so people can't tell them they have a "problem" since their problem is veganism and not anorexia.

I think it's great if other people want to be vegan, but I personally can't do it. They'll save the environment.

[Anonymous]

That recipe is not vegan.

It uses eggs.

You are a vegerarian, not a vegan.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't know, I'm a vegan. My kids are vegetarians, but eat a lot of vegan meals. We don't care what other people do or eat, but we don't buy meat, so if someone wants a steak, they aren't getting it here for dinner.

We eat a lot of different kinds of foods. One big thing is that we eat tons of Asian, Indian, West African, and tex-mex meals. I think cooking requires looking beyond meat, start, veg, fruit meal planning. I cook lentils, quinoa, beans, tempeh, seitan (I make amazing seitan wings inspired by City o City in Denver that even my meat eating friends requests). I like cooking and for me being a vegan requires some creativity, but it can be a great thing.

I don't like the meat industry and like a PP has issues with dairy. So, it was a combination of social and health concerns that led me here. But I'm happy, I make food that I think is yummy, and I don't begrudge anyone else's choice.

What's weird about this time in our world is that there is this sort of zero-sum view of life choices and a view that if someone isn't doing what you're doing, it's wrong. I don't think this is the case, but I see that in so many different contexts. Politics. Religion. Sex and sexuality. Racism. I wish we'd just spend more time focusing on our own happiness and less time caring about what people do.

+1.

I would love the seitan wing recipe if f you don’t mind sharing!

Here you go! It's basically this (but I add nutritional yeast to the breading). https://www.theedgyveg.com/2014/01/20/vegan-buffalo-wings-recipe/

I stand by my main point: the entire point of this thread is to divide people and judge people's choices. It's to make someone a victim at the expense of someone else instead of looking at reality and shrugging at other people's choices. This thread is an exercise in division, judgment, and oddly, bashing of people who are claiming to be the bashers. This thread is everything that is wrong with the world in terms of how we speak with each other as people and how we treat our fellow human.

I am a happy, healthy vegan. I don't think about other people's choices. I don't care because we are all evaluating and engaging in a moral calculus, weighing what's right and wrong and that is a good, personal thing. We should have have the freedom to define our own choices and we should leave it at that (and I mean it for everyone judgy vegans or judgy meat eaters...maybe we can stop being judgmental, huh?). When we denigrate other people's choices, we put them down, we de-legitimize them -- that is the first step of taking away people's freedom. Like I said, I see it across our discourse, but I do think we ought to call it out and protect our right to live the lives we believe are the best for ourselves.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm mostly vegan. I subscribe to the Mark Bittman way, which is "Vegan Before 6". The idea is that you're vegan for breakfast, lunch and snack and then for dinner, if you want to eat dairy or animal, that's your one meal a day to do it.

I often mix things up and may let lunch be my one non-vegan meal. This makes it easier for me to deal with things like work lunches that I have to attend. I like this method because it leaves space for urges for specific food.

I never talk about it with anyone unless they tell me they're vegetarian or vegan first.

What? How is that mostly vegan? Makes no sense, many people eat meat once a day, they don't go around making it an eating philosophy. What a load of BS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm mostly vegan. I subscribe to the Mark Bittman way, which is "Vegan Before 6". The idea is that you're vegan for breakfast, lunch and snack and then for dinner, if you want to eat dairy or animal, that's your one meal a day to do it.

I often mix things up and may let lunch be my one non-vegan meal. This makes it easier for me to deal with things like work lunches that I have to attend. I like this method because it leaves space for urges for specific food.

I never talk about it with anyone unless they tell me they're vegetarian or vegan first.

What? How is that mostly vegan? Makes no sense, many people eat meat once a day, they don't go around making it an eating philosophy. What a load of BS.

+1

I never knew my normal regular way of eating had a fancy name! Now I’m going to tell everyone I’m a #veganbeforesix

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm mostly vegan. I subscribe to the Mark Bittman way, which is "Vegan Before 6". The idea is that you're vegan for breakfast, lunch and snack and then for dinner, if you want to eat dairy or animal, that's your one meal a day to do it.

I often mix things up and may let lunch be my one non-vegan meal. This makes it easier for me to deal with things like work lunches that I have to attend. I like this method because it leaves space for urges for specific food.

I never talk about it with anyone unless they tell me they're vegetarian or vegan first.

What? How is that mostly vegan? Makes no sense, many people eat meat once a day, they don't go around making it an eating philosophy. What a load of BS.

+1

I never knew my normal regular way of eating had a fancy name! Now I’m going to tell everyone I’m a #veganbeforesix

Yep, and make sure you make a big deal if people ask you! "I too am vegan....before 6. You have no idea how hard it is to find something without eggs before 6. Then I have steak!"

[Anonymous]

I think it's only certain vegans, but the ones who are bug the heck out of me.

I have one friend who's been vegan for more than a decade. He doesn't make a big deal out of it. Sometimes, he'll ask about the menu if going out somewhere, just so he can eat beforehand if there is a limited selection for him. He will look the other way about possible non-vegan ingredients in a pinch, but that's rare. He became a vegan because he decided to try it once, and he liked it so stuck with it.

I have another friend whose veganism is basically her religion. She actually sends people, unsolicited, copies of "The China Study". She argues that veganism is a complete diet, because one can always supplement with vitamins (yah, "complete" doesn't mean what you think it means). Her main argument for veganism seems to be health, not ethics, which makes her preachiness so much worse. It's one thing if you feel that it's the right choice ethically to preach...because at least it's based on a belief of what's right. It's totally different to preach about health...because you are basically telling everyone their lifestyle is garbage and will kill them.

[Anonymous]

I dislike anyone who feels so strongly about something that they have to preach to you about it if you feel differently. Vegans, prolifers, antivaxxers, attachment parenting, Waldorf etc.....

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And where do we get the fertilizer for all those veggies? They'd rather have petro-chemicals sprayed all over the ground and feel good about eating tofu? Makes no sense.

Rather than feeding the crops to animals instead? It takes a lot more plants to produce a lb of beef than you realize.

cows eat grass silly

No, not the vast majority of them. https://www.npr.org/2010/04/08/125722082/the-truth-about-grass-fed-beef

Nope, we get all our grassfed beef from local farmers. We've been to their farms.