What Would It Take For You To Go Vegan? And If You Won't, Why Won't You?

[JD]

I've posted quite a bit on here about my veganism, and lately I've seen a lot of stuff about the impact that the animal agriculture has on the environment, and now today I just finished what the series You What You Eat: A Twins Experiement on Netflix, which goes into a lot of the health benefits of going vegan, and this got me wondering what it would take to get me wondering what it would take for more people to go vegan.
For me it was a purely ethical choice, as I started following farm animal sanctuaries and seeing what more of cow, goats, pigs. ect. were really like, and seeing how they're treated by the animal agriculture industry, I just couldn't be a part of that anymore. One of the biggest shocks for me as I started to transition to veganism, was just how many vegan or vegan friendly options there are out there for things. Most of the vegan versions of things, aren't all that different, the food is just as good, and most of other kind of things work just as well.
So my question is, what would it take for you to go vegan? And if you absolutely will not under any circumstances, why?
The only real issues I've had since going vegan, is the price, a lot of the vegan versions of thing tend to be more expensive than the non-vegan versions. The thing that's especially frustrating about this, is that a lot of the stuff used to make the vegan versions is actually cheaper than what's used in the non-vegan version.

 

[Finn]

I think it's one of those things you have to really know what you are doing. We are designed to be omnivores.

 

[PlainSimpleJoel]

Sometimes I have tried some plant based meat products - they are okay, but they are expensive and find the taste okay. In the end, I prefer meat based products, as part of a balance diet.

 

[JD]

Just out of curiosity, what have you tried, like most things some stuff is better than others. I've been eating a lot of Gardien stuff and been pretty consistently impressed with it.
Obviously none of it is going to be exactly the same as animal based meat, but most of I've found enough that's good and close enough for me enjoy them. And for me, the ethical concerns outweigh any of that stuff.

I think it's one of those things you have to really know what you are doing. We are designed to be omnivores.

Not really, you just have to either find products that say "vegan" on them, or just learn to recognize what are animal products and avoid them. Most of the vegan meals and things that I eat, are made to give you pretty much everything you'd get from the none vegan versions. Most of vegan products have are pretty clearly labeled.
And I'm not just talking about food, I'm talking everything that you use. People tend to focus on the food, but at least for ethical vegans, which is what my mom and I are, it is about not using anything using animal products in any part of your life. Hell, my mom just got our first box of vegan toilet paper, after we found out that regular toilet paper uses gelatin, or some other kind of animal product, to make it softer. We also don't make sure that none of our clothes includes leather or wool or anything like that. I will confess that we do still have a few things we've had since before that
"It's too complicated" is just an excuse because they don't understand how easy it actually is.

 

[Finn]

No. It's not that simple. You have to pay attention to what you are eating just with any other diet. You shouldn't just go gobbling something that's vegan. Many don't pay attention. I've known few who would just gobble anything that's "vegan" or "vegetarian" without paying attention to the nutrient contents, if they already had too much of something like carbs already, etc.

 

[PlainSimpleJoel]

Just out of curiosity, what have you tried, like most things some stuff is better than others. I've been eating a lot of Gardien stuff and been pretty consistently impressed with it.
Obviously none of it is going to be exactly the same as animal based meat, but most of I've found enough that's good and close enough for me enjoy them. And for me, the ethical concerns outweigh any of that stuff.

A month or two ago - made some tacos with V2 Mince Plant Based Meat and another time had some plant based Meat Pies.

 

[Victoria]

To me, the problem with "veganism" is that it is an option for "rich" countries. When it comes to feeding the world, mixed farming is the better option - large amounts of veg. and carbohydrates with a small amount of animal products - using animal waste to provide fertiliser, being able to use land that isn't suitable for growing crops for grazing, using wool and other byproducts.

The health benefits of veganism come from traditional vegan diets - not diets using highly processed pretend meat products - but diets based on cooking from raw ingredients. High processing also has a "cost" in carbon terms. I do eat vegan products but much prefer the traditional beanburger and nut roast to pretend meat.

Finally, there's a difference between being a vegan - avoiding ALL products that exploit animals - and eating a vegan diet. Too many people claiming to be vegan are happy with wearing leather shoes and wool clothes which makes one wonder how much vegan diets are just the current fad rather than a real change in attitude.

Western cultures do place too much emphasis on eating large quantities of meat. People really don't need to be eating more than 2 or 3 oz of meat a day (and even then, 3 or 4 days a week should be enough). I do think there's a real problem with farming standards and animal cruelty, much of which is related to the demand for "cheap" food and big profits. That's going to remain a problem until people are prepared to pay the proper costs of food. Equally there's an ecological problem with monocultures of all kinds, whether it's clearing rainforest for catlle or for the latest fashionable nut, or flying out-of-season foods halfway round the world. Vegans are not exempt from being a contributing factor there.

 

[somebuddyX]

I think my steak would have to start talking to me for me to stop eating meat, but even then I could just plug my ears.

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

I think my steak would have to start talking to me for me to stop eating meat, but even then I could just plug my ears.

What if the meat wanted you to eat it?



As for me, I don't eat a lot of meat. Sliced chicken on a few sammiches a week, pepperoni & sausage on the occasional pizza, or whatever might be in a can of soup. Other than that the occasional triple Baconator or other cheeseburger, or hoagie, or the even less occasional steak I cook up at home.

I think people should do exactly whatever works for them, as long as they don't get preachy and self-entitled about it.

 

[BillJ]

I know I’m a monster, but I like meat. I’m sure there is a special place in Hell waiting for me, built out of the bones of all the chicken wings I’ve eaten over the years.

 

[fireproof78]

I know I’m a monster, but I like meat. I’m sure there is a special place in Hell waiting for me, built out of the bones of all the chicken wings I’ve eaten over the years.

Probably so.

And I'll be right next to you.

My goal is to be more balanced in my diet, but going to Vegan is something I do not agree with. I do not hold other creatures to the same standards as humans, humans are capable of an omnivore diet, and my changing my diet is not going to impact the global economy.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

And if you absolutely will not under any circumstances, why?

Because I enjoy consuming meat and dairy products.

I don't consider it unhealthy to do so - I've been doing it for 50+ years now, and my doctor has never complained. As for the moral angle? The simple fact is, meat and dairy both come from animals who have been specifically placed on this earth to serve humans (when was the last time you ever saw cows or chickens in the wild? ), so my conscience is clear on that front as well.

Now don't get me wrong, I'm all for treating animals humanely. The quicker and more painless a method of butchering animals can be made, I'm all for it. But the fact remains, we humans are at the top of the food chain, and that gives us the right to do as we wish.

Animals kill each other for food all the ing time. This is just another example of that.

That said: While I would not, normally, choose to eat fake meat, I was on a plane a few years ago and the inflight meal was Impossible Meat meatballs. And they were really good. However, in the interest of full disclosure , I was so hungry at the time I would have eaten pretty much anything, up to and including the inflight magazines.

 

[Finn]

You had meatballs on a flight? I haven't had anything that wasn't pretzels, nuts or those hard biscuits things in like 20 years at least.

 

[Avro Arrow]

But the fact remains, we humans are at the top of the food chain

Let's put a lion and a human *with no tools or equipment* out on a plain somewhere, and see who's higher on the food chain.

 

[JD]

I just want to be clear, I was not starting this thread to try to preach veganism to people who weren't interested or criticize people who aren't. I was just honestly curious about what people here had to say. I don't really interact with people regularly anywhere else, so this is the only place I have to ask this kind of stuff. And as much as I might want to, I will not argue with anyone's opinion's shared on here, because that just ends up in going in circles and can get ugly.

No. It's not that simple. You have to pay attention to what you are eating just with any other diet. You shouldn't just go gobbling something that's vegan. Many don't pay attention. I've known few who would just gobble anything that's "vegan" or "vegetarian" without paying attention to the nutrient contents, if they already had too much of something like carbs already, etc.

Yeah, you're probably right, I admit, I'm just lazy and don't feel like having to do that much extra work. As I long as I'm not feeling obviously sick or unless I go to a doctor and they tell me to be more careful, I'll just keep going the way I am.

What if the meat wanted you to eat it?
View attachment 40379

This is actually an interesting philosophical question.

 

[Velocity]

I am diabetic and have a very limited diet already. I doubt that I could get all the protein that I need from a vegan diet.

 

[C.E. Evans]

There was a period that I fell on hard times. I was in the hospital for months, out of work, and my savings were flat-out depleted as the bills didn't stop during that time. With little money left, meat was a luxury, so I had plenty of meatless days until I was eventually able to get back on my feet and back to work. My point in telling all this is that I now can choose to go vegan, but there are people who are actually worse off than I was that don't have that choice. I'm not trying to knock veganism, not even remotely, but all it takes is a major setback for any of us to become vegan by circumstance.

 

[scotpens]

Let's put a lion and a human *with no tools or equipment* out on a plain somewhere, and see who's higher on the food chain.

But we humans do have the capacity to make tools. Very powerful tools, in fact. That's kind of the point.

I'm well aware of the ethical and environmental issues posed by modern industrial-scale animal farming, but I'm not about to go vegan or vegetarian. (What ever happened to old-fashioned vegetarianism anyway?) In plain terms, I like meat. In fact, sometimes I think I may have been a cat in a past life (which might also explain my solitary nature, my nocturnal habits, and my abundant body fur ).

If so-called "lab-grown" or cultured meat ever gets to the point where it can be mass-produced and sold at an affordable price, I'll be among the first in line to buy cultured beef, pork, chicken, whatever. Real meat without having to raise, slaughter and butcher animals -- the best of both worlds.

 

[Sparkle Fabulosa]

A decade ago I tried being vegetarian for the hell of it. I ate a lot of quinoa in salads for protein. I tried this DISGUSTING plant powdered stuff to mix with water, again for protein and upped my vitamins. Also ate a LOT of nuts. Towards the end of my experiment I got sick. It felt like the flu. The day after my sickness started I bought a Baconator and within an hour of eating said burger I felt normal. My dip into vegetarianism lasted 62 days.

I didn’t enjoy having to find extra protein in other food. It’s not for me. Though I think having meatless meals a few times a week is good.

If there was some big apocalyptic event and the world had to go back to eating off the land I feel like vegetarians and vegans would die out quickly.

 

[1001001]

If God didn't want us to eat animals, why did he make them out of meat?