Hello fellow tilde-vegans, First post here. Hugs to all of you. Vegan for about 10 years now, my wife has been vegan well over 30 years, well past keeping track. I was veggie a long time before...
Exemplary
Hello fellow tilde-vegans, First post here. Hugs to all of you.
Vegan for about 10 years now, my wife has been vegan well over 30 years, well past keeping track. I was veggie a long time before officially going vegan as I did not think that I would be able to go vegan and stick to it, so I wasn't going to use any false labels even though I strongly ethically agreed with the stance. I got sick of myself in the end and bit the bullet. One of the best decisions of my life, it was like a weight came off me.
Reasons: Animal rights, antispeciesism, etc are the intellectual reasons, but at the core is that I grew up on a farm, raising pigs for slaughter and shooting, trapping and ferreting wild animals. I know that ethical or humane slaughter is a lie. I know from experience how passionately alive other animals are and how much we steal that from them. When I am in a shop and see plastic wrapped chicken I can feel the soft warmth of a live chicken's feathers and how quivering with curiosity and life she was as I held her. I know that there is no such thing as a humane animal farm as economics forces all farmers to treat "livestock" as a commodity, not another creature with personhood. No matter how much we farmers try to convince ourselves that we love our animals it is always secondary to economics. We can't afford to get a vet in for a sick piglet even if we want to, so we pick them up by the hind leg and smash their head on the concrete.
Tl:dr I am still full of guilt for all those that I mistreated and loaded onto trucks for slaughter. I remember their fear and screams. Being vegan is an absolute moral baseline. It is the neutral position of avoiding harm rather than a positive good. There is more I should be doing.
I want to echo these comments as someone else who grew up on a farm and, when I was much younger, participated in its slaughter practices. I feel much the same as you do. Vegan for thirteen years now.
I know that ethical or humane slaughter is a lie.
I want to echo these comments as someone else who grew up on a farm and, when I was much younger, participated in its slaughter practices. I feel much the same as you do. Vegan for thirteen years now.
Well that hits hard. I’ve never thought of it in those terms. I’ve been a mostly vegan opportunistic omnivore since like 2006 or so but maybe I’ll go that last bit to be vegan…
Being vegan is an absolute moral baseline. It is the neutral position of avoiding harm rather than a positive good.
Well that hits hard. I’ve never thought of it in those terms. I’ve been a mostly vegan opportunistic omnivore since like 2006 or so but maybe I’ll go that last bit to be vegan…
Do it :) So easy these days with the sheer abundance of vegan options. The only problem is other people. My wife is rather cross at the moment. She went vegan decades ago when it was real...
Do it :)
So easy these days with the sheer abundance of vegan options. The only problem is other people.
My wife is rather cross at the moment. She went vegan decades ago when it was real hairshirt stuff and vegan food all seemed to be made of wholemeal straw clippings. Now that it is easy she has developed a gluten intolerance and is having to start again learning how to cook vegan and gluten free. She defeated the boss level but the game glitched and sent her back to play from Level One again. Very fucked off.
As for the rest of us, it's time to enjoy the bounty available.
I like to (semi-jokingly) describe myself as the "world's worst vegan". I can't eat dairy, and I do gravitate towards vegan options when they're offered, but other that that I'm nowhere near...
I like to (semi-jokingly) describe myself as the "world's worst vegan". I can't eat dairy, and I do gravitate towards vegan options when they're offered, but other that that I'm nowhere near exclusive about it. I try to reduce my meat consumption when I can, but I have a lot of dietary issues in general, and trying to eliminate meat from my diet entirely would almost certainly just lead to me not reliably getting enough proper nutrition. I do eat eggs, but I only buy free-run ones. I eat honey, but I purchase it from local beekeepers. And so on and so forth.
All in all, I'm very much philosophically in support of the tenets of veganism, even though practically I haven't been able to incorporate it properly into my own life. Part of growing up for me has been a process of consciously letting go as much of that guilt as possible, and deciding not to let perfect be the enemy of good.
Lol. I'm the same. My girlfriend is vegan so I eat and cook mostly vegan foods. But I've had health issues related to eating disorders all my life - so I give myself room to stretch and eat meat...
Lol. I'm the same. My girlfriend is vegan so I eat and cook mostly vegan foods. But I've had health issues related to eating disorders all my life - so I give myself room to stretch and eat meat and the things my body occasionally asks for.
this is me! I'm kind of "incidentally vegan/vegetarian" as my own "natural" diet and preferences are basically devoid of meat and most animal products. I generally won't cook/prepare meat for...
this is me! I'm kind of "incidentally vegan/vegetarian" as my own "natural" diet and preferences are basically devoid of meat and most animal products. I generally won't cook/prepare meat for myself (huge ick factor when handling it), but if e.g. my husband is making salmon, I'll eat it.
I do generally agree that a vegan lifestyle is pretty difficult to argue against for your average middle class westerner. I also agree that we can't let perfect be the enemy of good. Any reduction in consumption is a positive.
In my ideal world, food deserts would not exist, everyone would have equal access to quality and cruelty free (INCLUDING human cruelty - the way we treat farm workers is disgusting) nutrition, and animal products would be treated as a luxury.
Vegan of 10+ years here! I became vegetarian because I couldn't rationally explain why eating the flesh of living, conscious, emotional beings was necessary, especially when I was financially...
Vegan of 10+ years here! I became vegetarian because I couldn't rationally explain why eating the flesh of living, conscious, emotional beings was necessary, especially when I was financially capable of solving any nutrition problems being without meat could supposedly create; after meeting a vegan friend while traveling, she exposed me to the ethical inadequacies of vegetarianism, so I became vegan without hesitation, and here we are, a decade later.
My experience has been utterly painless. Caveat that I will credit 80% of the ease with which I transitioned to a vegan lifestyle to having a partner who is also vegan for the same ethical reasons.
Other than a few snafus with hyper-aggressive anti-vegans, it's been smooth sailing. Finding vegan food while traveling has always been easy between personal recommendations aplenty and HappyCow, and especially these days when eating "plant based" is popular.
What health issues I have are pre-existing, and I think I'm in the minority when I say I've seen no changes for the better or worse because of my diet. (TBH being vegan has given me something of a shortcut past the usual doctor recommendations that I "stop eating red meat for six months" before recommending alternative options.)
Same here. Pescatarian for about a year, vegetarian for about 2 yrs after that, then went vegan for good over 15 yrs ago. Hubby is vegan, adult daughter is vegan, so we all suppprt each other. I...
Same here. Pescatarian for about a year, vegetarian for about 2 yrs after that, then went vegan for good over 15 yrs ago. Hubby is vegan, adult daughter is vegan, so we all suppprt each other. I do a lot of the cooking and we don't eat very much processed food. Health is good, husband has no issues, and my daughter is an athlete.
BTW, we are vegan for ethical, environmental and health reasons. Its a package deal.
I do sympathize when people online talk about being unable to switch because of family/partners/etc. I know a lot of vegans with rules to only date vegans for exactly that reason. The value of...
I do sympathize when people online talk about being unable to switch because of family/partners/etc. I know a lot of vegans with rules to only date vegans for exactly that reason. The value of constant and consistent support that comes from being around likeminded (or even just open minded) people cannot be overstated.
I was actually raised vegetarian, by a father who was raised vegetarian, by a father who went vegetarian when he was 10 years old in 1940s working-class Britain! Which is pretty cool. My parents...
I was actually raised vegetarian, by a father who was raised vegetarian, by a father who went vegetarian when he was 10 years old in 1940s working-class Britain! Which is pretty cool.
My parents were pretty transparent with us about the reasoning - animal ethics - since we were old enough to understand it. Which was quite young, because it's very easy to understand "animals are cute, and nice, so we don't eat them". I actually stopped eating cheese at around 5 years old, after reading Little House in the Big Woods, the first of the Prairie series, because it had a description of how cheese was made with rennet (the lining of a calf's stomach). At the time there weren't really any cheeses that used non-animal rennet, so I stopped eating them at that point. Started again as a teen when non-animal rennet became more of a thing.
I went fully vegan at around 22 years old, which is around when I learnt about the horrors of the dairy and egg industries. I wasn't starting from a meat-eating background, so the switch was a lot easier for me than many others.
I've been vegan for over 3 years now, my wife for almost 15. My experience has been great, I rarely have any issues unless I'm at a conference or something where there isn't a vegan option for...
I've been vegan for over 3 years now, my wife for almost 15. My experience has been great, I rarely have any issues unless I'm at a conference or something where there isn't a vegan option for food.
I went vegan mostly due to the healthy discussions with my wife and by living with her. Our home was 100% vegan when we decided to live together and before I knew it, I made the decision to make the switch.
As for the why, I guess it boils down to I'd rather not kill something to survive if I can help it.
Since 1999. Was pretty difficult back then to find ready-prepared products, but was kinda good because it meant I ate less crap. Soya milk was quite awful: it tasted like cardboard. Alpro kinda...
Since 1999. Was pretty difficult back then to find ready-prepared products, but was kinda good because it meant I ate less crap.
Soya milk was quite awful: it tasted like cardboard. Alpro kinda changed the market when they turned up.
Recent boom has been good for making it easy to eat out, but I've worried that some of the brands like Fry's they have had good products for a long time would be able to compete.
It looks like vegan market has contacted in the UK recently, with the larger companies leaving the space again.
Wow! I’ve been vegan since 2012 now. I also tried back in 2006 and lasted about a year. When people tell me now “oh it’s so hard” I have to tell them it’s really not! Compared to 2006 it’s easy...
Wow! I’ve been vegan since 2012 now. I also tried back in 2006 and lasted about a year. When people tell me now “oh it’s so hard” I have to tell them it’s really not! Compared to 2006 it’s easy peasy. My grocery stores back then only had rice milk in the shelf-stable section and it was… not great.
There are so many options now. I can’t imagine 1999! Especially as a junk food vegan like myself :)
Fwiw, I too find 'the German vegan subreddit' unpleasant. I'm more in camp plant based personally, so the more practical, recipe subreddits were a better fit for me. Since you're a long-time...
Fwiw, I too find 'the German vegan subreddit' unpleasant. I'm more in camp plant based personally, so the more practical, recipe subreddits were a better fit for me.
Since you're a long-time vegan... do you even use all these newfangled meat replacements?
Ohhh, a lot of that highlights why I kept my distance lol. Especially considering I'm plant-based for climate change reasons. I'm perfectly willing to eat meat when eating out, and will...
Ohhh, a lot of that highlights why I kept my distance lol. Especially considering I'm plant-based for climate change reasons. I'm perfectly willing to eat meat when eating out, and will occasionally buy meat. Currently I end up eating meat roughly weekly or biweekly, but don't ask about dairy. I try to reduce the residual animal products I eat, but I think I've worked the pareto principle here: The progress I've made in the past was significantly easier than the way that is still to go. I don't care much that there's a tiny amount of gelatin in some sweets I eat; I care about reducing my meat consumption by 90%.
I don't usually talk about it much because neither omnis nor vegans understand, but I found it difficult to make the change. Vegan cooking follows a vastly different style. Unless you're reaching for meat replacements, you basically give up the "carb, protein, vegetable" formula, because there's no vegan steak alternative that would make "steak, taters and broccoli" work. So many kitchen techniques don't work anymore. Most vegans change for much more "emotional" reasons, but my motivation is more coming from the rational side of things. (Climate reasons) But I still like the taste and am not really disgusted by the cruelty. So it's always a bit of an uphill battle to adapt recipes or introduce new ones, because I'm not emotionally invested. A stressful lifestyle where food is often more of an afterthought probably doesn't help.
I've been a vegan for almost four years now. I went vegan with support from Challenge 22 although I knew for a long time beforehand that I needed to do it. What finally pushed me over the line was...
I've been a vegan for almost four years now. I went vegan with support from Challenge 22 although I knew for a long time beforehand that I needed to do it. What finally pushed me over the line was the Veganuary programme that exploded in the UK. I live in London which I would describe as the easiest place to be a vegan in the world (although Brighton is probably a very close second).
I turned vegan exclusively because of the horrific way animals are treated. It's a nice added bonus that it's good for the environment.
It's gone really well for me. I've learnt to cook more things than before and most existing recipes were easy to adapt. As I live in the UK, there are ever so many ready made options in the shops and restaurants too. Even steakhouses here have vegan options (not that I'd ever set foot in one).
I was vegan for about a year. I'm not super passionate about animal rights in particular, but I felt like I wouldn't be able to kill and prepare animals I'd raised myself, and at some point it...
I was vegan for about a year. I'm not super passionate about animal rights in particular, but I felt like I wouldn't be able to kill and prepare animals I'd raised myself, and at some point it started to seem hypocritical to buy the stuff in a store instead. I could have gone vegetarian, but to be honest, dairy farming almost seems more unethical than straight-up eating animals to me.
It wasn't sustainable for me, though. I have a lot of sensory issues around food, plus a nice combo of physical disability/ADHD/OCD that make it very hard for me to prepare my own food and still make halfway nutritionally decent choices. Don't get me wrong, if I were more determined and more devoted to the ethics, I could have kept it up—I know people who've been vegan for about as long as I've been alive, and there are some in this thread who come close to that—but I didn't.
That said, recs for favorite easy vegan recipes & packaged foods are still appreciated. I'm picky (can't stand mushrooms or nutritional yeast, and uh they're usually ok but sometimes beans creep me out lol) and it can be hard to find certain ingredients where I live, but show me what you've got.
As a side note, I think a brief stint of veganism did a lot for me as a person. For one thing, it gave me an easy way to work on setting boundaries and self-advocating. After months of having to tell people "no, that restaurant won't work for me, how about this one?" and declining non-vegan foods that were offered to me, I'm less anxious about doing that stuff in other settings. I have family and friends who are serious, aggressive drinkers to the point where going along with them impacted my health, and I'd probably be in a much worse place if I hadn't had all that practice saying no. I think that's a good thing to keep in mind if you're annoyed by those who are "vegans with exceptions". They're not necessarily just being difficult; it might still be helping them.
It was also good for me to think about making ethical decisions in everyday life, and I think those lessons will stay with me to some degree even now that I'm no longer devoted to the same set of principles. At the end of the day I'm the type who believes that harm reduction is a good thing, and I count the small successes, like the fact that my family's favorite dessert recipe is vegan (they don't believe it, but it is!).
2 years vegan now! Watched Dominion and it destroyed me. I miss the ease of going to any restaurant and just ordering anything without looking. I miss not checking every ingredients list to make...
2 years vegan now!
Watched Dominion and it destroyed me.
I miss the ease of going to any restaurant and just ordering anything without looking. I miss not checking every ingredients list to make sure they didn't add milk powder or fish paste or whatever to my food. I miss not answering questions about my protein levels.
I was already vegan when I saw Lucent and Dominion, and I agree they are distressing. I don't seek out this kind of footage, but being Australian myself, I try to stay informed of what's going on...
Watched Dominion and it destroyed me.
I was already vegan when I saw Lucent and Dominion, and I agree they are distressing. I don't seek out this kind of footage, but being Australian myself, I try to stay informed of what's going on here, as it invariably comes up in conversation. A lot of footage/info has been compiled on the Farm Transparency Project site too.
Ok…I’m not a vegan, BUT I do enjoy some vegan dishes here and there. I would like to gravitate toward plant based milks and cheese/yogurt, but the ones I’ve tried taste like water. Especially...
Ok…I’m not a vegan, BUT I do enjoy some vegan dishes here and there. I would like to gravitate toward plant based milks and cheese/yogurt, but the ones I’ve tried taste like water. Especially almond milk. Any options that closely resemble regular milk?
I really like Chobani oat milk. The texture feels right, if that makes sense? And it comes in a zero sugar variety, which I love. Plain unsweetened, unflavored soy milk is probably my second pick....
I really like Chobani oat milk. The texture feels right, if that makes sense? And it comes in a zero sugar variety, which I love. Plain unsweetened, unflavored soy milk is probably my second pick. And you like chocolate at all, unsweetened chocolate almond milk in coffee is really really good (even though I'm not normally big on almond milk either).
Haven't found any cheese that really works for me outside of nice vegan restaurants, unfortunately. I like Siggi's and So Delicious yogurts, but both are coconut-based, so some won't like the flavor (or the amount of saturated fat).
Thought I’d mention I bought the chobani extra creamy oat milk and I’m pleasantly surprised by how much I like it! Consistency is absolutely spot on. Very neutral in flavor.
Thought I’d mention I bought the chobani extra creamy oat milk and I’m pleasantly surprised by how much I like it! Consistency is absolutely spot on. Very neutral in flavor.
I personally think soymilk is the closest, and it's the healthiest! I usually buy Silk's unsweetened variety. If not soymilk, have you tried Oatly? That's not watery at all in my opinion. It's...
I personally think soymilk is the closest, and it's the healthiest! I usually buy Silk's unsweetened variety. If not soymilk, have you tried Oatly? That's not watery at all in my opinion. It's very rich and thick.
If you actually want milk for drinking straight, check out: Silk’s Next Milk and So Delicious’s Wondermilk, both of which are plant-based, but are actually formulated to have similar flavor notes...
If you actually want milk for drinking straight, check out:
Silk’s Next Milk and So Delicious’s Wondermilk, both of which are plant-based, but are actually formulated to have similar flavor notes and consistency (and macros, ish) to dairy milk. They won’t taste the same, but they’ll probably be more familiar!
Oat milk. Especially Oatly brand. Much creamier and tastier than almond milk. Definitely doesn’t actually taste like dairy milk, but it does have a nice flavor!
Soy milk. A lot of American soy milk (like Silk) is pretty subdued; vanilla flavored soy milk is pretty delicious. If you like the taste of soy, though, I’d try to get some Japanese boxed soy milk at an Asian grocery; that stuff is delicious.
Excellent; thanks for the recommendations! I’ll have to see if my store has that new Silk milk, they seem to keep up with new stuff in the natural section. They do carry oatly so if not the first...
Excellent; thanks for the recommendations! I’ll have to see if my store has that new Silk milk, they seem to keep up with new stuff in the natural section.
They do carry oatly so if not the first I’ll give the other a try (:
I think overall soy milk is the closest (and is certainly the closest nutrition-wise). But I use several different plant milks depending on the use. Oat milk is the best tasting in coffee IMO, and...
I think overall soy milk is the closest (and is certainly the closest nutrition-wise). But I use several different plant milks depending on the use. Oat milk is the best tasting in coffee IMO, and macadamia milk gives a nice nutty flavor that really goes well in chocolate milk or chai.
I decided on Chobani’s extra creamy oat milk and I am pleasantly surprised at how much I like it! Tried it in coffee this morning and in a protein shake yesterday, and I like how neutral it is....
I decided on Chobani’s extra creamy oat milk and I am pleasantly surprised at how much I like it! Tried it in coffee this morning and in a protein shake yesterday, and I like how neutral it is. And just the right amount of sweetness. For some reason cows milk can smell sour to me even when fresh, and this doesn’t smell like that at all.
7 year vegan checking in. I became vegan around the time my wife and I started a farm animal sanctuary. I was unable to have conative dissonance when we decided to start taking farm animals in....
7 year vegan checking in. I became vegan around the time my wife and I started a farm animal sanctuary. I was unable to have conative dissonance when we decided to start taking farm animals in. Now we have over 20 pigs, 6 cows, horses, and chickens all living their best life.
It wasn't the easiest process for me, giving up dairy was the hardest. However, I feel much better health wise, no longer miss animal products, and love helping provide a home for the animals where they can safely live out their lives.
I’ve considered veganism as I very rarely eat meat outside of necessity these days, but I do struggle with replacements for eggs, cheese and milk. Eggs are such a massive part of my diet I...
I’ve considered veganism as I very rarely eat meat outside of necessity these days, but I do struggle with replacements for eggs, cheese and milk. Eggs are such a massive part of my diet I wouldn’t know what to replace them with. Vegan cheese is nearly inedible, and the ones that are edible are twice the price for a product that only just crosses the “edible” threshold. Plant and nut-based milks are plagued with issues themselves between the various oils and chemicals that make them significantly worse for your health than cow’s milk.
So in the end I’m mostly pescatarian with an occasional weakness for bbq chicken. I only buy eggs and milk from local farms and I’ve cut back on cheese as much as I can, but boy do I have a weakness for Reggiano.
I'm happy you've considered it before! I get where you're coming from. I don't really much vegan cheese or eggs anymore, because cravings for those things have subsided after about a year of being...
I'm happy you've considered it before!
Eggs are such a massive part of my diet I wouldn’t know what to replace them with. Vegan cheese is nearly inedible, and the ones that are edible are twice the price for a product that only just crosses the “edible” threshold.
I get where you're coming from. I don't really much vegan cheese or eggs anymore, because cravings for those things have subsided after about a year of being vegan. You kind of just learn to replace them with other things. Nowadays, I mostly eat beans and pulses for my protein, and if I'm wanting something a little cheesy, nutritional yeast does that for me. I love mixing nutritional yeast into homemade pesto, or putting it on top of salads or pasta!
Plant and nut-based milks are plagued with issues themselves between the various oils and chemicals that make them significantly worse for your health than cow’s milk.
Yes, unfortunately a lot of the plant milks in the refrigerated section have quite a few additives. On the bright side, the shelf stable section have plenty of plant milks that are just oats, soy beans, rice, etc. plus water. I've heard very good things about Edensoy, which you can find in the shelf stable section. I've been meaning to try it out myself. Soymilk is actually very healthful, with lots of protein, calcium, potassium, and I find it to be very flavorful and rich.
My main point being, it can be daunting at first, but over time your body will adjust, and a lot of the cravings will go away. If it seems daunting, you can always try removing one thing at a time, one day at a time. You can say, "today, I won't eat eggs." Then you just keep doing that, and you'll probably find that it's not as hard as you thought. The animals and earth will thank you :)
I’ll give the shelf-stable milks a try sometime. I’m sure there are plenty of options out there and I simply haven’t done enough research. We have a plethora of independent health stores near me...
I’ll give the shelf-stable milks a try sometime. I’m sure there are plenty of options out there and I simply haven’t done enough research. We have a plethora of independent health stores near me so I don’t have any excuses to not take the plunge. Breaking away entirely from processed foods is my end goal, and veganism is a decent next step past that point. Thanks for the post!
Just to add to this, plant milk is actually really easy to make at home. Just take the thing you want to milk, soak it in water, toss it in a blender, and strain through a nutmilk bag (or muslin,...
Just to add to this, plant milk is actually really easy to make at home. Just take the thing you want to milk, soak it in water, toss it in a blender, and strain through a nutmilk bag (or muslin, but the specialized version is more convenient and easier).
Though obviously it won't be quite as nice if you're expecting it to taste like the sweetened and oil-filled kinds - but those are easy enough to fix if you miss it.
Honestly I’m one of the oddballs who just doesn’t like the sweetened, oil-filled alt-milks (milk drinks? What are they calling them now?). I started off with rice milk and quite liked the...
Honestly I’m one of the oddballs who just doesn’t like the sweetened, oil-filled alt-milks (milk drinks? What are they calling them now?). I started off with rice milk and quite liked the unsweetened version by itself, but it tasted and acted like water when used as cereal milk. I’ve tried a few of the oat milks and almond milks but haven’t taken a liking to any except the Trader Joe’s one, which I assume is as unhealthy as the rest. I need to give soy milk another try soon now that we have plenty of data showing little to no effect on estrogen levels.
I’ll look into making my own, that sounds like the best option for me I think.
My wife has been vegan for several years (except for dessert. She doesn't eat ice cream or anything, but won't deprive herself of something delicious just because it's not fully vegan), and was...
My wife has been vegan for several years (except for dessert. She doesn't eat ice cream or anything, but won't deprive herself of something delicious just because it's not fully vegan), and was vegetarian for most of her life before that. In fact, she's never had red meat.
I was mostly vegan alongside her for awhile until I was diagnosed with an ongoing disease last year which restricts my food intake to the point where I needed to start eating meat again to maintain nutrition.
Personally I feel a lot better when I'm not eating a ton of meat. I don't ever plan on going back to eating it regularly so long as my body will let me.
I'm one of them! Been vegan since November 2015, and in fact, it wasn't for any "definite reason"; I just woke up one day and was decided it on the spot. Then I started getting into animal rights...
I'm one of them! Been vegan since November 2015, and in fact, it wasn't for any "definite reason"; I just woke up one day and was decided it on the spot. Then I started getting into animal rights advocacy etc., and inevitably also helped a few people in my life to become vegan too, when they showed interest about it.
Back in 2015, in my country, it was basically impossible to find lots of products that are widely available now. Vegan milks, tofu, dairy-free alternatives of foods, nooch, etc. were only available in random "bio food" mini-stores, basically. Now we get to have entire rows of shelves in the supermarket! Regardless, my experience has been relatively easy. The biggest annoyance is my family trying to pressure me into becoming at least a vegetarian, if not an omnivore again, during the first few years. Thankfully, they stopped doing pestering me with it eventually.
A funny "party story" I have is that there's actually a very big chance that I and my father are partially responsible for making the biggest fast food chain in my country add vegan options to their menu. I and my father sent a 2-page essay to them, regarding why it mattered, how big the vegan market was slowly getting in our country (therefore, how profitable it could be), and what options they could use. A few months later, they announced their first vegan menu items!
I’m probably not adding anything new to this conversation at this point, but I’m so jazzed about how many posts there are in here that I felt like I had to add another! I’ve been vegan since 2017...
I’m probably not adding anything new to this conversation at this point, but I’m so jazzed about how many posts there are in here that I felt like I had to add another!
I’ve been vegan since 2017 (holy cow that’s six years). I’d been vegetarian for four years before that; basically all it took was an understanding of the relationship between the dairy and meat industry (and how heinous factory dairy and egg farms are) to immediately turn the tide for me. My wife and I are both vegan for ethical reasons; we are perfectly able to live on plants, and so it feels horribly wrong to murder other conscious beings simply for our own enjoyment.
Plus, farm animals are wonderful, intelligent, social creatures, and keeping them in captivity, abusing, and eventually slaughtering them (usually as adolescents) is just… it makes me shudder to think about it.
The past few years have seen an absolutely explosion in plant-based restaurants (or at least plant-based options!), which has been wonderful. I love feeling like the tide is slowly turning, even for people who default to eating animal products. And HappyCow is absolutely a blessing; I feel so much less anxious about finding food in new places than I used to.
I'm vegan in that I don't eat animal products, but I'm not really in on the ethical philosophy. Of course I don't count it as a mark against those who do think that way. The reason why I decided...
I'm vegan in that I don't eat animal products, but I'm not really in on the ethical philosophy. Of course I don't count it as a mark against those who do think that way.
The reason why I decided to change was because I got help from an intensive lifestyle medicine program in an effort to lose weight. I didn't have to go vegan, but considering the alternative program they offered would require a vast reduction in the amount of meat I could eat I figured it was easier to "reset" rather than to restrict. And I think I made the right decision because I haven't had any animal products for a few months and that's actually the easiest part of the program. Getting rid of all the fat and oil is the hard part. Technically I'm aiming for a whole foods plant based diet, which also means no processed foods and added sugars, oils, and salt.
The thing that really pushed me over the edge to make the choice was when I had educated myself about all of the benefits. As it turns out, this diet has a wide-reaching health benefits and actually helps to reduce mortality when compared to the standard American diet. It's not just theoretical, either; I've got labs to prove it. My weight, LDL, and A1C levels are all notably lower than when I started.
One of the most surprising things about eating this way is the fringe food benefits, though. Animal products are very volatile; they expire quickly, need special storage considerations, and need to be cooked very carefully with complicated rituals to get the right results. Meat is a bacteria magnet and can kill you if you don't cook it properly. The taste can be unappealing if cold, and reheating them usually destroys the textures. In comparison, plants just don't care. They (mostly) last longer, are pretty forgiving when it comes to cooking them, and are much more likely to taste better when cold.
I'm also trying to switch to a whole food plant based diet, but I started being vegan for ethical reasons. It's great, because it's better for your health, the planet, and the animals! Good luck...
I'm also trying to switch to a whole food plant based diet, but I started being vegan for ethical reasons. It's great, because it's better for your health, the planet, and the animals! Good luck on your journey!
I guess I should share too. I've been vegan for almost 2 years now. I started out as vegeterian for a few months, but I joined the r/vegancirclejerk subreddit to guilt myself into being vegan....
I guess I should share too. I've been vegan for almost 2 years now. I started out as vegeterian for a few months, but I joined the r/vegancirclejerk subreddit to guilt myself into being vegan. That seemed to work, and now here I am!
I had been thinking about how it was wrong to eat animal products for a bit before I went vegeterian, but I didn't push myself to stop. My catalyst was when I went to the county fair and saw how terribly the animals were treated. I saw a farmer beating his pigs, and the other animals looked sad and in squalor. That really put me off, but what really did it was getting some chicken tenders. I bit into one, and it had a peice of fat, reminding me that I was eating a once living being. I remember thinking to myself "I'm sorry chicken", and almost crying.
When I saw veganism as an ethical standpoint, it was pretty easy to give up animal products. I also think it's easier to be vegan now as it's ever been, so I commend the old timers for bringing us to this point!
I've been vegan for a couple of years now. Right around 3 years, should be. I was vegetarian for 11-12 years before that. A friend basically called me out when it came to the suffering of animals,...
I've been vegan for a couple of years now. Right around 3 years, should be. I was vegetarian for 11-12 years before that. A friend basically called me out when it came to the suffering of animals, and I went the rest of the way. I never enjoyed meat, partially because of the knowledge of it being a dead animal, but also because I just found the taste and texture of most meats unpleasant. I don't seek out meat substitutes that are meant to emulate meat for that reason. (An exception being processed meat like chick'n nuggets.) I never thought I was lactose intolerant, but I have noticed a difference in my digestion since cutting dairy out, so maybe I was slightly intolerant. I know that going vegan is good for the environment, but any of the reasons that aren't about the ethical treatment of animals are secondary.
I've noticed how much easier plant-based foods are to find in regular grocery stores in recent years. There are more and more options available; even a lot of store brands are picking up vegan choices. I tend to have some trouble getting a varied diet, but that's more about my own laziness than a plant-based diet. I could eat garbanzo beans every day and never get tired of them.
I think one thing that I haven't encountered a good substitute for is gummy bears. There are fruit snacks and pectin gummies, but none of them have the right texture. The Swedish Fish types are out there too, but it's just not the same as a regular gummy bear/worm.
Hello! I became vegan over 10 years ago. I took a bioethics course at Uni and was exposed to Peter Singer's writings, and for the first time really considered our use of animals (the context in...
Hello! I became vegan over 10 years ago. I took a bioethics course at Uni and was exposed to Peter Singer's writings, and for the first time really considered our use of animals (the context in the course was in terms of xenotransplantation, among other things). I soon became vegetarian, and soon after that, vegan.
No-one in my family is vegan, or vegetarian, but already being an adult, I didn't experience the added difficulties that others who made the switch earlier sometimes do. I had my own money and cooked for myself. Overall, the experience has been positive. I feel like I live in line with my ethics, though socially it can still sometimes be awkward.
Vegan since 2019. Vegetarian basically since birth (mom went veg in her 20s, and now rarely eats dairy). Ended up going for it for health reasons (which didn’t exactly work out) and moral (learned...
Vegan since 2019. Vegetarian basically since birth (mom went veg in her 20s, and now rarely eats dairy). Ended up going for it for health reasons (which didn’t exactly work out) and moral (learned about the culling of male chicks and the use of dairy calfs as veal). Being in the American South is an interesting experience, although the grocery stores have plenty, there’s a few vegan restaurants, and several of the chain pizza places have vegan cheese. Most people are either supportive or indifferent. I haven’t really encountered much hostility.
More or less. I can't consider myself vegan because I don't go 100% all the time, but I would say, it's very rare that I'm not vegan. I'm primarily vegan because of the meat industry and the...
More or less. I can't consider myself vegan because I don't go 100% all the time, but I would say, it's very rare that I'm not vegan.
I'm primarily vegan because of the meat industry and the problems that brings it. (pollution, anti biotics abuse, cruelty, sick animals, poor quality).
My GF brought me into it and I rarely miss things. Just tried it for a month and then just continued.
For milk and eggs I've found nice replacements. I really dig soy and almond milk. For eggs in baked goods such as cakes I usually use apple sauce or bananas. But there are also white-egg-replacement powders.
I yet have to find a pure cooked egg in vegan, so I just buy bio eggs every now and then.
My dad is a hunter and when he shoots a deer or boar, I have no moral problems to eat them, as shooting them is part of the population control.
In my country you can't just take a rifle and visit the nearby forest. You need permission for the forest which is rare.
Often the hunters own the forests. This makes them responsible to keep the it in a thriving state to keep the animals healthy.
For example building winter shelters, food stations, localizing sick animals, keeping it tidy and alike.
If a few deers get shot during the year, I think its fine. But I understand that this is against the vegan mindset in general. I think I eat deer and boar around 5-10 times in total per year.
Anything that comes from a super market I find disgusting, as even the "bio animals" usually meet the same reaper that the cheap industrial animals do.
Pro side is, that I lost weight very quickly because I had to look closer in what I put into my meals.
Dishes are generally cheaper when you don't buy alternative meat products.
I was forced to try out new dishes and I usually liked it.
No money for the industrial animal cruelty from me.
I call myself an opportunistic omnivore. If there’s meat that’s going to go to waste, I’ll eat it. Cooking for myself (almost all my meals) is usually vegan and almost always vegetarian (minus a...
I call myself an opportunistic omnivore. If there’s meat that’s going to go to waste, I’ll eat it. Cooking for myself (almost all my meals) is usually vegan and almost always vegetarian (minus a few times a year), but I’m a little more flexible on the occasions I eat out.
I'm still on the "pescatarian" train, buy my lady friend is vegan (tho, I think she'd prefer the term "plant-based" cuz I think the "vegan" label embarrasses her) and I often eat vegan with her....
I'm still on the "pescatarian" train, buy my lady friend is vegan (tho, I think she'd prefer the term "plant-based" cuz I think the "vegan" label embarrasses her) and I often eat vegan with her. We're lucky enough to live in an area (Los Angeles-y) rife with vegan options (at least, probably more so than many areas) and we often cook our own vegan meals. It ain't too hard with all the plant-based "meat" alternatives that are out there, now (even though it seems like some are starting to fall off the market), which work reasonably well as the protein component in the meals we cook. Not that every dish needs a meat-like protein, but it's nice to include. Especially when trying to ape a food item that isn't natively vegan. In fact, I'd kinda like exploring more vegetable-forward dishes that really put them on display. Thinking about it... we've made a lot of damn good meals. Unfortunately, the one area that plant-based options fall short is dairy, specifically the "cheese." It just ain't there. Although, I've had some good cashew cheese.. but that's more in the context of "cheese and crackers" cheese. When we need something melt-y, none of the available shreds really do the trick.
I'd say her reasons for going vegan (err.. "plant-based") hover around the moralistic "animals are friends" deal, which would basically be my reasons, as well (if I were less of a coward and jumped into the pool, that is). I can't say I've done a deep dive into the philosophy, but I just think as we learn more about animal intelligence and their ability to display culture (although, maybe that's just us anthropomorphizing?) in the long-term the act of eating animals is gonna be on the wrong side of history. Not sure where I stand on the environmental impacts... surely it at least seems that raising farm animals is a net detriment to the environment, but I wouldn't say that'd be my main reason should I go vegan. I'm also fairly sure there isn't anything inherently more "healthy" (which I think is a damn nebulous term, especially with regards to nutrition, anyway) in a vegan diet.
I'm vegan because I don't really digest meat very well, and it's super gross if it goes bad so I jsut don't buy it. I get most of my nutrients from soylent, other then that it's mostly bread and oats.
I'm vegan because I don't really digest meat very well, and it's super gross if it goes bad so I jsut don't buy it.
I get most of my nutrients from soylent, other then that it's mostly bread and oats.
I love it; though, it could do with more fibre and it isn't something I can subsist on. I don't think it provides enough calories (or amino acids?) for me, I have to eat other 'normal' things too....
I love it; though, it could do with more fibre and it isn't something I can subsist on. I don't think it provides enough calories (or amino acids?) for me, I have to eat other 'normal' things too.
Nevertheless, I love that it's shipped to my door, it takes <5 minutes to prepare using barely any electricity, and there's barely any mess to clean up (less water!).
I was curious and looked up the amino acids available in soy:
There isn't any vanilla in it afaik (it does have natural and artificial flavours though), it's just the same colour as a vanilla milkshake so that's what it tastes like to me. Hard to describe...
There isn't any vanilla in it afaik (it does have natural and artificial flavours though), it's just the same colour as a vanilla milkshake so that's what it tastes like to me. Hard to describe really... and no, I don't get tired of it. Although it is 'enjoyable' as it were, it's just a another chore to me. Like brushing my teeth, but with the satisfaction of a full belly.
*I just want to add that I'm talking about the powder Soylent, not the bottled stuff. I don't like those, they start tasting weird after a while.
For me personally, I'm sure I would get bored. Eating is one of my great joys in life, and I like variety. Do you just not care too much about what you eat, as long as it's healthy?
For me personally, I'm sure I would get bored. Eating is one of my great joys in life, and I like variety. Do you just not care too much about what you eat, as long as it's healthy?
I totally understand that. I suppose I'm a bit of a fringe case in that regard. And yeah, I mostly don't care as long as it's healthy. I of course sometimes order a pizza or maybe a pastry from a...
I totally understand that. I suppose I'm a bit of a fringe case in that regard. And yeah, I mostly don't care as long as it's healthy. I of course sometimes order a pizza or maybe a pastry from a nice cafe, but not often.
I am, with a caveat that probably just means I'm a total hypocrite in some eyes What I have at home, what I buy, is all vegan. When I order food, I stick to vegetarian/vegan options. If someone...
I am, with a caveat that probably just means I'm a total hypocrite in some eyes
What I have at home, what I buy, is all vegan. When I order food, I stick to vegetarian/vegan options. If someone makes me food, however, I will eat what is served. It's more important to me to share that meal with folks than to get nitpicky about the diet. I can't eat much of it anyway because it upsets my stomach now, and folks tend to be pretty accommodating when they know that. I've never really been one to argue it out with folks - more often than not, it's someone else getting weird over me eating the vegan option, who themselves invents a problem with it, and then uses that to go on whatever tirade they have about vegans in general. Love it when I go out to try a new vegan burger and some asshat just has to talk about how much meat he's gonna eat, at me but not with enough courage to do it to my face.
I got there because I watched some videos of a slaughterhouse, to put it simply. I'd rather not recount the specifics, but it definitely gave me an image that I did not like.
Hello fellow tilde-vegans, First post here. Hugs to all of you.
Vegan for about 10 years now, my wife has been vegan well over 30 years, well past keeping track. I was veggie a long time before officially going vegan as I did not think that I would be able to go vegan and stick to it, so I wasn't going to use any false labels even though I strongly ethically agreed with the stance. I got sick of myself in the end and bit the bullet. One of the best decisions of my life, it was like a weight came off me.
Reasons: Animal rights, antispeciesism, etc are the intellectual reasons, but at the core is that I grew up on a farm, raising pigs for slaughter and shooting, trapping and ferreting wild animals. I know that ethical or humane slaughter is a lie. I know from experience how passionately alive other animals are and how much we steal that from them. When I am in a shop and see plastic wrapped chicken I can feel the soft warmth of a live chicken's feathers and how quivering with curiosity and life she was as I held her. I know that there is no such thing as a humane animal farm as economics forces all farmers to treat "livestock" as a commodity, not another creature with personhood. No matter how much we farmers try to convince ourselves that we love our animals it is always secondary to economics. We can't afford to get a vet in for a sick piglet even if we want to, so we pick them up by the hind leg and smash their head on the concrete.
Tl:dr I am still full of guilt for all those that I mistreated and loaded onto trucks for slaughter. I remember their fear and screams. Being vegan is an absolute moral baseline. It is the neutral position of avoiding harm rather than a positive good. There is more I should be doing.
I want to echo these comments as someone else who grew up on a farm and, when I was much younger, participated in its slaughter practices. I feel much the same as you do. Vegan for thirteen years now.
Well that hits hard. I’ve never thought of it in those terms. I’ve been a mostly vegan opportunistic omnivore since like 2006 or so but maybe I’ll go that last bit to be vegan…
Do it :)
So easy these days with the sheer abundance of vegan options. The only problem is other people.
My wife is rather cross at the moment. She went vegan decades ago when it was real hairshirt stuff and vegan food all seemed to be made of wholemeal straw clippings. Now that it is easy she has developed a gluten intolerance and is having to start again learning how to cook vegan and gluten free. She defeated the boss level but the game glitched and sent her back to play from Level One again. Very fucked off.
As for the rest of us, it's time to enjoy the bounty available.
I like to (semi-jokingly) describe myself as the "world's worst vegan". I can't eat dairy, and I do gravitate towards vegan options when they're offered, but other that that I'm nowhere near exclusive about it. I try to reduce my meat consumption when I can, but I have a lot of dietary issues in general, and trying to eliminate meat from my diet entirely would almost certainly just lead to me not reliably getting enough proper nutrition. I do eat eggs, but I only buy free-run ones. I eat honey, but I purchase it from local beekeepers. And so on and so forth.
All in all, I'm very much philosophically in support of the tenets of veganism, even though practically I haven't been able to incorporate it properly into my own life. Part of growing up for me has been a process of consciously letting go as much of that guilt as possible, and deciding not to let perfect be the enemy of good.
Lol. I'm the same. My girlfriend is vegan so I eat and cook mostly vegan foods. But I've had health issues related to eating disorders all my life - so I give myself room to stretch and eat meat and the things my body occasionally asks for.
this is me! I'm kind of "incidentally vegan/vegetarian" as my own "natural" diet and preferences are basically devoid of meat and most animal products. I generally won't cook/prepare meat for myself (huge ick factor when handling it), but if e.g. my husband is making salmon, I'll eat it.
I do generally agree that a vegan lifestyle is pretty difficult to argue against for your average middle class westerner. I also agree that we can't let perfect be the enemy of good. Any reduction in consumption is a positive.
In my ideal world, food deserts would not exist, everyone would have equal access to quality and cruelty free (INCLUDING human cruelty - the way we treat farm workers is disgusting) nutrition, and animal products would be treated as a luxury.
Vegan of 10+ years here! I became vegetarian because I couldn't rationally explain why eating the flesh of living, conscious, emotional beings was necessary, especially when I was financially capable of solving any nutrition problems being without meat could supposedly create; after meeting a vegan friend while traveling, she exposed me to the ethical inadequacies of vegetarianism, so I became vegan without hesitation, and here we are, a decade later.
My experience has been utterly painless. Caveat that I will credit 80% of the ease with which I transitioned to a vegan lifestyle to having a partner who is also vegan for the same ethical reasons.
Other than a few snafus with hyper-aggressive anti-vegans, it's been smooth sailing. Finding vegan food while traveling has always been easy between personal recommendations aplenty and HappyCow, and especially these days when eating "plant based" is popular.
What health issues I have are pre-existing, and I think I'm in the minority when I say I've seen no changes for the better or worse because of my diet. (TBH being vegan has given me something of a shortcut past the usual doctor recommendations that I "stop eating red meat for six months" before recommending alternative options.)
Same here. Pescatarian for about a year, vegetarian for about 2 yrs after that, then went vegan for good over 15 yrs ago. Hubby is vegan, adult daughter is vegan, so we all suppprt each other. I do a lot of the cooking and we don't eat very much processed food. Health is good, husband has no issues, and my daughter is an athlete.
BTW, we are vegan for ethical, environmental and health reasons. Its a package deal.
I do sympathize when people online talk about being unable to switch because of family/partners/etc. I know a lot of vegans with rules to only date vegans for exactly that reason. The value of constant and consistent support that comes from being around likeminded (or even just open minded) people cannot be overstated.
I was actually raised vegetarian, by a father who was raised vegetarian, by a father who went vegetarian when he was 10 years old in 1940s working-class Britain! Which is pretty cool.
My parents were pretty transparent with us about the reasoning - animal ethics - since we were old enough to understand it. Which was quite young, because it's very easy to understand "animals are cute, and nice, so we don't eat them". I actually stopped eating cheese at around 5 years old, after reading Little House in the Big Woods, the first of the Prairie series, because it had a description of how cheese was made with rennet (the lining of a calf's stomach). At the time there weren't really any cheeses that used non-animal rennet, so I stopped eating them at that point. Started again as a teen when non-animal rennet became more of a thing.
I went fully vegan at around 22 years old, which is around when I learnt about the horrors of the dairy and egg industries. I wasn't starting from a meat-eating background, so the switch was a lot easier for me than many others.
I've been vegan for over 3 years now, my wife for almost 15. My experience has been great, I rarely have any issues unless I'm at a conference or something where there isn't a vegan option for food.
I went vegan mostly due to the healthy discussions with my wife and by living with her. Our home was 100% vegan when we decided to live together and before I knew it, I made the decision to make the switch.
As for the why, I guess it boils down to I'd rather not kill something to survive if I can help it.
Since 1999. Was pretty difficult back then to find ready-prepared products, but was kinda good because it meant I ate less crap.
Soya milk was quite awful: it tasted like cardboard. Alpro kinda changed the market when they turned up.
Recent boom has been good for making it easy to eat out, but I've worried that some of the brands like Fry's they have had good products for a long time would be able to compete.
It looks like vegan market has contacted in the UK recently, with the larger companies leaving the space again.
Wow! I’ve been vegan since 2012 now. I also tried back in 2006 and lasted about a year. When people tell me now “oh it’s so hard” I have to tell them it’s really not! Compared to 2006 it’s easy peasy. My grocery stores back then only had rice milk in the shelf-stable section and it was… not great.
There are so many options now. I can’t imagine 1999! Especially as a junk food vegan like myself :)
Just commenting to tag @loxiran, you mentioned on my post you are vegan so might find this interesting?
No judgement! Sorry for tagging you - I will keep that in mind and refrain from doing so next time, so you can choose to engage or not.
Fwiw, I too find 'the German vegan subreddit' unpleasant. I'm more in camp plant based personally, so the more practical, recipe subreddits were a better fit for me.
Since you're a long-time vegan... do you even use all these newfangled meat replacements?
Ohhh, a lot of that highlights why I kept my distance lol. Especially considering I'm plant-based for climate change reasons. I'm perfectly willing to eat meat when eating out, and will occasionally buy meat. Currently I end up eating meat roughly weekly or biweekly, but don't ask about dairy. I try to reduce the residual animal products I eat, but I think I've worked the pareto principle here: The progress I've made in the past was significantly easier than the way that is still to go. I don't care much that there's a tiny amount of gelatin in some sweets I eat; I care about reducing my meat consumption by 90%.
I don't usually talk about it much because neither omnis nor vegans understand, but I found it difficult to make the change. Vegan cooking follows a vastly different style. Unless you're reaching for meat replacements, you basically give up the "carb, protein, vegetable" formula, because there's no vegan steak alternative that would make "steak, taters and broccoli" work. So many kitchen techniques don't work anymore. Most vegans change for much more "emotional" reasons, but my motivation is more coming from the rational side of things. (Climate reasons) But I still like the taste and am not really disgusted by the cruelty. So it's always a bit of an uphill battle to adapt recipes or introduce new ones, because I'm not emotionally invested. A stressful lifestyle where food is often more of an afterthought probably doesn't help.
I've been a vegan for almost four years now. I went vegan with support from Challenge 22 although I knew for a long time beforehand that I needed to do it. What finally pushed me over the line was the Veganuary programme that exploded in the UK. I live in London which I would describe as the easiest place to be a vegan in the world (although Brighton is probably a very close second).
I turned vegan exclusively because of the horrific way animals are treated. It's a nice added bonus that it's good for the environment.
It's gone really well for me. I've learnt to cook more things than before and most existing recipes were easy to adapt. As I live in the UK, there are ever so many ready made options in the shops and restaurants too. Even steakhouses here have vegan options (not that I'd ever set foot in one).
I was vegan for about a year. I'm not super passionate about animal rights in particular, but I felt like I wouldn't be able to kill and prepare animals I'd raised myself, and at some point it started to seem hypocritical to buy the stuff in a store instead. I could have gone vegetarian, but to be honest, dairy farming almost seems more unethical than straight-up eating animals to me.
It wasn't sustainable for me, though. I have a lot of sensory issues around food, plus a nice combo of physical disability/ADHD/OCD that make it very hard for me to prepare my own food and still make halfway nutritionally decent choices. Don't get me wrong, if I were more determined and more devoted to the ethics, I could have kept it up—I know people who've been vegan for about as long as I've been alive, and there are some in this thread who come close to that—but I didn't.
That said, recs for favorite easy vegan recipes & packaged foods are still appreciated. I'm picky (can't stand mushrooms or nutritional yeast, and uh they're usually ok but sometimes beans creep me out lol) and it can be hard to find certain ingredients where I live, but show me what you've got.
As a side note, I think a brief stint of veganism did a lot for me as a person. For one thing, it gave me an easy way to work on setting boundaries and self-advocating. After months of having to tell people "no, that restaurant won't work for me, how about this one?" and declining non-vegan foods that were offered to me, I'm less anxious about doing that stuff in other settings. I have family and friends who are serious, aggressive drinkers to the point where going along with them impacted my health, and I'd probably be in a much worse place if I hadn't had all that practice saying no. I think that's a good thing to keep in mind if you're annoyed by those who are "vegans with exceptions". They're not necessarily just being difficult; it might still be helping them.
It was also good for me to think about making ethical decisions in everyday life, and I think those lessons will stay with me to some degree even now that I'm no longer devoted to the same set of principles. At the end of the day I'm the type who believes that harm reduction is a good thing, and I count the small successes, like the fact that my family's favorite dessert recipe is vegan (they don't believe it, but it is!).
2 years vegan now!
Watched Dominion and it destroyed me.
I miss the ease of going to any restaurant and just ordering anything without looking. I miss not checking every ingredients list to make sure they didn't add milk powder or fish paste or whatever to my food. I miss not answering questions about my protein levels.
Small things :)
The only thing I regret is not doing it earlier.
I was already vegan when I saw Lucent and Dominion, and I agree they are distressing. I don't seek out this kind of footage, but being Australian myself, I try to stay informed of what's going on here, as it invariably comes up in conversation. A lot of footage/info has been compiled on the Farm Transparency Project site too.
Ok…I’m not a vegan, BUT I do enjoy some vegan dishes here and there. I would like to gravitate toward plant based milks and cheese/yogurt, but the ones I’ve tried taste like water. Especially almond milk. Any options that closely resemble regular milk?
I really like Chobani oat milk. The texture feels right, if that makes sense? And it comes in a zero sugar variety, which I love. Plain unsweetened, unflavored soy milk is probably my second pick. And you like chocolate at all, unsweetened chocolate almond milk in coffee is really really good (even though I'm not normally big on almond milk either).
Haven't found any cheese that really works for me outside of nice vegan restaurants, unfortunately. I like Siggi's and So Delicious yogurts, but both are coconut-based, so some won't like the flavor (or the amount of saturated fat).
You might want to check out Mary’s Test Kitchen for cheese recipes if you’re not averse to making your own.
Thanks for the suggestion! I've heard good things about her recipes before and they look relatively simple, so I'll definitely have to try.
Thought I’d mention I bought the chobani extra creamy oat milk and I’m pleasantly surprised by how much I like it! Consistency is absolutely spot on. Very neutral in flavor.
If you’re looking for a coffee creamer replacement for milk, NutPods are a great alternative. I like the Original and Vanilla flavors.
Thanks for the recommendation! Would you say it’s pretty sweet? Can’t stand when it’s too much, makes my coffee undrinkable.
Nah, it’s entirely unsweetened! I like to add some light maple syrup from time to time.
Excellent, once I go through my current creamer I’ll give this a try (:
I personally think soymilk is the closest, and it's the healthiest! I usually buy Silk's unsweetened variety. If not soymilk, have you tried Oatly? That's not watery at all in my opinion. It's very rich and thick.
I actually like sweetened almond milk in my coffee, gives it a nutty flavours, I put a lot in too more than just a tablespoon or 2
If you actually want milk for drinking straight, check out:
Silk’s Next Milk and So Delicious’s Wondermilk, both of which are plant-based, but are actually formulated to have similar flavor notes and consistency (and macros, ish) to dairy milk. They won’t taste the same, but they’ll probably be more familiar!
Oat milk. Especially Oatly brand. Much creamier and tastier than almond milk. Definitely doesn’t actually taste like dairy milk, but it does have a nice flavor!
Soy milk. A lot of American soy milk (like Silk) is pretty subdued; vanilla flavored soy milk is pretty delicious. If you like the taste of soy, though, I’d try to get some Japanese boxed soy milk at an Asian grocery; that stuff is delicious.
Excellent; thanks for the recommendations! I’ll have to see if my store has that new Silk milk, they seem to keep up with new stuff in the natural section.
They do carry oatly so if not the first I’ll give the other a try (:
I think overall soy milk is the closest (and is certainly the closest nutrition-wise). But I use several different plant milks depending on the use. Oat milk is the best tasting in coffee IMO, and macadamia milk gives a nice nutty flavor that really goes well in chocolate milk or chai.
I decided on Chobani’s extra creamy oat milk and I am pleasantly surprised at how much I like it! Tried it in coffee this morning and in a protein shake yesterday, and I like how neutral it is. And just the right amount of sweetness. For some reason cows milk can smell sour to me even when fresh, and this doesn’t smell like that at all.
Aldi's oatmilk for life here. Best ever.
7 year vegan checking in. I became vegan around the time my wife and I started a farm animal sanctuary. I was unable to have conative dissonance when we decided to start taking farm animals in. Now we have over 20 pigs, 6 cows, horses, and chickens all living their best life.
It wasn't the easiest process for me, giving up dairy was the hardest. However, I feel much better health wise, no longer miss animal products, and love helping provide a home for the animals where they can safely live out their lives.
I’ve considered veganism as I very rarely eat meat outside of necessity these days, but I do struggle with replacements for eggs, cheese and milk. Eggs are such a massive part of my diet I wouldn’t know what to replace them with. Vegan cheese is nearly inedible, and the ones that are edible are twice the price for a product that only just crosses the “edible” threshold. Plant and nut-based milks are plagued with issues themselves between the various oils and chemicals that make them significantly worse for your health than cow’s milk.
So in the end I’m mostly pescatarian with an occasional weakness for bbq chicken. I only buy eggs and milk from local farms and I’ve cut back on cheese as much as I can, but boy do I have a weakness for Reggiano.
I'm happy you've considered it before!
I get where you're coming from. I don't really much vegan cheese or eggs anymore, because cravings for those things have subsided after about a year of being vegan. You kind of just learn to replace them with other things. Nowadays, I mostly eat beans and pulses for my protein, and if I'm wanting something a little cheesy, nutritional yeast does that for me. I love mixing nutritional yeast into homemade pesto, or putting it on top of salads or pasta!
Yes, unfortunately a lot of the plant milks in the refrigerated section have quite a few additives. On the bright side, the shelf stable section have plenty of plant milks that are just oats, soy beans, rice, etc. plus water. I've heard very good things about Edensoy, which you can find in the shelf stable section. I've been meaning to try it out myself. Soymilk is actually very healthful, with lots of protein, calcium, potassium, and I find it to be very flavorful and rich.
My main point being, it can be daunting at first, but over time your body will adjust, and a lot of the cravings will go away. If it seems daunting, you can always try removing one thing at a time, one day at a time. You can say, "today, I won't eat eggs." Then you just keep doing that, and you'll probably find that it's not as hard as you thought. The animals and earth will thank you :)
I’ll give the shelf-stable milks a try sometime. I’m sure there are plenty of options out there and I simply haven’t done enough research. We have a plethora of independent health stores near me so I don’t have any excuses to not take the plunge. Breaking away entirely from processed foods is my end goal, and veganism is a decent next step past that point. Thanks for the post!
Just to add to this, plant milk is actually really easy to make at home. Just take the thing you want to milk, soak it in water, toss it in a blender, and strain through a nutmilk bag (or muslin, but the specialized version is more convenient and easier).
Though obviously it won't be quite as nice if you're expecting it to taste like the sweetened and oil-filled kinds - but those are easy enough to fix if you miss it.
Honestly I’m one of the oddballs who just doesn’t like the sweetened, oil-filled alt-milks (milk drinks? What are they calling them now?). I started off with rice milk and quite liked the unsweetened version by itself, but it tasted and acted like water when used as cereal milk. I’ve tried a few of the oat milks and almond milks but haven’t taken a liking to any except the Trader Joe’s one, which I assume is as unhealthy as the rest. I need to give soy milk another try soon now that we have plenty of data showing little to no effect on estrogen levels.
I’ll look into making my own, that sounds like the best option for me I think.
My wife has been vegan for several years (except for dessert. She doesn't eat ice cream or anything, but won't deprive herself of something delicious just because it's not fully vegan), and was vegetarian for most of her life before that. In fact, she's never had red meat.
I was mostly vegan alongside her for awhile until I was diagnosed with an ongoing disease last year which restricts my food intake to the point where I needed to start eating meat again to maintain nutrition.
Personally I feel a lot better when I'm not eating a ton of meat. I don't ever plan on going back to eating it regularly so long as my body will let me.
I'm one of them! Been vegan since November 2015, and in fact, it wasn't for any "definite reason"; I just woke up one day and was decided it on the spot. Then I started getting into animal rights advocacy etc., and inevitably also helped a few people in my life to become vegan too, when they showed interest about it.
Back in 2015, in my country, it was basically impossible to find lots of products that are widely available now. Vegan milks, tofu, dairy-free alternatives of foods, nooch, etc. were only available in random "bio food" mini-stores, basically. Now we get to have entire rows of shelves in the supermarket! Regardless, my experience has been relatively easy. The biggest annoyance is my family trying to pressure me into becoming at least a vegetarian, if not an omnivore again, during the first few years. Thankfully, they stopped doing pestering me with it eventually.
A funny "party story" I have is that there's actually a very big chance that I and my father are partially responsible for making the biggest fast food chain in my country add vegan options to their menu. I and my father sent a 2-page essay to them, regarding why it mattered, how big the vegan market was slowly getting in our country (therefore, how profitable it could be), and what options they could use. A few months later, they announced their first vegan menu items!
I’m probably not adding anything new to this conversation at this point, but I’m so jazzed about how many posts there are in here that I felt like I had to add another!
I’ve been vegan since 2017 (holy cow that’s six years). I’d been vegetarian for four years before that; basically all it took was an understanding of the relationship between the dairy and meat industry (and how heinous factory dairy and egg farms are) to immediately turn the tide for me. My wife and I are both vegan for ethical reasons; we are perfectly able to live on plants, and so it feels horribly wrong to murder other conscious beings simply for our own enjoyment.
Plus, farm animals are wonderful, intelligent, social creatures, and keeping them in captivity, abusing, and eventually slaughtering them (usually as adolescents) is just… it makes me shudder to think about it.
The past few years have seen an absolutely explosion in plant-based restaurants (or at least plant-based options!), which has been wonderful. I love feeling like the tide is slowly turning, even for people who default to eating animal products. And HappyCow is absolutely a blessing; I feel so much less anxious about finding food in new places than I used to.
I'm vegan in that I don't eat animal products, but I'm not really in on the ethical philosophy. Of course I don't count it as a mark against those who do think that way.
The reason why I decided to change was because I got help from an intensive lifestyle medicine program in an effort to lose weight. I didn't have to go vegan, but considering the alternative program they offered would require a vast reduction in the amount of meat I could eat I figured it was easier to "reset" rather than to restrict. And I think I made the right decision because I haven't had any animal products for a few months and that's actually the easiest part of the program. Getting rid of all the fat and oil is the hard part. Technically I'm aiming for a whole foods plant based diet, which also means no processed foods and added sugars, oils, and salt.
The thing that really pushed me over the edge to make the choice was when I had educated myself about all of the benefits. As it turns out, this diet has a wide-reaching health benefits and actually helps to reduce mortality when compared to the standard American diet. It's not just theoretical, either; I've got labs to prove it. My weight, LDL, and A1C levels are all notably lower than when I started.
One of the most surprising things about eating this way is the fringe food benefits, though. Animal products are very volatile; they expire quickly, need special storage considerations, and need to be cooked very carefully with complicated rituals to get the right results. Meat is a bacteria magnet and can kill you if you don't cook it properly. The taste can be unappealing if cold, and reheating them usually destroys the textures. In comparison, plants just don't care. They (mostly) last longer, are pretty forgiving when it comes to cooking them, and are much more likely to taste better when cold.
I'm also trying to switch to a whole food plant based diet, but I started being vegan for ethical reasons. It's great, because it's better for your health, the planet, and the animals! Good luck on your journey!
I guess I should share too. I've been vegan for almost 2 years now. I started out as vegeterian for a few months, but I joined the r/vegancirclejerk subreddit to guilt myself into being vegan. That seemed to work, and now here I am!
I had been thinking about how it was wrong to eat animal products for a bit before I went vegeterian, but I didn't push myself to stop. My catalyst was when I went to the county fair and saw how terribly the animals were treated. I saw a farmer beating his pigs, and the other animals looked sad and in squalor. That really put me off, but what really did it was getting some chicken tenders. I bit into one, and it had a peice of fat, reminding me that I was eating a once living being. I remember thinking to myself "I'm sorry chicken", and almost crying.
When I saw veganism as an ethical standpoint, it was pretty easy to give up animal products. I also think it's easier to be vegan now as it's ever been, so I commend the old timers for bringing us to this point!
I've been vegan for a couple of years now. Right around 3 years, should be. I was vegetarian for 11-12 years before that. A friend basically called me out when it came to the suffering of animals, and I went the rest of the way. I never enjoyed meat, partially because of the knowledge of it being a dead animal, but also because I just found the taste and texture of most meats unpleasant. I don't seek out meat substitutes that are meant to emulate meat for that reason. (An exception being processed meat like chick'n nuggets.) I never thought I was lactose intolerant, but I have noticed a difference in my digestion since cutting dairy out, so maybe I was slightly intolerant. I know that going vegan is good for the environment, but any of the reasons that aren't about the ethical treatment of animals are secondary.
I've noticed how much easier plant-based foods are to find in regular grocery stores in recent years. There are more and more options available; even a lot of store brands are picking up vegan choices. I tend to have some trouble getting a varied diet, but that's more about my own laziness than a plant-based diet. I could eat garbanzo beans every day and never get tired of them.
I think one thing that I haven't encountered a good substitute for is gummy bears. There are fruit snacks and pectin gummies, but none of them have the right texture. The Swedish Fish types are out there too, but it's just not the same as a regular gummy bear/worm.
Hello! I became vegan over 10 years ago. I took a bioethics course at Uni and was exposed to Peter Singer's writings, and for the first time really considered our use of animals (the context in the course was in terms of xenotransplantation, among other things). I soon became vegetarian, and soon after that, vegan.
No-one in my family is vegan, or vegetarian, but already being an adult, I didn't experience the added difficulties that others who made the switch earlier sometimes do. I had my own money and cooked for myself. Overall, the experience has been positive. I feel like I live in line with my ethics, though socially it can still sometimes be awkward.
Vegan since 2019. Vegetarian basically since birth (mom went veg in her 20s, and now rarely eats dairy). Ended up going for it for health reasons (which didn’t exactly work out) and moral (learned about the culling of male chicks and the use of dairy calfs as veal). Being in the American South is an interesting experience, although the grocery stores have plenty, there’s a few vegan restaurants, and several of the chain pizza places have vegan cheese. Most people are either supportive or indifferent. I haven’t really encountered much hostility.
More or less. I can't consider myself vegan because I don't go 100% all the time, but I would say, it's very rare that I'm not vegan.
I'm primarily vegan because of the meat industry and the problems that brings it. (pollution, anti biotics abuse, cruelty, sick animals, poor quality).
My GF brought me into it and I rarely miss things. Just tried it for a month and then just continued.
For milk and eggs I've found nice replacements. I really dig soy and almond milk. For eggs in baked goods such as cakes I usually use apple sauce or bananas. But there are also white-egg-replacement powders.
I yet have to find a pure cooked egg in vegan, so I just buy bio eggs every now and then.
My dad is a hunter and when he shoots a deer or boar, I have no moral problems to eat them, as shooting them is part of the population control.
In my country you can't just take a rifle and visit the nearby forest. You need permission for the forest which is rare.
Often the hunters own the forests. This makes them responsible to keep the it in a thriving state to keep the animals healthy.
For example building winter shelters, food stations, localizing sick animals, keeping it tidy and alike.
If a few deers get shot during the year, I think its fine. But I understand that this is against the vegan mindset in general. I think I eat deer and boar around 5-10 times in total per year.
Anything that comes from a super market I find disgusting, as even the "bio animals" usually meet the same reaper that the cheap industrial animals do.
Pro side is, that I lost weight very quickly because I had to look closer in what I put into my meals.
Dishes are generally cheaper when you don't buy alternative meat products.
I was forced to try out new dishes and I usually liked it.
No money for the industrial animal cruelty from me.
So all in all rather a plus for me!
I call myself an opportunistic omnivore. If there’s meat that’s going to go to waste, I’ll eat it. Cooking for myself (almost all my meals) is usually vegan and almost always vegetarian (minus a few times a year), but I’m a little more flexible on the occasions I eat out.
I'm still on the "pescatarian" train, buy my lady friend is vegan (tho, I think she'd prefer the term "plant-based" cuz I think the "vegan" label embarrasses her) and I often eat vegan with her. We're lucky enough to live in an area (Los Angeles-y) rife with vegan options (at least, probably more so than many areas) and we often cook our own vegan meals. It ain't too hard with all the plant-based "meat" alternatives that are out there, now (even though it seems like some are starting to fall off the market), which work reasonably well as the protein component in the meals we cook. Not that every dish needs a meat-like protein, but it's nice to include. Especially when trying to ape a food item that isn't natively vegan. In fact, I'd kinda like exploring more vegetable-forward dishes that really put them on display. Thinking about it... we've made a lot of damn good meals. Unfortunately, the one area that plant-based options fall short is dairy, specifically the "cheese." It just ain't there. Although, I've had some good cashew cheese.. but that's more in the context of "cheese and crackers" cheese. When we need something melt-y, none of the available shreds really do the trick.
I'd say her reasons for going vegan (err.. "plant-based") hover around the moralistic "animals are friends" deal, which would basically be my reasons, as well (if I were less of a coward and jumped into the pool, that is). I can't say I've done a deep dive into the philosophy, but I just think as we learn more about animal intelligence and their ability to display culture (although, maybe that's just us anthropomorphizing?) in the long-term the act of eating animals is gonna be on the wrong side of history. Not sure where I stand on the environmental impacts... surely it at least seems that raising farm animals is a net detriment to the environment, but I wouldn't say that'd be my main reason should I go vegan. I'm also fairly sure there isn't anything inherently more "healthy" (which I think is a damn nebulous term, especially with regards to nutrition, anyway) in a vegan diet.
I'm vegan because I don't really digest meat very well, and it's super gross if it goes bad so I jsut don't buy it.
I get most of my nutrients from soylent, other then that it's mostly bread and oats.
Oh interesting, never met somebody who's had Soylent. How is it?
I love it; though, it could do with more fibre and it isn't something I can subsist on. I don't think it provides enough calories (or amino acids?) for me, I have to eat other 'normal' things too.
Nevertheless, I love that it's shipped to my door, it takes <5 minutes to prepare using barely any electricity, and there's barely any mess to clean up (less water!).
I was curious and looked up the amino acids available in soy:
It varies depending on the strain (and probably the soil it's grown in). So there's a chance there isn't enough amino acids in it.
How does it taste?
It's like if a vanilla milkshake was healthy for you; at least for the original flavour. They have a chocolate one too, but I've never tried it.
Oh really, it's vanilla flavored? I would think you would get tired of it after awhile. Do you?
There isn't any vanilla in it afaik (it does have natural and artificial flavours though), it's just the same colour as a vanilla milkshake so that's what it tastes like to me. Hard to describe really... and no, I don't get tired of it. Although it is 'enjoyable' as it were, it's just a another chore to me. Like brushing my teeth, but with the satisfaction of a full belly.
*I just want to add that I'm talking about the powder Soylent, not the bottled stuff. I don't like those, they start tasting weird after a while.
For me personally, I'm sure I would get bored. Eating is one of my great joys in life, and I like variety. Do you just not care too much about what you eat, as long as it's healthy?
I totally understand that. I suppose I'm a bit of a fringe case in that regard. And yeah, I mostly don't care as long as it's healthy. I of course sometimes order a pizza or maybe a pastry from a nice cafe, but not often.
Well, as long as it works for you! I suppose people like you are their target audience.
I am, with a caveat that probably just means I'm a total hypocrite in some eyes
What I have at home, what I buy, is all vegan. When I order food, I stick to vegetarian/vegan options. If someone makes me food, however, I will eat what is served. It's more important to me to share that meal with folks than to get nitpicky about the diet. I can't eat much of it anyway because it upsets my stomach now, and folks tend to be pretty accommodating when they know that. I've never really been one to argue it out with folks - more often than not, it's someone else getting weird over me eating the vegan option, who themselves invents a problem with it, and then uses that to go on whatever tirade they have about vegans in general. Love it when I go out to try a new vegan burger and some asshat just has to talk about how much meat he's gonna eat, at me but not with enough courage to do it to my face.
I got there because I watched some videos of a slaughterhouse, to put it simply. I'd rather not recount the specifics, but it definitely gave me an image that I did not like.