Do vegans wear wool?

But even Giant Pandas eat a small amount of meat; ditto chimpanzees. I do agree that we eat far too much meat, and we should give more thought into how those animals are looked after. The amount of foodstuff that we have to grow to produce an animal that we can then eat is phenomenal [something I hadn't realised until recently]. Much as I'd like to, I could never cut out meat or fish from my diet, and I have to wear leather shoes because my feet are so painful anything plastic hurts them; producing plastic [or whatever such things are made of] is damaging to the planet also. But, I do feel we should think more about what we are doing when we throw huge quantities of meat into our supermarket trollies. And I'm having to give my elderly dog lots of meat combined with eggs and cheese in an attempt to build her up. Now that Christmas is over I shall probably eat very little meat. I agree with nightowl, though, in that I despair at the way we humans have used our so called intelligence to destroy our planet [and now seem to be using that 'intelligence' to find other planets to inhabit when we've ruined this one #youcouldn'tmakeitup]

wilma Thank for that bit of information, I had already gathered from other posts that not all vegans refuse to keep pets. I'm relieved to hear it though since there are a huge number of domestic animals requiring loving homes, and most, if not all of these animals would be unable to survive in the streets.

Telly funnily enough, I wanted to get my Mum some very soft wool bedsocks for Christmas, but I knew how most the softest wool was collected and had to do some digging. In the end I found some made using baby alpaca wool from a woman in Cornwall who started off breeding Merino sheep because she couldn't find any ethically produced wool. She added an alpaca herd later. I was chuffed to bits with my gift. The shine was taken off my gift when it turned out that my Mum and Step-Dad were giving each other cashmere sweaters. Of course I couldn't say anything. Small steps.

That is certainly a theory Monica, about how learning to cook and eat meat allowed humans to develop big brains and to become dominant in the animal kingdom, but it is only a theory. I think the important thing is how we choose to use that dominance now. Enslaving and torturing our fellow creatures (as well as finding new and more imaginative ways of killing each other) seems to be one of the worst ways we as a species have used our great intelligence.

Airy fairy arty farty fads, eh?
It's been a fad for me for over forty years, and my children and grandchildren are also faddish, then.
Never told them they couldn't eat meat or fish, just that I wasn't going to cook it any more.
My sons were 7 and 9 at the time.
None of them have had their health compromised.

Strange how vegans get criticised for imposing their views on their children, but harrigran says she would not allow her daughter to compromise her health.
That's definitely imposing your view.

M0nica sorry, I get you now and agree it's difficult. Yes, even organic food can be raised with animal products as part of the process. My guess is that a lot of vegans grow their own food - there's a waiting list for most allotments. As I said before, it's not an easy option to become vegan and each person has to decide where lines are drawn. Although veganism has recently become fashionable (Beyoncé, Brad Pitt, Gwyneth Paltrow), I doubt many people become strict vegans and the number of vegans in the UK is still small. Being vegetarian is a much easier choice.

gillybob I hope the book helps. I bought both of original student cookbooks (veggie and no-veggie) when they were the only ones available. The one thing that struck me about the veggie version is how simple it is to cook veggie food. I think people imagine it's a bit of a palaver, but a lot of what we eat fits in with a veggie diet, especially if you eat eggs (free range) and dairy products (watch out for gelatin in things like yogurt). Good luck.

I am not sure we ever had an inability to digest raw meat, but, undoubtedly the development of our brains to their current capacity that places such a huge development gulf between us and other primates was the result of us learning how to cook meat. This made it possible for us to absorb larger quantities of the high grade protein needed to develop our brains. Had we become vegan we would still just be primates living similar lives and with a similar mental development of other primates.

I really can't remember having such strong opinions when I was 11-12 as the young people seem to have today.

I would never force my DGD to eat anything she didn't feel comfortable eating harri and its not really my place to interfere or force my opinions, but I am concerned. As I said in an earlier post she is very small for her age and hasn't got an ounce of fat to fall back on, due to being extremely sporty.

Why are non-vegans so obsessed with how vegan food is grown?
They would do better to concern themselves with how their own food is produced.

Very interesting topic. I have been vegetarian for may years but one point I would like to make is that anyone who thinks that sheep shearing is not cruel for many sheep should have a look on you tube. Personally I avoid wool when at all possible and would not touch anything that contains angora or down. I agree with an earlier poster that if everyone took small steps to a kinder world then it would make a difference.

No, quizqueen was not stupid. There is plenty of evidence to show that plants respond adversely to being damaged and cropped. Whether they experience pain is genuinely open to discussion . It is not a stupid question to ask.

How far down the chain does not harming animals go. What about pests that spread diseases and can damage homes, like rats or possibly cockroaches.

I have every respect for those who choose to be vegan but cannot see how it could be a viable global system.

I think you are right to be concerned about your GD. My DD became vegetarian but only when she was leaving home because she knew I would not allow her to compromise her health as a youngster. DD is very thin and does not always look well, menstruation sometimes makes it difficult to keep iron levels up.
Sorry if this upsets people but I have no time for airy, fairy, arty, farty fads. Nutrition is important especially in girls reaching puberty.

Our teeth are not carnivores’ teeth quizqueen but omnivores’ teeth. Do you really think our pathetic canines could be use to hunt down and rip apart a large animal like a sheep or cow? Or even a rabbit? Nearly all mammals have canine teeth in some form or other, even herbivores. Gorillas have huge canine teeth and the most meat they eat is grubs.

I’m quite sure that a ‘natural’ diet for a prehistoric human would also have included small grubs and insects. We learnt to make tools and to hunt. Then to overcome our inability to digest raw meat (another indication that we are not in fact carnivores) we learnt to cook it using fire. I think this may have led to the success of the human species but I think it could also be our downfall. Not only does meat cause many diseases (in my opinion) I think it has caused us to lose our humanity. We have a brain, and a choice.

My daughter in law is vegetarian and I pointed out that if no-one ate meat there wouldn't be animals in the fields for my grand daughter to enjoy on country walks. My DiL replied that it was the cows rear end activities that were causing global warming so we would be better off without animals! I was shocked at the thought of a world without animals

Thank you for the link Wilma . I have just ordered a vegetarian cookbook from Amazon that is highly recommended for students and young people which will hopefully help her and my son (her dad) to cook some simple but interesting dishes.

Wilma I din't make myself clear. I meant how do vegans know that their food has not been grown using animal manures or treated with other animal based products in the growing process.. I was not talking about processed foods.

Sorry about that.
Countryside, of course!

Yes, Wilma, and look at the problems created. We are now reintroducing the beaver because their place in the ecology of the cuntryside has been recognised.

I've never heard any vegan suggesting that the wild cattle of Chillingham should be set free to roam where they want.

chillinghamwildcattle.com/

maddyone only the most strict vegans are against having pets. I've never met one yet.

downdale you're right, the natural predators of our livestock are extinct, mainly because they were hunted into extinction.

People are forgetting it's taken thousands of years to get to where we are now with farming. Originally there was no such thing as 'nuisance' animals. They're only a nuisance now because of how we use the land they live on or we introduced them ourselves at some point but now they've become a problem.

So stupid, quizqueen. How many times do you think vegans have heard that before?

I used to get lots of people who would say they could be vegetarian or vegan but their husbands liked their meat too much.
I would say cook for you, then add a bit of meat or fish for him.
He would soon realise that the meat or fish wasn't necessary.
It worked sometimes.

I try not to eat much meat because I love all animals but human teeth show us that our diet should be carnivore. Treating animals with respect is a different matter. What about all the carrots etc. which you can't hear screaming as you bite their heads off!!!!

Meant to add that where my DGD lives they look out over a farmers field and she can see the cows in the field. She broke her heart telling me that the mummy cows were crying for their babies when they were took away.

gillybob the Vegetarian Society has a website for young vegetarians and there's a resource section for parents you can read here

Young Veggie - Resources for Parents

I would also recommend you get a veggie cookbook for students to help you with simple and quick veggie meals. She can also produce a meal herself. There's a lot on the market these days. I would recommend the one I have that I bought in the last millennium, but I lent it to someone who didn't give it back!

I'm not pretending to be an expert, but I think the problem with some of these 'nuisance' animals is that their natural predators have been hunted to extinction - wolves for example. Then again, wolves were not found in all parts of the country I don't think (again, I'm no expert!). Something to read up on perhaps!

I don't think my diet or lifestyle is perfect, don't know everything there is to know, but do try and read up on things I'm not sure about. For me, it's not about being perfect, it's about doing the best I can according to my beliefs