Vegan/Plant Based Do you ever wonder about the animals you eat eat.

well fed with chemical raised grain and well medicated with anti- biotics.
No, well fed on the crops that their digestion has developed to live on. Neither soya, rape or maize are crops cattle can easily digest and is the cause of their need for so many antibiotics.

Cattle should be given medication only when needed and for cattle reared in natural systems, medication is rarely needed.

there is a difference between labelling something 'vegan' and labelling it gluten-free. 'Vegan' is aword made-up and chosen by a group of people to describe their eating preferences. \there isn't a group of people who have got together and decided to call themselves GlutenFrees. Gluten -free simple tells you what food constituent is not present in the food.

What is wrong with describing food that has no animal content as 'entirely plant sourced' or 'free of animal based ingredients. neutral factual phrases.

Vegans is a name Donald Watson, founder of the Vegan Society, coined in 1944 . He took the first and last letters of the word vegetarian to create his orthodox version of vegetarianism. 'Vegan' is the name of a group of people.

The descriptions on food packets should be neutral statements describing the contents of the package, not claimed as particular to them by any specific group. Should pork be described as 'Christian' because other major religions do not eat pork and this will enable them to know that this is a foodstuff they shouldn't eat?

effalump the aim is not to get rid of all of CO2 altogether. The aim is to get our emissions of CO2 down to as low a level as possible, as close as we can to what it was before the industrial era.

There will still be "natural" CO2.

If there was no CO2 at all, - and I don't know how that would happen - and hence no plants, there wouldn't be any animals either.

You are so funny. Bless!

There's no hope.

When I was little, we used to have rabbit stew and my dad used to regularly eat tripe, and chittlings & bag which, I think, were the innards and stomach of the cow. Occasionally, we would have fish roe with chips and sometimes black-pudding. These things kep us well fed. Mainly because the veg were seasonal, not all the fancy things that are brought in from abroad. I wouldn't try to stop anyone being a vegetarian or vegan but I do wonder, if the activists and the government manage to cut CO2 down to zero, or almost, where would you get veg from. After all, CO2 is the 'gas or life' for plants. No CO2, no plants. I suppose there's always bugs and insects, but then again, don't they spend most of their lives crawling over plants. No CO2, pobably no bugs/insects either. No trees, therefore not much fruit. Seems like Gamer Over, doesn't it.

Yes as I said before, well fed with chemical raised grain and well medicated with anti- biotics. That makes for good meat?
Just as much as chemically raised plants really.

Thanks AnnaVfL

V for Life also offer a booklet detailing nutrition guidelines for older veggies if you had any concerns! vforlife.org.uk/resources/publications/nutrition-guidelines

All the veggie / vegans out there…

You should take a look at the charity V for Life - the uk charity supporting older vegans and veggies with loads of free recipes, info, pen pal scheme, and grants available.

They also campaign for care homes to cater well and ethically for veg*ns, as unfortunately some of them don’t, and have a list of care homes who do just incase you might need them in the future!

This is their website vforlife.org.uk/

FannyCornforth

I know of people (on here) who have reversed diabetes - but cancer?
I also knew someone who ate the most copious amount of broccoli in a fruitless attempt to do so

Just a frivolous aside, but I read somewhere that eating broccoli could increase your lifespan by eight years. One comment on this information was "But that would mean another 8 years of eating broccoli"! I'm not the biggest fan of broccoli so I sympathise. I quite like the tenderstem sort though.

M0nica

sarahcyn there is a simple response to your emotive material. Buy meat from non-factory or intensive reared units.

There are plenty of welfare and care friendly farms where the animals live lives that express their natural inclinations. Well fed and with medical care when needed. They arguably lead a better life than they would in the wild.

Yes as I said before, well fed with chemical raised grain and well medicated with anti- biotics. That makes for good meat?

Mollygo

Norah, Viking cruises do indeed do lovely vegan meals. She simply said she didn’t want him to use vegan cheese in/on her food. Her choice.
They also, did vegan desserts, but sometimes, she chose not to eat them. Since the chef was well aware of her dietary preference, do you think he should have criticised her occasional non-vegan choice, or reminded her she was vegan?
It’s a choice It’s not like being gluten or lactose intolerant, which were also well catered for.

No.

Merely wondered if vegan desserts were provided as they're lovely. It was a curiosity to me, no more no less.

Norah, Viking cruises do indeed do lovely vegan meals. She simply said she didn’t want him to use vegan cheese in/on her food. Her choice.
They also, did vegan desserts, but sometimes, she chose not to eat them. Since the chef was well aware of her dietary preference, do you think he should have criticised her occasional non-vegan choice, or reminded her she was vegan?
It’s a choice It’s not like being gluten or lactose intolerant, which were also well catered for.

volver3 ^So having something labelled "vegetarian" or "vegan" or even "gluten free" isn't claiming ownership of it. Its just telling you that these things are suitable for people who are looking for that kind of thing.

Indeed.

I rarely buy anything - apart from just the basic ingredients, I like the word 'vegan' affirming no butter, eggs, cream, etc.

Some ingredients are just put in for no discernible reason - 'vegan' takes any waste of time figuring out from a tiny list - after I find my glasses.

M0nica

volver3 cannot people work it out for themselves? If i see something labelled 'Cornish pasty' I know it will contain meat. faggots are another such. I do not need something on the tin to tell me that ratatouille (wich I love) is suitable for vegans. However, I do not want it labled vegan ratatouille because it suggests that non vegans should not eat it.

Ingredients are on the packaging, which contains lots of useful information we are expected to read.

No M0nica they can't.

I'm sure you know about jelly, not everybody does though.

We had a recent thread about how vegetable stock gel isn't vegetarian.

Are you seriously saying that we can't make life easier for everybody because you think putting "vegan" on some packaging makes you feel excluded?

I do not want it labled vegan ratatouille because it suggests that non vegans should not eat it.

Vegan isn't a sect that the rest of us have to stay away from because we are not allowed to eat their food.

sarahcyn there is a simple response to your emotive material. Buy meat from non-factory or intensive reared units.

There are plenty of welfare and care friendly farms where the animals live lives that express their natural inclinations. Well fed and with medical care when needed. They arguably lead a better life than they would in the wild.

volver3 cannot people work it out for themselves? If i see something labelled 'Cornish pasty' I know it will contain meat. faggots are another such. I do not need something on the tin to tell me that ratatouille (wich I love) is suitable for vegans. However, I do not want it labled vegan ratatouille because it suggests that non vegans should not eat it.

Ingredients are on the packaging, which contains lots of useful information we are expected to read.

Mollygo

An American lady on the cruise we’ve just returned from, was served a vegan option every meal time. The chef certainly made it look good. The first time someone said how good her food looked, she said,
“But I asked him not to use vegan cheese. Nasty stuff and it doesn’t cook well.”
We noticed she couldn’t resist some of the desserts either, but no one mentioned it.
We all had better things to discuss whilst we drank our vegan wine. Some things are just better without meat.

Desserts can easily be made vegan (or not). I wonder why the chef didn't prepare vegan desserts - merely wondering.

Viking do lovely vegan food on their cruises. None of the odd cheese.

An American lady on the cruise we’ve just returned from, was served a vegan option every meal time. The chef certainly made it look good. The first time someone said how good her food looked, she said,
“But I asked him not to use vegan cheese. Nasty stuff and it doesn’t cook well.”
We noticed she couldn’t resist some of the desserts either, but no one mentioned it.
We all had better things to discuss whilst we drank our vegan wine. Some things are just better without meat.

I think if the word 'some' was put before the words 'vegan' or 'meat-eaters' in some of the posts, it would sound less aggressive. I have met preachy vegans, but most I have met aren't preachy. I have met preachy meat-eaters, but again the majority aren't preachy.

There are always some on both sides who will try to make the others feel bad/inferior/guilty, but they are a minority.

Isn't it funny how many people consider being told a few facts actually amounts to "preaching"?

Methinks they doth protest too much.

Omafor it was Meryl who said that, not Nan.
Nan is the vegan op

MerylStreep

Nan99
Could you give it a rest with your preachy plant based advice
We are all adults here and very aware of how our food is produced. We can make up our own minds.

Well said Nan. We have a lady in our craft group who continually preaches to us about vegetarian/vegan way of eating and how healthy it is. Also she keeps pushing expensive homopathic stuff for which she is an agent. However when one of us takes in some nice home baking for our cuppa she can manage to have her share of buttery pastry or cakes made with eggs butter and milk. Say no more. 🙄

@Coco51

I find it extraordinary that a news story is made about the sounds made by gases released by cut fruit, when every day terrified, sentient animals are slaughtered after living wretched lives.
Pigs are sensitive, intelligent animals, natural foragers, they can even build little shelters for themselves.
A pig in an intensive farm lives for about six months. Teeth and tail removed without anaesthetic because the pig lives in such stressful, crowded, boring conditions, crammed into a concrete shed in a slatted floor, that fighting with other pigs is the only interesting thing to do. Sows kept for weeks in coffin-sized crates they can’t even turn round in. Then slaughter by CO2 gassing which takes around 30 agonising minutes.
Outdoor reared pigs, by contrast, are free to exhibit natural behaviours and indulge their natural curiosity. The sows are free to engage with their young.
It’s really interesting, looking through this thread, how few people seem concerned about the lives animals live - but not surprising since your average sausage manufacturer prefers to put a cartoon smiling pig on the packaging, rather than a photo of the inside of an intensive pig shed.
And I’m also interested to see how much more exercised people are about the effect of certain diets on their own bodies rather than on the creatures they eat - or the planet.
It’s often said here that vegan websites are “promoting” vegan diet benefits. But the fact is these groups aren’t commercial, they have nothing to gain from people learning about choices. Meat and dairy producers, on the other hand, have everything to lose.