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

NightOwl……
Yes of course hahahaha. How slow am I!

In the UK we do not eat animals that eat other animals. This is why we do not eat cat or dog. Every country, every culture, every person has their own food shiboleths.

Our digestions have developed to digest almost everything leaving each to choose what they will.

Life in the wild is not a bed of roses for an animal. They can slowly starve to death or die of thirst, be attacked and eaten by other animals, die a slow agonising death from the pain of accidental damage oe illness.

Keeleklogger
For a minute there I misunderstood your post.
Well done.

dogsmother

Yes - life in the wild and nature are certainly 'red in tooth and claw'. That has nothing to do with human cruelty, though. The animals we farm are hardly natural creatures, either. They've been selectively bred to produce extreme amounts of meat, milk or wool.

Farming is either very cruel - or less cruel - but never cruelty free. The 'making the best use of land' argument falls flat on it's face - as soon as you realise how much less land is needed for vegan diets. That land could be rewilded instead.

Non vegans are angry simply because they suffer from cognitive dissonance (that upset inner conflict, uneasiness and troubling guilt) arising from loving animals - yet loving eating them too.

I see it in my own family, too - the carnivores are hostile towards the vegans, yet I cook for them all, they can eat what they like, to each their own.

Some vegans on GN are hostile to omnivores Hetty58. In your family. How does the hostility manifest itself? Most of what I hear is lecturing from vegans rather than lecturing from omnivores.

I'm vegan - but not hostile to anyone. We get 'Why can't you just eat normal food? Why have a different takeaway? Why's Mum cooking so many things? Why are you so picky? etc. from the carnivores. I just find it all amusing. One grandchild has finally grown out of her milk protein allergy, thank Heavens. I often label things to avoid all the questions about what is vegan or vegetarian!

Full on meat eater here. DH only eats fish/fowl. As therecl r only the two of us now I rarely eat red meat at home, I always have meat when we eat out.

Do I think about the animals I eat. simple answer NO.
I am not a great meat eater but when I do eat meat I just eat it, no thought process no guilt trip just a meal.
Does that make me a terrible person, who knows.
Do I like the idea of mass slaughter houses, no, in a perfect world animals would be slaughtered humanely but this is not a perfect world.
I have killed animals, or at least been part of the process. I have skinned them plucked them scaled them and then eaten them. Did I cry over any of them, no not at all but I did make sure that they suffered as little as possible.
Personally I live for the day when scientists discover that plants are sentient beings too

What a strange thing to live for Kartush.

Accept that this is someone explaining why they are Vegan, but like a few others, also find it just a bit preachy. Each to their own, and I would never extoll being an omnivore to a Vegan.. in fact I've hardly ever seen that. Can't say the same applies the other way around.

I don’t think you’ll get your dreamKartush since plants do not have brains or central nervous systems they do not feel pain or terror - those who would like to believe that are maybe only trying to justify killing and eating creatures that do. No one is perfect and all our choices have an impact on the environment, but surely we should try to do the least harm?

One wonders where carnivores think herbivores get their protein from?

Where did this great divide ‘in everything’ start ? I don’t remember ever questioning, poking fun or being hostile about differences until the last 20 years or so, now everything has to be them or us why can’t we all be accepted for our various beliefs and reasons without snide put downs why does it even have to be discussed why not just accept
Vegans get all preachy because they are poked, some of course think their way will save the world and become evangelical about it Meat eaters get all defensive and poke fun at vegans or make jokes about pretend meat

I can see so many similarities to Dr Susses s story of the Sneetchers clever man and very clever story and so relevant to today

vegansrock There are very few carnivores (human) in this world, although many carnivore animals. I think some of the native groups in the far north my be close to carnivores,

Most people are omnivores and, animal protein apart, we get all get our protein from much the same sources. Beans and lentils, tofu, nuts and seeds. I think some grains are also rich in protein.

Many of these products can be mixed with meat to make more expensive, environmentally supportive meat feed more. the spaghetti bolognaise we had for supper last night included lentils as well as meat. In fact it is rare for me to serve meat without beans or lentils or other plant based protein.

I find these virtuous vegan versus the rest arguments very silly.

We all have an omnivore's digestion and can choose to eat what combination of food we choose from the range available to us. The factors influencing our choice are many and various, philosophical, religious, governed by allergies, personal likes anddislikes and many more.

My choices are governed by care for the environment and the welfare of the animals I eat. You, veganstuff, have decided not to eat animal products. Fine and good, but do not think that makes you superior to any one else. You have made your choices I and others have made ours, others still eat differently to both of us. We all make, or do not make, our decisions on our own grounds.

The one thing that does irritate me is any dish that does not contain animal products being described as vegan. For almost everyone the bulk of the food they consume in a day is plant-base. I see no reason why one group can claim ownership of food that is open and freely consumed by everybody, and noot exclusive to them.

When I first became vegetarian years ago, I recall an inveterate meat eater telling me they they never eat that "vegetarian rubbish." "Nothing wrong with a bit of meat".

Do you eat beans on toast? I asked.

Margarita pizza?

Macaroni cheese?

Corn Flakes?

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.

@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.

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. 🙄

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

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

Methinks they doth protest too much.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.