Just eat plants and save the animals

Dried insects are on the menu too. Crunchy critters, bugs and mealworms. Can't see it taking off myself though. Barff.

I imagine it's because of all 3 that you mentioned. That said, I won't be changing my eating habits for anything or anyone.

I’ve just made the mushroom and walnut bolognaise recipe from a vegan/veggie tv programme I saw last week. I enjoyed making it for a change and eating it. I doubt I will ever become a vegan but I’m not bothered whether my meals have meat or not, just as long as I eat something I enjoy.

I'm with you Beechnut.

I enjoy trying new things. I’d never manage to be vegetarian, but one or two meatless meals a week is a good thing

What would happen to all the cows, pigs, lambs etc if we all became vegan?

grannyrebel7

What would happen to all the cows, pigs, lambs etc if we all became vegan?

And all the land dug up for veg growing , but no natural fertiliser

I gave up meat thirty years ago, and fish 25 years ago. I was repelled by what I saw being pumped into animals, knowing that those antibiotics would end up in me. When I became a mum in early 80s, I became concerned about antibiotic resistance.
In 2006, EU banned antibiotics as growth promoters., but we are not in EU now. And a US trade deal is driving us towards their regulations some of which concern the WHO.

As a teenager I saw a few 'secret' films taken inside/around abattoirs. The brutality and suffering haunted me, I stopped eating meat.

I ate tuna up until about five years ago when I saw how they catch the tuna with the 'pole and line', it's barbaric.

Sadly, there isn’t enough fertile ground on the planet to provide enough protein for the world’s population solely from plant based food. If you look at the labels, there is a lot of palm oil used in the fake foods that have proliferated recently. Vegetarian food is fine but I struggle with vegan diets.

Nan99, being vegan is for all the things you mentioned. When you think about it, protecting the environment is key.

We can't protect animals - or our health - without making drastic changes to slow down the destruction of our planet.

The way we live and eat is unsustainable. If we want a decent future for our grandchildren (or any future for their children) we have to make changes now.

We don't need to consume meat or dairy. I've been much healthier since I became vegan, with lower blood pressure and cholesterol readings, slimmer with more energy.

Beechnut

I’ve just made the mushroom and walnut bolognaise recipe from a vegan/veggie tv programme I saw last week. I enjoyed making it for a change and eating it. I doubt I will ever become a vegan but I’m not bothered whether my meals have meat or not, just as long as I eat something I enjoy.

I agree with you, I enjoy vegetarian dishes as long as they are tasty and don’t have too many green vegetables in them! I often have cheese and onion pie, mushroom stroganoff or baked potatoes with cheese, beans or tuna.

I like eating dairy produce so am unlikely to embrace a vegan diet although I sometimes go to vegan restaurants with a friend who is vegan - I just wouldn’t want to eat vegan every day.

I try to be careful what I eat mainly for health reasons.

grannyrebel7 (really? - ask a silly question) these are 'man made' creatures. We've selectively bred them to use (as resources) for their meat, fur, milk and skins.

We subject them to a short and painful life - through the extreme cruelty of farming. They shouldn't, and won't exist in their domesticated forms in future.

I always wonder at vegetarian or vegan pet owners. Dogs can survive on a vegetarian diet but cats are obligate carnivores. Will cat owners really be happy to leave their pets to catch their own food, or will they be happy for animals to be farmed solely to provide food for their pets? A real dilemma I'd imagine. I'm a happy omnivore, can easily be veggie for a few days, but my cheese preference stops me being vegan. Sorry, no non dairy cheese has ever been acceptable. Also I prefer leather shoes, plastic ones are awful. And wool is preferable to acrylic.
I do think people are becoming more aware about food production and its implications. American chlorine washed chicken will never enter my house, I'd rather have a tiny portion of organic, free range home-grown chicken.

aggie (equally silly) up to 80% of plants grown - are for animal feed - a terrible waste. If we all choose a vegan diet, there will be plenty of spare land to rewild for native flora and fauna.

We really don't need animal manure for fertilizer, we have our own. Farmers buy 'cake' from sewage companies and rotate crops..

Cows, pigs, lambs could exist as their wild ancestors did there just wouldn’t be as many of them. Some people obviously think they are doing such animals a favour by killing them at a few months of age. I just read that a quarter of all antibiotics produced are fed to farmed animals in the U.K.I find that horrifying.

The above should read a quarter of all antibiotics used in the U.K. are fed to farm animals. I will try to find the link.

www.saveourantibiotics.org/the-issue/antibiotic-overuse-in-livestock-farming/
this is scary - 30% of antibiotics used in U.K. are given to farm animals, this enables farmers to keep them in more intensive conditions.

vegansrock, antibiotics from farming could contribute to resistant pathogens - and human antibiotic-resistant disease.

In cramped, unhygienic conditions, they're just added to feed. I'm disgusted that birds are 'raised' in sheds - on the same putrid litter for the four months of their miserable lives. When the 'crop' is ready, sheds are cleared for the next batch of chicks.

Hetty58 why do you think I’m silly ? Just curious not cross ?

Aggie, sorry, it was your comment I found silly (not you, of course). 'All the land dug up' would be far less than the amount we use now.

You obviously have no idea how much land it takes to grow food , we used to grow Conservation grade oats for the local factory and was amazed how much they took , they were very strict about the quality
Potatoes take acres , and aren’t as easy as everyone thinks
We never used artificial fertiliser , human waste isn’t available here as far as I know , it is full of antibiotics and chemicals too and what about pathogens and viruses?

As a meat eater I only eat organic, which means animals have not been pumped full of antibiotics, growth hormones or unnatural diets or kept in unnatural conditions. Organic pasture fed animals actually aid the sequestration of carbon so that such farms are carbon free.

I have been eating organic meat and vegetables fo over 40 years when you never dared to admit it or people thought you were a crank. If you are vegan do you make sure everything is organically grown?

Good for you avalon but 90% of meat eaten in this country isn’t organic. And yes in answer to your question I do get an organic veg box and try to choose organic as often as possible.

aggie, do some research of your own - and you'll find that plant production is far more efficient than meat production - requiring less land, not more.

My daughter is an accountant for a local farm (cereals and potatoes). When she started, she asked what 'cake' - bought from Thames Water was - and was pretty horrified to hear the explanation!