Unbelievable description

Meant to say cash, not cast.

Hmm....polyurethane? More plastic then?

Better not to just don't buy stuff says she who sometimes uses retail as therapy.

A double negative?

The phrase 'vegan leather' annoys me, as does 'pleather', but I suppose it's better than seeing a bag or shoes described as 'leather' in the headline then as polyurethane in the more detailed description. People should know what thy are buying without having to dig about to find out. Some will only buy the 'real thing', whilst others will avoid animal products, and both choices are equally valid. Trying to confuse the issue won't work, surely? I would return a bag that was sold as leather but turned out to be plastic, just as my niece would return a leather one, as she is vegan.

It's all about trends, isn't it? I have seen 'gluten free' water, which is equally ridiculous.

It used to be 'mock-croc', then we had 'faux-fur'.
Why call it leather when it patently (no pun intended) isn't.
Just another way of selling plastic.

This shows an example of why saving the planet is not going to be dhappen by going Vegan!

More plastic has to be much worse than using leather.
If we don't eat cows we won't actually save them because they won't be born.
They won't exist.
if animals have a good life and are killed in the most kind manner then that is a good thing that fits in with nature.

I was in the supermarket this morning browsing and looking along the ready meal area. There was a whole section of vegan products all described as vegan meat pie, or vegan chicken nuggets, or vegan pulled pork. Why?

Could the shops get caught under the trade descriptions for trying to pass off non-meat as meat?

Our shops too... and to tell the truth I suspect a wee bit of conspiracy when I see two countries at opposite ends of the world (but controlled by the same multi-national food corporations) going all out to market expensive foods to the gullible.

I do NOT mean vegans are gullible (at least the 3 vegan I know aren't) but that people will buy just because it's been pushed on the telly, whatever their eating preferences.

The term 'faux leather' has been around for a long time. I'm vegetarian but I see leather as a by-product of the meat industry. I dislike the smell as well as hating the idea of carrying around a skin, so try not to buy leather goods.

Becoming vegan is admirable but could be simply a fad. However, manufacturers will always take advantage of any current trends.

I agree the description is ridiculous, in reality it’s plastic made to look like leather.
If leather offends, why not buy fabric bags? There are some lovely Harris tweed ones. Admittedly the ones I’ve seen probably have a bit of plastic on them.

Vegans tend to be concerned about the environment. Therefore, they wouldn't choose a polyurethane bag anyway. They'd be looking for natural materials. It just looks like somebody's half-baked idea for being 'on trend' - pathetic!

I can't agree with pinkquartz though. How can you say?

'if animals have a good life and are killed in the most kind manner then that is a good thing that fits in with nature'

There is nothing natural about it. Meat production is big business destroying nature.

Animals have a painful, unnatural life and death, suffering directly caused by demand.

If you choose to eat meat, at least admit that you choose to cause that suffering.

It cannot be advertised as leather which is clearly isn't and say vegan as well. The bag isn't a vegan, it cannot be anything but a bag made from material which is plastic. Its like saying my bag was blessed with holy water which makes it a catholic! Absolute nonsense. Thank goodness most people see through these adverts.

Hetty58. That is a sweeping generalisation. There are many ways of raising cattle. The disgusting industrialised cattle farming of the US is not the only system.

Much land is not suitable for raising crops but is ideal for grazing cattle and animal grazed and manured land is more carbon absorbent than that occupied by arable crops. There has been a strong and growing demand for organic meat for decades and recently the Pasture for Life organisation has been founded and is growing rapidly. www.pastureforlife.org Cattle bred by PFP farmers are entirely grass-fed, grazing fields or being fed hay, usually grown on the farm they live on.

Animals have a painful, unnatural life............. ^ If you choose to eat meat, at least admit that you choose to cause that suffering.^ except they do not and you do not.

Cattle, sheep etc in the wild are in all kinds of dangers from predators that may injure them, but not kill them and leave them in pain for months or years until they die, many die long agonising deaths in giving birth to their children, others spend their lives with debilating health problems that, again cause irritation and pain. They can starve or burn to death in adverse climate conditions, like Australia now, from drought or fire.

Cattle farmed to acceptable standards come into the world with vetinarary aid, organic systems permit medical treatment, like antibiotics, when required. They live natural lives on their natural food and able to express their natural behaviour

New farming methods mean that some now graze whole farms rather than just fields and new Agroforestry techniques www.adas.uk/News/the-potential-of-agroforestry-in-uk-agriculture returns the land to woodland pasture and supports both trees and animals. A classic area of old woodland pasture still with us is the New Forest in Hampshire/Dorset.

Death comes quickly and sharply. Farmers who meet these high standards of living welfare are also very careful about dying welfare.

Excellent logical post, Monica. We are lucky enough to have a small local butcher who knows which farm all his meat comes from, almost all within a 10 mile radius. He kills his own, which is a hugely expensive thing to do, but knows the welfare standards of everything he sells. So we still eat meat with a clear conscience. I won’t buy any other, which means that supermarket meat products are out for us.

Hetty58

As I am an ex vegan I am very careful where I buy my meat.
It has to be local, farm raised and killed in a local abattoir.

I can make the statement I made because it can be true. It is for me and others who do care.
I was a vegetarian for a long time as well and I believed I was doing it for the animals.

I don't eat red meat - but have had several medical professionals on my back this week as I have iron deficiency - eat meat they tell me!!

Lucky girl, exactly what my son in law was told by his doctor, after he said that they had cut back on eating meat!

Animals do not, in general unless bred intensively, have a painful unnatural life.

The hundreds, perhaps thousands, of sheep I see regularly around here seem quite content. Many are bred for wool.

The majority of farmers are very concerned about the welfare and wellbeing of their livestock.

Anything less would be foolish.

I have wondered what would happen to farmers if we all went vegan............

I know we all want to salve our conscience by buying only virtuous meat but I am sorry to say there are bad farming practices here as well as USA and elsewhere.

I am vegetarian for reasons of animal welfare, mostly.
I would find being vegan impossible for me but I have been known to buy non leather shoes. They were boots and very pretty but alas they didn't like the rain and the covering peeled off leaving a strange paperlike synthetic surface.
So leather it is, though I'm not sure what's in the soles.....

No-one would deny the use of industrial farming practice in the UK, but you do not have to buy that meat. There are enough schemes, like PFL and organic systems that lay down high welfare standards and monitor them.

The most environementally advantageous way to cut down on meat eating, is to buy animals reared under the best environmental schemes. It is expensive, but for that reason you end up eating less. I see no need to consciously have non-meat eating days.

As we eat a lot of casseroles and stews I just put lots of extra vegetables in when I cook them. I made a shepherd's pie base recently with 1lb of minced lamb, by the time I had added a tin of lentils and lots of grated carrot and onion. I had enough base for a meal for 2 on the day I made it and 4 more portions for two in the freezer. A meal for 10 from 1 lb of minced lamb. Because I started with a pound of top quality (and expensive) minced lamb, despite the small size of the meat portion in each serving, the overwhelming flavour was of tasty minced lamb.