The 'Would you ever become vegan' thread frustrated me quite a bit.
I am a "vegan" for moral reasons. I say vegans in quotation marks because because I still occasionally use leather, I bite my nails and I use fossil fuels; but let's not get technical here. The reason I am a vegan by moral (and I'm repeating myself in another thread) is because I'm lazy. I have truly nothing against people eating animals and all, but unfortunately some places treat animals poorly. Maybe having chickens live in cages for their whole lives, cows in small spaces, etc. If I wasn't lazy, I'd go out and find places where the animals were treated very well in their lives before being eaten and promote them. I wouldn't say I really have the time for that though so instead, I go for the next most convenient option. It's not religious or anything, I just don't think animals should be greatly suffering for our convenience. It doesn't make a difference, and I'm still going to use animal products, but I do my best because I don't want to support something I don't believe in.
A few things were being repeated in the thread though which I'd like to correct, or at least debate about because I could very easily be wrong.
1. Being a vegan should be about morals or medical conditions, not a diet. A small portion of lean, unprocessed meat, with raw vegetables, a side of bread and a glass of water/milk/whathaveyou is very simple, delicious, and most importantly, very easily balanced. You can get a vegan meal that is just as balanced, but why bother with the extra effort and taking the risk of deficiencies?
2. Assuming you don't have pre-existing medical conditions, you can be perfectly healthy being a vegan, even without supplements. The major contributors to poor health is iron, B12 and calcium deficiencies. They can all be found in non-animal product foods. Many people are worried about protein but there's huge amounts of it in many vegan foods, and even then, you can buy high protein mock meats.
3. It is not necessarily expensive. While many fruits may be a little pricy, as you may expect to eat them a lot of the time, I find myself being full on lots of sandwiches, pastas and rice dishes. Granted, I may be a little high in carbohydrates, yet it's all very tasty and easy on the wallet.
And a few things for people considering veganism or are already vegan.
-SEE A DOCTOR. It can be extremely dangerous if not approached properly.
-Don't be militant about it. If you accidentally eat some product that "may contain milk", deal with it. What's done is done and it hasn't changed what you believe in.
-Don't enforce it on others. Just... Don't.
I understand why people eat meat. I personally love it myself. My favourite food is Korean Barbecue. I can't eat it but when I did, I adored it. And that's MY choice not to eat it. Not anyone else's.
Discuss.
I am a "vegan" for moral reasons. I say vegans in quotation marks because because I still occasionally use leather, I bite my nails and I use fossil fuels; but let's not get technical here. The reason I am a vegan by moral (and I'm repeating myself in another thread) is because I'm lazy. I have truly nothing against people eating animals and all, but unfortunately some places treat animals poorly. Maybe having chickens live in cages for their whole lives, cows in small spaces, etc. If I wasn't lazy, I'd go out and find places where the animals were treated very well in their lives before being eaten and promote them. I wouldn't say I really have the time for that though so instead, I go for the next most convenient option. It's not religious or anything, I just don't think animals should be greatly suffering for our convenience. It doesn't make a difference, and I'm still going to use animal products, but I do my best because I don't want to support something I don't believe in.
A few things were being repeated in the thread though which I'd like to correct, or at least debate about because I could very easily be wrong.
1. Being a vegan should be about morals or medical conditions, not a diet. A small portion of lean, unprocessed meat, with raw vegetables, a side of bread and a glass of water/milk/whathaveyou is very simple, delicious, and most importantly, very easily balanced. You can get a vegan meal that is just as balanced, but why bother with the extra effort and taking the risk of deficiencies?
2. Assuming you don't have pre-existing medical conditions, you can be perfectly healthy being a vegan, even without supplements. The major contributors to poor health is iron, B12 and calcium deficiencies. They can all be found in non-animal product foods. Many people are worried about protein but there's huge amounts of it in many vegan foods, and even then, you can buy high protein mock meats.
3. It is not necessarily expensive. While many fruits may be a little pricy, as you may expect to eat them a lot of the time, I find myself being full on lots of sandwiches, pastas and rice dishes. Granted, I may be a little high in carbohydrates, yet it's all very tasty and easy on the wallet.
And a few things for people considering veganism or are already vegan.
-SEE A DOCTOR. It can be extremely dangerous if not approached properly.
-Don't be militant about it. If you accidentally eat some product that "may contain milk", deal with it. What's done is done and it hasn't changed what you believe in.
-Don't enforce it on others. Just... Don't.
I understand why people eat meat. I personally love it myself. My favourite food is Korean Barbecue. I can't eat it but when I did, I adored it. And that's MY choice not to eat it. Not anyone else's.
Discuss.
