I am going vegan as of today!

[Austin]

I've been wanting to live off earth, and not other creatures, for a couple months now. After my girlfriend showed me the films Earthlings and Food Inc. after I finally told her I've been considering it, I made the decision.
I am going completely raw vegan, for these reasons---
- To protest the obvious inhuman horrors taken place at farms and slaughterhouses.
- The mental clarity, healthiness, and well-being that vegans feel vs. meat-eaters.
- Ridding my body of toxins associated with meats that are often infected with bacteria, GH, and who knows what else.
- Because I believe animals are sacred, and we were not meant [nor are we given the right] to torture, use, abuse, and consume them.
Instead of eggs and basil, my breakfast is now soymilk, mangoes, bananas, etc.
Instead of ramen noodles, my dinner is now a delectable salad of whatever I feel like throwing in!
Just thought I'd post this, as this is a historical moment in my life I'm excited about finally making the switch, though I know it will be hard but VERY worth it.
Are there any other vegans on the forum to help a noob out? I'd greatly appreciate it.

[Cheva]

Good luck on your new journey!

As much as I think its awful the lives cattle and farmed animals live in order to end up on our plates .. I like meat too darn much to give it up..

Im sure the net is full of information on how to make the changes and feed your body in the best way possible :)

[Rodrigo]

While i´m glad to see people caring deeply about animal welfare, may i share my opinion on some of the points you made?
I have nothing against veganism, i trully don´t, but i´ve met enough vegans to learn that some people are so for bad reasons.
For starters, the movie Earthlings is highly sensationalistic. That is NOT to say that the horrible things shown in the film don´t happen, which sadly they do, but they don´t happen anywhere near the frequency that is implied in the film. Of course, one could argue that these things happening just once is enough, but personally i think it matters a great deal that things are very different in most cases. The film is designed to hit very hard on your emotions, but provides little or no contrast with other parts of reality.

Your first point i can agree with. I care deeply about this and my personal criterion for consuming meat is that the animal must have been sacrified following certain strict guideliness created to guarantee the least possible amount of suffering, as well as the animal having had a sufficient quality of life. As i say that is what i personally demand in order for meat consumption to be acceptable, but i sympathize with the vegan aproach too. Cruelty, suffering and compromised welfare are not acceptable.

Your next point i think is a bit bogus...i´ve heard it before and it sounds like a great deal of mumbo jumbo to me. No evidence supports this. All you have is the personal testimony of obviously biased individuals who mostly, just want it to be true.

The third point i think makes a semi-valid point. That is to say, meat can contain substances that are undesirable for any consumer, like hormones, but also as you say, can carry bacteria, and even parasites. This however is solved by improving the legislation concerning meat production, to prevent the use of hormones, guarantee high meat quality controls, etc. The reason why i consider it a semi-point is that vegetables are actually rather worse in this respect...they tend to contain more artificial substances and are more likely to contain heavy metals. They can also carry potentially dangerous bacteria and parasites.

Now, your last point i have to disagree with. Apart from the fact that i take issue with the concept of "sacred", which to me is a meaningless word, it is demonstrable that as a species we are supossed to consume animals. Our dentition is clearly omnivorous, our digestive enzymes have been selected to include a significant portion of animal products in our diets and not to make the best of vegetable matter, our intestines are not those of a vegetarian (including the vestigial appendix), etc, etc...Even the morphology of our craneums, with our highly reduced and punny masseters and infantilized jaws, that work well with cooked meats and vegetables, but not so well with raw vegetables...
The list goes on and on.
I don´t mean to say that because we are biologically predisposed to a cooked omnivorous diet, that therefore that is the only option, not at all, but it does mean that we were "supossed" to have such a diet.

As for not having the right to use other animals as food, that´s just not how it works. We don´t have a right nor do we have not. Rights are given to us by ourselves as societies, they don´t come from somewhere else. Lions don´t have a right to eat wilderbeest....peregrin flacons don´t have a right to eat pidgeons. They just do because that´s what their survival is dependent on. The same thing in our case. However, since we have a highly developed (at least some people do) empathy and we are conscious to a much more sophisticated degree than lions or falcons are, we have the moral responsability of reducing suffering to an absolute minimum. So i agree 100% that given our current circumstances and technology, it is entirely unnecessary to torture and abuse animals, and therefore it becomes undeniably wrong to do so. I can´t agree that this necessarily includes using animals, as "using" them doesn´t necessarily imply abuse.

Sorry for the rambling, and i know this wasn´t what you were asking for once again xDD I sympathize with your decission and i think it is a commendable thing, but i think it´s important to make this kind of moral decissions basing them on a real analysis of reality. Sadly, many vegans are vegans for all the wrong reasons and don´t just demand respect, but seek to impose their standards on others, and if someone is going to do so, they better have a solid basis for their position, because the wishy washy stuff will only gain them looks of contempt, and that´s too bad, because it takes away from the legitimacy of some of the arguments and the importance of animal welfare ethics.
I hope i didn´t annoy you too much :P.

PS: Holy Newt this ended up being a long *** post.....

[Austin]

No annoyance at all, I enjoy reading other people's opinions on things. Thanks for sharing :)

[Rodrigo]

I´m glad :)
I´m not a vegan myself, obviously, but i´ve considered veganism/vegetarianism for years as part of the strugle to define a moral position on the subject, and i have friends who are, so i´m more or less familiar with some aspects of it. The main advice clearly is to make sure that your diet is balanced. You may need the help of a specialist for this. Believe me, i know vegan/vegetarian people who don´t pay attention to their diets and it´s no fun ending up in hospital with rather severe anemia and other deficiencies. You might need to take supplements in a medically controlled schedule (don´t attempt to dose yourself).

[Jacob Bidinger]

Originally Posted by Psychopathic963

- Because I believe animals are sacred, and we were not meant [nor are we given the right] to torture, use, abuse, and consume them.

I thouroughly enjoy consuming animals. If we weren't meant to eat them, they wouldn't be made out of meat. I don't tortue, use or abuse them, just cook and eat them. Some radical vegans claim we aren't supposed to eat them, but last time I checked I still had 4 canine teeth and those aren't meant for chewing potatoes.

If you want to be a real vegan you can no longer wear leather, wool or other fur. You can't take fish oil pills. Do you drive a car? Well give the keys to a friend because gasoline is a fossil fuel.

By the way, if you talk to a lot of vegans (real vegans, not the posers) they'll tell you that keeping salamanders in a glass box is abusive....

[Austin]

People seem less than thrilled about my lifestyle switch
I can see both your points though. Different strokes for different folks, I guess.
Oh and about animal skins...I don't really oppose the wearing of mammal furs. I don't wear them, all my stuff is cotton and polyester. However, it angers me when I see someone wearing reptile skins. Reptiles are not as populated as mammals, and the skins are usually obtained by poaching wild and innocent snakes, alligators, and others. I'm probably sensitive to that because of the amount reptiles I have, and my love for herps.

[Rodrigo]

Ok, now i´m thoroughly confused. Eating animals, even if cared for and sacrificed adequately is a problem, but skinning mink to make fur coats is ok? I fail to understand that at all. If anything, the inverse makes sense.
I don´t mean to take away your thunder, i realize you are excited, but that last commentary seems too incoherent to me.

By the way, the fossil fuel thing, is it because of environmental concerns or are people claiming it´s animal abuse? If it´s the latter, it´s bloody stupid...

[nai live]

Good luck with the veggie lifestyle and as Roderigo says make sure you get your vitamin suppliments etc .

[Austin]

Originally Posted by Azhael

Ok, now i´m thoroughly confused. Eating animals, even if cared for and sacrificed adequately is a problem, but skinning mink to make fur coats is ok? I fail to understand that at all. If anything, the inverse makes sense.
I don´t mean to take away your thunder, i realize you are excited, but that last commentary seems too incoherent to me.

By the way, the fossil fuel thing, is it because of environmental concerns or are people claiming it´s animal abuse? If it´s the latter, it´s bloody stupid...

I don't think it's okay, I just don't think it's as big of a problem as people consuming animals. Not many real skins are out there anymore, most are fake. I actually haven't seen a real fur in a while.
I'm doing this more for a health reason than protesting animal consumption, honestly. I have a lot of headache, bloodflow, sight, heart problems, etc. I heard that things like this can be helped by eating naturally. However I don't like animal consumption/torture.

And I agree about the fossil fuel thing. The environmental thing I understand, but animal abuse? xD It's abuse of a giant lethal lizard that lived hundreds of millions of years ago, sort of.

[Jacob Bidinger]

Originally Posted by Psychopathic963

However, it angers me when I see someone wearing reptile skins. Reptiles are not as populated as mammals, and the skins are usually obtained by poaching wild and innocent snakes, alligators, and others. I'm probably sensitive to that because of the amount reptiles I have, and my love for herps.

I love ducks, but I also love duck down pillows.

Alligators are commercially farmed for their skins: They're not rare just because they're reptiles.

Originally Posted by Psychopathic963

However I don't like animal consumption/torture.

And I agree about the fossil fuel thing. The environmental thing I understand, but animal abuse? xD It's abuse of a giant lethal lizard that lived hundreds of millions of years ago, sort of.

The chicken feels no pain when I'm chewing it's cooked flesh, believe me, I asked. Like I said before, I don't torture animals, maybe some people like to torture animals before they eat them, but a happy cow makes a better steak.

As for the fossil fuels, I should have clarified to begin with. Real vegans (not poser vegans) won't use anything made out of animals. They won't even eat roadkill to prevent the meat from going to waste, if they did they'd be "freegans" which are different.

I'm not criticizing vegans, I just don't like pregan vegans associating the omnivorous population with animal torture and abuse. I tried the vegan thing, and it didn't work out. If it works out for you then more power to you. There are plenty of well known, perfectly sane people who are vegan such as Pam Anderson, Ozzy Osbourne and Adolf Hitler.

[nai live]

Originally Posted by Jake

I love ducks, but I also love duck down pillows.


They won't even eat roadkill to prevent the meat from going to waste, if they did they'd be "freegans" which are different.

. If it works out for you then more power to you. There are plenty of well known, perfectly sane people who are vegan such as Pam Anderson, Ozzy Osbourne and Adolf Hitler.

LOL, spat my coffee over keyboard, thanks !!
I think you guys need to give him a break though and be a tad more supportive of some bodys life style choice, even if you think the logic behind it is flawed.

[TikkiDui]

I just have to say it is a pain having to cook for vegans! Don't get me wrong I am not against your decision, I have many friends that are vegans and I myself eat very little meat and then I only eat fish or chicken. I understand your points but have you considered the food miles that are involved in having food not in season? I think this is a point many people forget, that pollution is effecting our plant and if you restrict yourself to certain foods they might have to travel further to get to you, in turn effecting our planet and animals.
I have a friend who also is a vegan but he will eat anything some else has bought but will not buy it himself. This saves food being wasted.

[Michael]

Originally Posted by Psychopathic963

I'm doing this more for a health reason than protesting animal consumption, honestly. I have a lot of headache, bloodflow, sight, heart problems, etc. I heard that things like this can be helped by eating naturally. However I don't like animal consumption/torture.

And I agree about the fossil fuel thing. The environmental thing I understand, but animal abuse? xD It's abuse of a giant lethal lizard that lived hundreds of millions of years ago, sort of.

Good luck, i'm sure that will be a life changing experience, i eat 2 chickens a week so i couldn't imagine giving up my meat.

Do you really believe you have made this decision for health reasons? If I were to ever give up meat, it would be because of empathy for the animal I consumed. I would have thought changing your diet in this way may make you deficient in some vitamins.

[jane1187]

Originally Posted by Psychopathic963

People seem less than thrilled about my lifestyle switch

I support your change of heart! I was a vegetarian for about a year, mostly because I think that raising animals is worse for the environment than raising crops (basically that 1 bowl of rice will feed a chinaman for a day thing, it takes 10 bowls of rice to feed a chicken that will feed him for 1 day type of thing... theres a saying somewhere but I can't remember it). However, I had to give it up as living with my partner who was not vegetarian, and being on a low budget, it was difficult to pay for two separate sets of food all the time.

If my partner would join me then I would happily return to vegetarianism. We do try to keep our meat intake to a minimum and regularly cook vegetable pasta dishes and stews and things.

Luckily here in the UK there are fairly high welfare standards for most animals, with the exception being chickens and turkey (which we don't eat anyway) so I don't worry too much about welfare standards of my meat and know which labels to look for to guarantee my meat is high welfare. However that;s a whole other can of worms that I know a lot of people have strong opinions about.

Hope this makes you feel a little more supported, even if it is for slightly different reasons than your own.

[Gleana]

Good luck!
I've been a vegetarian for about five years now, but never was able to go vegan. I'm a vegetarian partially because I grew up around the animals that I ate, and being me, got so emotionally attached to them that I found it impossible to do, but largely because I like the challenge of it. Have to keep things interesting, no? It forced me to eat so many strange things because I was such a picky eater beforehand. Vegetables have actually entered my diet now (). Just make sure that you're eating huge amounts of protein.

[Austin]

Haven't checked this thread in a while, thought it died. Apparently not!

Most people differ from my ideas...but then, I am posting this in a forum where people keep caudates in enclosures and feed them other living organisms (Those people including myself). Most vegans wouldn't agree with our practice. I respect other's differences!

I'm most likely going to stay vegan, because I've already lost 18 pounds. And no, it wasn't muscle, people actually are saying I look a little buff, haha.

[Otterwoman]

So how's it going? Still on the vegan road?

[Austin]

Yes! Haven't cheated once, unless you count soy chicken nuggets.

[Elena]

As a vegetarian, veggie corn dogs are my favorite lunch. I don't know what they put in those non-meat mysteries, but they're the light of my life.

While the belief that you're ridding yourself of toxins may not be entirely accurate, it is actually true that vegans and vegetarians get more of the necessary nutrients for a healthy body than a meat eater does. Along with this, it has shown that our consumption of meat has been vastly increased by factory farming, which has led our population to a higher chance of certain types of cancer, osteoporosis, and other diseases. This is because humans (mostly in the U.S.) now consume too much animal protein, which is extremely unhealthy.

Along with that, any meat that is supposedly "organic" and "free range" and whatever other BS packing they use, it is all false. By USDA regulations, a view of the field from the chicken factory constitutes as free range. And companies are not even held up to USDA regulations for animal husbandry and slaughter, because they are paid to not uphold those laws created. It is an incredibly corrupt system.

I myself would eat meat if we could go back to days of farming where people saw where their meat was coming from, where animals were kept on pasture and grass-fed, and slaughtered while fully unconscious, and not abused in the ways that we see today. I understand that we are by nature omnivores, and culture has given us access to larger prey such as cows and buffalo, but I do feel that we should be more conscious of the way that we raise and eat them. As of now, chickens, are so genetically mutilated that most animals in slaughterhouses are sick, leaking pus, covered in feces, and cannot stand or move from deformities in the 8/10ths of a square foot allotted to each chicken, which they do not even receive in full. I ask you, would you naturally go for a chicken that looks like that?

But don't even get me started on "organic" fruits and veggies either. That's a whole 'nother ball game. Though, did you know that the specific genetically engineered potatoes grown only by McDonalds just for their french fries are labeled as a pesticide because they've been genetically engineered to contain pesticides? Get that large fry, eat some pesticides. Love our healthy living.

As for the arguments made against veganism in this thread... I feel that every person who is omnivorous, vegan, or vegetarian should read Eating Animals by Jonathan Foer. It is an incredibly informative account that does not seek to convert people to vegetarianism, but rather to simply be conscious of what they eat, and what our money and apathy over what we eat has fueled in the way of corporations. You'll be screaming "Soylent Green is made out of people" or the equivalent after reading it. It contains many statements from people who have worked for factory farms, and ideas for an alternative future that does not actively seek out disease.

If you've never read it, you are seriously missing out on something that is incredibly important to our lives. It's not just what you eat, it's what you're feeding your children, it's what you're allowing your children to believe, and it will cause such increase in disease that I see a few generations down, your great-great-great-great-great grandchildren will start to look much like those deformed chickens that are eaten every day.

Does it show that my girlfriend and I are English/Environmental Science majors, haha?