The Vegetarian & Vegan Thread

[papa_levante]

The graphic videos include one made inside a huge New York dairy operation where cows never go outside, have the ends of their tails cut off in painful procedures without anesthesia, and are seen being abused by one employee who hits a cow over the head with a wrench when it refuses to move.

Disappointing.

I'm not against the consumption of meat. I am against how we get it.

"They're just going to die anyway."
Ok, that makes sense! Yeah! So how about I just shoot you in the face right now since you're just gonna "die anyway"?

Yeah, I love your logic.

 

[cygnenoir]

So this is typical. This morning I took an online survey for our school health insurance. We had to put in our height, weight, waist measurements, and answer all sorts of questions about drinking, smoking, and so on.

One of the questions was "How many servings of dairy do you consume in a day?" Note that it said dairy, not calcium rich foods. So I answered honestly and wrote zero.

The result of the survey was that I was pretty healthy, but I need to work on my nutrition and yes, consume more dairy. ARRRGHH.

 

[ChloeFrancoise]

I would complain that it needs to changed. Like I already mentioned, there's also the fact that some people are allergic to dairy and if they mean calcium, it should say calcium.

 

[oiselet]

Disappointing.

I'm not against the consumption of meat. I am against how we get it.

"They're just going to die anyway."
Ok, that makes sense! Yeah! So how about I just shoot you in the face right now since you're just gonna "die anyway"?

Yeah, I love your logic.

Or "The Bible tells us we should eat meat!"--not that I'm trying to drag religion into this, but someone told me this once with such confidence I wanted to slap him. I'm not religious but even if I was the Bible doesn't say we should have absolute tyranny over animals, nor does it say we should execute them in such a foul and barbaric manner.

 

[papa_levante]

^ Thank you for agreeing.

I've decided that almond milk is soooooooooooo much better than soy milk. I accidentally bought unsweetened vanilla flavored almond milk, but it was so delicious anyway! It's not as thick as soy.

 

[tullepen]

It does make you think when the devout criticize you for being vegan,when in the Ten Commandments there is "Thou shalt not kill"....hmmm,I guess since they themselves didn't kill the animal,it's ok...UGH
I used to love almond milk,I'd have it with oatmeal or use it for hot cocoa.mm!

 

[ChloeFrancoise]

I've been buying almond milk now that I'm having a easier time recently finding bigger containers of it. Now I hope I start seeing others I wanted to try.

 

[GlowGirl]

so I browsed through Alicia Silverstone's book today, decided not to buy it for two reasons:

1. Alot of the foods she uses are a little foreign to me. In fact, I had no darn clue about alot of the vegetables and things she uses. While I feel it would be great to learn about new foods and veggies, I just don't have the time. I want quick and easy, I dont want to spend 1 hour in the grocery store looking for stuff. Even the more basic recipes which I thought would be easy (like the oatmeal cookies) I saw had ingredients that I would never have in my pantry.

2. It was so expensive! (I went to borders.) it was $30. If you're going to buy it, at least get it from amazon.com

with that said, it is definitely worth looking through! She has a lot of great information in there!! I believe my local library has the book so I might have to check it out again

 

[tullepen]

Yes,with vegan recipes there seems to be cachet of exotic,expensive,or hard to get ingredients which is frustrating.Agave nectar is so pricey! I wish there were some site that were for the non-millionaire vegans! Almond butter is really pricey too!

 

[papa_levante]

^ Agreed. I have two cookbooks sitting next to me, and I would have to go to some specialty supermarket to find the ingredients I need. Grr.

when in the Ten Commandments there is "Thou shalt not kill"....hmmm,I guess since they themselves didn't kill the animal,it's ok...UGH

One thing I swore I wouldn't do would be to convert other people to being a vegan. I would never hover over my friend's plates and say, "Do you know what they do to those animals?" It's a personal choice, and I won't try to force other people to see things my way. If they're interested, they'll ask me and "convert" themselves on their own terms. I don't have a problem with people eating meat. I know that I personally do have a problem with the treatment of animals. I'm one less person who is giving their money to the meat industry.

 

[tullepen]

YES! I feel that way too! I don't feel like I need to "help" people...I guess since having rather devout family members of the Born Again Christian ilk, I know my place and what not to get myself into!

 

[papa_levante]

I made a vegan friend on campus and through word of mouth, I heard she was one of those people, hovering over plates and such. But, when I spoke with her, she had told me that she cheats and indulges in chocolate. Personally, I would never cheat. I am 500% against the cruelty of animals and their products so not consuming their products is how I show my commitment to it. It's like saying, "I'm going to quit smoking and then smoke." If you smoke, you haven't quit. You haven't quit if you smoke.

 

[tullepen]

I make sure that my chocolate is vegan.There's so much bad milk chocolate these days anyway! yuckie!
I know there are other vegans on my campus,but I have yet to filter out another one.One time I was talking with a yoga teacher and she said how needs to eat meat,how it "grounds her." I found that extremely confusing and disgusting.

 

[cestmagique]

^ Thank you for agreeing.

I've decided that almond milk is soooooooooooo much better than soy milk. I accidentally bought unsweetened vanilla flavored almond milk, but it was so delicious anyway! It's not as thick as soy.

For the heck of it -- Eden soymilk is really good and not too thick at all.

Oh and another thing... who could possibly criticize a vegetarianism for being (in effect) anti-religion? For most people it's about compassion, and if that isn't Jesus-approved I don't know what is.

 

[papa_levante]

^ Eden, eh? I'll have to look into it.

Does Rice Dream come in any other flavors? I've only seen original, and I hear it's exactly like rice.

 

[soymilkfreak]

I think Rice Dream just comes in one flavor...
and it tastes like regular vanilla soymilk to me

BANANA soymilk is boss though! It's sooo heavenly good but I can't find it anywhere anymore U_U

as to "hovering over plates..."
I try not to be one of those preachy vegetarians but at the same time I feel like people don't really know what is going on in slaughter houses and maybe, just maybe, once they will find out, they will change their views on meat just like I did.
But I still restrain myself from preaching though when people ask me why I changed my diet, I mention the book "Skinny b!tch"
It sparks interest. Three of my friends read it and are vegetarians for a month already!
lets see how long it will last hehe. There are about 5 other people wanting to read that book

 

[papa_levante]

^ Is Skinny b*tch a good book for vegetarians, even if it is just a chapter or two? I'm intrigued.

I try not to be one of those preachy vegetarians but at the same time I feel like people don't really know what is going on in slaughter houses and maybe, just maybe, once they will find out, they will change their views on meat just like I did.

Jim Gaffigan makes a joke about this. He talks about when he eats meat in front of vegetarians, "and it's like I'm eating a kitten!"

Sometimes I'll be eating with a vegetarian and they'll look at me and ask, "Do you know what they do to those animals?"
"No, but it's delicious."

I just gotta laugh!

But in all seriousness, I wonder what the best way to educating the public about the pros of being a vegan are. Not many people are going to stop eating meat. It's so much a part of American culture. "Fourth of July! Let's have tofu sausage links."

 

[soymilkfreak]

well it is advertised as a "diet book" but it is an open and strong propaganda for veganism.
some people who buy it, later go "what the hell is this sh!t, I didnt sign up for this! " but it gets to the majority. Almost everyone that read it converted to being vegetarian/vegan.
it basically opens your eyes to the food industry, what goes into your food, and what you should and should not eat.
plus, it is written by two hilarious and witty women, lots of foul words but instead of wrinkling my nose, I laughed throughout the book
until it got to the slaughterhouse... then I cried.

"No, but it's delicious"

wow, this is exactly what one of my classmates said!
and a new Taco Bell opened close to our school so today I was surrounded by tacos throughout the lunch time and then someone smuggled a burrito into English class and ate it next to me
I still get meat cravings here and there but I don't want to go back

 

[papa_levante]

I still get meat cravings here and there but I don't want to go back

Same here! STYLEOCIDE could tell you how many times I've told her how badly I want ribs. She always tells me, "Think of how it got there!" Then, it's smooth sailing.

Even if I weren't a vegan, I still wouldn't eat Taco Bell. Gag.

 

[cestmagique]

What's really odd to me about American eating isn't that people eat meat and dairy, but that they eat goddamn tons of it. Even before I became vegetarian I used cheese and such like condiments, and I always used veg broth or other vegan ingredients if they worked just as well in my meals as an animal version. Eating so much meat and dairy really comes off as careless and greedy to me.