Dirty Hippies, or Alix's self congratulatory smug-fest (veg*nism etc)

So, Space Titanium; tell me all about what lead you on your 'journey' and any observations!

It's probably not a very interesting story. Over time, as I've been exposed to the ethical arguments (such as those of Singer) and watched some horrific factory farm and slaughterhouse videos, I've come to the conclusion that my gustatory satisfactions are not worth the infliction of grotesque suffering on sentient creatures. Not to sound all self-righteous, of course, because I honestly don't feel that righteous (I still eat fish). Generally, I think it's best to withhold moral condemnation, which only hurts the cause by turning people off, and focus on encouraging people to make gradual changes, like transitioning to meat and dairy substitutes.

A fairly trite answer, but I don't have much originality to bring to this topic.

As for observations, I'm as healthy now as when I was eating animal products, but I'm rather conscious of getting the right vitamins and minerals (B-12 and calcium are of particular concern for a vegan, I think). My digestion seems to have improved somewhat since I kicked dairy.

totally agree with everything. There you go-my long awaited answer! I hope you don't think I was leashing 'moral condemnation' on you with the whole 'fish with bulging eyes' thing. I mean, when I was in sixth form I ate McDonald's every day and until a very few years ago was staunchly anti-vegetarian. I have a lot to make up for and can in no way judge.
The one problem is it's hard to not talk about something that has made me sooo happy and that I believe to be the absolute 'right' thing to do. I am genuinely excited that I realised it! So that's why I set up this topic I suppose. I'm sure it will be as vibrant as the rest of the forum... yeah...

I highly recommend vitamin B supplements, because they turn your wee greenish, which I enjoy. Calcium shouldn't be a problem; it's in lots of vegetables and if you have fortified soya milk and so on it's even easier. I'm sure one should err on the 'leafy green vegetables' side, but I have a serious weakness for Provamel vanilla soya milk. Wowzers.

This made me laff:

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I hope you don't think I was leashing 'moral condemnation' on you with the whole 'fish with bulging eyes' thing.

I didn't get that impression, no. But it did make me feel bad for the fishes. I've been clinging to salmon as my last source of animal protein, purposely avoiding information that would compel me to stop eating it. So you kinda pooped my party. I'll probably keep eating it though, because fuck ethical consistency.

Quote :

Calcium shouldn't be a problem; it's in lots of vegetables and if you have fortified soya milk and so on it's even easier. I'm sure one should err on the 'leafy green vegetables' side, but I have a serious weakness for Provamel vanilla soya milk.

Yeah, I don't get a lot of vegetables besides carrots because I'm too lazy to prepare them. I mostly eat grains, nuts, fruit, and the like. And I love soy milk, but I stopped drinking it recently cuz I'm (irrationally) afraid that the phytoestrogens will kill my sperms and make me a woman. Almond milk is almost as good, though.

That chart is brilliant. So true.

Update: I've decided to give up fish, inspired partly by Alix's shaming () and partly by this quote:

Quote :

Now I can look at you in peace; I don’t eat you anymore.
—Franz Kafka, while admiring fish in an aquarium

And I'm going to start eating soy again, because my cursory research of the supposed feminizing effects of isoflavones seems to suggest that my fears are probably silly, and I refuse to allow them to get in the way of my love for tofu any longer.

SI'm so bloody happy! It kind of shows that the attitude of 'one person can't make a difference' is a ridiculous one; if someone's already kinding of thinking of giving up meat/fish/whatever, one person can totally influence their decision. After years of increasing consideration for what I ate, it took someone I work with the make me think 'what am I waiting for?' And turn vegetarian. I really hope it goes well and I know it will. I wish I enjoyed tofu as much as you do though! Apparently it's the best and best value for money protein source there is!
I hadn't read that quote before but it holds very true. When I was an omnivore I always had a nagging feeling that, if presented with an opportunity to visit an abbatoir, I would have to accept or be a terrible hypocrite. It feels nice not to 'have' to do that!
It's not soooo bad being a woman, so don't worry about those pesky isoflavones!

I would just like to point out that was written on my phone so I couldn't really proof-read or exclamation-mark-prune...

Yeah, talk about a grammatical trainwreck!

I appreciate your support. By the way, what's holding you back from becoming full-vegan?

Well, I CAN join in a little bit. Though I do eat meat and feel terrible about it most the time, thanks to Alix it's rare that I eat it at home or in home cooked meals. But, on a positive note I've given up milk on my cereal!

By the way, I was a vegan for 6 months once, so I'm allowed to post in 'ere

everyone's allowed to post here, chump. It's not just supposed to be about veg*nism, but also about soap making and darning and all that shit that I pretend to myself I do.

Nothing's holding me back from proper veganism, I just think I'll have a higher chance of success if I do it slowly. For example, I think a lot of it is to do with planning and preparing your own food and so on (especially since onions give me the shits), so it is really a lifestyle change.

O my goodness my dog is scraping something along the floor and it is irritating me no end.

It occurred to me that if I were not lactose intolerant, I don't know whether I could ever give up cheese. As it is, I'm really scared about giving up chocolate (I can have some dairy).

So yeah, basically, my plan for this year (I am a plan person) is to start taking the fasts seriously again (I didn't last year as it was my first year of vegetarianism). So I am currently a vegan as it's advent, will eat chocolate at Christmas, etc. My Mum worked out that Orthodox people fast for nearly 6 months of the year so I think it will be a great way to do it. Then next year, kaboom! Vegan!

You know there's such a thing as vegan chocolate, right? Or do you only like milk chocolate?

yes but it's so expensive that it's not so much that I'm scared of giving up chocolate, but my whole 'chocolate ethos' would have to change. Except 'scared' is something of an over-statement.

Dark chocolate is the one "junk food" that tempts the hell out of me when I'm at the store.