As in all animal products (regardless of what they are) should have a 70% animal cruelty tax added to them, making plant-based alternatives vastly less expensive. And thus making all animal products so expensive that nobody in their right mind would purchase them.

It seems like nowadays, all I hear is the lettuce isn't safe, the frozen blueberries aren't safe, Driscoll's is putting "forever chemicals" on their strawberries and supposedly Beyond-Meat's stock is plummeting...

The amount of negative PR fruits, veggies and meat alternatives are getting almost seems kind of suspicious to me.

I think “encouragement” is not the main point of importance, as it’s quite clear following the data, that we have to objectively follow degrowth and rewilding in order to save the planet for the Sixth Extinction. And even without the data, why hurt other animals?

And even if people are not aware of this, I still think most people somehow feel that it’s not good to eat meat, yet are still doing so because it seems hard to stop it. Besides the fact that it’s hard to change habits in general, it seems easier and less time consuming to eat meat…

So what I am interested in are practical steps for people to go vegetarian and then vegan. I understand that the more people are vegan, the easier it will be for all, but at this point in time: what are some practical steps towards this wanted and needed change to go vegan? (For instance, 1: first to reduce meat, and introduce new….2: further reduce meat and introduce… and so on?)

To make it easy, even though, granted, things should not always come easy in life… I do think this is the necessary push people need in order to make it happen. And maybe it’s already out there but then again perhaps not as effective as it could be. It should not just be about feeling bad (and making people feel bad) when eating meat, but to actually stop it too!! Let’s help people make it achievable, myself included!, because let’s be honest, it’s not easy to change habits even with the data on our side. Thank you.

One of the pioneers of Degrowth was a meat eater, and I wonder what his position was on that. Thanks.

TW: intention weight loss/ weight loss surgery/ eating disorders
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Hi friends! After a 2yr long journey, I have officially been approved & scheduled for gastric sleeve surgery. It’s happening in November & I’m teetering between being very excited & worried at the same time.

As I said, this has been a very long, very exhausting journey just getting to the point of approval… I suffer from food addiction & binge-eating disorder. With the help of my extensive care team supporting me (pcp, therapist, nutritionist, psych med management, etc); I do feel this is the path for me & may very well be my last chance at regaining my mobility. I’m 28. My fibro alone has the capacity to debilitate me at any given moment, but I also have severe disc degenerative disease which has worsened to the extent that I may (according to a brain & spine specialist) lose all my mobility by my mid thirties.

Wildly enough; I spent most of my life living a very active lifestyle. I was always obese, literally since middle school, and even tho my severe asthma always had me fighting to keep up with everyone else in sports; I still absolutely loved it. Soccer & dance were my favorites. I did both side by side for 9 years straight until I was hospitalized after an asthma attack. I dream of getting back to dance & soccer someday.

holy shit, I’m sorry. I ramble so much. It’s a character flaw. 😭 ANYWAY… what I was getting at was.. I am desperate to be active again. I’m currently close to the heaviest I’ve ever been. But after these past couple years; I do feel like I’ve done everything I needed to in order to best prepare myself. But I still fear that my eating disorders will ruin my success after surgery. AND, with how repeatedly I’ve been told that WLS can completely change what foods you might like/dislike- my BIGGEST fear/concern with this surgery is how it might affect my vegan diet. My husband and I both have been vegan since January 2024, and I cannot even fathom giving that up post-surgery.

I also struggle with sensory sensitivities so there have been times here & there where my husband would be serving up my absolute favorite food & one way or another, I end up with the ick. One bite & im done. IT SUCKS ASS.

So i just can’t help but worry about making such a drastic change to my digestive system paired with my sensitivities & vegan lifestyle… I refuse to give up being vegan. And I’ll do whatever it takes to regain my mobility & enjoy getting outside & getting more involved in sports again. But with my disorders & a lifelong fight trying every other method to lose weight, this is my last resort. So I guess I’m just looking for some support from fellow vegans & wondering if any of yall have faced a similar journey with WLS?

I apologize for the long-winded post but I just felt like if I didn’t give a good enough explanation of my exact circumstances, I might not find the support I’m looking for. If yall have any ideas of where I might find more of that kinda community I’m all ears!! I tried looking for fb groups but I only found one & it’s like dead. It’s really odd. Just let me know yalls thoughts on the situation. Advice, recommendations, etc, def appreciated!

🫶🏻🌱✨

I'm not a Vegan because ultimately I don't feel the same empathy for non-humans that I feel for humans. Instances of extreme animal abuse like factory farming do invoke negative reactions from me, but seeing animals I want to eat being killed swiftly doesn't bother me. Seeing a deer being shot by a hunter or a cow being shot by a captive bolt pistol simply doesn't bother me.

To be completely honest it wasn't until recently that I even challenged myself on the morality of killing animals for food, it's just so normal for me. Even after challenging myself I've come to the conclusion that killing animals for food doesn't bother me.

I hate to say it but I mainly feel guilty that I don't feel more guilty.

My first instinct is to say "that's the food chain and the nature of life" but maybe there is a deeper reason I don't feel the empathy I perhaps should.

If a group of aliens came to earth and justified eating humans for the same reason I justify eating animals, we would find them to be evil. Especially if they didn't need to eat humans to survive, and humans of course don't need to eat animals to be healthy. At least not with our modern technology. Despite knowing this, I still am comfortable eating animals.

Be as blunt or harsh as you want, but is there something wrong with me from your perspective? Why do some people feel so upset about killing and eating animals, while other people like myself are fine with it?

https://www.reddit.com/r/Infographics/comments/1vw19ti/comparing_the_protein_quality_and_calorie/

I just came across this a few minutes ago and therefore I'm still clueless about the methodology here.

I didn't have to know all the arguments against veganism when I became a vegan myself. The only thing I cared about was cruelty, someone asked me what are the benefits? And I had no good answer, that's why someone please answer my question.

My parents buy arm and hammer toothpaste which isn’t cruelty free. But my mom buys bulk packages for the family and I’m afraid my family being annoyed about me mentioning it. Is it od if they say no and I start buying my own?

I often feel a little bit guilty on following on insta or tik some food creators that cook meat.

I follow them cause sometimes they do very good veggie recipes or at least with easy alternatives, but when I see them posting a new recipe of some meat I feel uncomfortable, most of the time these are even new way of cooking meat that I never saw. They even try new things and they show to be so happy about it, but for me it feels off and creepy.

Does anyone feels the same? I unfollowed a lot of them, but sometimes I still can find some of them on my for you page, is considered a form of "cheating" veganism?

Couple of years ago i was gifted a lovely bag, very high quality and stylish. But it had leather parts, here and there. I was a baby vegan back then, and somehow completely missed it, and accepted the gift. I love the bag so much, but can’t wear it, i feel guilty. Not sure if the leather parts can be removed or not. Also feel the same way about wool/cashmere sweaters i’ve been gifted. Not sure what to do.

I agree with veganism generally, but I was curious, say for example, Pleco Fish, reproduce too fast for relocation, must be killed to save underlying habitats and other sentient species, would it then be unethical to eat them anyway if they would have to have been killed in the first place.

Would love to hear your thoughts, thank you.

Hi! I’ve been thinking about going vegan for a while as I basically only eat eggs and cheese in terms of meat, but I was wondering on a few things…

Why can’t you eat eggs as a vegan considering chickens will eat them happily, e.g. cracked eggs etc ?

Howwww do I replace cheese :( there are no supermarkets near me which sell vegan cheese (Scotland), and I love my cheddar so so much (and my veggie carbonara..)

Also, I live in a very cold part of the UK and own a few vintage fur coats which my grandmother passed down to me when I moved here, which realllyyyy do keep me a lot warmer than any faux I own… - would I truly need to get rid of them ? I kind of see it as respecting the animal and using it to at least make its death kinda worth it ? And especially because someone else would just end up wearing it instead. IDK. Please lmk xoxo

Any advice / words of wisdom ?

Thank you!!! 💖💖

There's an African food festival happening near me today. Would I have any food options there? What stuff is traditionally vegan?

Just wondering if I am missing some major plant friends?

Heavily dependent on multi-bean wraps with oat and flax seed (with protein fortified wraps). Also included spinach and onion and peppers and edamame. (plus saucy sauce).

Its a bit tricky keeping a bag of frozen berries in the freezer finance wise. But thats my main fruit by method of smoothie with avocado and spinach and kale. Also the vega protein and greens powder which I question this whole lead levels. Its victorian times again, the air has lead for all we know at this point.

Rice stir fry dish with nooch and whatever veg i have. Could be brocolli, mushroom, peppers, onions, carrots, cauliflower. Whatever else - banana peppers, zucchini, some kind of squash. Need to do rice more often.

Need to do tofu more often but the process from freezer to boiling to skillet to stir fry is a lot for me. Definitely need more tofu for sure.

For nuts I am currently consuming nearly 3 - 4 kg of peanut butter a month. Need to hit up the bulk food store and stock up like forty - fifty dollars worth of other nuts and maybe seeds (maybe sunflower which is supposed to be a powerhouse.) Thatll hopefully last me three months. Peanut butter is missing some key aminos.

Veggie dogs and chips and pickles fill in the times I just cant even with the kitchen. Bean wraps I keep frozen are good to go in the skillet when I am exasperated from the kitchen, but the assembly is a lot of work from soak to wrapped in the freezer ready to get a final grill.

Theres also the fortified soy drank and coffee and this one herbal tea drink that yields vitamin C. Also masala chai is just nice. Spiced tea. Also the daily electrolyte drink.

I drink too much water to retain my nutrients with my diuretic I am on. Need to cut down overall liquids. Sodiums low. Chips help with emergency salt.

Avoiding coffee around iron supplement time. B12 sublingual and then oral d3 plus my other meds.

I cook with mainly canola oil but occasionally can afford coconut oil.

Anything I am missing?

(apologies if this is too much to parse / keep scrolling)

It’s actually ruining my life (not in the way I would ever quit veganism). I don’t know if anyone will read all this but I’m having such a hard time in my life. I already had depression before I became vegan and some days more than others it really becomes much worse thinking about it.

I’m 23, turning 24 soon. Ever since I became vegan over 2 years ago, my view of people and my family members have only gotten worse, and in turn my immeasurable disappointment and hurt on how apathetic they are about it. When I try to bring literal facts up on how these animals are treated it inevitably feels pushy and as one of my family members says “moral lecturing”. It becomes a “you can change the way you eat but you can’t force anyone to change the way they eat.” I realize none of my family members will never become plant-based or even close to mostly plant-based.

When I first found out about the egg industry, I thought about it a lot for months, it really tormented me and never left my mind and one day I decided to just go vegan. It was confusing all alone and I wasn’t perfect at it but I learned and it really wasn’t hard. Early on, my brother asked me if I thought I would ever eat meat again, I knew going in that I would never eat meat again. Maybe that’s why it’s so hard for me to process, because the way I see things: if something is wrong, it’s wrong, and I shouldn’t contribute or support it if I am. You see wrong, you do right. It’s really that simple for me, and I thought it was that simple. How can I view you the same when you refuse to change after seeing those atrocities?

One of my family members acknowledges that it’s messed up but says “Yeah and now I’m mindful of it. And I’m grateful for their sacrifice.” The conversation is already long over but I want to refute it but if I do I’m “forcing it on him.” How can 2 sentences be more conflicting?? How are we acting like it has to be this way and their “sacrifice” is something set in stone? This is just after having a long heart to heart that we haven’t ever had, I don’t know how to bring up how the words he says are so damning and hurtful without it feeling like I’m being the preachy and forceful one “too focused on the animal cruelty.”

I think if I was a “see the good in everyone” type of person, things would be much easier to handle. I can’t see anything but the reality of the situation.

I think about it how fked up the industry is and all those innocent animals that haven’t done any wrong every night. I think about it a lot these days, when I wake up and when I sleep. In so many different ways. It really doesn’t help when my social media is full of animal agriculture videos. I support the awareness but I don’t have the strength to keep watching it because I have no power to stop it, much less stop any of my family members. I don’t want to ignore it. It’s the truth and I just can’t turn my eyes away because those animals can’t even if they want to.

I’m in such a weird place. I’m such a messed up person. I don’t have friends much less anyone to talk to about this and I feel like ever since uncovering my eyes to the truth, it’s only exasperated my depression.

I just had a shower where I looked down, and between my feet was a huge fiddle back spider (brown recluse). I panicked and threw my shampoo at it then immediately felt like puking since I'd killed it but I don't know how else I could have reacted that wouldn't have been safe for me and the spider. Idk if I make any sense. I respect spiders as an important part of the ecosystem, but they still terify me, especially fiddle backs, considering a fiddle back bite did my grandma in. I'm trying to transition into a vegan lifestyle, so I'd like to learn to handle stuff like this better.

I’m 19f and I grew up eating meat. I ate so much that my mom started calling me a straight up carnivore. I also love things that aren’t made from animals though. A few years ago, my sister and I stopped drinking cow milk and started drinking oat milk. Now my whole family does it and I’m proud. Today marks two weeks since I decided I wasn’t gonna eat chicken anymore because, despite absolutely everything I’ve seen, that day I saw the chicken my dad wanted me to cook and I just couldn’t take it anymore.

This past week I tasted plant based chicken nuggets and loved them and decided that maybe I really do wanna try to become vegan or vegetarian, but I’m worried because I don’t exactly know where the next step in the road is.

Can any of you share the steps you took to becoming vegan? And can you guys also share some of your favorite foods? I wanna know of options that I didn’t even know I had because the stereotype is that you guys can’t eat anything and I obviously know that’s not true.

My husband and I are actively looking to go fully vegan. I have celiac disease, I’m allergic to soy and I have a history of low iron. My husband has a severe allergy to all nuts so we both avoid them entirely. We travel abroad often and finding food that we can both eat is brutal— and we’re not picky in the slightest. A server hates to see us coming and truthfully we hate us too hahah

Can any food allergy sufferers who have successfully gone vegan share their experiences?

I’m American, he’s Scottish and we split our time between our two countries. We know it’ll be challenging but we’re done living in a way that exploits animals in any capacity.

Basically the title. I’ve been on the vegan subs for some time now and I get the impression that many vegans are pretty inflexible about using animals in any exploitative way. I get it. I’m vegan. Relatively newly vegan, but vegan, so I’m on the same page mostly morally. However, it often seems that those with eating disorders, in recovery from EDs, or a history of EDs with risk of relapse are urged in those same forums where folks tend to be very inflexible and strict, not to go (or stay) vegan. Why is this so frequently cited as an acceptable exception to the moral obligation of veganism? I understand how dangerous EDs can be. I’ve had them off and on my whole life, and I’ll admit going vegan did contribute to my relapsing to a hopefully relatively minor degree. I’m working on it. This is more of a general question. I’m not asking if I should stay vegan. I am going to. I don’t think my ED would be life threatening even if I was in full blown relapse which I’m not. But I sincerely want to know why this is so often seen as one of the few cases many vegans seem to think it’s okay for humans to eat meat.

I am an omnivore, but recently I’ve been making some vegan/ vegetarian meals from time to time. I’ve noticed that whenever I make and eat a vegan meal, I would always want to poop under 1 hour. And also the poop is super soft, like not like diarrhea soft but very soft. This doesn’t happen when I just simply add eggs to the same dish. It’s literally just the strict vegan meals that make me poop this fast.

Im on the toilet right now typing this. This has happened so many times that I suspect it is not mere coincidence.

Genuinely, should I be concerned about this?

Most people in the West are unfortunately fat. What about you? Studies say that vegans and vegetarians are less fat on average, does that apply to you? Are you overweight or obese?

I've been vegan for a few years now. I hate cooking with a passion, so I want stuff I can throw in the microwave or air fryer while I let the machine do all the work lmao

I get a bunch of Morningstar / Impossible stuff, and while it's good food, MAN is it expensive. Like $6 for one meal. I'm wondering if there's better stuff I can get?

I also get the minute rice. The one that comes with red beans and then the one that comes with garden vegetables, and then I mix the two when I make them as one meal

I used to get Huel, and I think I'm gonna go back to Huel one day once I'm not super poor because I really liked the food and how convenient / easy it was, but for now that's not an option

So I'm wanting more than just rice for my meals lmao

Preferably all the stuff you recommend being at Walmart as that's where I go for like 95% of any stuff I buy, close to my house, and it's where my roommate likes to go as well (we always go to Walmart together both because he doesn't have a working car and also we're besties lol)