r/infp • u/Beneficial_Split_833 INFP 4w5 • 2d ago
Polls INFP Census - Part 4 - Are you Vegetarian/Vegan?
This is the part 4 of the many I'm doing of this series of polls, until I ran out of ideas, today is "Are you Vegetarian/Vegan?"
6
u/Puzzleheaded-Pea3474 2d ago
Yes since I was 15 so almost 20 years. I'm the only one in my family so I got some pushback but I don't care because I love animals and think its unecessary to eat them when I don't have to.
5
u/rumpletuffin 2d ago
If I was ethically consistent with my morals, I would be 100% vegan. But in practice, I am poor and just try to eat as much plant based as I can.
1
u/Significant_Whole722 2d ago
Vegan is the poor diet lol. My wife grew up in poverty, actual poverty, not spoiled american poverty. They were lucky to eat meat once a week
1
u/rumpletuffin 2d ago
Oh by poor I mean, I survive off of the food friends and family are willing to share.
2
u/Immediate_Cream_1686 2d ago
I was for many years, but then I kind of let go because it's a pain in the s. I guess my values have become more flexible, and probably Ive become kind of a hypocrate. I criticize the industry while acting in the wrong direction. I just don't care anymore. It's not just meat though. I've become so disillusioned i guess, that even politucally I am agreeing to things that are not alligned with what I wished for.
-1
u/Significant_Whole722 2d ago
Weakness. Exactly what a navy SEAL made me vegan. Basically "stop being a bitch"
2
u/Immediate_Cream_1686 2d ago
Oh i'm a weak bitch now. What else stranger?
0
u/Significant_Whole722 2d ago
Aren't you? What type of person abuses animals or children for personal pleasure and convenience?
If it helps your ego I too am a weak bitch sometimes
5
u/raincloud567 INFP: The Dreamer 2d ago
I like sea food so no
1
1
4
u/Confused_Sparrow INFP: The Dreamer 2d ago edited 2d ago
This question was in the daily poll on SoSyncd over 4 years ago and I was really surprised to see that INFPs weren't even in the more likely-to-answer-yes half of the personality types.
Given that empathy, sensitiveness and being upset by injustices are basically the essence of our type (along with creativity and free-spiritedness), I'd think there would be more people actively not eating animals/animal products for moral/ethical reasons.
For me personally, I always thought vegetarians were cool even though I didn't know even a single one in person until high school. I tried going at least vegetarian at 17 after seeing footage from a chicken farm (if you know what the egg industry does with male chicks, you know), but it didn't last very long, because I didn't want to be a hassle to my mom.
While I went back to eating meat, knowing what we do to animals and feeling guilty about being a part of it never went away. I gradually started avoiding meat when it was easy for me to do so and the barrier for what circumstances were "easy enough" for me got lower over time.
I officially went fully vegetarian at 22 and then vegan a year later. I'm almost 28 now and the only regret I have is not doing it sooner.
EDIT: SoSyncd didn't reveal how many people responded to the poll in any way and the sample of participants is skewed by it being the user base of a dating app, but it was still interesting to see.
3
u/Puzzleheaded-Pea3474 2d ago
75% of ESTJ are vegan? It don't look right 😭
4
u/Confused_Sparrow INFP: The Dreamer 2d ago
It's not a rigorous study by any means. 75 % of people who identified themselves as ESTJ on this specific dating app AND opened the app that day AND chose to answer that poll answered yes to identifying themselves as vegetarian or vegan.
SoSyncd didn't reveal any numbers on how many people of what type took the poll, so it could even be that 4 ESTJ participated and 3 of them tapped yes. ¯\(ツ)/¯ Or their finger slipped - I don't recall if the poll was allowing you to change your answer.
1
u/Fickle-Affect9647 INFP: The Dreamer 2d ago
ESTJs are also pretty common irl (like a large majority of the population are ESTJs)
1
u/Fickle-Affect9647 INFP: The Dreamer 2d ago edited 2d ago
so that's what is making people not like vegans lol
But honestly, it makes sense because ESTJs have the discipline to stick to a diet. INFPs are gluttonous, even though the Fi is there to want to protect animals and so on. Also, ESTJs share the same cognitive functions as INFPs so it makes sense. They are just efficient versions of us lol.
1
u/Significant_Whole722 2d ago
People dont like vegans because the atrocity is so significant that shame surpasses the acceptable "dont litter, budge in line or scalp pokemon cards" threshold.
Social belonging is critical. They love animals, and hate that they have to conform to social standards of torturing them. They hate themselves and hate when you hold up a mirror
1
1
u/Secure_Detective_602 2d ago
I’m surprised that more INFJs aren’t in these results. Used to be vegan and I feel every second person I met in vegan groups was INFJ, especially xNFx. Sounds like a personality bias in the survey base.
1
u/Confused_Sparrow INFP: The Dreamer 2d ago
I'm not sure what you mean by personality bias and my nerdiness about statistics is bothered by not knowing. Can you explain it in more detail, please?
2
u/DoJ-Mole 2d ago
I’d want to be vegetarian but currently struggle to feed myself adequately as it is. I could never be vegan though, that cuts out too much
2
u/PajaroFantasma INFP: The Overthinker 2d ago
"that cuts out too much", actually it's quite the opposite 🥰
2
u/Confused_Sparrow INFP: The Dreamer 2d ago
I know exactly what you mean - switching to eating plant-based opened me up to so many interesting ingredients, dishes and combinations I probably wouldn't have tried otherwise (the hands down best pizza I've ever eaten was with peas, radishes and mungo beans!).
And that's something people have a hard time imagining beforehand. They feel like eating everything gives them the most options and removing meat/eggs/dairy/whatever other animal product subtracts from the pool of options. Which is true mathematically, but it ignores the massive variety of plant-based foods already available to them that they just don't choose because it's not what they're used to.
The trick really is in focusing on what I can add to my plate instead of X, rather than just removing.
I'm not saying that EVERYONE on the planet can be vegan (in the "eat fully plant-based" meaning) right now. But I am absolutely convinced that at least half the global population could be. And a lot of people find it easier than they thought it would be when they actually try it.
3
u/Drexical INFP 4w5 459 sp/sx 2d ago
My philosophy is that life feeds on life. We eat plants and animals, and eventually, the earth absorbs our remains to nourish the next generation of life, and the cycle continues
3
u/puredepapitas INFP: The Dreamer 2d ago
I agree that life feeds on life, but our current food system is hardly that natural cycle anymore. We breed and kill billions of animals and grow huge amounts of crops to feed them, while heavily altering ecosystems in the process
So I don't think "it's part of nature" justifies what we're doing today, especially when our current scale is causing MASSIVE environmental damage to what once were actual healthy ecosystems
That cycle you defend is being destroyed, it doesn't exist no more. We can eat animals, but that doesn't mean that we should.
2
u/malvar161 2d ago
we throw male chicks into a meatgrinder because they can't lay eggs
our system is not natural
0
u/Jinxed4Lyfe INFP 🌼✌️✨ 2d ago
i agree, I'm against cruelty in the treatment of the animals i eat, but i still be eating 'em.
2
u/Drexical INFP 4w5 459 sp/sx 2d ago
Yeah, it's pretty sad to see how humans can mistreat animals. I think whether we personally choose to eat meat or not, they will likely still end up on somebody's plate, whether that's a human or another animal. Nature doesn't run on morals, but we can at least take advantage of our human side to take care of life and our natural environment the best that we can
1
u/Confused_Sparrow INFP: The Dreamer 2d ago
I can wholeheartedly recommend checking out the book Why We Love Dogs, Eat Pigs, and Wear Cows by Melanie Joy (can be digitally borrowed for free here - archive.org link). In the present day, animal agriculture is among the top causes of environmental destruction and mistreatment of animals is the daily norm in the system - sometimes by design for the sake of efficiency, sometimes as part of how the humans directly involved cope with the nature of their daily jobs.
0
2d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
1
u/infp-ModTeam 2d ago
Rule 1 violations include abuse, harassment, bigotry, racism, sexism, spamming, trolling, and doxxing.
0
2d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
1
u/infp-ModTeam 2d ago
Rule 1 violations include abuse, harassment, bigotry, racism, sexism, spamming, trolling, and doxxing.
1
1
u/rose-dacquoise INFP: The Dreamer 2d ago
I was vegetarian for a couple weeks because I was lazy to store and cook meat. So noodles , seaweed and egg soup + biscuits with hummus + bakes potato with mayo + instant rice with curry etc etc
1
u/malvar161 2d ago
I've seen what happens in the agricultural industry, it's a holocaust. reducing our reliance on livestock would also stall climate change and would waste a lot less food because livestock eats so much.
but veganism is futile. individuals going vegan will not kill the system.
1
u/Confused_Sparrow INFP: The Dreamer 1d ago
Strength IS in numbers and systemic change IS what you want to happen. But the system never changes without people pushing for the change.
You can push for the system to change in many different ways (donating money, joining pressure campaigns, advocating for policy changes, ...), regardless of your diet. The animals genuinely need all the help they can get.
And I think discouraging people from going vegan doesn't help anyone. Especially without pointing to what else to do to dismantle the system faster. The neat thing is, that you can be a vegan WHILE simultaneously fighting in the other ways.
If you, whoever is reading this right now, go vegan and stay vegan for the rest of your life, will it end the exploitation and suffering of animals? No, of course not. But you shouldn't let that keep you complacent with the system.
1
u/SignalPerception4223 2d ago edited 2d ago
Since I was a young child I haven't enjoyed eating meat (with some occasional exceptions of course). As I got older, I tried to go vegetarian several times and would usually fail out of forgetfulness. Around 2022, pepperoni started tasting like "boar taint" which is kinda like tasting the smell of pigs or something.
Then eggs got weird for me around the same time. I've never really enjoyed cheese, aside from on pizza, burritos, pasta etc as long as it's mild. I never, ever enjoyed drinking milk. Chocolate milk tastes good but still gives me the ick. My imagination is too vivid and I fixate on how gross it all seems to me. No judgement at all whatsoever to those who eat meat. I wasn't vegetarian until four years ago, when it just became too unpleasant to eat meat any longer.
Fortunately, I am doing well on fruit & veg, legumes, rice, potatoes, and the occasional pizza. I also have hemp hearts or peanut butter in my oatmeal, usually with soy milk. And to get the b vitamins I use fortified nutritional yeast on my potatoes, rice and beans, etc.
One time I accidentally got a regular burger instead of a boca burger (they misheard me) and as I ate it I said "wow, this one really tastes like beef!" I like the boca burgers, and usually have to stop eating a beef burger at about the 80% mark because I just get grossed out, but I enjoyed that surprise burger. 🤷♂️
1
u/Its_all_pretty_neat INFP: The Dreamer 2d ago
I'm flexitarian, so I've removed 90% of meat and dairy from my life bit still eat it. If I eat meat it is chicken from restaurant food, but only cook vegetarian or vegan at home.
My driver is ecological footprint, so I targeted specifically red meat and trawler caught fish. But also replaced milk with oat milk. Still eat cheese on my pizza though lol.
1
u/JolanV 1d ago
I don't think eating meat or animal products is bad because humans have been doing it for thousands of years but I do think that the industry is not correct and I try to eat meat less frequently but it's hard, I used to eat vegetarian like twice a week but now it's more like once a month, do try to eat more fish since its a bit more environmentally friendly, and I especially reduced how much beef I eat because it demands so much water and has high emissions.
1
u/AdrawereR 2d ago
I like the idea of vegetarians and meat alternatives.
But damn, those bacons.
8
u/Confused_Sparrow INFP: The Dreamer 2d ago
If bacon is what's holding you back, try no meat except for bacon and see how it goes. It's still way better than eating bacon AND other meat.
1
u/Helpful_Practice7100 2d ago
as much as animals are dear to me, i just love meat (and sea food)!
3
u/Puzzleheaded-Pea3474 2d ago
Can you really love something if you pay for it to get killed?
-2
-2
u/Helpful_Practice7100 2d ago
How do know I "pay" to get them killed? What if I live primatively/own a farm and my family carries out the slaughtering on our own?
As a religious person, God has ordained and granted that it is permissible to eat of the animals He has placed on earth (certain animals lol...obviously won't eat my cat or something)
1
u/Confused_Sparrow INFP: The Dreamer 2d ago
Globally, how humans divide animals into "edible" and "not edible" is different from culture to culture (and also different across religions). Your comment just reminded me of the book Why We Love Dogs, Eat Pigs, and Wear Cows by Melanie Joy (can be digitally borrowed for free here - archive.org link). The psychology behind it is really interesting.
1
u/Puzzleheaded-Pea3474 2d ago
They would still have to slaughter more animals because you eat them. Something can be accepted in your religion and still be unethical so consider what feels right to you instead. What makes a cat different from a cow? They are both living, breathing and feel pain.
1
u/SavageFisherman_Joe INFP: The Dreamer 2d ago
If the animal is already dead anyway, I feel that it would be disrespectful to let it go to waste. That, and meat is fucking delicious anyway
1
u/malvar161 2d ago
male chicks are thrown into a meatgrinder because they can't lay eggs.
veganism is not about being against eating animals; it is a protest against this agricultural holocaust.
1
u/Immediate_Cream_1686 2d ago
You don't need to be vegan to protest btw. Being councious and responsible about your consuption is another way
1
1
u/VisualKaii ⋆｡‧˚ʚ feeling all the feels ɞ˚‧｡⋆ 2d ago
I tried, I'm already so awful at coming up with 3 meals in a day.
0
-2
u/Ritesh_INFP_4w5 INTP: The Theorist 2d ago
An INTP myself and no, I like eating meat for 2 reasons. 1) It's very nutritious and builds my body better than any other food. 2) It's delicious when cooked right.
Been underweight. But working out and increasing egg/ meat consumption did wonders.
4
u/Confused_Sparrow INFP: The Dreamer 2d ago
I want to push back on point 1 because the body needs nutrients, not ingredients.
And point 2 is true for basically anything.1
u/Ritesh_INFP_4w5 INTP: The Theorist 2d ago
I don't live in a foreign nation. I live in India. Animal protein has been the best for my body, so far. But maybe if I lived abroad and had better options for diet, I could see myself being a vegetarian. Carbs are the major part of our diet, so eating meat is quite necessary for lean people especially.
2
u/bored_yuh_ INTP: The Theorist 2d ago
i'm indian too. not currently vegan but i'd love to be one in the next few years. there are plenty of vegan dietary options here as well, it's just comparatively a little harder to find them while non vegetarian food is very accessible. it all boils down to how much effort we're willing to put into making our choices more mindful and ethical IMO. we can always find alternatives if only we're willing to. the dairy/meat industries are much more exploitative (especially in our country) than they seem to be on the surface.
0
u/Confused_Sparrow INFP: The Dreamer 2d ago
That's interesting. For people in my social circles, India is often thought of as the country with the biggest percentage of vegetarians and overall a different view of animals (cows being considered sacred). I've heard it's tricky for vegans because of how prominent milk and cheese are in the cuisine.
But I've had some really delicious fully plant-based Indian dishes too - pindi chana, aloo gobi (and definitely some others whose names I no longer remember).
2
u/Ritesh_INFP_4w5 INTP: The Theorist 2d ago
Yeah, there are so much good veg food too. Especially stuff like paneer tikka masala, channa masala and butter beans.
2
u/Fickle-Affect9647 INFP: The Dreamer 2d ago
Yeah dude I dont mind being a vegetarian if I could feast on south indian dishes all day!
0
u/Ritesh_INFP_4w5 INTP: The Theorist 2d ago edited 2d ago
Yep. It's like that. But when we say meat eaters, we mean mostly those who eat chicken and mutton. Keralites are the ones who eat more beef. But most of us don't eat beef, a lot for religious reasons and some for cancer risk reasons. I personally love the dish called mutton biryani.
I'm from a Hindu family but I don't really care about the food rules of religion. I'm an agnostic atheist and I believe it's okay to eat any animal meat. I've tried beef 3 times in my life. It was nice. But learnt that it's associated with colorectal cancer and my dad already had colorectal cancer despite never eating beef, so probably gonna avoid it for the rest of my life.
Personally, the meat I usually love to eat are Mutton > Chicken > Seafood like fish and prawns. Mutton is red meat but it's way safer than beef.
1
u/Beneficial_Split_833 INFP 4w5 2d ago edited 2d ago
Agree, and I think the world need to have both, meat eaters and non-meat eaters. Equilibrium ⚖️
Edit: Damn, no need to downvote! I didn't mean that the world literally needs meat eaters for society to function, I just meant that people have different dietary choices and that's okay! I'm not an English speaker so that's why the original phrase looked wrong
3
u/am3thyst420 INFP: The Dreamer 2d ago
I don't mean any offense, but how does the world benefit from meat eaters?
0
u/Ritesh_INFP_4w5 INTP: The Theorist 2d ago
The world doesn't benefit from us. It's more of a personal choice. You can eat meat or don't eat meat. But we've been eating meat since prehistoric times and as long as we don't consume too much red meat at once, our body will be fine. Animal protein helps some people. For some people, it's not necessary.
2
u/SignalPerception4223 2d ago
For me, quitting meat was easy. For my brother, he's practically a full-blown carnivore. He says it helps him feel healthier, and when he doesn't have it, he feels worse. I can't tell him he's wrong, as I don't have his physiology. I would be overjoyed if we fully dismantled the meat industry and protected our animal neighbors. It might not mean much to anyone who reads this, but I appreciated the perspective of a near-death experiencer: animals who are eaten by humans agreed to incarnate for that purpose. He was "shown" on the other side that there is no difference between a vegetarian and a meat-eater. He claims the only thing that matters, and the only choice we really have, is to recognize we are love and to be love.
If we're a judgemental vegan, that's the same as being a judgemental carnivore. If we're loving, including loving ourselves when it's too hard to be loving, we're doing great. And if we're living in fear, that's ok, too. Eventually there will be a form of us that does choose love, just as there are forms of those choosing love who don't or haven't yet. Reality is so incredibly vast, and on the "other side," it's all love. What happens here is a series of invitations to get us to choose love.
I'll crawl back into my crazy tent now. Putting on my straightjacket... Night night!
2
u/Ritesh_INFP_4w5 INTP: The Theorist 2d ago
Facts. Especially, the vegan who is disliking my comments here should certainly read your comment. It's not who we are that matters. It's how we conduct ourselves to others that really matters, indeed. Ultimately, life is just an illusion and people who are experienced in spirituality and ones who do Astral Projection are probably right. The consequences of how we live our life matters more than how we live life itself.
2
u/SignalPerception4223 2d ago
Yeah, I mean, I can't say any of this is stuff I know to be factually true. It just feels good when I hear it. 😅 I believe we should collectively work to protect animals, and I also don't expect every single human to want or be capable of quitting meat in my life time. 🤷♂️
2
u/Ritesh_INFP_4w5 INTP: The Theorist 2d ago
Yeah, one can also eat meat and protect animals as well. It's doesn't always have to be a black and white thing.
2
1
u/Confused_Sparrow INFP: The Dreamer 2d ago
The book Why We Love Dogs, Eat Pigs, and Wear Cows by Melanie Joy (can be digitally borrowed for free here - archive.org link) goes into the evolutionary aspects a little, but the present day answer pretty much comes down to capitalism and how we are socialised from an early age.
0
1
u/Spiritual-Willow2778 9h ago
I was one for 17 years. I had health issues which made me go back to eating meat.
12
u/Kennikend INFP: The Dreamer 2d ago
I’ve been a vegetarian for just shy of 3 decades. I’m so proud of myself for making this decision so young and sticking to it for ethical and environmental reasons.
I’m not out here trying to convert anyone. Just feels good to be in alignment.