Could you go fully plant based? U

[JC2021]

Any vegans/ strict vegetarians on here? Your views on climate change?

Any meat eaters ready to go green and move to a plant based diet for a better environmentally friendly planet?

HopingForOurRainbowBaby

You clearly weren’t consuming enough iron... and did you really expect to feel great ‘eating tons of quorn’. I’m always shocked at how many people don’t have a good diet. You’re going to feel unwell if you’re not eating well.

@Newgirls

Sure, I do agree meat production needs to be more holistically managed. But thats exactly what I think. How do we improve livestock management to protect our environment? Rather than no I do not want any livestock.

I hardly eat any meat and I'm not physically ill. I don't eat a super healthy diet either. I find the being vegan will make you ill a bit weak really.

@Newgirls

There are so many dairy free yogs now. The choice improves weekly. Always worth trying new ones.

I can assure you I've tried them all. DC can't have oats so most of them are out. They can't take nuts to school so all almond ones are out. The coconut ones either taste of coconut or have bits in which is apparently heinous.

But then the difference between eating an artificially fortified food and taking an artificially fortified supplement is negligible anyway.

I have always been a vegetarian and dairy free, I do eat eggs, but they come from a friends small flock of rescue chickens, I don’t eat eggs out and about unless I know they’re a small producer. I stayed in a b&b once that had chickens so I did eat egg there.

Going plant based wouldn’t be a big change at all for us as we would just need to remove eggs and honey (very rarely eat it) from our diets.

@hamstersarse

Nope.

I don’t particularly want to ruin my health and become a burden on the NHS and other services.

Why would you ruin your health?

The vegans I know are so thin and my best friend wishes her dh would have more of a balance as worries his restricted diet really affects his moods - I do wonder if it’s more of a challenge to get sufficient calories/ nutrition on a plant based diet as they are amazing cooks and not relying on processed vegan food or anything.

I admire the idea of cutting down on meat and do this more and more but am grateful for a component of it in our diet . Both nutritionally and it keeps me full as I think i need the calories!

I would give up meat but not dairy/ eggs and fish.

I ate vegan for a while about 15 years ago (6 monthish). I never felt worse.

Nowadays I don't drink milk and I don't eat meat every day.

@TillyDevon

The vegans I know are so thin and my best friend wishes her dh would have more of a balance as worries his restricted diet really affects his moods - I do wonder if it’s more of a challenge to get sufficient calories/ nutrition on a plant based diet as they are amazing cooks and not relying on processed vegan food or anything.

I admire the idea of cutting down on meat and do this more and more but am grateful for a component of it in our diet . Both nutritionally and it keeps me full as I think i need the calories!

Bliddy wish I was thin! Vegan over 20 years. I don't know a single thin vegan to be honest. A lot of them become foodies and put weight ON, IME.

Bliddy wish I was thin! Vegan over 20 years. I don't know a single thin vegan to be honest. A lot of them become foodies and put weight ON, IME.

I don’t know an overweight vegan. I know lots of overweight vegetarians. I lost about 5lb when I became vegan but still in healthy weight category. I definitely pay more attention to what I eat now but I’m fitter and can run further now than I could before.
What are they/you eating to be overweight?

The odd highland cow yes, possibly. Utterly laughable statement

@hamstersarse

Nope.

I don’t particularly want to ruin my health and become a burden on the NHS and other services.

How exactly does veganism ruin your health?

To all those who are saying they became ill, did you not pay attention to what you were eating? Did you just cut things out but not replace the nutrients? You must have ate very poorly.

I was vegetarian for years before deciding to be vegan. I did loads of reading so I knew how to get the correct nutrients from a vegan diet before I started. My iron levels are higher now, my skin is so clear, my periods are less painful and I have more energy. But I don’t eat much processed crap at all.

I could never give up meat, don't eat much beef though, mainly chicken. Every problem the earth has though could be solved by considerably reducing the population. Going vegan might help certain environmental issues but there are a 1000 others that it won't, so although I wouldn't go vegan I only have one child. Personally I think that's a far more significant contribution.

I decided at 6 I wanted to be vegetarian after learning about where meat comes from.
At 12 I was diagnosed with a dairy allergy, so the body decided I should be a vegan.
Over the last 25 years the more I’ve looked into it the more I support veganism as it aligns with my beliefs.

The biggest thing I have learned is that veganism isn’t the answer to all of the climate change problems,
If people just shopped for locally produced, in season and high welfare produce for 90% of their shopping it would significantly reduce most of the climate issues caused by the food industry.

@LazRaz Jains are vegan, many Buddhists & Hindus have largely plant based diets.

Aren’t lots of athletes and boxers vegan eg David Haye?

@GirlWithAGuitar

To all those who are saying they became ill, did you not pay attention to what you were eating? Did you just cut things out but not replace the nutrients? You must have ate very poorly.

I was vegetarian for years before deciding to be vegan. I did loads of reading so I knew how to get the correct nutrients from a vegan diet before I started. My iron levels are higher now, my skin is so clear, my periods are less painful and I have more energy. But I don’t eat much processed crap at all.

Actually I devised my diet with a qualified hospital dietician (because of other medical problems). My diet was very balanced, I just feel really bad if I don't eat meat or eggs every few days.

HTH.

@daisymoo2

Where I live I can eat dairy, eggs, potatoes, beef and lamb produced from within a 5 mile radius. All produced in accordance with farm assurance standards that are higher than anywhere in the world. Some seasonal fruit and veg at certain times too. No soya, maize, pulses and so forth for miles around. When I look at the trendy plant based alternatives in my local supermarket the ingredients list scares me. It’s big business’ way of reinventing ready meals that were popular but now so many of us avoid due to what’s in them! Synthetic food that’s often produced on the other side of the world, shipped to the UK, packaged to within an inch of its life and then marketed as more environmentally conscious than the eggs produced down the road and yet so many people actually believe the spin! Astounding.

What do the animals eat, that you eat? Soya grains etc… which aren’t grown locally to you?

Where are the animals killed and prepped? Not local to you I imagine. In the news today apparently due to lack of workers uk animals are now prepped abroad which isn’t very eco

@Tal45

I could never give up meat, don't eat much beef though, mainly chicken. Every problem the earth has though could be solved by considerably reducing the population. Going vegan might help certain environmental issues but there are a 1000 others that it won't, so although I wouldn't go vegan I only have one child. Personally I think that's a far more significant contribution.

You’re right. Fewer kids is far more important for the planet than what we eat.

That’s a whole other argument for mumsnet to chew over!

I tried going vegan a few years ago, and gave after 3 months because I felt so ill. It took me another few months to get back into good health. But I admit that was partly because I live a household of people who hate most pulses, and I have several food allergies which combined to make it tricky. I might try again when the children or older or have left home, but my past experience has shown me that being vegan while also being unable to eat nuts, wheat and soya means eating a very restricted diet which I don't think I can sustain. I think vegan-ish is probably the best I can do long term.

I could quite easily, however I don’t want to.
I eat mainly what I grow, including meat.

@newgirls Not true. Much of the UK is pastureland which is too low quality land to grow crops and vegetables. It’s great at growing grass though as we get a lot of rain so no concerns about water usage here. Cows and sheep graze the grass, some of which is harvested over the summer and fed to the animals as forage over the winter. Slaughterhouse is within 10 miles so also very local. The trouble is, huge feedlots that we see in South America are what the scientists (often funded by those with an interest in promoting plant based processed alternatives) focus on when looking at the impact beef production has on the environment. Just isn’t true for the UK. Animal farming here is an incredibly important part of the ecosystem which captures carbon and fertilises land, not the mono cropping and feed lots that the propaganda machines like to feed people who have a frighteningly low understanding of where their food comes from and how it’s produced.

[quote daisymoo2]@newgirls Not true. Much of the UK is pastureland which is too low quality land to grow crops and vegetables. It’s great at growing grass though as we get a lot of rain so no concerns about water usage here. Cows and sheep graze the grass, some of which is harvested over the summer and fed to the animals as forage over the winter. Slaughterhouse is within 10 miles so also very local. The trouble is, huge feedlots that we see in South America are what the scientists (often funded by those with an interest in promoting plant based processed alternatives) focus on when looking at the impact beef production has on the environment. Just isn’t true for the UK. Animal farming here is an incredibly important part of the ecosystem which captures carbon and fertilises land, not the mono cropping and feed lots that the propaganda machines like to feed people who have a frighteningly low understanding of where their food comes from and how it’s produced.[/quote]
Absolutely correct. People's dietary choices are up to them. But please don't peddle falsehoods about UK agriculture.