What would it take for you to become vegan?

[Strivetobe]

A genuine question after a conversation some friends and I were having. They said that they'd become vegan if the ready meals and prepackaged vegan meals were cheaper. It got me thinking, are there any conditions under which you would consider veganism and if so, what are they?

I became a vegetarian in 1990. There was v little choice back then. Eating out meant chips, macaroni cheese or a salad. I ate tonnes of Quorn. I have been to weddings where the vegetarian meal was rice and some vegetables. I was questioned constantly about why I didn't eat meat, told I didn't know what I was missing, told I was a hypocrite for liking prawn cocktail crisps. Went hungry at another wedding where the only main meal was a hog roast. Had nothing except cheese n tomato pizza for two weeks on holiday in Florida; nothing but tomato pasta for a week in Italy; nothing but MacDonalds chips on a weekend in Germany; even only ten years ago I went into m&s and asked where the vegetarian meals were, to be shown to the fruit and veg section; berrated for daring to ask for a vegeburger at a fireworks display.....

Anyway, after 23 years I read a really excellent article by Zoe harcombe (Google it). I went out and has a lamb kebab. I started eating meat again. Good quality, unprocessed meat. It's cheaper and I feel healthier.

Being vegan or vegetarian is now all the rage and vegetarian/ vegan choice is excellent, but I feel like I paid my dues, I did my bit, it was hard and it didn't make me healthier or save the planet. I will not go back. An overly processed piece of jackfruit will never have the nutrition of a steak, or be truly satisfying.

But, as I always used to say when I was veggie and being harangued again for my diet - it's a personal choice. If you are a grown up, you can chose what to eat. I was vegetarian for a very very long time when it wasn't trendy and now, I enjoy eating meat and fish and I would not go back......

I can't believe how stroppy people get about what other people eat. It must all that red meat. Makes 'em fighty.

we are not supposed to be vegan. As human beings we are designed to be omnivorous, and any diet which includes the need for supplements is not a healthy diet

Well I am totally screwed.

How long do I have to live if I haven’t eaten meat since 1986
I used to get terrible indigestion as I couldn’t digest meat. Spent my childhood and teenage years with stomach aches after I had eaten anything with meat in which as it was the 60s and 70s that was virtually every meal.
Nearly killed me. I was in and out of hospital. Wasn’t till I lived on my own and Dp was away with work did I make the connection.

My life didn’t really begin until 1986. On top of that I am allergic to dairy and wheat (not eaten them for about 6 years) and I have a couple of eggs once a month when friend comes to visit and she brings eggs from her chickens.

I don’t really like eggs. I only eat them when she comes round. It is a habit I could easily break.

I have had people tell me that after being a vegetarian/vegan for 2 years you die and then accuse me of being a secret meat eater because I wasnt dead.

It was the meat that actually was killing me.

Dp is terminally ill I think because of his meat consumption. Bacon and sausages for breakfast in the staff canteen everyday for the past 15 years. Ham sandwiches for lunch and something with beef, sausages or bacon for dinner.

Whilst I still think a vegan diet is healthy I wouldn’t ever feed it to a small child unless you were completely well read on the subject and monitored their consumption making sure they ate enough calcium and fats etc

Both my children have been vegetarian since they were born (told I was stunting their growth not feeding them meat. Both tower over us parents)

Ds 6ft at 16 has gone vegan. Dd (works occasionally as a model 6ft 3” in heals and very slim) is still vegetarian but eats a lot of vegan meals.

It is their choice now to monitor what they eat.
Dp gets very uppity over ds’s veganism. He is hilarious when he is angry about something.

Ds was cooking rice and he asked if it was vegan. “Of course it is vegan”Ds replied. Dp asked him what was wrong with non vegan rice and why he had to have the vegan type?

Nothing would make me go vegan

I mentioned it upthread, but as a lot lf people keep mentioning vegans and air miles...soya is grown in the UK too, lots of EU countries also grow it. Alpro only uses EU grown soya.
Same as quinoa, even the Isle of Man grows quinoa.
Most soya is grown as animal feed anyway, so meat eaters are consuming it second hand. Would be far more efficient just to cut out the middle man/animal.
I'm not vegan, but don't eat meat and limit dairy, I try to buy higher welfare meat for DH and DD.

*of not if 🙄