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 couldn’t do it. We have 2/3 days a week with vegetarian/vegan meals which are lentils, pulses, rice, vegetables, but could I live without dairy and eggs? No way! We’d starve. What about honey? Is honey banned food too?

I find that there’s a lot of substitute vegan food, that is processed shit to take the place of its meat/dairy equivalent. I don’t do processed fake food. It’s probably more unhealthy and leaves a bigger carbon footprint making the substitute than eating the meat.

@scrowy

Veganiam is not about being perfect. It's about doing your best.

We do know that it's impossible to live a completely cruelty free existence.

TheRedBarrows I eat pretty much what I ate as a child in the late 1940s/early 50s. Roast - beef/lamb/chicken/pork with roast potatoes and parsnips, veg - eg sprouts, carrots, peas, runner beans, sprouting broccoli etc, salmon, new potatoes and asparagus, breaded lemon sole, liver & onions, ham, egg and chips, steak & chips, a jacket potato with eg tuna or bacon rashers, steak and kidney stew and pies, lamb shank, cheese and tomato pizza, gammon and chips with pineapple and fried egg, toad in the hole, lamb chops, pork chop, cold meat or fish (salmon or tinned) with salad, quiche lorraine, hamburger & chips.

I also make my own sausage rolls since I'm not keen on bought ones with low meat content. I use 97% meat free range sausages. I've tried several ready meals but they have never been as good as homemade so don't buy them. I prefer to know what goes into a dish, quality of ingredients and as I boycott palm oil, it's a pain having to check the ingredients.

So as you see I don't starve.

I will never understand why vegetarians and vegans are so keen on replicating their food to look like meat items, eg sausages, burgers, roasting joints etc. It seems utterly

I don't eat meat, I don't eat these things very often. Most vegetarians I know don't eat them either or eat them rarely.

It probably wouldn't take much for me to go vegan as I probably eat vegan a couple of days each week. Intensive dairy farming is probably the most cruel farming there is, oat milk tastes better than cows milk imo so thats one part that's very easy.

@UnPocoLoco2 I’m with you on this one, I will never become vegan or vegetarian for that matter as I enjoy meat and fish. I also enjoy some vegetarian/ vegan meals and have nothing against people who want to eat a plant based diet etc but why spend the whole time trying to replicate an omnivores diet.
I watched the programme last week that Jimmy from Jimmys Farm was on following Vegans in America and looking at the Beyond Burgers etc. The amount of oil and chemicals that was going into Vegan cheese was astounding. I would rather know etc what I’m eating and spend a bit more buying locally supplied traceable meat and fish than some chemically made substitution.We're in The southwest and very lucky with all our local suppliers

Nothing.

Lol I would never go vegan. It's strange that they won't eat animal products but will eat fake products designed to look like the animal equivalent like mushed up almonds for 'milk' and squashed together chickpeas for 'burgers'
Chickpeas and almonds are normal foods. Almond milk has been used in Europe since the Middle Ages. I wouldn't drink it or use it in coffee (I like mine black) but I'd happily use it in porridge or on muesli. A chickpea burger isn't 'fake' either, have you never tried falafel?

Plus who wants to eat weird lab produced 'burgers' that looks and taste like the real thing but are filled with stuff the manufacturers won't tell you what the ingredients and manufacture methods are such as the beyond 'burger'
I'm 100% with you on this, I won't touch imitation meat products such as Quorn.

But burgers, sausages and the like don't look like meat . When was the last time you saw a pig that looked like a sausage or a burger that looked like a cow? I could just as easily ask why meat eaters shape and flavour their food to the point where it no longer resembles the animals they come from.

So a sausage made from a processed reshaped pig vs a sausage made from processed reshaped vegetables. What's the difference?

And it's not compulsory to eat substitutes. So not sure why people keep going on about how bad they are . Pretty sure the majority of vegans Don't eat substitutes on a regular basis.

The reasons vegans and vegetarians try and replicate the taste and texture of meat is because most of us like the taste of meat. It’s a decision that is made in spite of that, due to caring about the planet or animals more than we do our own enjoyment/tastebuds.

A personal chef would make it easy to go vegan!

A decent egg replacement would also help.

But the biggest factor would be more people around me being vegan. I'd happily never buy cows milk again, but DS2 wouldn't be happy with a replacement.
It's already much easier than it was to be vegan, but if more accidentally vegan products were labelled vegan, and vitamin D wasn't added to so many things it would be even easier.

Nothing

A bigger food budget and somebody to cook nutritionally balanced vegan meals.
I have tried veganism before and lasted around 5 months. It was incredibly difficult learning to cook vegan meals that my family would not turn their noses up at. The food waste and food shopping was costing too much, particularly as I still had to buy meat, eggs and dairy for the rest of the family. If I was single and childless I would do it again but it just didn't work with my family life.

When vegan is markedly cheaper and tastier.

I never buy ready meals, but vegan packaged food and ready meals ARE available at all good major retailers.

Sometimes I try it. the 4 year old will happily bite in a veggie sausage then spit out immediately telling me its not real food. This is someone who eats vegetables.

Oh and processed real meat, y’know the stuff categorised as carcinogenic by the World Health Organisation, is far worse for you than veggie processed products.

It’s fine to want to eat meat but own it and don’t dress it up as avoidance of potentially harmful products when a) they aren’t compulsory vegan eating or b) certainly no more harmful (and likely considerably less) than eating meat anyway.

The reasons vegans and vegetarians try and replicate the taste and texture of meat is because most of us like the taste of meat. It’s a decision that is made in spite of that, due to caring about the planet or animals more than we do our own enjoyment/tastebuds.

😂😂.. do you realise how much energy is used and emitted to create, package and distribute these meat substitutes?! If you like the taste of meat, then eat the meat. You’re not doing anything to save the environment. Bloody hell.

I could probably live quite happily without meet but I would miss a bacon sandwich. I would need do done to come and teach me how to make things properly though. The 3 vegans I know always stink of garlic and some other things though so I'm guessing it's an ingredient in a lot of vegan recipes which puts me off a bit.

I think the reason accidentally vegan products aren't labelled as such is because a lot of them are made on a production line that also handles milk and eggs. Obviously they are still fine for vegans but because of allergies they aren't allowed to label them vegan.

Nothing. I tried it (due to ibs issues and trying to figure out what would work), never felt worse, won't do it again.

How many animals lose their homes when a tree is chopped down to package veggie sausages?

SilverySurfer Thank you! Do you think your tastes got laid down early and then you didn't venture further when the 1970s struck with the cosmopolitan delights if the Vesta Curry or Paella?

I do like a good roast myself, and almost everything you list except liver.

I went vegan for January after being vege and I'm amazed at the products available .. I'm not a preachy vegan but I'm shocked how little people care about the animals you eat but would die for their pet cat / dog / tortoise etc .. humans are funny creatures . 🤷‍♀️

Probably the same amount that lose their homes to package pork sausages....

I'd never considered it unless its a choice of going to jail or paying a huge fine or something.
I like meat, we are omnivores and there's a reason for that.
I don't eat meat with every meal like some people do, I enjoy vegetarian foods and will eat vegan foods. I'm not a fussy eater, but I do want to eat meat!

Oddly enough I’ve just eaten a slice of vegan pistachio cake. Not because it’s vegan but because it’s pistachio. It was blinking or felt except for the chocolate coating.

I’m a fussy eater. My meals mostly consist of roast or grilled chicken, pork, turkey, beef, cod, fish fingers, fish cakes with potatoes and vegetables or salad. I don’t eat cheese rice, pasta or milk based sauces and am not fond of tomatoes.