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 don’t understand that logic at all. Meat comes in packaging too?

That is an issue but a separate one. I don’t believe everyone on this thread only buys meat wrapped in brown paper from a local farm.

I could probably eat vegan if it wasn't such a PITA to find vegan options in restaurants. But I fucking hate pleather.

Not for me either, I’d hate to turn into someone who is openly hostile to anyone who eats animal products as all the leather shoe wearing vegans I know are.
I’d miss meat too much.

A decent substitute for eggs, cheese and Cadbury's

And it's not compulsory to eat substitutes. So not sure why people keep going on about how bad they are.
I only said I wouldn't eat Quorn products myself. I eat many vegan foods. I love burgers made out of natural foods such as chickpeas, beans, lentils, or vegetables. I very rarely buy sausages, if I do they are free range from the local farmers market.

That's interesting @QueenOfTheTofuTree I didn't realise!

I could probably eat vegan if it wasn't such a PITA to find vegan options in restaurants. But I fucking hate pleather.

My all time favourite city to eat in is Liverpool. Bold Street has an amazing array of restaurants that have a wide variety of vegan choices.

Belfast restaurants have massively improved over the years and it’s actually more unusual for a restaurant not to have a good or even excellent vegan menu.

Nothing.
Besides if I eat a meal high in pulses I become very unpleasant to be around. For the sake of global warming I'm never going vegan!
Am generally trying to eat a bit less meat, but veggie options when eating out are often terrible.

I will go vegan when I'm too old to work my small holding. As I wouldn't be happy buying eggs etc at the supermarket until then I know the animals are happy and free range so happy to use the milk, eggs etc
If I wasn't in this position I think I'd find cheese extremely hard to give up, I love making and eating it and vegan cheese just doesn't hit the spot.

I don't find making burgers out of beans etc weird, I make kidney bean burgers, for same reason meat eaters don't eat the bread crumbs, mince and egg seperatly. Taste better mashed together and fried in a handy shape to stick in a bun.

TheRedBarrows You're right, my tastes were set in my childhood and the Vesta and paella of the 70s went completely over my head. The first time my DM attempted spag bol she used 3 strands of pasta per person because she was convinced they would massively swell - I had to show her a cook book to convince her that she needed more. My DF was even more limited in what he ate than me so I'm convinced it's hereditary although my sister appears to have avoided all of this and eats what most people would consider normal food.

I easily gave up eggs, dairy and a few other things while I was breastfeeding my DC who has multiple food allergies. But if I’d had to give up meat too, I’m afraid I’d have been utterly miserable.
I couldn’t have cheese (vegan cheese alternatives just smell rank to me), I couldn’t have normal chocolate - and lots of the vegan alternatives were off limits because he’s also allergic to soya, and that’s the most common dairy alternative
So I would have things like antipasto and smoked salmon etc as my treat foods, which were absolutely divine I looked forward to them because there was so much delicious stuff I couldn’t have.
Don’t get me wrong, there are loads of fantastic alternatives out there, which my DC is more than happy with, but that’s because he’s never known any different. Going from a delicious slab of creamy, extra mature cheddar, to a stinky, synthetic “cheese” with the texture of molten plastic was not remotely pleasant

@SilverySurfer because I want to eat meat but won't because of the cruelty so eat meat substitute .. there are so many , my favourite is made from peas !

I have a huge amount of respect for your attitude *, even if I personally don’t eat meat. You obviously respect the animals.

Sorry, that was to Zduse

A good vegan cheese that tasted like mature cheddar and vegan party rings

If there was no meat or dairy anywhere in existence, I suppose I would gave to...until then, no. I'm not a veggie lover at all, the thought of eating nothing else fills me with horror.

My husband has not eaten meat in 20 years. He still loves to eat meat substitutes and would live on them if he could. When I do the food plan and cooking we use these much much less as I dislike most of them (but then I eat meat so I know what it is supposed to taste like ). Whe he plans and cookes we get a lot of meat substitutes

This is notbecause he dislikes cooking, he likes it more than I do, it is because he would still like to eat meat. His decision to give it up was on the basis that he wanted to do less harm to animals, and as it was not necessary to eat meat to survive, he could easily do less harm by giving up meat.

He has actually eaten meat 2 times in 20 years, both by accident (on one of the occasion he bit into a burger thinking it was the veggie one but was DS's meat one instead) . On both the occasions he said something like ' this is the best veggie ... I have ever tasted' and was actually disappointed he could not eat it when his mistake was pointed out He would still like to eat meat but chooses not to, that is why he likes substitutes.

Not all vegetarians or vegans give up meat/dairy because they dislike the taste or don't like eating it

I’d happily go vegan. I like vegan food.

I’d need to live with other vegans or those who were all but vegan.

I can’t be arsed trying to do two separate meal plans and cook two separate dishes every evening. I just about manage not eating meat but can’t be eating a completely balanced diet as I generally just leave the meat out of mine.

A personal chef. If someone else made me healthy, tasty vegan meals and salads I would happily eat them.

S1naidSucks I'm a vegetarian so no one gets munched! It wouldn't be sustainable on a large farm, but I grow, produce enough to sustain me and sell veg boxes, eggs, honey etc locally.

We need more vegan options in the restaurants near us (US Midwest... they like meat!).

It would help if our wider family weren't so nit-picky. e.g. not considering going to restaurants with a mix of meat and vegan options because they aren't their usuals, not even trying meat-free options we cook for them, being generally critical when there's no reason to be.

I travel a lot for work and most conferences and events have almost no vegan options, so that definitely needs to change or I'd spend half my life hungry and miserable.

I'm vegan and find it easy. Nothing would convince me to stop, actually! But I never , ever preach about it. If someone notices I've ordered a vegan option in a restaurant or something and asks me about it I'll say I'm vegan and that it feels right to me. If they ask why I'll say it's because I love animals. If they ask for more explanation I'll ask them if they're sure they want to discuss it because it can be a tough conversation to have.

Nothing. And it’s not a very healthy way to live anyway. We have not evolved to be vegan and the fact that vegans have to take supplements to replace everything they can’t get from an omnivorous diet is enough reason not to IMO.

If bacon, cheese and delicious chocolate weren’t available for sale.

This. In spades.

As to the op's question. I have been surrounded by vegetarians my whole adult life (all 30 years of it). My first husband was a vegetarian as was DH (though he eats fish nowadays). DS became a vegetarian a couple of years ago so eat a an 80% vegetarian diet by virtue of living with two of them. We have tried the odd vegan week and I I can hand on heart say I would never become either a vegetarian let alone a vegan

Almost without exception restaurant meals with meat are much much nicer than most vegetarian ones, let alone vegan ones. At home this is not really true as I cook almost no meat so don't know what to do with it much anymore, if i do cook it is is never great.

However compared to the things I used to eat as a child (stews,roasts, steak, casseroles etc) the food I have eaten over the last 30 years is generally blander and less tasty. This is because it is vegetarian not because DH and I can't cook, we can.

I must have tried 100 different veggie burger recipies over the years in a vain attempt to find a delicious one and absolutely none of them, even a decent one is a patch on a really good burger. Same with curries and stews, they are all always much nicer with meat than with just vegetables.

Even pasta dishes are generally better with some meat in, though with the addition of parmesan (not veggie though) I find these bearable

I am not overly keen on most fish, except mackerel and salmon so could easily give that up though!