Aibu to be a vegan?

[sahbear]

I am 40 year old with 2 meat eating kids and husband. I have always (since I was about 6) been a vegetarian for animal welfare reasons. I am increasing swayed by the ethical and environmental arguments for veganism, but there's a bit of me that's worried about being a pita for others. Will no one invite me for dinner anymore? Will I be THAT one everytime I go out to eat?

I would make far more effort for a vegan coming to dinner than a vegetarian.
To be a vegan is a great effort IMO.
Whereas vegetarians/pescatarians seem to have cherry picked the bits of animal welfare they feel like supporting, and ignore the other bits, then I'm supposed to run around preparing a dish especially for them.

Just be aware not all chips are vegan or even vegetarian

Our local chippy cooks them in beef fat so not suitable for vegetarians

Go for it OP. Some people will be negative but it's a fantastic thing to do. For humans, for animals and for the planet.

If you are on FB, there will be a local "Vegetarian and Vegan Society", it will surprise you how easy it is to eat out and how many plac s can do a Vegan meal, if you like Chinese/Indian etc, it isn't an issue.

Everyone shows concern for the Endangered animals and their disappearing habitats, World poverty/starvation etc, but if you want to be proactive, by being Vegan, suddenly those issues pale into significance by the need for us all to eat meat.

Why not start by being Vegan at home and dropping to Vegetarian when eating out? It'll still be doing the planet and your body a lot of good.

Once you get Peri/post/Menopause symptoms, the recommendation is to cut meat/dairy etc out and it does a lot to stop middle age spread.

A lot of what I eat at the moment has quorn in it, cos its delicious. It has egg in though. I think that if I was vegan at home I wouldn't really want to eat dairy when out. There doesn't seem much point being a bit vegan....

I have started a vegan and gluten free diet due to being at my wits end with my IBS. I am trying this out for a month then will reintroduce a food and see what happens.

I so far have not eaten a huge amount of processed food and am enjoying looking for alternative foods to try. My only gripe is that I am spending more money on food but will live with that.

I feel being vegan gets a bad rep currently due to just a few preachy vegans that "everyone" knows. I was vegan for a year in 2009 for dietary reasons and I found it exceptionally hard and basically lived off pesto and pasta. I went back to veggie as I missed eggs, cheese and milk. I think it's easier to do it now than ever before.

Good for you doing it for the right reasons; animal welfare!

I'm with you OP. I've been veggie for years mainly for squeamishness but now I'm more concerned about animal welfare.

I'm becoming aware of the realities of the dairy industry. Mother cows are very distressed when their calves are taken away. Equally male chicks are crushed in the egg industry.

I'm thinking of becoming mainly vegan. But not militant about it. So eating vegan where possible but accepting veggie options if eating at a friend's house or in a restaurant.

There must be more people feeling this way as there are vegan cafes opening up and chain restaurants have vegan options now. It might end up becoming as accepted as being veggie!

Also Quorn have an expanding vegan range and Sainsbury's vegan range is bloody excellent.

It is normal to be vegetarian now in a way it really wasn't in the early eighties. My siblings now live in Brighton which has got to be a lot more forward thinking/accepting of veganism than where I am. I think my brother largely gangs out with vegans (judging by his friends that I have met). I don't think I know any vegans round here though...

Will have a look next time I am in Saintsbury's

Definitely @sahbear. I had a veggie friend at primary school in the 1990s, and she lived off cheese sandwiches! I went veggie in my teen years, purely as I never enjoyed eating meat. Sainsbury's have a good selection and I think Morrisons do too.

Given you are a vegetarian now. How about the compromise where you cook vegan and but will eat vegetarian if that's the only thing on offer? It's not all or nothing. This will make it a lot easier for friends and families to cater for you.

Well if your objection is to animal slaughter, don't drink milk. Old dairy cows are slaughtered as are dairy bulls. However, I have been to a lot of slaughter houses. Animals in lairage are fed and watered, they have free access at all times. They aren't there for days, usually only a few hours. If they have to be held overnight,lactating females are stripped I.e. milked by hand. All meat is bled, not just dairy cows. The heads go on a hook as they cannot go into the food chain ( category 1 material), a hook is used because the process is automated and the carcasses move round on rails so body goes one route, heads another and there is no risk of contaminating the carcass with brain material. I have only seen pregnant cattle slaughtered in Argentina, not UK. The lines here are not set up to handle calves /foetuses. Their legs don't fall off either.

The farting thing is nonsense - one of the biggest contributors of greeenhouse gases is agricultural methane - all the farts and poo from dairy and meat animals!

I think it is worthwhile doing it even if you end up eating some dairy when out - the less you have then the fewer animals suffer etc.

I'm not a vegan or veggie but admire those who are!

OK. I will try veganism at home first - once I have eaten all the quorn in my freezer- thanks Mumsnet

Yes plenty of good vegan quorn on offer now. Also far more vegan options in restaurants and cafes. It's never been easier to be vegan.

Also, sounds like the problem is more the fussy meat eating children. Maybe it's time to stop catering for them.

I don't really see how that would work coastal... They eat vegetables... They're not THAT fussy, just normal children, but I wouldn't be comfortable with not offering them meat or dairy.... Unless it was their choice.

Could you just try to be mainly vegan without going the whole hog? In my house we're being mainly vegetarian for environmental reasons but still eat meat at other people's houses (we live in the country and have ample fresh eggs from well cared for chickens in friend's gardens so no point being vegan).

Being truthful...yes, I would find it a pita to cater for you if you were coming round for dinner. This is owing to the fact that I am spinning a lot of plates (like most people) while not being an organised person by nature. I quietly grump about anything that adds to my daily pressure. It's my problem of course and you'd never know...but I'd still be silently cursing the bother of it.

Yanbu, well done.

I couldn't go fully vegan as I'd miss cheese FAT too much, but admire people who are. I wouldn't mind catering, as long as you like Indian food

What's the best dairy alternative for milk do you reckon? I toyed with veganism as a student and soya milk was rank, and curdled in coffee. I bought some almond milk the other day but hven't dared try it yet

YANBU
I was vegetarian for over 20 years from being a child. Have been vegan since the start of last year, my only regret is that I didn't do it sooner. The life of the dairy cow is bloody sickening [sad. I also lost over 5st when I went vegan, I'm a size 8-10 now and very healthy. (Tip just leave it 6 weeks at least before trying vegan cheese ).

Yanbu, it's quite illogical being vegetarian if you think about it.
Eating vegan is fairly easy, i eat very little junk (except Oreo's and Swedish Glace icecream yum!) I'm easy to feed. People find it daunting, but it's surprisingly easy and simple (and sliming!)