To ask why you aren’t vegan

[Whereisthecoffee]

I’m not vegan , I know it’s good for the planet kinder to animals etc but it’s something I just can’t seem to get to grips with. I’ve been thinking about starting vegan January but I’m not sure. Thinking about my choices and it’s prevalence in the media has made me curious about others so tell me why aren’t you vegan? I think my main reason is convenience.

Firstly because humans are by nature omnivores, since I would have to supplement a vegan diet with vitamin B12 that suggests to me I'm not meant to be a vegan.
Secondly because I'm not sure it actually is kinder to animals. To be blunt, if everyone stops eating meat the fields won't be full of happy animals, because economics would dictate that they simply won't be born at all. So a short life then meat or no life is actually the option for farm animals. I prefer to buy organic meat from a farm shop wtih good welfare standards
and eat only a little - a short happier life for the animals and a healthier diet for me.

Free choice.

Plus, being vegan would mean I’d have to get rid of my sofa and half the shoes and belts in the house, and at the very extreme, anything cotton.

I could probably do vegetarian for a while, but I love milk, eggs, and chicken.

I like bacon.

Everything in moderation... as a population I believe that we all need to making more of a conscious effort to consume less meat and dairy. Main reasons in our household for not having more vegan/vegetarian meals is because DS has multiple allergies including a severe nut and legume allergy which knocks a broad variety on the head for us.

Because giving up meat isn’t the answer. Being very careful about what meat you buy, buying it in smaller (but higher quality) quantities and using your buying power to drive change in the meat industry is the best approach.

Its quite a challenge to become vegan if you have been brought up with eating diary and meat products which is also a society norm. Even if you have some reservations about animal welfare, you might not view this as the biggest problem in the world. I think the thing to do is transition in the direction that appeals to you. Eat less meat, eat more ethically farmed meat, become a vegetarian, become a vegan, find what you're happy with..

@hdh747 the only problem with that (except the short life and horrible death) is that with intensive farming the animals are treated absolutely horrendously and they are often abused in abattoirs before slaughter. I would rather an animal have no life than a life they’ve only known as painful and terrifying. And the life of a dairy cow and calves is arguably worse.

Because I love food and vegan meals in my experience are awful and very restrictive.

How many vegans out there, as in properly vegans, have ended up atbte GP with vitB12 deficiency???

Nice on paper but clearly nit as we should be eating as otherwise the human race would struggle a hell of a lot more than it has.....

Imo any diet that you know is going to make you ill or has the string potential to make you ill isn’t an appropriate diet.
The reality is, we need meat or meat product to be healthy. So the question is more how can we get that in a more appropriate way bith for the animals and the planet?

Re the planet, the A’s et is quite clear btw. It’s abit avoiding red meat and dairy, in particular cheese as they are the biggest culprits by far re the environmentPoultry, incl eggs, pork or lamb not so much. Wild animals such as rabbits neither.

'Cause I like meat, milk, eggs etc too much!

I haven’t, neither have my vegan friends and we don’t take supplements. That’s like saying how many meat eaters go to the gp due to poor health. It’s irrelevrnt.
I think you can be healthy or unhealthy whether you’re vegan or a meat eater.

I don’t think it has to be an “all or nothing” thing. From a health and environmental perspective, it is red meat that is the worst offender. So I have dropped red meat and milk (can recommend oat milk). But I still have butter, cheese, eggs and fish and if someone cooks me a beef lasagna, I would eat it without making a fuss. But I wouldn’t cook one myself, which is a shame - I make a mean lasagna!

we are not made vegan. YANBU

@FrankieChips - as I said I buy my meat from a very high starndard farm that I personally go to, I see the animals and ask questions and know the people. I don't do dairy anyway as I'm dairy intolerant. And given a choice I would rather have a short life than no life, but we will all have different opinions on that. Maybe some day we will find a better way and it will be possible for cows, pigs and sheep to live happily in the wild not just for our benefit - but not if they are all extinct.

I went plant based January. So did my wife and 3 children. I think the best documentaries for me to make an informed decision were "What the health" and "Cowspiracy" and later on "Dominion".
We did it for health reasons and my children did it because they couldn't unsee what they had witnessed.
My favourite meal out was steak, I loved a carvery on a Sunday and greasy takeaway pizza on a Friday. I also had an unhealthy obsession with chocolate, if I can do it anyone can.
It was very frustrating at the beginning and was a minefield figuring out what to eat but now we know what we like and whst we don't like. Our taste bugs have changed dramatically and that fake cheese that used to stink of smelly feet now tastes amazing. It has made my IBS flare ups lessen and we all have healthy skin and the weight is falling off.

Good luck with your journey whatever you decide xx

In some other cultures it's culturally ok to eat whale, sea birds, insects, sea urchins, lizards, zebra, horse etc Surely it depends on the climate, resources what people eat. Sometimes there is no option to eat a vegan diet

Imagine if everyone went vegan. Cows, pigs, sheep, goats, chickens, geese, ducks etc would have no place on earth so they'd all be condemned to death anyway as leaving them to breed endlessly would be pretty catastrophic.

Because I can't actually be arsed. The cooking, the shopping, the checking everything before I eat it etc... I like food too much, and I'm lazy.

If someone shopped and cooked for me then maybe... but I can't imagine a world without cheese or chocolate or meat TBH.

There are few pleasures in life as it is.

Also, is semen vegan? Asking for a friend

hate the taste of meat have been vegi for years but being vegan is something i think about regularly. milk substitutes fine with me but i have a limited diet and its eggs i could not give up without them i would eat very little. i do like cheese too but stopped eating it when i joined sw

I know I would lose weight and help save the planet, but I'm that uninterested in food I would struggle to learn just plant based recipes. They look lovely but complicated and I think you really need to like cooking to be a real vegan.
Plus I would still have to cook meat for the others that live here.
I am selfish I know.
I do have meat free days for myself.
I also like dairy.

Why are you not a vegan? is a perfect question. Many of the responses are refreshingly shameless but there is no avoiding that they show a defiant entitlement to the prioritising of one's own tastebuds and to one's own convenience over and above climate change and the serious environmental consequences that will affect our children. Its odd logic to me because we sacrifice so much for our children, and yet the single most powerful thing we can do towards thwarting catastrophic climate change that WILL affect all our children is not done for the self serving reasons listed. Laws need to be changed and vegan meals and takeaway need to be more readily available FOR SURE. But until then we can only make a difference by what we pay for. To buy animal products is to contribute to climate change. Some contributions are much more difficult to avoid... eg: transport, but eating? come on peeps... just make an effort! Its is not that hard to cut down! Eat meat once a week for starters.

Because I like meat and dairy 🤷‍♀️

by the way frying garlic, onion and mushroom and spinach and adding some oat cream and then adding all that to spaghetti is one quick meal.
all my meals are quick.

God I love steak.