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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To ask why you aren’t vegan

999 replies

Whereisthecoffee · 22/12/2018 16:58

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.

OP posts:
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8
WalnutToast · 23/12/2018 21:36

It would be much better to support sustainable, seasonal, local agriculture including meat and dairy, than import avocados and quinoa from the other side of the planet.

No, the scientific evidence is that even the least sustainable plant-based foods (eg those that have travelled the furthest) are still better environmentally than even the most sustainable animal-based foods. And beef and lamb are especially damaging.

www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/may/31/avoiding-meat-and-dairy-is-single-biggest-way-to-reduce-your-impact-on-earth

www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-46459714

Global warming is such a pressing problem that eating less meat is essential. Realistically most people are not going to go vegan, but it's the best diet for the planet.

Middersweekly · 23/12/2018 21:37

I am a Coeliac so I already feel like I am missing out on a good group.

WalnutToast · 23/12/2018 21:43

If we were all vegan, our countryside would be devoid of lambs/sheep, calves/cows.....

What about all the wild species whose habitats are being destroyed for the sake of agriculture?

Livestock takes up more land than plant crops - so leaves less room for wildlife.

Sandbox · 23/12/2018 21:48

Wasn’t there a plan to introduce lynx back into the wild but it didn’t happen because farmers didn’t want their animals to be attacked? I’d love to see more British wildlife and introduction of more British species

itallhappensforareason · 23/12/2018 22:01

Because I LOVE meat

NarwalPap3r3 · 23/12/2018 22:07

I've just seen an exhibition about Lynx being reintroduced in Portugal

OnlineAlienator · 23/12/2018 22:28

Lynx werent being 'reintroduced to the wild', they exist in healthy numbers on the continent. Our own, unique, wildcat has just been declared effectively extinct; we had no business faffing with lynx when we cant even look after a smaller cat properly, it would have been a bloodbath - lynx and sheep.

Bowlofbabelfish · 23/12/2018 22:30

Livestock takes up more land than plant crops - so leaves less room for wildlife.

Not always. Huge monoculture arable farms are worse for biodiversity than grazing.

OnlineAlienator · 23/12/2018 22:34

Anyone who actually buys that an avocado, produced in an entirely manmade habitat practically wiped clean of all other life and shipped round the world is more eco friendly than a proxy of a wild ruminant inhabiting the naturally occurring habitat of grass/woodland from down the road should go sit in the corner with a pointy hat with D written on it. We've all seen the 'studies' that 'prove' it....curiously everyone forgets that academics have to fight for funding and who's going to pay for that? Monsanto and its plantations, or Mr Crawshaw from halfway up a fell in the Lakes, to prove what common sense told us since time immemorial?

dorisdog · 23/12/2018 22:52

Because I haven't given up cheese and eggs yet. I think that'll come when my DCs leave and they'll be less temptation. Otherwise my DP and I are nearly there...

dorisdog · 23/12/2018 22:55

...been working on food, land use and climate change for nearly 15 yrs. There's no getting round the fact that the global livestock industry is unsustainable. Not to mention cruel. Somethings gotta give. Just hoping that artificial meat and milk goes mainstream very soon.

derxa · 23/12/2018 23:00

..been working on food, land use and climate change for nearly 15 yrs.
Have you really Grin

ReflectentMonatomism · 23/12/2018 23:17

Global warming is such a pressing problem that eating less meat is essential.

I'll worry about global warming when the people telling me I should worry about global warming stop having conferences in the nicest places they can think of to travel to. Kyoto is nice at this time of year, isn't it?

Amongst the many hilarious things about the Richard Curtis "No Pressure" debacle was that a supposed environmental campaigner could start his blog as follows:

"I just climbed off an airplane at Boston’s Logan Airport. The day began in Monterrey, Mexico — and though I was tired, I was also feeling pretty good. Our big day of action on October 10th has been building to a crescendo: we yesterday broke our record from last year, registering more than 5500 actions for the big Global Work Party."

and the environmental "campaigners" couldn't see any irony.

Isn't it amazing that we're supposed to worry about changing our behaviour, while the environmental "campaigners" fly around the world, visiting only the most agreeable places.

robusttoday · 23/12/2018 23:38

I've recently struggled to ignore all the inconvenient reasons to cut out animals from my diet, but I'm too selfish / stuck in my happy yummy rut. So, I've found an answer that suits me AND my conscience... I've simply cut down on diary and meat. This means I don't have any awkwardness when inviting people round or eating out, and I also feel I'm shifting a little in a good direction . win , win .
And when I'm flush I try to buy free range and high welfare .

LagerthaTheShieldMaiden · 23/12/2018 23:42

I am. Most people don't care. It's as simple as that really. Shoving dead animals in their faces is more important than thinking about the horrific pain and suffering that their fellow animals go through. We don't like to think of ourselves as just another animal on this planet. Sadly, we're the deadliest one.

threestars · 23/12/2018 23:53

Changed to a plant - based diet six months ago, and feel so much better physically and mentally.
DH did too, and his cholesterol level has already reduced from 5.6 to 4.4. Our families both have histories of heart problems and stroke, so we’ll do what we can to reduce the risk. Reading ‘How Not to Die’ helped- SO many research papers on the benefits to health.
Cooking is easy - a wide variety of vegetable cooked with herbs & spices, then choose from rice pasta or grains (Merchant Gourmet make it extra easy, but you can always find cheaper alternatives). Desserts are usually berries & fruit. I don’t bother with vegan cheese - doesn’t taste great and is substituting one saturated fat for another. Having loved it before, I dont really miss it now apart from Parmesan.
The main aim is simply to increase the amount of veg/fruit eaten and I wouldn’t have done that if meat and dairy was still an option. Each to their own though. I never thought i’d do it, but research convinced me as well as how much better I feel now. What anyone else chooses to do is up to them.

smithsurvey14 · 23/12/2018 23:54

Nature intended us to be omnivores. Our bodies have evolved to eat meat and dairy alongside vegetation.
If we were all vegans I believe animals would be at risk of dying out because we have no use for them so would not farm them or protect them.

CoteDAzur · 24/12/2018 00:05

"Shoving dead animals in their faces"

I'd eat them alive but I don't think they would like that Grin

Oysters are alive when I eat them, though. Yum.

WilburforceRaven · 24/12/2018 00:10

I'm craving prawns and scallops like no one's business, with the latter wrapped in bacon and baked with garlic en croute. Yum!

MiniMum97 · 24/12/2018 00:14

Because I am gluten free and there are lots of other foods I can't eat. I can eat meat so choose not restrict my diet any more than I have to. I am hypothyroid and have problems keeping my ferritin levels up (even with eating lots of red meat and liver products) and taking iron supplements so really don't think being vegetarian or vegan would be a good idea for me. I used to be vegetarian for about 15/20 years but stopped due to the above.

Teagoanngoanngoann · 24/12/2018 00:15

Because of Sundays!!!
Fry up for brekky followed by slow cooked sunday roast with all the trimmings and fresh cream or custard pudding!
Yummmmm!

mooncuplanding · 24/12/2018 00:33

Vegan diet healthy? Stuffing dead animals in our throats is bad for us?

This is what happens to an infant child without meat

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6524781/The-restricted-vegan-diet-couple-fed-infant-daughter-plead-guilty-causing-rickets.html

squeekums · 24/12/2018 00:38

Im not vegan cos i like flavour in food. I like to enjoy what im eating
a life without burgers and cheese is no life at all

Oliversmumsarmy · 24/12/2018 00:47

This is what happens to an infant child without meat

But the child didn't just go with out meat. She went without food.

There didn't seem to be fruit or vegetables in any meaningful amount,
Or any beans, lentils soya or just food in general.

PinkPanther27 · 24/12/2018 00:51

I never ever thought I'd go vegan but I evolved to a vegan diet over about 2-3 weeks after finding out about the dairy and egg industry:
1 day old male chicks being thrown alive into a grinder cos they have no use for them.
Calves being taken away from their Mum's and the breast milk they need being taken away from them and given to humans
Factory farming
To name a few.

I've been amazed by how much food l can have and I've discovered recipes and flavours I never knew existed. I've not come across anything yet that I can't veganise and make it taste good. As someone else said, I've never felt better physically and mentally. Never again will I go back to meat and breast milk.