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.

Also the meals I create now have so much more flavour in them and are the best meals I've ever had, the meals I used to eat as an Omni seem so bland now.

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.

You sound very much like you are not connecting the very bad idea of feeding a baby a vegan diet with very serious health conditions

There is a reason babies should not be vegan. Mainly because they are human and need fat and protein from animal products.

I was responding to the line

This is what happens to an infant child without meat

Neither of my DC have ever eaten meat.
Neither is undernourished both are tall and healthy.
Both had a varied and healthy diets.

A vegan diet for infants doesn't just consist of oats and nut milk.
Mine were eating vegetable casserole with lentils, chillies and pasta with chunky veg.

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

My brother has never eaten meat. He’s 6ft 2 built like a house and not got any health issues.

@mummaloves

Sounds like there was something more going on- “After an investigation into the girl's medical history, doctors found an absence of immunisations, no follow-up check-ups after she was born and no birth certificate or Medicare number.”

Babies should not get rice milk and they should have supplemented vit D.

Plenty of non vegan babies are malnourished and most vegan babies are healthy but neither of those will hit the headlines.

@OnlineAlienator you keep saying this but animal agriculture is huge business! The studies often only conclude you should have less meat even when the findings actually indicate no animal products is the best environmentally, probably because the scientists aren’t vegan themselves and don’t want to upset the animal ag business.

I'm not a vegan but if you have resort to a Daily Mail article to bolster your argument, you've hit rock bottom. I know quite a few vegans who have raised their children the same way and are doing a fine job of it.
Plenty of omnivore kids have a crazily restricted diet too - and rickets is not a disease confined to vegans. It results from a critical absence of vitamin D, not cutting out bacon.

@mooncuplanding

Come on. Saying “this is what happens to an infant child without meat” is clearly false.

www.telegraph.co.uk/journalists/laura-donnelly/11175544/Tripling-in-children-suffering-Vitamin-D-deficiency.html

All children aged 1-5 should have a D supplement. The vegan parents in the daily fail article failed to do that and so did many non vegan parents.

Also did you know that dairy milk is fortified with vit D?

@Oliversmumsarmy and seventh day Adventists eat a plant based diet and live 10 years longer on average.

That little glob of baby formula is like rocket fuel for cancer anyway, gross

Eh?

I’m not vegan because I like eating meat, chicken and decent chocolate.

and seventh day Adventists eat a plant based diet and live 10 years longer on average.

I used to date a seventh day Adventist and he definitely ate chicken. He was pretty strict about his religion which is why we split up but he wasn’t on a plant based diet.

I haven’t eaten red meat for over 30 years but eat chicken and fish. I like veganism but for me it is cost implications. It does cost more (nuts, plant milks etc)

Because My family are not

When I am solo I am vegan

I’m vegetarian. My body doesn’t process soya products very well and I’m allergic to Quorn so I get a lot of my protein from eggs. I don’t really eat for pleasure anymore, I eat for nutrition and work quite hard to make sure I’m getting all the nutrients I need. I’m also prone to bouts of Anemia so practically live on broccoli, spinach and sprouts to keep my iron levels up.

I have tried quite different vegan cheeses and none taste great. I suck up the cost of buying organic dairy and eggs as I know it give the animals a better life but it’s still not ideal (I know the dairy industry isn’t kind) and if better alternatives were developed I would switch. I do occasionally have oat milk as it’s the best milk alternative out of a bad bunch (at least the 6 other types I’ve tried).

DD is 9 and tried being vegetarian for a while (her choice) but has settled on being pescatarian.
DH still eats meat but has cut down drastically in the last 6 months. He mentioned the other day he was considering cutting out meat altogether at some point.

I generally don’t mind the whole vegan thing but some take it too far. I have one friend who went vegan last January and it’s all she ever talks about (alongside posting pro vegan videos and links on SM every day). It gets old fast. She reminds me of one of those born again Christians who ‘find god’ and spend the next 10 years trying to convert everyone.

@totallycluelessoverhere the official stance seems to be only to eat either a plant based or a vegetarian diet www.adventist.org/en/vitality/health/

res.mdpi.com/religions/religions-09-00251/article_deploy/religions-09-00251.pdf?filename=&attachment=1

healthministries.com/articles/health-connection-editorial/seventh-day-adventists-and-nutrition

Perhaps it depends on what branch of the religion you follow, I’m by no means an expert on them but have seen the stats on their lifespan being longer.

My understanding kiki is that they can choose to eat meat as long as it is kosher meat because they consider that to be clean meat. I don’t think they drink or smoke as a rule so that will have some bearing on lifespan too.

I used to be vegan and i was militant.
I stopped because i lost too much weight, got anaemic and life wasn't fun..it was 20 years ago so it was very tricky.
I tjink it lead to a runnel vision view of the world, almost like a cult where i beleived if eveyone was vegan then we could save the planet.
Wow...i sound mad don't i?!
I think regarding diet...eat what you want and don't judge.
Regarding animal welfare...the meat industry and dairy is fucked ...it id cruel and unsustainable. Hunting for meat is natural and we as humans have a killer ,hunting instinct...weather tbat is to eat meat, close a deal or get a mate. I lost that necessary fire when i was vegan as i was too busy self flagellating.

I have respect for those who do it well though.

Typos aggrrr! Tunnel vision even.

I know that sounds contradictory...the meat and dairy industry is cruel and unsustainable and it needs reform but i am not vegan as it made my life hell at the time.

I'm vegetarian and I have just given up milk (not foods with milk in
because it is so limiting, but milk in its pure form). I was vegan for lent and it was difficult to eat out and very expensive :(

I agree about the tunnel vision / cult like profile.

Veganism is just a set of ideologies that has a set of outcomes that make you feel like a better person (not health wise)

I have had times in my life where the slaughter of animals seems too much to bear so I do get it, it seems so cruel.

But now I recognise that we need available meat and animal products to survive healthily and efficiently, so my quest is not to stop the slaughter more to make sure it is as humane as actually possible.

One reason not too be vegan is the social restrictions it would put on me.

While I am happy to cook vegetarian and vegan food for others if they visit, I don't feel comfortable making big demands on other people about what I will eat when I go to their place.

In my view, you should leave it to your hosts to decide what food they offer. You should tell them about allergies of course. I would also think it is reasonable to mention religious limitations. But beyond that, you are just imposing your preferences over someone else's.

If all of your friends were vegan, it would not be a problem, I suppose. But that's not very likely for me.

I'm concerned by several statements on here that are given as fact. We don't need meat and dairy to survive- think about how many thousands of people have survived for years without eating these and are thriving health wise. It's really not restrictive if you put some time into researching it properly and it opens up a whole new world of food. Also, if you cook, it is certainly not expensive- my food bill has more than halved through cooking from scratch. It's only if you regularly buy the faux meat products and prepared meals etc that it becomes expensive but that's the same with any food.
Anyway I'm off to do some baking so merry Christmas everyone 🙂