To think you shouldn't ask a vegan to buy you meat/animal products?

[Ragnasath]

A younger relative told me yesterday in casual conversation about how her housemate at university often asks her to pick up meat or animal products from the supermarket for her.

There's a few of them living together and all buy their own food but will all take turns buying loo roll, fairy liquid etc that are communal. My relative said that often when it is her turn to go and get these things, a particular housemate will often say 'can you pick me up some ham slices/ Cadbury chocolate' etc whilst you're there. This relative is a passionate vegan and feels very strongly against animal cruelty etc and has been vegan for 5 years as a result. She said that she'll usually say no to the friend because she doesn't want anything to do with the purchase of animal products but will offer her a vegan alternative (i.e I don't feel comfortable buying you cadburys but am happy to get you oreos or bourbons instead etc). Apparently the housemate often gets annoyed at this response and will roll her eyes about how she's being ridiculous because housemate offers to give relative the money to buy the items so it's not coming out of relative's pocket. Relative still says she wants nothing to do with the purchase of animals or animal products.

The relative says she never asks her friend to pick her up any snacks or food because she doesn't want to feel like she has to reciprocate by buying her housemate food which goes against her values.

I think it's pretty awful of the housemate to put her in that position tbh. You wouldn't ask a committed Muslim to pick you up a bottle of wine would you and I don't see much difference in this scenario

To me, ham in particular is too close to human meat so someone saying "can you go to the shop and buy me some packet human slices" to you would be fine

Wut?

Do you mean 'what'?

Well flatmate sounds like an entitled twat. Next time she asks tell relative to roll her eyes first.

I actually meant 'what the fuck?'

And we wonder why this generation is called a snowflake generation!

I was a vegetarian for a long time (barely eat meat and fish etc now tbh) and I wouldn't have minded.

BUT.

If a vegan or vegetarian does mind, it's probably better to respect their beliefs and thus them, than continually ask for ham when you know it upsets them and they'll say no, because at best, it makes you look utterly stupid. I mean, even pigeons can learn a pattern, work it out.

How about we change this to:

I offer to pick up something from the shops regularly for a friend, but she always asks me to pick up the daily fail even though she knows I think it's a wank sock for narrow minded fuckwits who deserve to be whacked around the head with it until they see sense. But she says Fine! I'll buy it myself! and she does offer me money for it, but the fact that I don't want something so disgusting in my hands, or to have any involvement in profits at all, is something she refuses to respect. Who is being unreasonable.

I used to pick up the fail for my parents when i was younger. Didnt give a shit

Meat eater here and i would never expect a vegan friend to buy meat for me. Why would i it goes against everything they believe?

I think flatmate is making waves just to get a rise out of her. She has been told no once thats all she needs to know. To keep asking is rude and entitled.

For some vegans it is akin to a religious fervour. Great, it's your belief, but you don't have to keep on and on and on banging on about it. It's the food equivalent of JWs banging on your door at 9am on a Sunday morning and wrecking your lay in.

OK so I get the meat part to an extent cresting demand but over a bar of chocolate or a pint of milk I would just do it. Its like asking a meat ester to pick up a pack of meat free sausages they might not want to but I am sure they would if a friend was coming for dinner.

I wouldn’t go to a butcher but I wouldn’t have a problem buying dairy/egg containing products with their money. It’s my choice to be vegan, not anyone else’s.

Just realised that before anyone lays onto the fact that fairy liquid isn't vegan, relative just said 'general household stuff', it was me that gave the examples. I don't know what brand of dish soap she uses

Its like asking a meat ester to pick up a pack of meat free sausages they might not want to but I am sure they would if a friend was coming for dinner.

Most meat eaters don’t have ethical objections to meat free sausages. That’s not the same situation at all.

I think it’s a bit like asking a non smoker to get cigarettes for you, some might, some might not... but you don’t get to moan if they don’t.

Rank hypocrisy I'm afraid - (i.e I don't feel comfortable buying you cadburys but am happy to get you oreos or bourbons instead etc).

So she wont eat meat but she's happy to buy products that destroy swathes of land eg palm oil??

And European oreos contain whey powder which isn't vegan AND they also us e animal derived bone char in refining sugar www.isitvegan.com/2011/06/02/are-oreos-vegan/

The ingredients of Oreo cookies have remained largely unchanged from the original, although numerous alternative varieties and flavors have emerged over time. The classic Oreo cookie is made using eleven main ingredients:[33]
Sugar
Unbleached enriched flour (wheat flour, niacin, iron, thiamine mono-nitrate (vitamin B1), riboflavin (vitamin B2), folic acid)
High oleic canola oil and/or palm oil and/or canola oil
Cocoa (treated with alkali)
High-fructose corn syrup
Leavening agent (baking soda and/or monocalcium phosphate)
Corn starch
Salt
Soy lecithin
Vanillin
Chocolate

Veggie for 36 year. Wouldn’t bother me. I buy and cook meat for DS.

Oh and I don’t buy palm oil. Haven’t dont for years.

This is why everyone hates vegans

That might be true of Oreos (haven’t got time to go into the pros/ills of (sustainable?) production of palm oil v those of other oils) but there is an obvious difference between these and actual blooded animal flesh that the OPs relative is within her rights to refuse to interact with.

Totally unreasonable to expect someone to make an unethical purchase on their behalf, whether for religious, moral reasons etc.

Haven’t read the thread. How many times has someone said “well, i’m a meat eater and i’m happy to buy vegan food!”?

Haha, only one so far Bertrand. Early days though. I'm waiting for 'if you don't eat meat, why do you eat fake meat products"

Well the heat is now off veggies as the meat eaters just take the piss out of vegans these days.

Maybe eating meat just makes you more aggressive? There’s a thought.

As you used the example. I don't drink alcohol/tea/coffee but will buy it for my friends if asked as I also don't believe in putting my beliefs on other people 🤷‍♀️

But just because I'm comfortable with that doesn't mean others should be and her friend should also respect your relative. It always goes both ways.

Oreos in the UK don't contain whey powder and I'm just going to leave this article for anyone interested in Palm Oil. www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/giving-up-palm-oil-might-actually-be-bad-environment-180958092/