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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To find mumsnet so hostile to vegans?

348 replies

RebornFlame · 27/08/2019 17:19

No based solely on but inspired by a couple of threads in the last few days. I’m not quite vegan yet but plan to be fully by the next few months and none of my friends, about quarter of whom at vegan are not sanctimonious or preachy at all.

Also please stop bashing vegan cakes! They’re yummy!!

OP posts:
Gingerkittykat · 28/08/2019 00:25

There are three tiers of vegans.

Tier 1, my friend who went vegan years ago for health reasons, lost loads of weight and continued the lifestyle. She is great, talks about food sometimes but never preaches.

Tier 2, my young cousin. Studies environmental science, shares annoying semi accurate you tube videos, occasionally preaches but her vegan chocolate mousse made from avocado is amazing.

Tier 3, DNs girlfriend. Sanctimonious little madam, never shuts up about she is a vegan, lectures everyone about it, eats BBQ sauce from the Chinese take away because there are no visible chunks of meat in it.

Unfortunately numbers 2 and 3 are going to stick in people's minds and the nice vegans who just quietly live their life are not what springs into people's minds when the V word is mentioned.

Pardalis · 28/08/2019 00:25

Bee hives are flown in to pollinate almond orchards. It's having a detrimental impact on the bee population and its genetic diversity. And of course exploiting the bees.
The rise in almond milk popularity due to the increased number of vegans is harming the bee population.

AtSea1979 · 28/08/2019 00:28

I eat vegan and MN has never been hostile to me. Then again i’ve never told anyone i’m vegan until now. I never felt the need to share my dietary preferences with anyone. Who gives a shit whether I eat meat and cheese or not?

JacquettaW · 28/08/2019 00:45

@Gingerkittykat My lovely boss at work is Tier one, does what she does and refrains from lecturing others. She's always willing to answer any questions I may have and share recipes. I tried it myself but it just didn't work for me (cheese!) and she didn't berate me about it, just said it wasn't for everyone. Thankfully, the only place I've encountered tiers 2 and 3 are online

Durgasarrow · 28/08/2019 05:56

In all fairness, vegans have a very special way of being preachy.

Sweetpea55 · 28/08/2019 06:15

I couldn't be vegan.. I love eggs... I love cake too

ragged · 28/08/2019 06:15

Brit Vegan Society says you can only call self vegan if you live that way for animal welfare reasons.

Health / Environmental / political/ personal taste reasons = not vegan.

I didn't make up the rules about what is or isn't vegan (nor do I think I should care). The right rules seem to be Very Important to many people, though. Which Rules are being followed might make a lot of difference WRT how pushy self-identified types actually are about it.

NerrSnerr · 28/08/2019 06:46

I don't think the 'Brit vegan society' can dictate who calls themselves Vegan. They're just a society that someone decided to form, not a legal body. They can say what they define vegan as but people can do as they please.

kikisparks · 28/08/2019 07:18

@NerrSnerr but the Vegan Society was founded by Donald Watson who actually coined the term vegan. I think the person who came up with the word gets to define it.

The definition is “to avoid animal exploitation as far as practical and possible”.

It’s not a diet and it’s nothing to do with health. We do exploit animals by i.e. burning down their homes to graze cattle so environment can come into it. Also humans are animals so displacing tribes etc also not vegan if you can possibly and practicably avoid it.

Everyone else who isn’t following this definition is plant based. Bastardising the definition of vegan just causes confusion I.e. many of the supposed vegans being complained about on this thread are clearly not even vegan.

NerrSnerr · 28/08/2019 07:36

Fair enough. I'm not a vegan (unless I define myself as a vegan who eats lots of cheese).
It's the new pescatarians calling themselves vegetarians isn't it?

I still think some people on this thread are on a wind up just to stir up the argument.

WarmthAndDepth · 28/08/2019 07:44

Ragged , where do they say this? I have just spent half an hour browsing their website and blog but can't find this explicitly stated. I'm only asking as it is a point of interest to me and I find this kind of dietary and ideological pedantry fascinating. The need to identify as a particular 'thing', "I am a vegetarian /vegan" as opposed to "I eat a vegetarian diet" / "I abstain from the use of all animal products" is interesting to me.

Howlovely · 28/08/2019 07:51

Genuine question I hope one or two of the vegans on here could answer please - what is the vegan stance on medicine? Would you yourself take, or allow your child to take, medicine that had been tested on animals?

SilkClayFlowers · 28/08/2019 08:02

rebornflame. To be fair (sorry I advanced searched you , but only because we’ve been on the same extended bf threads) you sound like quite an alternative type so mumsnet won’t always be on your wavelength.

FWIW I agree with you about the hostility. I tend to stick on sn children chat, gardening and style/beauty lurking as the larger popular forums have many posters that just set out each morning to plop shitty comments on regardless of the content. Sad (in every sense) but true.

BertrandRussell · 28/08/2019 08:39

“Would you yourself take, or allow your child to take, medicine that had been tested on animals?”
I’m not a vegan. But I assume the answer would be to try to avoid anything which has been tested on animals or packaged in animal products.

Original poster
RebornFlame · 28/08/2019 08:43

As I said before I’m not yet vegan, but vegan or not i can’t imagine anyone that would decline lifesaving drugs that have been developed using animals. I certainly would.

OP posts:
Original poster
RebornFlame · 28/08/2019 08:44

As in I’d use them for me and my family in an instant. Everyone has a tipping point I think and for many saving the lives of their or their own families would be it.

OP posts:
WhatWhyWhen · 28/08/2019 08:50

I think it can be hostile, but then, other than talking about recipes or food threads by vegans are automatically preachy. Because unless it’s asking about recipes what’s that point of the discussion? Normally how everyone else is wrong!

And I suppose I could be seen as hostile. In reality I don’t care what people eat, not an interesting discussion, but I do care that vegan is seen as the “right” way.

In reality environmentally it isn’t actually the right choice in the UK, and worldwide it’s actually a damaging choice that doesn’t enable nutritional stability for the poorest areas of the earth, that need reliable, sustainable affordable nutrition.

but I’m not allowed to hold that opinion.

Are alternative views hostile?

PastelPotential · 28/08/2019 08:51

All medicine has to be tested on animals before it can be licenced in the uk. You may choose to die of cancer because you refused medication, I didnt.

Or are you one of those twats that think vegans don't get cancer?

PastelPotential · 28/08/2019 08:53

Sorry, I think I misread, but my sentiment stands.

HandsOffMyRights · 28/08/2019 08:54

Genuine question I hope one or two of the vegans on here could answer please - what is the vegan stance on medicine? Would you yourself take, or allow your child to take, medicine that had been tested on animals?

Yes. Unless you live naked on a mountain top drinking stream water you cannot avoid animal cruelty of some kind.

As a vegan I am a hypocrite (I feed my pets cat food, I wonder if my contact lens solution has been tested) but I just try to do my bit for me and what I feel comfortable with, what I can realistically avoid and it doesn't impact on others.

Even when I was veggie people would quiz me as to why.

Howlovely · 28/08/2019 08:58

@Pastel - thanks for calling me a twat. What a shining example of a wonderful person you are.
I was asking a genuine question as it is something I find very interesting and I wanted to ask a vegan's opinion to try to learn more about it.
Your response was hideously rude.

Howlovely · 28/08/2019 09:04

@Handsoff - I think that's the bit I find interesting, it sounds as though you do everything reasonable to 'do your bit' but you are realistic as to what that actually looks like and is possible in real life. I guess I kind of view veganism as a bit like a religion in the way that vegans appear to have very strong, firmly held beliefs that affect their lifestyle and choices, similar to those who follow religion. Certain religions do refuse medical treatment due to their beliefs and I wondered if vegans feel similarly about it, although I of course know that veganism isn't a religion. I was just pondering but thank you to those who have taken the time to answer.

BertrandRussell · 28/08/2019 09:14

I don’t use the word “twat”. But if I did i’d use it about the people who think vegans don’t get cancer. Fortunately there aren’t many of them.

insecure123 · 28/08/2019 10:13

I have actually seen more vegans on here putting the holier than thou hat on and bashing folk for eating meat/dairy......

But tbh I think most people don't care until they are preached at - from either side - I think in general most people don't give too much thought to how others choose to live. MN is a funny place though...

BertrandRussell · 28/08/2019 10:18

“I have actually seen more vegans on here putting the holier than thou hat on and bashing folk for eating meat/dairy......“

Really? In my experience this is something that people say has happened to them. A bit like feminists having a go at a man for holding the door open for them, or someone being sacked for asking for a cup of black coffee in the staff canteen.