I’m so fed up with all this vegan wankery

[TitaniaQueenOfTheFairies]

To all you actual vegans, amazing, I wish you a long and happy life.

I am just so fed up with veganism taking over the world, when I have yet to come across an actual one. *edited to say that some places in the world don’t have a choice

Restaurants falling over themselves with vegan menus offering fake meat and plastic cheese.

Veganuary - people just going to the supermarket and buying fake meat, rather than actually trying to eat differently.

People eating ‘vegan food’. Just eat an apple, or a carrot with houmous or any other naturally occurring food that an animal hasn’t produced. It’s not hard.

And I can’t even begin with all the plant based twattery. Many people have been quietly eating less or no meat, fish, eggs & dairy for many years and have had no need to pontificate about it.

I know I am probably being unreasonable but I just need to say it.

.

Putting aside the argument about welfare of animals (after all plenty of wildlife ends up as collateral damage in intensive plant harvesting), the current problem is with trends, marketing, advertising and over zealous sanctimonious lobbyists(who themselves might not be vegans). And let’s be honest, pushing the vegan options at certain food supply establishments is about making money, probably very few independents are truly embracing the pure ethos of veganism.
Surely Most people like to follow a certain diet without making a fuss about it and without others making a fuss about it either.
After all, plenty of regular diets worldwide rely heavily on delicious and healthy vegan or vegetarian options due to availability of certain produce, religious beliefs and probably other reasons as well. It is part of a some standard ways of life. It is not special or abnormal.
What I find grating is the terminology. Why call something a vegetarian burger/sausage or similar borrowed expression of something else which has always traditionally been identified as a meat containing item of food. What is all that about? It’s just confusing and in my head and somehow negates the modern vegetarian concept by making references to something vegetarianism is (supposedly) opposed to. Just call a spade a spade.
I must admit I never heard a person being classed as a ‘veggie’ before this thread.
Hopefully the hysteria will end soon and people can continue to eat what they like in peace.

I love all the new vegan stuff. I'm not vegan, not even veggie, but I try to reduce my meat and dairy intake as, despite a lot of people who are clearly confused, a plant based diet is definitely better for the planet. I eat meat maybe twice a week, sometimes more. I love meat replacements, veggie burgers, Greggs vegan sausage rolls (which have been a massive hit btw, bringing in a huge profit). Vegetables are not a replacement for protein. Meat replacements are, and they are delicious these days - they used to be revolting. Here's hurrah for the food scientists bringing us new and yummier vegan food.
If you don't like it, don't eat it, but I for one am happy and eating loads of it. Not sure why people get so angry that there are products available that other people like.

I notice how as always the vegan haters are proving themselves to be far more smug, self righteous and insufferable than your average vegan

Exactly this. It's funny how non-vegans actually end up preaching about their "personal choice" to eat meat more than a vegan will talk about their diet!

And then inevitably the "when you haven't mentioned veganism for 5 seconds" meme gets dragged out... Again... Yawn :)

No one has said that vegan food is 'tasteless' have they? Or that you can't make plants taste nice with herbs and spices etc.

It's just that vegan food just doesn't have the depth of flavour non-vegan food. It literally can't have the same depth of flavour, because it's missing loads of flavours! If you don't like the taste of meat and animal products then obviously you aren't going to care about that, but objectively, vegan food doesn't have the same depth of flavour.

And you have to work much harder with plants to make them taste good and flavoursome. And usually need a wider range of food products, many of which will come from all over the planet.

I have no sentimentality about animals or killing them for food. It's a modern luxury being able to do this only possible because of air- miled food which is destroying the planet.

I agree with this too. Being able to decline all animal products purely because you don't like animals being hurt or killed is a modern luxury.

Why call something a vegetarian burger/sausage or similar borrowed expression of something else which has always traditionally been identified as a meat containing item of food. What is all that about?

Isn’t it the shape of the food that’s important? You can get sausages made from all sorts of things. And I think it is helpful to know what it’s vaguely similar to.

dd takes a packed lunch to work on a saturday - she has no food issues at all but she says there is a massive discussion every bloody week regarding what she takes in. Dd doesn't mind - she thinks it's funny but people do seem to think it's ok to comment on your choice of food and in my opinion that is in danger of being rude - but it's funny how some people think it's fair game and we are not talking about restrictive diets here - people just seem to like being noisy about what other people eat.

I've been vegan for about 30 years and was veggie for about 10 years before that.

I love how veganism has become mainstream. There's so much choice in the supermarkets and it's great that if I go for a meal with colleagues or family (dp is veggie and dd is vegan but other relatives are all omnivores) I can eat out pretty much anywhere and there will be a vegan option.

A couple of posters have worried about vegan pregnancies and the health risks for children. It's perfectly safe as long as you do a bit of basic research.

Dd is very healthy and got great grades in her GCSEs this summer so her IQ wasn't affected either.

We have a vegan in our family who is very easy to cater for, and we follow suit , though a couple of us might add a pork chop to the dish, but we’re all ok .
I find it difficult to hear that so many people are vegans but are willing to eat vegan food from a supermarket which ,in the health stats printed on the box, is predominantly red. So pseudo vegans are happy to eat highly processed food that has had industrial scale processing plus significantly more energy to process than the food that actual vegans and vegetarians who just cook with non—meat ingredients and have done for decades.
Why would you? Just be vegan. The amount of research and processing needed to create a vegan burger is almost obscene.
And as to vegetables... what on Earth do you think that most farmers put down as fertiliser is?
If you are truly vegan and environmentally friendly then you eat veg , organically grown and free from animal derivatives in it’s growth.
Vegan sausage roll , my arse ( as would my vegan relative say)
And yes , meat consumption is too much and many of us are cutting down but I hate being bashed over the head by sanctimonious vegan folk when they actually need to clean their own act up.
PS.. the UK can’t produce enough veg to feed the nation.

people just seem to like being nosy about what other people eat.

Yes! Especially if you’re vegan. I take homemade soup most days because it’s cheap and nicer than tinned. The amount of questioning about what’s it because it’s vegan is amazing. It’s entirely normal for soup to be vegan!

For anyone looking to understand veganism a bit better, I highly recommend the 2018 documentary Dominion.

I eat meat and dairy. But even I know that a meat eating diet uses about 5 times as much land as a vegan diet: farm animals don’t just eat lovely grass in the fields, they eat crops specially grown for them in large quantities.

So if we didn’t keep animals for food, all the land being used to grow crops to feed the animals could be used to feed people.

It literally can't have the same depth of flavour, because it's missing loads of flavours! I think that very much depends on your skill and your palate.

I hope you're giving equal time to hating on all the processed meaty foods there are OP.

And all the people laying the blame at veganism, a tiny percentage of the population is vegan. Supermarkets wouldn't launch several ranges for them. The MAIN audience buying these plant based processed foods are NON vegans. 35% of supermarket shoppers are now buying plant based pre prepared foods. It was on the telly so it must be true.

I do agree lots of the processed plant based burgers etc aren't particularly healthy - but nor are chicken nuggets, pork pies, Krispy Kremes or McDonald's milkshakes. They're not everyday foods. Beyond Burgers are bloody delicious though.

Most people (vegans or not) choosing to eat more plant based foods (convenience or not) - are trying to reduce their damage and impact on the planet and/or living things. And personally I think that's something that deserves respect over ridicule.

The argument about the quality of soil under pasture - may be valid for those rare farms making up a tiny fraction of our better welfare meat and dairy production, but what's the soil like under an intensively farmed, indoor pig or chicken farm? Or what's the soil like under the what-was Amazon, cut down at a rate of 1 football pitch a SECOND for decades, predominantly to grow cattle feed?

Instead of picking holes in the arguments of vegans maybe start with much more damaging farming practices like these?

Of course I understand the reluctance to do that. Because if everyone
demanded meat and dairy was properly farmed, there'd be so much less of it, and - oops - we'd have to eat more plant based foods.

@cakegoblin sorry but that’s bullshit. I have a dairy allergy so my babies will have a lower IQ?? (Have a perfectly fine 2yo and am currently pregnant)

I'm not vegan but I think vegans rock

Today we all had lentil soup with baguettes a meal so many people eat who aren't vegan.

You obviously didn't grow up in Scotland then

It would be better if the trend was for free range meat rather than abstinence.

I cannot bring myself to eat veal, but this meat is a by-product of the dairy industry and makes up a large percentage of the cat and dog food necessary for a predator's healthy diet. I wonder how many vegans here feed their carnivorous pets vegan food? How strange to put another animal's life before your own beloved companion.

Better to live a short natural life and have a quick death. No death is pleasant, but slaughter is preferable to the fear and pain of agonising old age in animals.

It is better to exist than never to experience life. If you really care, promote free range meat and eggs, don't encourage the genocide of farm animals.

@LionelRitchieStoleMyNotebook

I totally agree with you. My DB said this to me as a moral justification for his veganism - because he felt like he needed one rather than it just being a choice he made.

As someone who was sexually assaulted it made me incredibly, incredibly angry.

Ziraphale thanks for that reminder. There's also Cowspiracy

I have no issue with vegans who have been vegans thier whole lives, FairPlay, it’s the ones that ate meat and such before and then jump on the save our animals bandwagon. It’s like mate you’ve been eating burgers for 20 years of life and now you wanna save the cows, just because. I don’t need someone who’s munched a full English (all trimmings) for half thier life then suddenly saw the light 💡 and now all of a sudden It’s a travesty. Talk about a contradiction. It’s not vegan food to us meat eaters it’s simply food.
@platptea you don’t like meat eaters telling you what you can and can’t eat, well us meat eaters don’t like vegans telling us what to eat and how we should live our lives. It goes both ways. I have a few vegan friends and they don’t push thier choices on me, one because they know I’d tell them where to go and 2, that’s it it’s their choice.

It would be better if the trend was for free range meat rather than abstinence. The environment would favour abstinence.

I have no issue with vegans who have been vegans thier whole lives, FairPlay, it’s the ones that ate meat and such before and then jump on the save our animals bandwagon

That's ridiculous. The majority of the population are not raised as vegans or vegetarians so if their parents fed them animal products they have no right to an opinion? And no one is allowed to change their views or way of living?

Don't be fooled into thinking vegan meat replacement foods are necessarily a healthy option - I have been looking at them in the supermarket today and almost all of them are very high in salt- all the vegan burgers had at least twice as much salt per 100g as a Bird's Eye beef burger.
Everyone goes on about limiting fat and sugar, but salt is the real danger - over a quarter of adults in the uk have high blood pressure and many of them don't know it.

@soggypizza I'd say the prohibitory price of free range meat would lower consumption and help the environment.

I'm sure you're with me on endangered species, but can't understand why you don't see that animals raised purely for meat and dairy are endangered by a vegan diet.