AIBU to ask ‘what would make you go vegan’?

[Bastetcat]

Tangentially inspired by another thread, I wonder if there are specific obstacles standing in the way of people choosing to go vegan, and if so what they are?

I tend to presume that if perfect, indistinguishable replicas for meat / dairy / eggs etc could be created then virtually everyone would go vegan, but I would be interested in finding out if that’s actually the case!

@Marmit and @KatharinaRosalie lovely thank you I’ll buy both, I love beetroot, I’ve been known to roast it with onion and just eat those as a snack much to my daughter disgust.

Like a lot of others I have digestive problems and I can't tolerate high fibre foods, they give me the runs (sorry, TMI) I don't like spicy food and my DP has a nut allergy so in this house there will be no Vegans

@Marmit but I've not had cheese for about 5 years now and it's all I think about I don't think the craving will ever go. Likewise galaxy chocolate. I genuinely dream of it!

I've been vegetarian for years and often choose vegan options when available or cook vegan at home. I don't really buy fake meat products very often at all, maybe once a month.

The main thing stopping me from going completely vegan is convenience/lack of available vegan options - sometimes I'm lazy and just want to pick up a ready made sandwich or order a take away, and there are always limited veggie options, and usually no vegan options. It's also frustrating that when a vegan option exists, it tends to be something a bit weird. I don't want a beetroot burger with a side of falafel and grated celeriac...

I'd need a compelling reason.

I'm pescatarian. I eat fish/seafood roughly 2x a week, mostly local/fresh-caught. Also eat cheese, eggs, yogurt, butter, sour cream, ice cream, and honey. I think I'd miss the variety of cheese and the convenience of eggs (both easy, portable protein) most. I dislike meat substitutes. I use tofu sometimes, bought in unwrapped blocs from a local health food place.

I mainly want to eat low-ish on the food chain and minimise unnecessary environmental damage. Vegan substitutes for eggs/dairy - even if they were indistinguishable - currently involve more packaging and shipping, and are more expensive.

IME, it's harder to triage what's vegan vs meat-free, re crackers, bread, etc. I have one of the apps that scans the barcode and analyses if vegan (SpoonGuru), but it doesn't work all the time.

@Marmit

I suspect it isn’t significant based on the study linked to in that one which is specifically focused on the EU

The graph linked to by a PP wasn’t for the EU only though, unless there are now 119 countries in the EU. It’s been averaged, hence my comment that there could well be huge disparities in GHG emissions across different types of beef farming.

This one.

It's not strictly speaking true about animals containing B12 due to supplementation.
Ruminants like cows have bacteria in their gut that produce B12, which we then get by consuming them. I believe they are sometimes given cobalt supplements though as UK pastures can be deficient, and it's required for B12 synthesis.
In places like the US where cattle are raised on feedlots, it's a different picture. The corn they are fed doesn't convert as readily and they're given large quantities of antibiotics which reduce their gut bacteria, these cattle are given B12 supplementation.

I do find that a lot of the facts offered by vegans are relevant to the US but have little bearing on UK agriculture.

but I can’t move past the fact that the cows are artificially inseminated Do you think that cows and bulls have wonderful sex lives?

I am mostly veggie / vegan these days but still buy and cook fish & the occasional chicken for DH & DC.
For me, it’s milk.
I have tried every single plant-based milk on the market in my tea, but none taste nice enough (most are truly awful in tea) for me to give up cows milk. Vegan cheese is also vile. But I’m hoping that by buying and eating much less meat than we used to do is better than nothing.

Have you heard of Peter Phillips' milk advert? The Chinese have state owned dairy farms now. And a lot of you want to drink oat 'milk'?

I don't think anything could, apart from a complete lack of animals.

I'm quite a fussy eater, so going vegan would no doubt turn out badly for me.

I could manage going vegetarian I think though.

@bekataton Oatly Barista is really good and also Alpro almond milk- has to be alpro though, I bought Tesco own brand and it was awful

I could easily be vegetarian (once my fussy dc leave home), but I have no intention of ever going vegan. I love dishes made of vegetables and pulses but have no desire to eat fake, processed meat substitutes. I don't want to give up eggs and dairy. I've tried oat milk in tea and it tastes horrible. I don't have sugar in tea, and any non-dairy milk I've tried makes tea taste unpleasantly sweet.

And cows are such sweet, gentle animals, basically like dogs FFS

Vegan food being more widely available whilst keeping the convinence, cost and taste of other food (currently veggie).

Vegan food being more widely available

Sorry if this is a dim question, but what vegan food do you want to be available that isn't? I'm kind of assuming that if I went vegan, I'd just be making meals out of vegetables, pulses, mushrooms, pasta, rice, couscous, bread, using oils not butter etc. etc.

I can't eat a lot of food that appears t9 make up a part proportion of vegan meals: lentils, beans, mushrooms, oni9ns, garlic, and many more.

Plus I like eating meat.

Nothing really, I see no need and no benefits really.
You can be vegan and have a healthy diet and be eco-friendly, food wise, or the opposite.
You can also be non-vegan, have a healthy diet and be eco friendly, food wise,or the opposite.

Nothing. I have cut down on red meat, but will still eat chicken, fish and shellfish, because why not? I also eat eggs. Funnily enough, I am quite dairy intolerant anyway, so have very little milk, but would miss Morzarella and Parmesan, and I am definitely not giving up honey, because that argument is just bonkers. I also like wool jumpers and leather shoes. So, no, sorry, I will never become a vegan.

If there were no other choice.

Going vegan is not something that I am interested in at all.

Besides, I worry about what will happen to all the cows, pigs, sheep and chickens if everyone went vegan. Would they disappear, never to be seen again?

Pretty much nothing. My diet is restricted enough already out of necessity rather than choice and i have no wish to make life even harder.

Whilst I can see there are good health reasons for reducing meat and dairy consumption, I'm not convinced that total exclusion is the best option. There are no human societies that are historically vegan. (People often cite Jains but they consume dairy)

As in eating out, fast food, when you just want to grab a quick sandwich from the shop for lunch ect. The choice is improving but for me it isn't enough to make the change.

Yes, it's lovely to cook meals from scratch. Realistically we all have busy lives and this isn't always possible or we just want a night off cooking eating nice food.

This thread is really making me fancy a steak.

Nothing.

I don't give a rat's arse that animals die for my food. I care about how they live, and how they die, but the fact that they die? Nah, I'm not bothered.
I don't particularly care about artificial insemination either. So a farmer sticks his arm up a cow's arse. Oh well. So what.