To go vegan after watching seaspiracy

[Jillybons]

I eat meat and fish at the moment (though try to buy less regularly and as ethical as possible) but after watching this I just can’t imagine eating fish again. The global fishing industry is an absolute travesty 🤦‍♀️

@Neonprint

Well it's a bit basic. Like are you seriously saying you just learned from an over hyped Netflix doc that meat and fish are terrible? I just feel a bit embarrassed for all these people jumping on vegetarianism and veganism on the back of this.

It makes you look a bit daft because you seemingly weren't aware of the problem before and the makes you look easily swayed. Do what you want but do research beyond a Netflix doc.

Presumably everyone has a 'first time' that they became truly aware of the cruel and damaging practises of the food industry, unless they were raised with full awareness from childhood.

I'm not sure how kind or sensible it is to mock people who are watching this and using it as the impetus for further research and lifestyle changes.

It's an eye opener even if some of the issues are now disputed. I was able to watch it but can't make myself watch cowspiracy. I've been a vegan 5 years and it's really not a bother to leave animals as alone as I can. So much nice food out there and methods of producing them and ethical sourcing companies improving all the time. And that all comes from consumers caring about how their food, meat or vegan is produced.

We’ve been vegan for over 4 years, since watching Cowspiracy. Absolutely no regrets.

@LegoPirateMonkey it absolutely IS possible to eat a nut-free vegan diet.

YABU for asking such a silly, virtue signalling question.

You can go vegan for any reason you want!

Well it's a bit basic. Like are you seriously saying you just learned from an over hyped Netflix doc that meat and fish are terrible? I just feel a bit embarrassed for all these people jumping on vegetarianism and. veganism on the back of this.

Yes. Some people take Netflix propaganda as gospel. They also sit to watch with their very young children. Not even realising what they are doing to them.

@LegoPirateMonkey

I really worry as in our house we have severe (anaphylactic) allergies and limiting our diet further seems hard to do especially with kids who in addition to allergies are in the fussy side. We can’t have any nuts - peanuts or tree nuts - in the house at all, for example. So vegan recommendations for things like nut butters are out. What do nut allergic vegans do? I’m increasingly concerned about the damaging effects of the meat, fish and dairy industries but I do want to give my children a varied and healthy diet that accommodates their allergies.

Seed butters are nice ( sunflower, pumpkin, etc) . For snacks toasted pumkin seeds and sunflower seeds are delicious ( just cook on a dry frying pan,stirring occasionally til the aromas are released and they have s bit of colour on them) Roasted chickpeas are great too.

These sort of threads cheer me up no end. I've been inside a slaughter house and, only briefly thank god. (agency worker) and I do laugh at the "humane" argument. Even with the best will in the world, it could never be an humane industry. It's easier than ever to cut down on meat and dairy.

I am vegetarian and every now and then have think I might start eating fish but even catching those trawlerman programmes is enough for me , seeing fish on the deck of the boat gasping and being walked over. I actually worry about the environmental/human impact of everything/anything if billions of people switch inc vegan alternatives though - the real issue is too many people on the planet consuming stuff.

@Planningobjection

I haven’t watched it yet but I’ve been veggie for over 20 years, I can’t imagine going vegan though. I’d miss proper pizza too much. Can I ask why seaspiracy is a 15? I want to watch it with my 9 year old but not sure if it’s appropriate.

It's definitely not appropriate for a 9 year old. Scenes of whales being killed, a lot of blood etc then the dead whales and their babies being counted on the beach.

@LegoPirateMonkey my daughter is a nut allergic vegan. She is also allergic to soya, yet still manages to eat a varied and healthy diet.

My dd watched it and was horrified, she's 20 and really thankful that I've raised her as veggie.
I've been vegetarian for over 30 years but I have coeliac disease so going vegan would be a logistical nightmare unless I just ate at home forever!
I don't drink milk, haven't for years but do still eat cheese & eggs

Well it's a bit basic. Like are you seriously saying you just learned from an over hyped Netflix doc that meat and fish are terrible? I just feel a bit embarrassed for all these people jumping on vegetarianism and. veganism on the back of this.

It is basic, I agree. But documentaries like this serve a purpose in that they get a lot of people listening, many of who would otherwise have no clue about this stuff. Some make changes to their lives sparked by documentaries like this, and that’s a good thing. Many may never go on to educate themselves further, but they have more knowledge than they did.

@Neonprint

Well it's a bit basic. Like are you seriously saying you just learned from an over hyped Netflix doc that meat and fish are terrible? I just feel a bit embarrassed for all these people jumping on vegetarianism and veganism on the back of this.

It makes you look a bit daft because you seemingly weren't aware of the problem before and the makes you look easily swayed. Do what you want but do research beyond a Netflix doc.

Really? How patronising. Well done to anyone who has learnt about the benefits to the planet from giving up meat & fish and is taking action. Why do you care where they receive this information from? Netflix, social media etc are a great way of spreading the word to the masses!

First paragraph should have been in bold as was a quote.

Thank you all for your comments and really appreciate the offers of support.

Of course I know it’s a documentary and is going to be sensationalist, but no, I had zero idea about Commercial fishing and the impact.

Obviously I knew that fish were killed but no idea of the scale of damage to the oceans, thought it was more ‘part of the food chain’ than we ate literally destroying everything in our wake 😭.

I’ve always thought that as long as I bought ‘in season, MSC approved and dolphin safe’ then I was making decent choices. Also, no idea that prawns were so bad, don’t know why but I’ve always thought of them to have minimal impact 🤦‍♀️

I do think the documentary was pretty xenophobic too TBH, nevertheless didn’t change some of the core issues.

Most people don't realise how damaging it is to the environment. Why would they? Fishing PR is great, especially when you see small fishing ports and day boats with a gnarly old fisherman darning his net.

It's not a cottage industry, its big industrial farming. Except fishermen have no responsibility for the land.

I've been vegan for over year now, after about 4 years of being vegetarian. It's been a surprisingly easy transition and I feel overall much healthier for it. There are so many great recipes and decent vegan options to buy, i don't feel like I've missed anything.

For me, it started when I was doing some research into the practices of dairy / egg farming after I listened to Earthling Ed and after that, I couldn't bring myself to eat any of it anymore.

I have had so many negative responses from work colleagues and friends about it though, so be prepared for that!

It's a topic that people feel strongly about and can be quite aggressive which I wasn't expecting, definitely feels worth it to me though.

If you have watched Seaspiracy and would like to avoid industrially farmed fish that's great but you do not have to avoid eating mussels, crayfish, mackerel and Cornish rock salmon etc crab and lobsters from British coastal communities or trout from British rivers as those are from healthy sustainable stocks.

@Luckingfovely if you read that article it doesn’t actually debunk any of the claims. At best one claim is said to be “doubtful”, one is “just an estimate” and others are affirmed to be true.

@Newstaronhorizon

If you have watched Seaspiracy and would like to avoid industrially farmed fish that's great but you do not have to avoid eating mussels, crayfish, mackerel and Cornish rock salmon etc crab and lobsters from British coastal communities or trout from British rivers as those are from healthy sustainable stocks.

Trout is typically farmed. Rock salmon is a rebrand of dogfish, can include other small cartilaginous fish. They're basically small sharks. Some species are rare and not everybody can tell the difference.

Curious about crayfish. Am guessing you mean the signal ones? Can you buy those commercially? They are also freshwater.

It is sad that you are making your life decisions based on something on Netflix. By all means go Vegan and please don't become one of these extremely tyring people who are in they recently disco belief relentlessly and aggressively try to encourage /bully other people to avoid meat and fish products

I think it's like most things these days. You only need to brush the surface to see corruption, lies and inhumane behaviour.
This is everywhere you only need to read the headlines to see more BS.
Pick your own way through this mayhem and enjoy your life.

@MatildaTheCat

I’m refusing to watch it. I adore fish. ☹️

Me too. We’re an almost vegetarian family I just like to enjoy a piece of fish every now and then and want to continue to do so. We’ve stopped eating red meat which environmentally is worse IMO.

I worked in an adjacent area and was a bit suspicious of them once one of their stats appeared which I knew to be very inaccurate, but the broad strokes were right. Industrial farming of anything is a problem - we are too many people with excess food demand concentrated in small areas that are creating a need for these industries. I don't think the future needs to be vegan, but we do need to reduce our demand, sadly the people who are the problem aren't the conscientious types who do meat free Monday and watch seaspiracy - it's the types who demand a huge slab of meat on their plate for every meal AND crucially who expect it to be cheap. Meat and fish prices need to rise dramatically if we farm more ethically and many will not like that.

I can't be vegan unfortunately as I'm intolerant to just about every vegetable going (still eat them where I can but live my life in discomfort) and meat, eggs, cheese and fish are pretty much the only foods that I'm not intolerant to (plus root vegetables for some reason).

This video is worth watching if you've been reading about how seaspiracy has been "debunked".

m.youtube.com/watch?v=tXhtI5MlXqc

OP I was vegetarian for about 18 years before I went vegan and I have always been healthy on both diets. My previously meat loving partner eats plant based 99.9% of the time and is also healthy and says he finds it easy and delicious to eat this way. Yes it takes a bit of learning and planning at the beginning but there is so much information out there and most vegans are very eager to help with recipe suggestions and nutrition advice. Just eat normal food (not some extreme version of veganism where you try to eat exclusively wholefoods or raw or anything like that), take a multivitamin, and maybe log your meals a few times with something like chronometer to make sure you're on track, and you'll be fine. It can fit into any other restrictions you have, there are plenty of vegans out there who eat nut free, soy free, low carb, keto, high protein, who only eat local and seasonal, whatever it is.

To the person sneering at you for only just realising how cruel the industry is, every vegan who wasn't raised vegan has had that lightbulb moment. For me it was becoming a mother and breastfeeding my baby, after that I couldn't support the dairy industry any more and went fully vegan soon after. Good luck and feel free to PM me if you want any help or advice.