Are you a vegan? Would you like this gift?

[Cocopogo]

My friend is a vegetarian she often does vegan month and is mostly vegan but not strictly.
I found what I thought was a lovely gift so I bought it for her and another for a relative.
It’s a ‘pearl necklace’ as in it comes with a locket and a clam and you break the clam open and there’s a ‘real’ pearl inside.
It just stuck me that clams are real living ?things? until someone pulls them out the ocean. I cant give it can I ?

@MLMshouldbeillegal Great username! I didn't know cotton was bad so I'll have to look into that. But veganism isn't necessarily about sustainability whereas it is necessarily about animal cruelty/exploitation. And wool would fall under that category whereas cotton wouldn't (as far as I know anyway). But I do personally think animal ethics and sustainability are inextricably tied.

I’m vegetarian and wouldn’t even like that, so a vegan definitely wouldn’t. How bizarre to think it’s an acceptable gift.

Awful gift - and I’m not just saying that because I’m vegetarian.

Can you get your money back?

Really really grim.

These are dead oysters that have had a cultured or lab pearl shoved inside them, then sealed up and packaged with a locket for you to dig out and be surprised at the pretty, wholly unnatural pearl you've 'found'.

You might as well wrap her a gift in a piece of steak or shove it in a dead mouse... thats how attractive it would be to a veggie or vegan (or to quite a lot of people really).

If she is ‘mostly’ vegan then there are clearly times when she does choose to eat / use animal products (honey, silk, wool etc?), so I can’t see how the clam shell would be a problem for her ethically if other animal products are viewed as ok now and then.

If she is ‘mostly’ vegan then there are clearly times when she does choose to eat / use animal products (honey, silk, wool etc?), so I can’t see how the clam shell would be a problem for her ethically if other animal products are viewed as ok now and then.

she is vegetarian and sometimes vegan. There is nothing vegetarian about pearls or dead clams.

I am vegan and I wouldn't appreciate this gift. Though I'm not sure if I would say anything to the person, I'm not sure how I would react to be honest.
No one who knows me would buy me something like that. But it's great that you have realised before giving it to her. Could you perhaps return it or give it to a different person?

Please let me now if you would like any vegan gift ideas!

How did you not think that a clam ( which a Pearl doesn't come from, by the way) wasn't a living creature from the ocean?

Besides, pearls come from oysters and freshwater mussels.

What exactly are you thinking of?

Regardless, no, do not buy this for a vegan.

It's an absolute no I'm afraid.

Even if she's vegetarian it's a no..

Vegetarian means no killing creatures. So no leather, silk or pearl.

This is a pretty weird gift honestly, I'd think this was pretty gross and I'm not even a vegetarian.

Maybe I'm misunderstanding what it is - isn't the clam rotten after being dead for so long? And why would there be a pearl in there?

I am vegan and its a no from me. It would have been as a vegetarian too. We don’t want silk, beeswax, honey or wool either.

Last Christmas I received 2 lots of chocolates and one bottle of prosecco all from people who know I am vegan and had given up booze! Previous years I have received toiletries with silk and honey and a silk scarf all since going vegan. I don’t get many gifts and it is really disappointing when people don’t think.

Scarlettpixie that's officially rubbish. This year you should definitely open presents in front of people.

" thank you for the gift but I won't be able to use it as I'm vegan. So here have it back. "

It depends. Some vegans aren't bothered about pearls because clams don't have brains or a nervous system so can't suffer in any sense that we understand. But a very strict vegan would be unlikely to appreciate it.

If she's a veggie who does a lot of vegan she probably won't object but it might be worth checking with her.

@Dishwashersaurous

Even if she's vegetarian it's a no..

Vegetarian means no killing creatures. So no leather, silk or pearl.

I must admit. I thought the term vegetarian referred only to diet. I know many vegetarians who wear leather and silk.

It's a definite no. Other things to avoid which you might not think of include mother of pearl, feathers, silk, beeswax (which is often in eg lip balm, not just candles), real sponges.

That seems like a dim gift. Sorry OP!

I'm not sure if this is a real post, but assuming it is, pearls don't come from clams, they come from oysters.

I'm not a vegetarian or a vegan but I'd still find this a weird gift tbh. Is it definitely a real clam?

Nope. Even as a meat eater I really wouldn't want this as a gift.

She's going to have to crack the shellfish open and then fish around inside the dead flesh for the pearl

OP, can you clarify whether you mean you are planning to give her an actual dead clam that somebody has put a pearl in, or something like this where it is a locket in the shape of a clam and you’re worried it’s like giving her a locket in the shape of a burger, but there’s no actual dead crustacean involved?

Actual dead three-month-old clam is a definite “no”, a clam-shaped-but-inanimate locket is fine I would have said.

Another ‘yikes, no!’ vote from another vegan here.

If she’s moving towards veganism on the basis of animal welfare, she may not be keen on any gift from an aquarium, let alone a dead clam/filched pearl, by the way.