To think veganism is the future?

[Libertynan]

I started eating a plant based diet for Veganuary this year and am still at it.

It has been a revelation. All the family have joined in ( although DH likes a bit of strong cheddar now and again).

We eat some really good meals and don’t feel like we’re missing out on anything.

I have been reading a lot about animal welfare and the effect that intensive farming has on the environment and I can’t see how anyone can ignore these issues.

AIBU to wish that more people would at least eat fewer animal products and try plant based.

So what you’re suggesting is that we defy evolution.

We are not meant to be vegan. We have evolved to be omnivorous.

Added to which veganism only works because people eat fruit and veg shipped from all over the world. How many vegans eat only local produce?

Intensive farming is the issue here, not meat consumption. Aside from which, you’re presumably happy for several species of animals to become extinct so that you can declare the world to be vegan?

Animals in the wild kill other animals. It’s nature.

The wild dog runs alongside its prey and rips it apart alive until it collapses, at which point it is killed and eaten by the pack.

Crocodiles drown their prey under water.

Birds of prey swoop from down high to catch mice/rats/rabbits. It’s nature.

I think in comparison slaughtering well farmed animals pales into insignificance.

Ah but how many animals are destroyed for the production of palm oil? Almond milk? How many air miles are used to ship avocado, kiwi, grapefruit, melon, pineapple, bananas?

If you want to be vegan you should cut out all of those things from your diet so that you are truly environmental.

Humans are the only animals that treat other animals like utter shit

You have led a very sheltered life if you truly believe that!!! Seriously, what do you think other animals eat?

I don't think it will be disgust or some kind of mass moral awakening that will bring on some utopian vegan future, but probably the next pandemic. There's a good chance that some of the incredibly intensive factory farming going on in the US and elsewhere, including the liberal use of antibiotics, is a recipe for disaster. It will probably result in the abandonment of intense methods, and hence a spike in the price of meat that will inevitably lead to a drop in consumption.

Veganism isn’t likely to be the future for me. A good proportion of my meals would suit a vegetarian. Some would suit a vegan, but not many.

The environmental side is very ropey.
Almond milk, avocados, cashew production 😣.

I hope so!
It's done me well for 21 years and counting,

I'm a meat lover but agree with you. Veganism, even vegetarianism would be really hard for me.
As a species, I think human beings are meant to eat meat, we can survive well without it though and that would be the best choice for the planet.

@stingofthebutterfly

I tried a lot of vegan products when I was breastfeeding my daughter who had a cow's milk protein allergy. I can't say I was impressed with much of it. The cheese was awful, as was the chocolate. Most of the alternative 'milks' were horrible, and expensive. I'm not a fussy eater but I really can't see how people could permanently eat a vegan diet and enjoy it.

I could perhaps be vegetarian.

All the vegans I know look unhealthy and about twenty years older than they are. That puts me off too.

The expense thing is a huge factor for us, as well as allergies. DH has an anaphylactic allergy to nuts and seeds - vegan food suitable for him is limited, obviously all nut milks are out, but even ones not made from nuts often say “may contain nuts”. I’m not saying it would be impossible for him to be vegan, but it would be hard.

I agree!!! I wish I'd done it sooner.

Almond milk, avocados, cashew production

We don't have to eat those things though.

No, but eating locally and seasonally is. And by locally, I more or less mean "farmed or grown in the UK", but obviously ideally would be more regionally local than that too.

(FYI, I don't exclusively do what I know would be best - but we try as much as we reasonably can with access/price/the time we have to source said food).

I've been vegan (or "plant based" as I still wore my leather shoes!) and found it too restrictive for me mentally. Constantly looking at menus and thinking "I can't have that, I can't have this" etc rather than just trying to do my best.

Eating animals will be criminalised and relegated to history

Oh the naivety of some people.

@AlternativePerspective

So what you’re suggesting is that we defy evolution.

We are not meant to be vegan. We have evolved to be omnivorous.

Added to which veganism only works because people eat fruit and veg shipped from all over the world. How many vegans eat only local produce?

Intensive farming is the issue here, not meat consumption. Aside from which, you’re presumably happy for several species of animals to become extinct so that you can declare the world to be vegan?

Animals in the wild kill other animals. It’s nature.

The wild dog runs alongside its prey and rips it apart alive until it collapses, at which point it is killed and eaten by the pack.

Crocodiles drown their prey under water.

Birds of prey swoop from down high to catch mice/rats/rabbits. It’s nature.

I think in comparison slaughtering well farmed animals pales into insignificance.

Ah but how many animals are destroyed for the production of palm oil? Almond milk? How many air miles are used to ship avocado, kiwi, grapefruit, melon, pineapple, bananas?

If you want to be vegan you should cut out all of those things from your diet so that you are truly environmental.

Firstly, do only vegans eat fruit (?!?) There is globalisation of diet across all food products, rather bizarre to land this at the feet of vegans when presumably meet eaters don't eat only meat three times a day? Secondly, some great examples from National Geographic there. Please tell me when you last ripped open (the plastic packaging from your oven ready) chicken before sinking your teeth into its raw, bloody, uncooked flesh . we are ever evolving and ever achieving - including synthetic, lab meat, more efficient ways of growing fruit & veg using hydroponics, etc no matter the climate - really the whole 'but we have teeth like lions' doesn't wash

Every single ethical only meat eater I know still eats meat in restaurants, in takeaway sandwiches, on frozen pizzas or conveniently sliced sandwich meat, yet go on and on about how ethical it is to eat local meat that’s reared humanely because they get some of their meat from a butcher and the occasional free range chicken. Ethical meat is very unlikely to be served in most restaurants or takeaway places or in ready meals etc.

And for all the meat eaters moaning about veggies and vegan food being shipped all over the world, I bet a lot of their meat also comes from abroad and they don’t check in restaurants/ sandwiches etc and still eat bananas etc.

I have seen that a small, but growing, number of farmers in the UK are growing crops of quinoa and oats specifically for oat milk so hopefully that will continue and make vegan food even lower in its environmental impact.

It is, As long as you don’t want your children to grow, eat insufficient nutrients and eat lots of over processed crap.

We should eat less meat, but veganism is Not something to be encouraged.

God,no.

I absolutely agree that cutting down on meat/fish/dairy is probably desirable, but I could never see veganism as anything other than an extremist cult religion.

I am sure there are vegans out there who manage to be tolerant, kind members of society, it’s just that I’ve never actually met one. I’ve yet to meet a vegan who isn’t tedious, worthy and judgemental, with a hefty dose of self obsessive superiority, so on that basis alone I’ll pass, thank you.

I agree about seasonal and local based eating.

I'd consider eating the odd vege dish but I'd never give up meat. I always think vegans are easy to spot, they look ill, very pale with dark circles around their eyes. A good friend of mine started dating one, she takes it very seriously and looks very grey. I can't imagine it's very healthy to cut out an entire food group. I do feel sorry for our friend dating her, she loves meat but she's slowly took on this bizarre restrictive diet. I bet she sneaks out for bacon rolls 🤣

@gofg

Eating animals will be criminalised and relegated to history

Oh the naivety of some people.

Yep, sounds just like something the supporters of slavery, homophobia etc. would have said. Future generations will be the judge.

Being a vegan did not work out well for my health so I reverted back to meat and dairy. I wish people NOT saying "plant based" was the future but sadly we seem to be heading in the wrong direction on that front.

God I hope not, it all just seems so joyless and sanctimonious. We choose meat from local butchers, we don't buy meat brought in from New Zealand etc and buy free range, organic and high welfare meat. We wouldn't give it up, I doubt it'll ever be illegal to eat meat. There just isn't the will for it, the numbers are low as a percentage of our population.
I don't know a lot of vegans, just a couple, but their diets are awful. They appear to assume that they're healthy because they're vegan but they eat such a lot of processed rubbish.

All of our meat is farmed or caught within a couple miles of where i live, our seafood is yards away. Cheese, butter and cream come within sight of my kitchen window as do the eggs and the majority of veg and soft fruits. Where do your fruit and veg come from OP ?

I also feel quite uneasy about the ethical and environmental impact of some of the vegan alternatives out there.

I think the best future would be one where we ate locally produced food, smaller scale production, higher welfare standards and so on.

They appear to assume that they're healthy because they're vegan but they eat such a lot of processed rubbish.

Any diet can be rubbish. I don’t eat much processed food at all.

I think diets are more individual than people like to think, and this is why you get the evangelists pushing low carb, paleo, high fat, fasting, slimming world, whatever. It works for them so they think it should work for everyone.

I have tried them in all in various attempts to lose weight over the last 40 years.

I am far, far healthier as a vegetarian. Meat makes me ill, makes me constipated, stomach cramps. I cut it out slowly as i made the link- now the very smell I know I can’t eat it.

Other than that I need a balanced diet. I am fine with dairy, i don’t eat much anyway, just milk and the odd bit of cheese- i have tried to find decent subs but can’t.

Some people with find they are healthier on vegetarian/vegan diets, others may feel better on low carb. It’s finding what suits and keeping your diet balanced.