To feel guilted into being vegan??? AIBU?

[CradleMable]

I saw quite a traumatic animal welfare video a few days ago, which had the purpose of trying to encourage viewers to become vegan.

I am not a huge meat lover, but love the occasional beef burger, steak or nice roast dinner. I am a bit of a dairy fiend though, so not sure how I would cope.

However the video pointed towards the awful treatment of farm animals, being separated from their babies after mere hours together, and being slaughtered themselves at a relatively young age, after a life of being exploited.

I haven’t really considered the welfare of farm animals much in my life, if I’m honest, and I feel quite bad for admitting that. Now I’m wondering if what we do to these animals is fair, and I thought posting on here might help me consider both sides to the argument.

AIBU to now feel compelled to drastically change my diet in support of animal welfare?

so spraying fields etc kills all the good insects kills native flowers etc that then passes on to butterflys etc bees worms what not compared to cattle grazeing fields

...You must both logically know this just isn't true though? Aside from anything else the majority of soya is fed to animals and lentils are a sustainable crop - low water useage, nitrogen fixing and resource efficient. Where have you seen the fields that have been treated so now nothing else can live on them? Think it through at least. And we should all care about bees, we are absolutely fucked without bees.

You have to eat if you want to live

eatung veggie / vegan has the lowest Impact

there is no perfect , there is just better

but then crop farmers are more likely to cut down hedges etc so there go's breeding for our native birds livestock eats or trims hedges etc so must be better

I eat meat occasionally and I am fully aware of hideous way we treat farm animals
I struggle with it and definitely would struggle to be vegan but I’m considering it seriously.

I think it’s very ignorant not to even think about how your food got to your plate.
Barbaric treatment has been publicly reported for decades now there is really no excuse.

Do whatever works for you and your mindset

there are more farmers growing crops to feed animals than feed humans - you need ten times the land for meat and most of that is growing the crops for their feed

Lol, nearly all soy is grown to feed livestock. Nice try though!

I have had similar dilemmas but I tried going vegetarian and it didn't work for me - I was exhausted all the time. But other people thrive on vegetarian and vegan diets so if it's worrying you why not try it?

I found a compromise solution which I'm happy with. I buy one high welfare chicken a month and use all of it to make a roast plus two other meals plus stock. I stopped buying beef and lamb and buy venison instead because I figure deer are culled anyway. I found a lot of new veggie recipes and try to eat veggie dinners more. I try to eat more fish like sardines and mackerel rather than farmed or endangered fish.

It's noticeable how much better tasting good quality meat is too.

I also started getting a local veg box so I can eat seasonal and local fruit and veg.

I know. What’s this fake narrative that vegans are always talking about being vegan? It’s exactly as you say - someone notices what you’re eating and that bangs on justifying eating meat, grilling you on your views and asking you - are your shoes made of leather?

it’s the meat eaters that are always obsessed with trying to justify themselves boring you to death. Often men with their low key ribbing when you’re stuck in their company at a wedding or a work event

but are you most farmers care a lot for there stock there's no point taken a skin and bones cow to be sold they be worth nothing. if there fed properly and looked after then a higher price

You can see with humans that the best way to fatten them up isn’t to treat them to a happy healthy lifestyle - and the same is true of meat

profit margins are higher if you can get the meat ro
sizs quickly and cheaply

chickens and pigs seam to be the least welfare friendly and dairy depending on farm compared to beef and lamb mutton

Why not try some vegan switches for products you currently eat and see how it goes. It doesn’t need to be an immediate all or nothing. Look into dietary needs and recipes etc. I’ve been vegan for 17 years and have no health issues or vitamin deficiencies and I don’t particularly put much effort into stuff like that. I take a b12 supplement when I remember.

Can i ask how you have managed this?

I was vegetarian for 15 years because of my research into animal mistreatment. I didn't ever believe all are mistreated.

I started eating fish and eventually meat because my skin went awful and I couldn't work out why. 3 yrs later I learnt I didn't have enough fats in my diet 🙄

I have again stopped eating meat and fish. I switched from dairy to non dairy a while ago.

I am not vegan. I think veganism goes too far and I'd be worried I wouldn't know what to buy to eat esp good sources of protein - I mean, the easiest meals every are made from free range eggs, some veggies and non dairy cheese, which is actually OK. I also very much like popping baked beans in the bottom of a dish and covering them with packet stuffing with fried onion and a good layer of non dairy cheese. Baked for the period the stuffing needs cooking and it's a delicious alternative to a roast. And don't get me started on big mushrooms in place of meat in a curry or swede cooked like a ham...

I personally don't feel it changes how animals are treated/farmed, but it means I'm not contributing to mistreatment.

If you are concerned then act on your concern, noone is holding a gun to your head and noone is saying you can't have a burger etc if you fancy one either.

What a load of rubbish! I live in a country where agriculture is a way of life and there are meatworks in my area. At one stage they were one of the major employers in this region, generations of locals worked there. I knew many of them, they were friends and neighbours, and I can assure you that not one of them was anywhere near a sadist or psychopath, just ordinary people doing a job. I have no respect for people who demonstrate such ignorance.

But if everyone was vegan then it would be grown for billions of people. Nice try though.

And, if you successfully completed GCSE biology, you'd recall that eating crops directly is far more efficient (in terms of energy/calories) than eating animals that have been fed with crops, because the animals expend energy (even through passive things like breathing and growing). Between 70% and 97% (depending on the crop and animal) is "wasted" in conversion.

So, if everyone was vegan, we would need far, far fewer crops to be grown.

But there would still be less grown than for those same billions of people eating meat.
To produce 1kg of animal protein it takes almost 6kg of soy or other grains, if humans ate the soy directly then it would save land. Also, onmivores already eat soy based foods such as soy sauce, Pot Noodles etc.

Nice try though.

References please as mine come from an Indian vegeterian doctor.

soz about the misspelling!!!!

I can't find a supporting theory for that anywhere. Please quote

It may take more to produce meat but it keeps people alive. I have yet to see a healthy looking vegan. And honey!! How fecking ridiculous. You may as well apologise for having the indecency to be alive.

Bemused by the bitterness toward this fictional stereotype of “self righteous vegans” - as if SRV are the main problem in the world right now… 🙄

As a veggie (and aspiring vegan) of over 30 years I say YABU to let any behaviour or habits be dictated by guilt. I think better to reflect on your naivety about animal welfare in meat production and decide what your priorities are. Veganism is quite extreme. You can take incremental steps. As an interim step for example, you could decide that you will only eat meat with the highest welfare standards. And that’s fine. That’s a positive improvement.

@NotAnotherScarf , you absolutely do not need to eat ultra processed foods if you eat a vegan diet, quite the reverse actually. Many people who consume meat eat highly processed foods and have poor nutrition. It is perfectly possible to eat healthily on both diets and equally possible to be unhealthy.