Veganism

[echelon]

The hens are sympathetic though. An egg appeared in the nest box this morning

[faye]

If I decided to be a veggie I would want to eat.... vegetables. I don't think I could eat processed meat subsitutes as I try to avoid processed stuff. I don't quite understand how proceede meat stuff is considered so unhealthy but processed soya etc is fine

i eat the processed stuff as a treat usually

i was watching a programme on rainforest destruction today and it said that land clearance in rainforests is often for growing soya. eating can get ethically very messy. feeeling bad about eating/drinking soya now, got to have a think about this one

oh echelon, what a horrible time you've had!!! maybe your body just would not tolerate the change?? maybe do it very slowly, just cut one thing out like milk in tea/coffee etc for a month, then try something else after if all goes ok? it takes some experimentation to weed out the horrible vegan stuff too!!! the good stuff is sooo luverly - the swedish glace icecream is scrumptious

if it is too difficult are there 'friendly' milks and cheeses??? from free range (proper free range) animals?

[echelon]

Hi faye,

Organic milk comes from cows with higher welfare standards apparently, but they still have their calves removed within a couple of days of calving and they're still made to be pregnant and lactating at the same time. They also end up in the same slaughter houses that all the other animals end up in as well.

Perhaps I could do it gradually, that's a good suggestion, thank you.

[Meanqueen]

I tried tofu once, it was awful, and vegan cheese is horrible, like rubber. I dont buy cows milk, I have soya milk on my bran flakes, and Coffee Mate in my coffee. That's the best I can do. Ech, just try changing one item in your diet and see how you go.

Ilona

[faye]

i don't envy you echelon, the transition isn't easy. however far you get you should be proud. you are really trying and so many people don't

[echelon]

Thank you for your kind words of encouragement

Perhaps the Rice Milk might be better - we tried some once and it was quite nice.

[faye]

Thank you for your kind words of encouragement

Perhaps the Rice Milk might be better - we tried some once and it was quite nice.

i think i will try the rice milk - might help with my soya dilemma!

[kate egg]

I know what you went through with the soya thing, I tried soya milk, yogurts etc as was advised this would help with my possible menopause symptoms and they made me feel really sick and uncomfortable too

Everything seems to have a good and bad side, I think the best I can do is make sure as far as possible that I buy local and free range products.

[echelon]

I have read that soya intolerance is quite common

[saint-spoon]

That is an outstanding question FHLH, one that has oft puzzled me. In truth it was an argument in the Vegetablist version of BBc good food (purchased by accident) that got me thinking. The apparently true vegetablists looked down on those who ate Linda McCartney produce because it tasted/looked like real meat.
If folk want to remove certain foodstuffs from their diets then it is entirely their choice, I will not admire their choice because I look at it from a primarily scientific viewpoint; we are primates and as such members of a family in which there are very few herbivores. Most of us are omnivores and opportunists (especially the apes), the few specialist herbivores have specially adapted digestive tracts which are able to ferment cellulose and allow them to live off very narrow diets (leaves, fruits etc). We aren’t adapted to such a diet any more (the appendix is proof of our evolution away from this). The likely hood is that our entire species would have died out if we hadn’t adapted to eating meat, learning to cook it made the process even more efficient.

[faye]

i do not disagree with eating meat, it is the methods used to get the meat that makes me choose a vegan diet, i do not want to be a part of it.

[saint-spoon]

i do not disagree with eating meat, it is the methods used to get the meat that makes me choose a vegan diet, i do not want to be a part of it.

Did you watch the programme about where our food came from? Rice for instance? I would imagine that soya was produced with the same misery and suffering for the third world workers slaving for 18 hours a day for a few £ a week, unable to go home to their families etc. I would rather eat home produced food than force an unseen peasant to toil every hour god sends so as to provide us with the luxury of a conscience when it comes to animal welfare. Just my conscience speaking.

[kate egg]

Extremely well put S-S. It is one of those discussions that will forever go round in circles, those that don't eat meat will never agree with those that do and vice-versa. I just read a letter in the Daily Mail as this has been a topic in that paper recently and a farmer wrote that if the fields were not used for grazing animals (to be eaten) they would mostly become derelict as they are not fields that are suitable for animal crops for various reasons (drainage / slopes etc).

Going back to the orignal question - why make quorn etc look like meat is something I asked my vegetarian friend and she said that this helps in a way as the one thing they really miss is a bacon buttie They also made sausages out of sos-mix (sp?) but the fact was that they knew they weren't eating an animal - the reason they stopped eating meat was not because they didn't like the taste, it was because they didn't like the meat production systems.

[faye]

i do not disagree with eating meat, it is the methods used to get the meat that makes me choose a vegan diet, i do not want to be a part of it.

Did you watch the programme about where our food came from? Rice for instance? I would imagine that soya was produced with the same misery and suffering for the third world workers slaving for 18 hours a day for a few £ a week, unable to go home to their families etc. I would rather eat home produced food than force an unseen peasant to toil every hour god sends so as to provide us with the luxury of a conscience when it comes to animal welfare. Just my conscience speaking.

i agree, home produced food is best, and i choose to not eat animals too. i have just found out the not so cool stuff of soya production. the ethics of food get complicated, animals, people, the environment, a lot to consider. i try to help all where i can.

[Effie]

Is snot vegan

My eldest has bought the book 'Why eating snot is good for you' for my son for Christmas.