Vegan

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An online space for the vegans of Lemmy.

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We take for granted that if you engage in this community, you understand that veganism is about the animals. You either are vegan for the animals, or you are not (this is not to say that discussions about climate/environment/health are not allowed, of course)
No omni/carnist apologists. This is not a place where to ask to be hand-holded into veganims. Omnis coddling/backpatting is not tolerated, nor are /r/DebateAVegan-like threads
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Circlejerking belongs to /c/vegancirclejerk
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Curiosity of a non-vegan (self.vegan)

submitted 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) by AzzyDev to c/vegan@lemmy.ml

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Hello folks! First, I’d like to clarify that, even as a bloodmouth, I fully understand why some people have moral objections to eating meat. I am simply here to ask about it, as someone who is not a vegan.

So I suppose I have a few questions for anyone who wants to answer them, 100% as your own opinions and feelings about the topic.

Why do you make the conscious decision to not eat meat/animal products? Do you have negative feelings towards those who raise their own animals for food, such as those who raise chickens for eggs or cattle for milk, and otherwise treat the animals ethically? Are there other reasons for not eating meat that I’m not considering? When did you choose to switch to a vegan lifestyle, what (if any) was the “catalyst”? What are some challenges that you have dealt with when it comes to this lifestyle? Why do you believe there is a continued stigma around veganism in many physical/internet communities?

I understand that as someone who isn’t vegan, this is not my space, and I am trying to be as respectful as possible while here. If I have said anything objectionable within my questions or otherwise, please let me know so I can avoid making the mistake in the future.

EDIT: Holy crap, thank you all for the responses! I appreciate y’all for taking the time out of your day to respond and share your knowledge. I’m going to go watch Dominion within the next few days since some of you mentioned that.

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[–] queermunist@lemmy.ml 12 points 6 months ago

Why do you make the conscious decision to not eat meat/animal products?

Because someone has to hurt and/or kill an animal for me to give me that product. Statistically, people who work in the industry have higher rates of violent crime, drug addiction, suicide, and domestic abuse. I couldn't force people to do something like that for me anymore.

Do you have negative feelings towards those who raise their own animals for food, such as those who raise chickens for eggs or cattle for milk, and otherwise treat the animals ethically?

Hypothetically I guess someone with a rescue hen that collects her eggs is fine-ish, as long as they don't kill her when she's too old to lay. I wouldn't partake in chicken period, but I guess it's whatever.

But for cows, it's never ethical. They aren't like chickens, they don't just produce milk constantly. It requires impregnation, and even if the farmer has a bull (where did the bull come from? was he rented from another farm that's going to kill him?) and isn't raping her for insemination purposes, that milk isn't really for us. It's for her baby! And she knows!

The process of milking requires that you mess with her instincts and her head by letting the calf feed for a moment, then tying up her calf nearby so that she lets her milk down so the farmer can steal her milk. The farmer will need to keep reintroducing the calf so that she keeps letting her milk down. She'll probably need to be restrained too because she doesn't want us to steal her milk!

The rape and molestation of cows is wrong and I look down on anyone that does that shit.

Are there other reasons for not eating meat that I’m not considering?

Back to my reason for being vegan, it's so important to remember the worker when considering this. Have you ever killed an animal? It's horrible. A person that has to do that all the time will get seriously psychologically wounded and it's lethal. If you don't care about non-human animals, consider the human animal. Someone had to kill that animal for you and that has consequences.

Also, pandemics. Wherever COVID came from (probably bushmeat) we're staring down the barrel of a bird flu pandemic and it's spreading among cows right now. It won't be long before that makes the leap to humans, and it will be 100% because of the animal industry.

When did you choose to switch to a vegan lifestyle, what (if any) was the “catalyst”?

Pandemic, because I was home all the time and finally learned to cook. I was always sympathetic to veganism but ultimately too lazy to really put in any effort, but having those months to myself to pick up cooking as a hobby opened up the gate for me to cut out animal products.

I feel super guilty for procrastinating on that shit for so long, it was not hard at all and I could have done it at any time. Ugh.

What are some challenges that you have dealt with when it comes to this lifestyle?

Gelatin. That's made from bone marrow, and it's not listed in the allergens section with milk and/or eggs on the nutrition information.

Why do you believe there is a continued stigma around veganism in many physical/internet communities?

I suspect there are a lot of people who feel attacked by our veganism because they ultimately agree with us, but haven't committed and feel guilty that they haven't made that extra step to change their own life. We cause cognitive dissonance, attacking vegans is a cope.