Why is veganism becoming so popular?

[Song of storms]

Vegan propaganda? I've been a vegan for the past 5 years and people tell me all the time that I shouldn't. That you need meat to survive. That I'm just following a trend. How about fuck you and let me eat what I want to do?

I don't go around telling people that I'm vegan. One time it happened at a burger store out of nowhere. I was with friends and ordered a vegetarian burger and some asshole from the other table commented on my "gay" choice. I don't care if your friend's friend knows a guy who swears that one time one of his friends met a vegan and was totally on his face about it. Just leave us alone and we'll do the same.

Also, vegan or not, if you consume meat from animals that were mistreated (such as animals still alive while draining their bloods or 10 chickens living inside one small cage until it's time to slaughter) you're a fucking moron. You're harming the animals by allowing such a cruel industry to exist.

 

[Youkai]

veganism is destroying natural wildlife with all the pesticides used to cultivate way more vegetables than needed.

Fake news good Sir

All the food that need to be produced for the Animals ppl later eat takes MUCH MUCH more space and minerals and stuff out of the earth, it is proven that without all the Animals that we feed to "produce" meat we would have much more food actually.

Then again I think Vegan people are kind of stupid ...
I hardly every eat meat as well as I don't need it and for me it isn't especially tasty so I don't see why I should eat meat every day as some people tend to do, still the Human eats meat and uses lots of Animal products since ancient times so why change it now? we are not made to life Vegan.

 

[sarkwalvein]

Fake news good Sir

All the food that need to be produced for the Animals ppl later eat takes MUCH MUCH more space and minerals and stuff out of the earth, it is proven that without all the Animals that we feed to "produce" meat we would have much more food actually.

Then again I think Vegan people are kind of stupid ...
I hardly every eat meat as well as I don't need it and for me it isn't especially tasty so I don't see why I should eat meat every day as some people tend to do, still the Human eats meat and uses lots of Animal products since ancient times so why change it now? we are not made to life Vegan.

To be honest, meat is overvalued. Eating meat now and then is nice, but eating meat 24/7 like most westerns* do is unhealthy as fuck, and not even that tasty.

If someone wants to eat only veggies, that's fine but not healthy either, perhaps not as unhealthy as force feeding themselves meat like most people do.

The only thing I can't stand of Vegans is the aggressive propaganda they push around, but what they eat, I don't care, that's fine.
Should I also prepare some grilled veggies for some Vegans friends when I invite them to a grill? No problem, that's fine.
Should I listen to their critique of me eating meat in that grill and how should I burn in hell etc? No thanks.

 

[Cyan]

people can do what they want, as long as they don't try to enforce their vision to others.
and that's the problem !
vegan I know, they require that you do effort to accept them and cook differently, but they look upon you and criticize and insult you if you dare eat differently than them, they don't accept that you don't become vegan like them because it's the enlightenment (like they saw god) and you should stop living your life your own way.
they act like a cult and religion. they want to convert everyone, and don't accept differences. We have to accept them but they don't accept other's choices?
edit: like said above, yeah, it's aggressive propaganda.


note :
French have 3 level and 3 different words :
Vegetarien [fr] -> Vegetarian [en] : not eating meat.
This one, I'm fine and I understand, each his own taste and color. I don't eat certain things too.

Vegetalien [fr] -> vegan [en] : not eating meat, nor food produced by animals like eggs or milk. (is honey part of "produced by animal" ?)
This one I understand too, though I see it a little strange for the fact that eating eggs or drinking milk does not kill any animal, but they feel like it's torture to make breeding to produce these, but until proven wrong chicken will always produce eggs even without any human intervention.

Vegan [fr] -> no word in english? : not eating meat, nor food produced by animal, nor wearing any product from animal (leather, wool, etc.), nor killing any living organisms because life is precious !
Vegan (french meaning) is stronger than the english one, and more than just "not eating meat", it goes up to "not using, wearing, touching anything produced AND derived from animals" like silk or leather or wool because it's from animals.
They also push the fact that "eating or killing living things" is wrong. but you know, vegetal are living organisms too, right? because you don't hear them cry you think it's not alive ? will you eat rock instead?
and they also are like "it's wrong to kill anything" but, things you don't see are fine, right ? stepping on insects, ants, mosquitoes, mites, bacteria and viruses, that's all right to kill them ? at which limit it isn't ?
vegan from this category are the one that make such propaganda and try to convert everyone.

Vegan is translation of Vegetalien (the second category), but french started to borrow the english word instead of using the existing one, as if it was a cult all around the world. it's like being part of something called vegan, instead of using the existing word in its own language.
it added a more signification to that movement with more ideology than just "eating" behavior.
everyone are free to do and act like they want, don't enforce others to act like you!


edit:
are vegan (the 3rd one, with ideology, who don't want anything done by animal) caring that fauna is possible thanks to animals ?
bees for pollination, earthworm for nutrient, etc.
they know that going to toilet you kill living forms ? you have billions of bacteria in your organism. you need animals to live.

 

[Song of storms]

and they also are like "it's wrong to kill anything" but, things you don't see are fine, right ? stepping on insects, ants, mosquitoes, mites, bacteria and viruses, that's all right to kill them ? at which limit it isn't ?

Killing for self-defense is perfectly fine. Mosquitoes, for example, are a threat to a lot of species, including ours. Same goes for insects, but also bigger animals. Would any person let a bear maul them just because they're a living creature? I don't think so. Your right to live ends when you're threatening mine.

 

[Cyan]

then only killing to eat is not fine? eating to survive. human metabolism require meat and iron. you can't live eating only fauna, without chemical substitute (and how are they made? you sure there's no hurt animal in the process?).
the lion in the savanna kills to eat, I never saw a lion becoming vegan. but like I said, I'm okay with not eating meat, every one his own taste, just don't force others to act the same.

also, cutting a flower, it'll die. is that fine killing flora but not fauna?

 

[DinohScene]

I'll continue to eat meat like nothing happened.

Plants have feelings too!

 

[Viri]

Yum meat!

 

[gameboy]

To be honest, meat is overvalued. Eating meat now and then is nice, but eating meat 24/7 like most westerns* do is unhealthy as fuck, and not even that tasty.
The only thing I can't stand of Vegans is the aggressive propaganda they push around, but what they eat, I don't care, that's fine.

its not the consumption of meat by white americans that is unhealthy, its all the salt, processed carbs and sugars.

 

[duwen]

I was vegetarian for a number of years while living with my last partner who was vegan. I could never make the leap to being full-on vegan as my metabolism required more protein and calories than I could get from a vegan diet without literally eating constantly... it was the requirements of my metabolism (and a subsequent serious illness that required me to keep my weight up) that eventually led me back to a more carnivorous diet. I'm now at a point where at least half the meals I consume in a week are vegan or vegetarian. Afterall, a balanced diet is optimum.
A lot of the vegans and vegetarians I've known have had the best of intentions with the reasoning for their dietary choices. Most have, in minor ways, tried to influence the diet of those around them - some have been more 'preachy' about it than others.

...however... a lot of the current 'wave' of vegans I've had contact with seem to have only made the choice to either be awkward or to give themselves a personality quirk to stand out among their peers.

 

[sarkwalvein]

its not the consumption of meat by white americans that is unhealthy, its all the salt, processed carbs and sugars.

Yeah, specially processed carbs and sugars. And that applies even more to Americans that abuse them.
As for my experience, I originally come from Argentina, a place where people eat meat like they drink water, and until they die after the third or fourth coronary bypass.

PS: meat overconsumption is not healthy either... but it is addictive.

 

[Cyan]

Is vegan seen more like a health problem for yourself, or to protect animal condition and prevent them going to slaughters?

not eating meat will not prevent animals from dying.
it might, if enough people acting the same, prevent excessive breeding. Cow's farm in america to make burgers, these are too much (it even affect the soil), but in other part of the world then it's fine to eat meat because there's no excessive killing and wrong conditions for animals? it's wrong only in excessive breeding location and you are area-dependent vegan?

 

[duwen]

Humans are fruitivores by nature so why not eat what gives your body the best performance.

That's a common fallacy. Primates are fruitivores, homosapiens are not - if we were our teeth would all be molars like those of primates.

 

[Song of storms]

then only killing to eat is not fine? eating to survive. human metabolism require meat and iron. you can't live eating only fauna, without chemical substitute (and how are they made? you sure there's no hurt animal in the process?).
the lion in the savanna kills to eat, I never saw a lion becoming vegan. but like I said, I'm okay with not eating meat, every one his own taste, just don't force others to act the same.

also, cutting a flower, it'll die. is that fine killing flora but not fauna?

You don't need to eat meat to survive anymore, that's the point. A lot of vegetables have iron in them. If it weren't true then how am I still alive? How are vegans worldwide still alive? We live in a society where people overeat all the time, just for fun. Overeating increases demand. Demand increases sales but also costs. To cut costs down, some companies do awful things to animals, as I explained before this.

 

[sarkwalvein]

That's a common fallacy. Primates are fruitivores, homosapiens are not - if we were our teeth would all be molars like those of primates.

Humans are processedfoodivores, TBH.
That is the only thing in the diet of humans that stands out compared with the rest of the animal kingdom.
Be it processing it through fire, fermenting it, salting it. The one thing that humans eat different is processed food.
(and that's arguably the one thing that allowed to ingest additional calories required to sustain and develop higher intelligence)

 

[mrdude]

People are supposed to eat meat - that's what nature intended, just look at your teeth and they way evolved to cut, rip, chew and crunch. Also that and your jaw muscles. People have only started going vegan since they have a wide choice of fruit and veg to eat - I can assure you that if you were born and lived in a place where there is little to no fruits grow and a sparse supply of veg - you would eat what you could.

As for meat - it tastes so good!, by not eating it, you're only depriving yourself and eating something good. I personally think vegans are a bit mentally disturbed and not wired up properly, why on earth would you want to deprive yourself of something so tasty as a steak or chicken or something that satisfies your hunger?

 

[sarkwalvein]

As for meat - it tastes so good!, by not eating it, you're only depriving yourself and eating something good. I personally think vegans are a bit mentally disturbed and not wired up properly, why on earth would you not want to deprive yourself of something so tasty as a steak or chicken or something that satisfies your hunger?

Let's be honest. Hunger is not a problem, it's never a (first world) problem.
But the taste! That said, IMHO, people shouldn't eat meat 24/7, it tastes even better if you eat high quality meat once or twice a week instead (opinions of course).

 

[Cyan]

To cut costs down, some companies do awful things to animals

I agree, and unfortunately eating veggies will not prevent greedy companies to make more money by being more awful.

If it's a personal decision and you feel better or healthier, I'm all for it and I understand better than if it's a way to live expecting companies to change the way they act. these need more direct actions (laws, government, public access, camera, etc.)
that's what I find a little too bad in people defending veganism only because of companie's doing, instead of their own health first. if people want to be more active, there are association or defense group? politic? there are other way to defend animal protection, in my opinion at least.

 

[Song of storms]

I agree, and unfortunately eating veggies will not prevent greedy companies to make more money by being more awful.

If it's a personal decision and you feel better or healthier, I'm all for it and I understand better than if it's a way to live expecting companies to change the way they act. these need more direct actions (laws, government, public access, camera, etc.)

As a non-vegan, all you need to do is to eat meat from animals that weren't treated in cruel ways. If everyone did it, it will be enough to make a difference. I'm not saying that people should stop eating meat, but the least you could do is to stop financing those who torture animals.

 

[mrdude]

Let's be honest. Hunger is not a problem, it's never a (first world) problem.
But the taste! That said, IMHO, people shouldn't eat meat 24/7, it tastes even better if you eat high quality meat once or twice a week instead (opinions of course).

It might not be a problem for some, the media would have you believe that everyone in the UK/USA is fairly well off - and it might be for the wealthy. The fact is that child poverty is pretty rampant and people are going to food banks at the highest levels ever seen. In Scotland where I live, the Radio is having 'cash for kids' charity and there's lots of other charity's trying to raise money so people can just get by. Some kids only really get fed at school (free lunches), as the parents are dependent on drugs/drink and don't feed the kids properly. This is a first world country - and most people struggle to get by. Some Police/nurses/firemen have second jobs just to pay the mortgage/rent. Young people can't get on the property ladder due to the prices of renting and the low stagnant wages - some people haven't had a pay rise for 10 years.

So yes, these people will eat meat - because they don't have the luxury or being able to go to the shops and pay £1.50 for 4 apples, when they can buy some meat product for less, which will satisfy their hunger more.