The struggle is real.
I had plans to visit a local restaurant tonight and in talking to a friend this early morning, I was informed it had become an entirely vegan / plant-based restaurant. What?
I couldn’t believe it. I googled and checked out the new menu and if you’re not reading carefully, you’ll miss it, but yes, they are entirely plant based. Good for them.
Not for me.
Let’s set aside the environmental issues – which is an argument, I’m not opposed to having. But for now, let’s also not talk about PETA-driven conversations and animal cruelty – that’s an entirely different subject than the one I want to have in this moment. My problem with plant-based vegan restaurants and/or vegan food in grocery stores has nothing to do with all of that…
It has everything to do with the angst I feel when I see food molded into meat products to taste and look exactly like meat. The very thing people are trying stop eating. I don’t care if its plant based or not, a hot-dog is not my kind of meat to eat and I certainly have no interest in eating a molded one out of tofu.
Look, if it makes anyone feel any better, I’m also not entirely a fan of bling restaurants where the chef molds food into crazy designs to make the plate look beautifully “artsy” or whatever – meat or not, someone touching my food too much, is also part of a gag reflex I’m positive someone else on the planet must understand!
When I pass by the plant based non-meat in the same area of the “regular” meat at the grocery store – I always think: “How disgusting”. To me, a molded chemically produced in a lab “hamburger” looks just as wrong to me as a “regular” hamburger sitting right next to it. So. Weird.
Am I really the only one?
Let me admit, right up front, if I had to kill my own meat, I’d be a vegetarian. I say that knowing exactly how it sounds. I’m a city kid. But if I were to make a change to become less of a meat and dairy eater, I would never be able to eat things that look like meat. I watched how they “made” the Impossible Burger in a lab, and it was just as gag-inducing to me as watching a documentary on how they “make” burgers out of beautiful cows. All of it seems horrible. But I’ve also been to a real farm once or twice in my life – where families raise cattle and… there just seems to be a very different kind of respect for animals on those small family farms and a better symbiotic relationship between how I think it’s all supposed to work…
Look, my point is, if I were going to stop eating meat and dairy, I’d prefer to just eat regular food that doesn’t contain meat and dairy. I would not be able to go down the “look-alike” and “taste-like” “made in a lab” kind of stuff. I don’t know. Maybe it’s just me. But I am not a fan.
Well, clearly I won’t be going to that restaurant tonight. I wish them well. And in the big scheme of things, I support their thought process and for making that kind change! That took guts – it was a very popular meeting place, and considering I live in Los Angeles, I assume it will continue to be.
But for me, I’m still gonna need a restaurant to hang at that doesn’t only serve vegan food.
It’s just where I’m at right now.
Creative Simplicity 
Okay let’s set animal cruelty aside and look at most non vegan diets, especially if you live in the city…
You know those machines that ‘milk’ the cows to supply millions of people with dairy products. Well most of the time, if not all….these machines creates infections in the cows utters. Those infections create puss that ooze into the milk. While you would think drinking and eating sanitized puss sounds gross enough…it gets worse. Legally it is okay to have an eyedrop of puss in each glass of milk etc. At thanksgiving, Christmas etc a lot of people(no not all) enjoy stuffing a turkey’s ass with bread ‘stuffing’ and then eat it. Honey is actually vomit from a bee. Meat on a plate is actually dismembered parts from what once was a living being.
Yet we vegans eat weird food. Let’s just say most vegan arguments are pretty simple, we do it for the animals. 🙂
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WordPress one day will add ‘edit comment’ as an option one day….
However, I do understand your post. When I first went vegan, it took me awhile to try things like tofu. I missed some foods though from my non vegan diet so the substitution and it id actually not horrible. Think of it this way most people don’t eat meat unseasoned. In fact most of our foods are very well seasoned. After seasoning, it is really hard to get a taste for the real thing or tell the difference.
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Thank you so much for commenting and sharing your thoughts on this. I appreciate it. I know you get that this post isn’t really about whether or not someone should be a vegan — honestly, I believe as a species we’re supposed to eat meat. But that’s a whole other conversation for another time — however, I also think as we have evolved as a species we can do better. Most times we do NOT. And the way we treat animals (each other included) is horrid. This post, was meant to question the molding of vegan-esque foods into seemingly meat foods –which to me, seems to defeat the purpose. I honestly think eating an “Impossible burger” is disgusting since it’s manufactured in a lab. And yes, I think the process of a cow burger is also disgusting. To me, it’s like smoking — when I finally made the decision to quit smoking, I didn’t start smoking other kinds of cigarettes — smoking, is smoking, is smoking. And surely, I understand “doing for the animals” — but I think this might be where we might break or disagree slightly. First, I get annoyed with “vegan” eaters who are “doing it for the animals” and yet don’t consider the leather shoes and belts they’re wearing or all the other things, their make-up and lotion and etc., they fail to include in that cruelty (if you’re gonna do it, do it fully and completely, amiright?). Secondly, because I do believe we are also animals and believe in the cheesy “circle of life” idea, I’m not becoming less of a meat-eater because I’m against the circle of life, but because I hate how we treat animals. There are things I refuse to eat — and as I get older, I’m learning more and more about HOW cruel we are to each other and other animals and how less interested I am in participating in that. And here’s an even crazier thought — when did we decided that the living organism we can eat or should eat are plants? Are plants not worthy of life? After all they do for the planet? Especially environmentally? I know, I know… that’s way off the trajectory of what vegans want to talk about… but this is why I’m more concerned with HOW we treat animals as opposed to not being a meat-eater.
Regardless, I hear you, I appreciate your thoughts and I absolutely understand where you’re coming from. I think, for me, being better stewards of our world including the environment and how we treat all living things — is more important to me than becoming a vegan. It really is just where I’m at today (I reserve the right to change my mind at any time). 😉
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It is like someone already commented previously on this post about the molded foods or lab grown meat, it is so vegans do not have to go without tastes they enjoy etc. Why I also mention how we season everything.
People who exploit any animal products in any way are not vegan. That includes using them for clothing. The definiton of vegan or veganism is basically those who do not eat any animal products such as meat, dairy, eggs etc and also refrain from using them for clothes, bedding such as down and so fourth. Maybe you had the definition of vegan confused or are you just talking about a vegan diet? A vegan diet yes means not eating animals, but most vegans do not exploit animals in other ways as well.
I do not believe in the circle of life per say, nor do I believe in the food chain. I think there are fair arguments for both vegan and non vegan. It is also a very long discussion as I am sure you know so I will only touch on points we have already discussed. Lol.
Plants are life yes. However they do not have a central nervous system like animals and humans etc. They do not have pain receptors. This is what we know so far anyways. There are always more studies done on plants, but thus far a lot of them including the argument they are sentiment and conscience beings like us or animals( We are an animal tbh) is very unclear. Furthermore, more plants are killed from animal agriculture. Such as the land, plants are more fed to animals than us. That is not an opinion btw, it is a well known and public fact. Though vegans use this argument against non vegans and yes I agree to an extent, my question is say the modern world went vegan(I said modern, because most developing countries cannot go vegan because they don’t have the same access to supplements and other things we do to get the proper nutrients and hence need to absorb those nutrients from meat and other animal products) then we would obviously be eating a lot more plants or what have you. However most nutritionist experts do recommend a high whole plant based diet, even if they are consuming meat. So most standards of nutrition even with studies being biased etc…all say the same. We as humans need to eat more plants. So maybe that argument I have kind of is not really an argument or criticism against veganism. So yes the argument if you want to save plant life is still go vegan. All of a sudden meat eaters are so concerned about plants. Not saying you, you seem to very intelligent. I am talking about the arrogant meat eaters who call us extremists and wimps etc. The proud to be meat eaters pretty much lol. Those who have no care in the world where their food comes from.
I already am going off on a tangent, like that this whole conversation about diets is a long one. I will say what I say to everyone about diets, and then I will say to everyone who cannot go vegan. I think no matter what diet you are on we need to be more concsence about where I food comes from, be it buy more local from those little markets, or food shops on the side of the road. hunt, fish, grow veggie gardens etc. The scariest thing I found out in my research and decision to go vegan is not just the terrible abuse and torture animals suffer and then are killed for our consumption is the lack of laws most countries have (not just the UK, states etc…) is they can stick a lot of lies on a package to sell it. I am sure you can tell just how they push the whole vegan thing or organic. Like shouldn’t most of our food be organic like for health reasons. Instead they stamp organic on it and sell it for a higher price. Vegetarian beans you say? Beans are vegetarian, I would hope they are vegetarian unless I am wanting the one that has say pork added to it. Free range is the biggest lie I have ever heard. Though some products may actually be truly free range, the laws no where state they actually have to be free range to use such labels. It is sad when most of have no idea what happens to our food before it gets on our plate. That is not an attack on either side either, like that vegans need to grow their own veggies and buy more local. We don’t need mangoes and papayas to be healthy. xD However the winter is obviously a concern in some places, but now canning exists etc. There are so many options to eat better now, like you said and treat each other better, but most are not doing it out of either culture, tradition or convenience. I feel in some ways maybe evolving this much was not good for ourselves, animals or the planet, mainly because we abuse most things that are suppose to help us.
I think as a whole, eating more plant based foods is healthier for any kind of diet.
Vegans long term goal is to have the world be vegan one day. Veganism alone, vegans are obviously involved in other things such as human rights etc but the whole inclusion things makes it a much more complicated topic. Black lives matter can protest for themselves without involving veganism with their protests. When we protest or are active about veganism we are told we are not being inclusive enough and must include humans. It’s a thing trust me. Last time I checked, I am an activist for many things, veganism is just one. Like you said I agree and want a better life for everyone and how we treat each other.
That being said we need to rethink veganism I think. We need to realize non vegans are not our enemy. We need to be respectful and be active with information and education. Let people make the decision making themselves. By forcing our beliefs down one’s throat is likely to turn people away than show any kind of interest on even making any kind of slight lifestyle changes, never mind a huge one. We need to be kinder to others and especially ourselves. Vegans argue amongst themselves constantly on who is more vegan and there is only one way and blah blah. Without realizing….any kind of choice to cut out animals of our diet, or in our lives equals less demand. A short term goal should be to lessen the torture and abuse in factory farming etc…we only do that by lessening the high demand. Most of these factory farms could treat these animals at least more humanly (even if we disagree their execution date is planned out to be consumed etc) if they didn’t need to supply by the millions and millions. See any kind of change a person makes (IE: A cheese lover wants to go vegan but for the life of them cannot give up cheese. We need to support them and say well if you eat cheese only once a month, or even once a week it is still a positive change in the right direction.) a lot of people try the vegan lifestyle and only fail because the ridicule they get from their own peers. Though yes veganism does mean NO animal products…any right change will lessen the supply. Animals every second of everyday are being tortured, abused etc and we need to find any kind of short term goal or solution to at least end it in any way we can. So I say to you…I don’t expect anyone to go vegan, but I’d appreciate any lifestyle change they can make to help animals.
Sorry for the long drawn out comment. This is a very long conversation and a lot of points are better reserved for another time like you said. I appreciate your reply. I can tell you have a good head on your shoulders, and I completely agree about treat each other and animals better. As well as the environment. We need to make it better, by being better. We are the change. Not to sound paranoid, but I hope to see some changes in humanity soon. I am really starting to fear for our near future and that is far beyond veganism vs non veganism. In the mean time, we can make small changes and have little impact ourselves. 🙂 Keep doing you!
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Omg wordpress..get an edit button! xD
Sorry I mis explained myself in one point. I said I do not believe in the food chain, man am I tired. I do believe in the food chain as it is important for everything. It keeps balance etc. However I do not believe that has anything to do with things like factory farming and breeding animals for us to eat etc.
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One more point…sorry for writing an essay in your comment section, but topics like this really fascinate me and I enjoy them, also with someone as friendly, respectful and seems to be fairly intelligent with how you carry yourself and you do put thought into ourselves and the planet.
Just because our ancestors ate meat, does not mean to still eat meat. The argument of are we omnivores who need to eat meat is an argument can go both ways and is another long one.
While meats provides certain nutrients we need, are we really meant to eat meat when naturally we have no weapons such as claws or speed to hunt and kill an animal ourselves? If we are meant to eat meat, why don’t we eat it raw? If I put a pig in front of someone and said kill this pig and eat it right now. Would you A. Kill it while it rolls over and asks you for bellie rubs? Oh yes pigs love their bellies rubbed. Are you even physically capable of actually killing it? Let’s say the odd chance you do kill it. Can you eat it raw with no seasoning? If you had to you might, but would you skip eating the brain, eyes and other animal parts that seem disgusting. Most animals in the wild have no issue hunting down their meat and devouring the whole thing because they are naturally meant to eat meat. Put a rabbit and an apple in a crib with a 3 year old. See if that child eats the bunny or the apple. They would eat the apple and play with the bunny, you know why we are taught as children to love everyone, including animals. Racism, sexism etc is all taught behavior. However if the child does eat a rabbit, you may want to sign them up for some therapy right away. Why do we evaluate past behaviors such as torture to animals in the past with serial killers etc?
Furthermore our bodies though is argued to be omnivores, it can be argued against to be herbivores as well. They have equally found canines like our teeth in certain herbivores. Our intestines are too small I believe to be a carnivore, but not big enough to be a herbivore. So yeah maybe that is where that belief of we are omnivores could come from. I believe ours is somewhere in between. Correct me if I am wrong.
The truth is though we have no omnivores instincts at all, that is just the truth, if we did we could hunt down prey with no man made weapons, we would start salvating from the mouth when we saw a cow in a field. In fact when we were children we were defending animals and protecting them. We would cry when we saw an animal be harmed in anyways. A carnivore would just see a meal. So what is carnivorous about us exactly besides a few features which are questionable, but also foudn in other animals such as herbivores.
Their are certain vitamins that we claim to get from animals when in fact they are just the middle man. Soil and water until we had to start sanitizing it from pollution, is very high in B12. What do most animals we eat do? Eat from the grass, soil, drink water etc…Farm animals are very commonly injected with B12. B12 and D vitamins are supplements both vegans and non vegans should be taking.
There are arguments for all sides. My argument is not rather we are carnivores, herbivores or omnivores, but I live in the modern world where I can be a healthy vegan, without harming animals or killing them, so I chose that diet.
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Lifestyle, not diet. I do not exploit animals in anyway…aside from what I feed my cats that I rescued before I went vegan. Even that makes me feel guilty. lol
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I appreciate you stopping by and sharing your thoughts, but it’s a lot for me to respond too – but I’ll try. I feel as if, you’ve blown this up to be something it was not – I understand your thought process and reasoning. I just disagree with 80% of it. I don’t have the amount of time or even the complete full understanding of it all to argue my points brilliantly. But simply, arguing about veganism is not my forte.
What we do agree on is the well-being of animals and how they are treated. Again, I mentioned in my post about visiting a family farm where the symbiotic relationship between how humans and animals should work. And yes, if I was starving and had no other way to survive, I would kill the pig myself. Of course, I would. Heck, people on a plane who got stranded in a remote place ate other humans – I think the name of the book or movie was “Alive”… I mean the reason we eat meat is because we were once hungry enough to want it. And the reason we don’t eat meat raw is because we discovered the use of fire. It’s evolution. And what I dislike about people who talk about this with such passion is that you unintentionally try to make people feel guilty for eating meat. If the now starving baby who is alone with no other access to food, didn’t have the instincts to kill and eat the bunny, you realize they’d both just eventually die, right? Humans are animals. We will kill to eat, to survive. So, that argument is mute.
This is the problem I have with having this conversation — it always goes off the deep end. And it’s always your side that does this – you started off saying this in your first comment… but you ended up here anyways.
Again, I appreciate your passion and your investment in my post — but the contradictions… if poor people can’t get the nutrients they need without eating meat, how is it possible that eating meat is somehow not… you know where I’m going with that…
I’m not upset. I am trying to make this a decent moment and point out that I think your passion overtook what you meant to do – be an advocate for your cause. Sometimes when we say too much it just muddies the waters. I always try and find the common thread. I’m not here to punish or judge veganism or vegetarianism… or even to discuss eating meat. My blog post was a question about the molding of food to look like and taste like food you don’t want to eat. It’s odd. To me, eating food from a lab — is just as wonky. Somehow you found a way to talk about Black Lives Matter and killing bunnies and pigs. I don’t know what to say except, sometimes, less is more.
Please know when you go this far down the rabbit hole, it just turns people like me off. You’re also accidentally being condescending throughout your written words – yes, I am intelligent – thank you. I know you’re not meaning to be condescending, but you didn’t listen to my post or to my reply and instead just went on to talk about your stuffage anyways. And inadvertently tried to soften the blow by letting me know how intelligent I am…
I think it’s very superior of us to decide that plants are not as worthy because… they don’t have a central nervous system. Is that the criteria? Who decided that exactly? Are we this kind to roaches, mosquitos, and ants? Where is the line exactly? And more importantly, who decided all of this? I’m a huge Darwin fan so, unless you have receipts, this isn’t going to work. Facts: I don’t cut flowers and put them in my home. I know. Weird. I don’t like bouquets of flowers as a gift. I’ve always thought it was kind of cruel to cut flowers – basically cut their life cycle and put them in a vase for my viewing pleasure. They may not have what you determine to be valid to exist as a living thing, but they sure do die quick when you cut them off from their life force. I don’t ride horses either. I love horses, but I don’t ride. People think I’m nuts, but it’s just not my thing. I think it’s cruel to force horses to carry me. I don’t judge others, but every time I’m near a horse, I feel them deeply. But I understand that’s my issue, my hesitance is different. I also (again the family farm) understand the love between a horse and its rider and have seen it… the joy between the two of them. So, I get it’s much more complex of a relationship at that point… Still. I don’t ride. My point is, my respect for life and all living things on this planet is fierce. Just because we have different philosophies on how it works, doesn’t mean I don’t care about bunnies and pigs… it’s such a ridiculous argument actually. And really turns people off.
I want to conclude with this: thank you – I do appreciate your time and interest even if I disagree on several levels. Our common thread is that humans can do a better job of treating animals decently. On that I can agree. I would hope any other vegan folk would start to realize that the way to move through your argument is to meet people where they are – more listening and less preaching in this circumstance is always best.
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I appreciate you taking the time to read my comments because yes I said too much which I honestly didn’t mean to do. I was trying to simply explain that we have the option of food that is molded and to taste similar to a non vegan diet so we don’t have to miss out on tastes, cooking options and so on. The reason why we do it is for the animals, or otherwise we would just eat animal products. You questioned the whole thing ‘for the animals’ in a comment so I tried to explain it, but went way off track and for that I truly apologize. I didn’t mean for it to end up being an advocate for my cause, but it ended up being one anyways. ‘For the animals’ is a very long conversation as we both already established. I should have simply said rather it would come across as brutal or not, I would rather eat stuff that tastes similar(not that I live off things like tofu and it is not all that I eat but you know what I mean.) to products I use to eat, instead of having an animal die unnecessarily.
I also addressed the whole vegan diet and felt the need to clarify most vegans live the lifestyle not the just the diet. If you know people who just eat a vegan diet, but wear fur, wool, leather or buy such products maybe ask them why? It is either A. They are eating a vegan diet for health benefits. B. maybe animal products do not agree with them? (Although besides lactose intolerant being insanely common, I have not heard other common allergies to such products.) C. They are uneducated about the wool, fur and leather industry. Also common, a lot of people are vegetarian for years and claim they are doing it for the animals. When they look into other things such as the dairy, egg and wool industries, they end up going vegan. Unless their vegetarian choices again were strictly for health. I forgot to add that in my comment and why I bring it up is not to argue with you but I would be actually surprised to meet someone who doesn’t live the full lifestyle, but rather just doesn’t eat animal products.
Anywhooo…..Maybe understand where vegans are coming from when we get this amped about anything relating to question our cause. Besides the 100’s of blog posts I read that somewhere is some claim against veganism, followed by it’s trendy. I do not believe when our actions have a victim involved should EVER be discussed as a trend, and really all that judged for whatever reason. However like you said your blog was not being judgey. ‘The vegan craze’ maybe threw me off unless it was just a title to use for click bait. Veganism is not a craze.
But aside from blog posts and all of social media set aside, we are judged in society. At some point, they even said our vegan foods were poorly mislabled and it should be changed. “Oat milk..is not cows milk so why do you call it milk?’ and poor advertising. Yet no one questions peanut butter that doesn’t have butter in it, nor do we demand they put details such as how was that cow killed before it landed on your plate. Instead we slap a label on it and call it organic, free range, grass fed when in reality….none of these labels are actually entirely true. They are labels to profit off of us and so we can feel better about ourselves. Unless like I previously shared you buy locally. So please understand lately vegans are the target and the end of every joke. We are called extreme for defending animals and being told we are trying to make feel guilty for eating animals. No, if you feel guilty for eating meat, or drinking cows milk that was mean’t for their own baby, that is on you. Not vegans. We show the information, from morality, environment and health and when the information falls short of just about every argument to still be eating animals, people result to insulting us. The same people who tell us to boycott and stop the dog and cat meat trade in Asia, then come home to eat pigs, chickens, cows etc. So I apologize for taking it out on you. I am sorry for going off on you, you are not one of these people, but it gets so tiresome so we constantly can feel at times to be on the defense.
Btw….what I forgot to touch on because I did get caught up in defending vegan choices to eat food like tofu and other molded foods, don’t base it off the impossible burger. I tried the impossible burger not because I went to a fast food joint cause I thought it would be healthy(slapping vegan on food does not automatically make it healthy) and I had one small bite, made a revolting face, thought maybe I was expecting it to be better and was disappointed. I took a second more sizable bite and almost threw it up. Then again I have never been an advocate for fast food. If anything is worse or more fake than molded meat is probably fast food. I did say you say our food is weird and responded with the weird food non vegans eat, but you chose to ignore that and then we both got off track I think. It was my fault and I apologize.
You mentioned plants again and superior beings etc…and I will reply the same again. Animal agriculture kills more plants than vegans. The amount of plants, grains etc that we feed to cattle is enough to solve poverty. Again you can argue it, or you can look into it. I also said that it is actually recommended by many studies, nutritionists, doctors etc that all humans need to eat more plant based foods, even if we consume animal products. Again it is not an unbiased argument or a argument in favor of veganism.
If you cannot argue your points or validly back them up. Then I am not sure how you can disagree? I am not wanting you to argue, I am just saying you are also kinda contradicting yourself or maybe you doubt yourself. I once did too especially when it came to sensitive topics like these ones.
I only mentioned Black Lives Matter as an example of your comment saying we need to be more inclusive about what we advocate for. Such as we can do better for all humans and animals. I advocate for veganism yes, but I am also involved in other things that I feel are important. I not only advocate, protest, etc……but I try the best of my ability to live that way too. I don’t expect the government to change it for us. It is one of the reasons I did become Vegan, besides the ethical side, is it is one of the changes we can make that is in our control. Trust me I know this argument very well. I have been told on more than one occasion from people that we need to be more active about other things such as racism, homophobia, evnvironment (Even though veganism is about a better environment.). I tell them that today’s activism is about veganism, and this is only one day of the week. I can activate else where on all the other six days, so why they are assuming anything I am not sure why. Again it is a poor attack against vegans. I don’t expect every movement to advocate for veganism as part of their platform or beliefs etc, but I am suppose to advocate theirs? Okay why? So no not all vegans advocate for other things and not just veganism, a lot of them actually do. We can be very inclusive. Again why was this whole inclusive thing not being thrown around when people have been advocating for singular things for years and now it is only being used to attack vegans. Again there are reasons we get a bit sensitive on these matters and at times communicate in the wrong ways. I am one person who is trying to work on my communication when addressing such topics I am passionate about.
I do listen to others, but because with every fiber of my being I cannot justify the way animals are treated and there is no humane way to kill an animal that does not want to die, factory farming not even being apart of the argument, the fact we have evolved in the modern world and do not have to eat them anymore, it can be hard to see it from another level. Veganism is not just going to solve one problem. You can either look into it or not. It benefits the environment, most of the plants that are grown are fed to animals, not to humans etc….The grains we feed to cattle every day could solve world hunger alone. Maybe I am preaching, but it comes from a place that I use to be non vegan too. I went vegan for the ethical reasons (Earthlings is the first vegan documentary I watched, I balled my eyes out, rarely have I ever cried that hard. That humans could be this ignorant and cruel to animals. From the over breeding of pets, to the meat industries, the dairy industries and so much more.) Earthlings though touched on a bit of everything, I knew what audience they were selling too. It worked for me. I went vegan for the ethical reasons and had little knowledge of how much healthier it can be, how animal agriculture is horrid to our environment, how animal agriculture actually kills more plants than vegans….When I did my research….it actually over whelmed me. Veganism is also one of the more important things we should be advocating for because it does have multiple benefits.
The best way I can explain why I constantly feel the need to defend anything vegan is because the simple fact the choice to not be vegan has a victim. I think whenever there is a victim involved, including animals, plants and humans we should be able to justify it. I see the arguments against veganism to be very mute. It all results at one point or another to tradition, culture, taste and convenience. All of which is not justifiable enough to me personally. Humans make mistakes all the time, I have made many mistakes, some I may never forgive myself for but it is important to note that when we eat animals, we are taking a life of something that does not want to die. You cannot humanly kill something. Humane by definition is to show compassion or benevolence. You cannot compassionately kill something that has a right to a life and doesn’t want to die. The argument is really that simple.
Again, I thank you for your time and replies. I did not call you intelligent to make you feel better, I could tell by your responses that you do have a passion for a better world. We did not name call each other, we weren’t really trying to attack one another, at least on purpose. It was a very light conversation I felt we had, when things relating to such topics can a lot end up in insults, disrespectful, angry and such both on social media and in my life. I never meant to make you feel guilty. Unfortunately when we discuss things that do have a victim like in this case, it can make one feel guilty. Don’t put that on me. If you can justify your lifestyle, then feel free to do so. I can’t, and that is why I chose my lifestyle.
My sincere apologiies again for contradicting myself at times, perhaps being too aggressive and especially drawing out a discussion that was meant to be just a blog post about the foods we choose to eat. At the very least, together we do agree we need to do better as humans, for ourselves, we need to treat animals better and we need to do it to create a better world. That is a start. It means we both make conscience decisions, that is why I said you seem to have a good head on your shoulders. Not to make you feel better, I would hope you do feel good about your decisions as it is not my job to make you feel good or bad. At the end of the day we only have to justify our choices to ourselves.
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I’m just letting you know, I am done with this conversation. I read your remarks and again, it’s just all too much. I’m closing this off now and as much as I appreciate your participation and interest, it’s just gone way off the deep end and you’re just stressing me out. Thank you. But please, let’s move on. Have a blessed day.
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I respect that, but just so you know in two of my original comments I replied to your blog alone and nothing else. It was you who first brought up we are meant to eat meat and other topics. I feel kind of offended like you won’t discuss things with me because I am too much or something when you yourself brought it up. Either way have a good day and take care. 🙂
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I just saw your website and I realize that you just became a vegan. That explains a lot of this. And you’re right — I don’t want to keep having a long winded discussion about something I disagree with you on and you keep preaching about. Everything isn’t about YOU on MY blog. You need to make all your arguments on YOUR blog. What you are doing here now is just arguing with me and now I get it. I’m happy for your newfound veganism, but until you have lived it for a few years, maybe consider that your enthusiasm is turning people off and your choice of how you converse about it at this point is very unattractive. You went off the deep end. You do not know what you’re talking about and instead of being open to other people’s ideas, you are condescending and straight up accusatory. This is NOT what my blog is about and I don’t want you here if that’s how you are choosing to behave. Like it or not, this is MY space. Just because you found Veganism doesn’t mean you’re right. And since you JUST found it, now I’m less inclined to give you an inch MORE. Back in the day a friend of mine would tell me this one word when I went overboard with something I knew nothing about and hadn’t experienced yet – he’d simply say, “Chill.” You need more time. And if you want to do any good in the world with your cause — learn how to listen to people and then, simply and kindly, hear them and not be so concerned with everything you want to say… period. Just chill.
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There was a situation that grossed me out way more than mock burgers; it was sitting down at a vegetarian restaurant and while studying the menu I found mock shark fin soup! Personally I went vegan with animal cruelty, the environment and health advantages having pretty much equal standing – but the image of sharks dying on the sea floor after their fins are chopped off – that’s one of the worst cruelties. Why anyone would want to sit before a bowl of that simulated atrocity is beyond me.
Otherwise, I do enjoy some of the mock things on occasion – it can be done with a focus on the ingredients (beans, seeds, tofu, whatever… not the lab meat though!!) combined with the knowledge that no animal suffered for my dining pleasure.
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Ughhh. Sharks? Yeah, that is absolutely horrible.
I love that you went vegan after that – you’d almost have too!
I could easily go vegan, I think. Every day that passes by, it just seems like an easier way to eat and what my body wants so…
(Thanks for stopping by). 😊
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It’s not going to make sense if you are setting aside the cruelty issue. The molded meat lookalike foods are a direct result of people wanting to avoid causing suffering without having to give up hot dogs and things. So it only makes sense if you put the two together. Lots of vegan food doesn’t look like that, there’s paella and fries and pies and all sorts of things.
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That’s a fair enough argument & point. Thank you! 🙌🏽
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Vegan life has some appeal to me but I enjoy meat, eggs, dairy, and that sort of thing too much. The key is to moderate things. Thanks for the food for thought.
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I’m right there with you Tony! Yeah, it’s not my kinda thing either. At least not today. 🙂
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Me too. I would never try to eat one of those fake burgers. I believe that I would gag after one bite.
People can decide what to eat based on their own tastes and their own beliefs but I’ll stick with the old ladies who created a television commercial some 40 years ago and simply ask “Where’s the Beef?”
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I agree! And, I could easily go Vegan, if I had too I guess. But I wouldn’t do the fake look-a-like stuffage. I would just stick to a more natural or what they call “organic” lifestyle of fruits and veggies and just call it a day! Marketing and PR have really done a great job making people believe a fake processed in the lab burger, is a healthy alternative. Wow.
Yeah. Where’s the beef for real though! 🙂
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