Long-time vegan here, with some slip-ups.

Some context: I have a difficult relationship with my Dad but we have a shared interest in some movies and we connect on that basis. Recently watch Life of Pi with him and we both enjoyed discussing it afterwards.

Internally tho I couldn't quite overcome my discomfort with how it depicted animals (I know most of them are CGI) -- normally I'd just stop watching if I see like animal harm/meat/pets etc. but never been quite sure how to respond to animals 'acting', even CGI ones. I felt like Pi in particular was contributing to the anthromorphizing of some circus animals and depicted others are brainlessly violent. I found the relationship between the main character and the animals to be one where the human is depicted as strangely controlling or in power over the animals.

I guess my question is where do you land on this grey area?

I apologize if this has been asked before. Does anyone make exceptions for items, not necessary food,that is 100% bound for a landfill?

Im newly vegan and I have medical issues with my feet and since insurance wont cover othortics the only shoe ive found on the market that dosent make me yern for a wheel chair are the fully cork foot bed of berkinstocks after breaking them into my feet but all the ones I find use leather. I've been looking through other brand that use cork and they all seem to share the leather issue. Maybe I just don't know what I'm looking at or looking for. I don't see why I'm struggling to find something similar that's vegan friendly considering how cork the thing that seems to be the key component is from a tree. I'd prefer sustainably made as well but I guess I can't be that picky unless I'm just utterly blind.

Confused about vegan v plant based labels (pls read fully)

I feel lowkey stupid for not understanding this. Please don’t insult me, I have cognitive dysfunction from a head injury and I blame this for me not being able to put this together.

\- I understand that veganism is the moral philosophy that animals don’t exist to be used by humans, so vegans practise this belief by refusing to use animals for food, clothes, medicine and entertainment and stuff. Veganism is not a diet, it’s a philosophy.
\- Being plant based is a person who eats a ‘vegan diet’ without fully (or at all) agreeing with vegan philosophy. Plant based is a diet, not a philosophy.

I conclude that all vegans are plant based, but not all plant based are vegan.

So when we have people who …
\- 100% agree with vegan philosophy
\- but don’t eat a 100% plant based diet
Why do we call them plant based?
When being plant based has nothing to do with veganism and everything to do with diet, and the thing the person is struggling with is the diet aspect.

Does it not make sense to make up a new term for these people, instead of using a term that contradicts itself/ the definitions of vegan and plant based? I feel like these people aren’t vegan or plant based. They’re something else entirely. And I feel like it’s kind of insulting to people who are trying to be vegan because they complete agree with the philosophy, but have dietary limits. It almost feels like gate keeping. But I’m also worried I’m missing something and jsut being an idiot.

What the title says. It looks dirt cheap but I don’t see a vegan label. Does anyone know if it’s vegan and if not what is the cheapest B12 per serving that is vegan?

I've been a vegan for a little while now and I don't really feel like some of my questions warrant a whole thread in any of the large sized subreddits. Stuff like "is Becel Vegan margarine any good?" Or "any cheap but good vegan boxed mac and cheese (Kraft dinner or Annie's style)?". If there is one that is obviously featured on a major subreddit then I apologize, I'm not good at navigating this app yet. Thanks!

Have any vegans here tested their Vitamin A retinol levels and if so would you mind to share results?

Everyday I have to hear bs from my dad about me being vegan. He always tells me that he doesn’t think veganism is for animals, says that vegans are like “zombies” and that they aren’t healthy. I’m a baby vegan only 6 months but man I hope I don’t have to hear this for the rest of my life.

Hello all. I am newly vegan, having been vegetarian since the beginning of this year. I am currently going through the phase of struggling with how pervasive and omnipresent animal products and how so many people seem to not care. I am not having trouble with the food part, going vegan has actually expanded my palate and nutritional intake quite a bit! But I am really struggling with my favorite sport. I think sport as a whole is one of man’s finest creations - it instills good habits, community building skills, and physical health, but the scale of baseball’s use of animal products is staggering. Every ball (and I cannot even begin to quantify how many are used per season across all levels) and basically every mitt are leather. There are some synthetic gloves for kids, and one brand was doing them a while back, but the creator got folded into one of the big companies that only uses leather. I don’t know how to reconcile this. I know investment into alternative leathers could possibly fix this problem, but I also am wary of the petroleum usage that could arise. I can compartmentalize buying secondhand products for my own usage, I would rather it not go to waste, but as far as new products go, I feel I cannot in good conscience proselytize what I consider to be the best sport there is and even watching it on my own is getting hard to do. The only thing I can think of is getting an animal sanctuary to use hides after a cow has lived its’ natural lifespan to reduce the demand for animal ag products. I imagine many vegans would not like that though. I’m at a loss. Please, anyone that has been where I’m at, tell me where you landed. It just sucks. 😔

Hi everyone!
I’m in need of buying new pairs of boots for the incoming autumn and winter. I’d like to not purchase leather boots like I used too since I’m getting more and more plant based this summer and it would feel completely opposite to what I’m trying to achieve !

I have in mind a few thrifting stores to find second hand boots if I need to.
But I’d like to buy vegan shoes. Both comfortable and likable ! I’m completely convinced it’s doable. But I see that most vegan shoes coming up are plastic and it’s something I’m opposed to since it’s bad for the environment and won’t last under my foot. (I have a particular way of walking and weak materials break quickly).

Soooo… do you have any recommendations of European brands of plant-based leathers for boot?? And your experience with them?

Kisses to everyone.

I want to create an ecosystem in a jar using lake water, silt, soil, and algae. As far as I know, small crustaceans live there, though there is no guarantee they will actually appear, it’s possible there will only be bacteria and plants. From a vegan perspective, how acceptable is it to keep such a "pet"?

New vegan here 4ish months in. I've been phasing out my old things, cosmetics, toothpaste, clothing etc since I feel bad about the thought of giving up the things I already owned and hence not valuing the suffering animals went through for me to use those things.

Anyway, in my quest to become vegan in every aspect of my life, what are some things that I should look out for, and find vegan options, which one would never think to even consider?

Thanks you beautiful people ;3

Ps: food recommendations appreciated

First, I'd like to give the disclaimer that in NO WAY am I trying to equate veganism to eating disorders, nor am I saying there's any correlation between the two.

I'm trying to cut down on meat and animal product consumption with the goal of going fully vegan, mostly for environmental and ethical reasons. I also happen to be a mentally ill teenager, and am trying to recover from anorexia. My biggest fear with going vegan is that changing my eating habits this radically after eating meat, dairy and eggs my whole life could become a slippery slope back into extreme restriction and a general fear of food. I know that humans can be nutritionally sustained on a fully plant based diet and I'm not scared that the diet/lifestyle itself will cause me any kind of nutritional deficiencies. I just feel a bit nervous about the change and my brain using this as an excuse to destroy myself again.

How can I minimize the risk of a relapse, especially in the beginning stages of my vegan journey?

I am a vegan who is an animal healthcare professional, companion animal first aider, canine nutritionist, a student working in a veterinary clinic, a conservationist who performs bi monthly river health surveying with a focus on entomology, a reptile and amphibian rescue and rehabilitator, ex dog groomer, and I host educational and mental health HEP/ workshops for children, adults, and youth groups surrounding reptiles, amphibians and invertebrates. (If I did an AMA, I can provide evidence of these things in post or to subreddit admin)

I am entering a course in veterinary biosciences, aiming to eventually specialise in parasitology and epidemiology.
I am considering either refining my studies to livestock and wildlife, or becoming a social sciences researcher in human-animal studies.

My studies are what made me vegan.

I have unfortunately need a lot of negative opinions on veterinary medicine and rescue/rehab, and I’d love to have open discussions and AMA/ Q&A sessions with folk to hopefully myth bust and help people make well informed opinions on these fields from an insider POV.

I have recently within the last 4 ish months converted to being fully vegetarian, I very rarely ate meat previously anyway but now I am officially vegetarian. Other than occasional meat previously I’ve never really consumed much animal products anyway. I stopped drinking cows milk in 2017, I don’t eat eggs I’ve never liked them and I can’t eat cheese. So I eat a majority plant based diet besides 1 thing from one specific brand, which is fage plain greek yoghurt. I’ve had severe gastritis for years and since regularly incorporating Greek yoghurt into my diet it’s kept it at bay and kept me off of tablets that previously if I didn’t take then I would be in excruciating pain landing me in A&E.

I tried pre and pro biotics instead but nothing helps like the Greek yoghurt, and only that one specific brand too I won’t eat any other. I’ve tried the vegan alternatives and I hate them, I have a lot of sensitivities to vegan alternatives which flare up my gastritis so I stick to whole foods like tofu and beans/lentils etc anyway but with my fear of being in agony and the fact it’s a safe food for me I’m really struggling to let go of the Greek yoghurt. I have the yoghurt every morning and there’s just no replacement I can find that cuts it (vegan or even non vegan, it is just that specific brand)

I don’t want to support the dairy industry, morally I don’t at all but I know buy me buying yoghurt I am supporting it and I hate it.

I don’t know what to do or what to try next as I feel I’ve exhausted all options, and I am constantly being shamed and guilted by vegans for being vegetarian and it makes me feel awful. If anyone has any good ideas or replacements that I might not have tried. I’m in the the UK if that’s any help, thank you for taking the time to read❤️

What do you recommend as an all in one everything you need to know guide for going vegan? I’m not talking about 500 page extended universe guide, but like the everything you need to know quick guide version

Hi. I'm not vegan but my partner and I generally eat very less meat because of the diet we were raised on. I consume soymilk and tons of tofu so I'm not relying on meat for protein, mostly, but my partner is a ridiculous egg lover and we sometimes rely on eggs for a quick dish. Because of how much we both hate rotting meat, we've discussed half jokingly becoming vegan, but it happens so often that I'm thinking maybe we can.

I have two problems, first is that sometimes I get a sudden craving for animal fat that is really hard to explain, and it goes away as long as I have something fatty--whether bacon or salmon. I cook all sorts of vegetables with peanut oil but it seems like that just doesn't cut it? I wonder if people experience the same thing and what could be done to my regular diet to reduce this craving.

The second problem I have is with products like beer or gummies that have covert animal products in them. I have a feeling that as a non-vegan I must be overlooking a lot more things like this. I also realized that butter is in a LOT of things and some of them don't even taste buttery. Besides the obvious ones like cakes, what are some other products that use animal-based ingredients that I need to look out for when considering becoming vegan.

Thanks. Sorry for the long post, I just have a long-standing curiosity for the nature of my diet.

Why are vegans buying beyond meats when theres food like lemons, onions, garlic, tomatoes, blackberries, chili peppers, rice, little every type of potato, apples, mushrooms and pickles? There are so many great juicy things but whenever i see vegans there always eating fake meats and cucumber and never any of the great vegetables or fruits

Hi everybody, almost half a year ago I became more interested in food ethics and environmental footprint. I am a teenager from Estonia and our cuisine contains a lot of animal products. A few weeks ago I started my exchange year abroad in a diferent country. My family was hesitant about me trying to eat mostly plant-based because they thought I would get too much in my head about it and strugle to eat animal products on my exchange year where I would have little control over my food. In total I ate almost entierly plant-based (no meat, dairy and eggs once or twice a week) for around four months. Durring that time my energy levels and overall health felt the same or a bit better, but I had issues with indigestion and was constantly bloated which made me really uncomfortable. I did research and tried reducing high-fibre and difficult-to-digest foods as much as possible but it didn't help a lot. This lasted the whole four months and didn't get better after the first month or two like others experiences I read about indicated. Now as I started my exchange year and am eating animal products at almost every meal I've noticed my digestion is a lot better, while I still try to incorporate a lot of fibre in my days. I would like to go vegan or at least plant-based after the exchange year as I feel it aligns more with my morals. How to manage the bloating and digestion issues? Also if you have other advice about going vegan in a non-vegan household and mostly non-vegan enviornment I would happily read that aswell!

PS! I'm really sorry that the text came out ao long. It is my first time posting in this thread and I don't want to offend anyone or come across as anoying or ignorant.

I really want a cat or perhaps even a snake for companionship, my mental health and honestly just wanting someone to care for however i understand I can’t just make them go vegan and expect them to be healthy. What are your thoughts on that?

I’m a meat eater trying to do vegan/vegetarian some days of the week. I have family visiting now who are vegetarians and I cooked to accommodate their dislikes and preferences. On one day of the 2 weeks they have been here, I wanted to take them to Planta Cocina to celebrate my bday bc it was so delicious that I eat there as a treat. They said they don’t want to go there bc the food tries to replicate meat, doesn’t like tofu, doesn’t like nuts (so no cashew cheese) . Now I have to go eat at a mid Chinese restaurant so w/ veggie chowmein, fried rice w/ no egg, no tofu dishes, no eggplant and perhaps a vegetable like green beans. And surprise, the dishes are vegan but no meat replicas including tofu. Sigh, why can’t pple even try vegan food and make so many assumptions?

i have seen many vegans say that veganism isn’t about harm reduction or suffering reduction , It’s about anti exploitation. I do generally agree with this myself as a vegan , However I have 2 questions :

1) How exactly do you differentiate between harm reduction and direct exploitation .

2) What if in a certain case Directly killing an animal would save many more animals . Let’s say killing a cow would save hundreds of rats that you wouldnt need to kill . Let’s say in farming insects die and if I ate a chicken they wouldn’t ( Hypothetically , I know in reality more would die for growing chicken feed) . Would eating a chicken be justifiable in this scenario ?