Annoyed at how difficult it is to be a vegan...

Troy

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  1. Vegan
Hi everyone, I've recently decided to go fully vegan (for ethical reasons) and have spent a lot of time learning recipes and researching what to buy and what not to buy. Today however I learned that animal products are used in some fertilisers used to grow the fruit and veg we eat- chicken blood, fish slurry etc. These animal products often come from factory farms where animals are treated cruelly!

I've done a bit of reading on the subject and some people say to eat inorganic produce where synthetic fertilisers have been used (but I guess there's a possibility that these could contain animal products). Others say that animal-free agriculture is definitely possible and that the only way you can be a true vegan is by growing your own (which isn't completely practical for people who are constantly travelling around with no fixed garden of their own)

Thanks for reading I know this is taking veganism to the extreme haha but its been playing on my mind for a while now and am starting not to feel like a proper vegan as I don't grow my own produce and just go to the supermarket. How strict are you guys when it comes to being vegan? What are everyone's thoughts on this?
 
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Wow, that is exceptionally disturbing! I didn't know those things could be in fertilizer!



Edited to add: Welcome to the site! :)
 
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...and crops are pollinated by commercial bee operations, pesticides kill animals and poison the water, machine harvesting kills bugs and small mammals. Hell, try to grow your own food and you'll kill worms just digging!

All life exists at the expense of other life. Most seem to take this as permission to ignore the harm their lifestyles cause. The rest of us can minimize our impact, but we'll never eliminate it. I can't hold myself responsible for the entire supply chain of agriculture production. Rather than get hung up on it just remind yourself that livestock are fed by agriculture...so whatever wrong or harm you see in agriculture, you are actually reducing your contribution to it by eating plants instead of animals. Progress, not perfection.

I think at some point in the future the majority of people will be vegan, and the culture and economics will shift so that it will be items containing animal products, or produced using animal products, that will be difficult to find and expensive. And I think it will be a lot like that Hemingway quote: "How did you go bankrupt?/Two ways, gradually and then suddenly." We're in the gradual phase now but there will come a tipping point...I hope to live to see the day!
 
Good point. I never thought of that. When I was just a small child, I told my father I wanted to be a vegetarian because it was cruel to eat things I could love. I was raised with chickens that became my pets so dad wasn't allowed to do a Sunday roast with any of my girls. His answer to me was... "If everyone in the world went vegetarian, all the farm animals in this world would die a horrible death by starvation or having their throat slit". My dad was such a cheer up. So it was a long life of feeling bad every time I ate meat. In the big picture...we impact on this Earth so badly every day, even when we try not to. Getting to work, buying our food, we can't help it. All we can know is that we're making a difference and the amount of people feeling this way is growing. It's going to take time to wipe out ignorance. We're just the start in an evolution. Hang in there. It maybe a few generations before your fears are addressed but it's a path. One step at a time.

And to add... I'm always getting in trouble for not putting the compost bin lid on properly because I don't want to hurt the worms.
 
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Thanks for the replies guys! Feel a lot better now after reading your responses- "it's going to take time to wipe out ignorance" and "progress not perfection" are what I needed to hear I think. I can be a perfectionist sometimes so that's why this has been playing on my mind :confounded: but you're right Sax we cannot be held responsible for what goes on in agriculture production. When I'm in a position to do so I'm gonna start growing my own produce but until then I'll keep "progress not perfection" on my mind!
 
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I do think the "progress, not perfection" advice is right on target. I am aware that I use things that aren't vegan (my car, computer, and medication) out of necessity, BUT I eliminate animals products where I can (food, clothes, shoes, etc.). I think it's easy to worry about the ways one is NOT doing "perfectly," but until more people are vegan (which I agree will likely happen in the future), it's tough to eliminate all animal produces. I would echo the sentiment of doing your best.

Good luck growing your own produce! That's a really cool goal.
 
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I think at this stage you are striving to achieve the impossible. I live among farming communities in Devon and I think most Vegans would be horrified at how many rabbits and dear etc are shot and killed to protect our vegetable and grain crops. We are too far gone to avoid being party to any type of animal abuse, but by sticking to the basic ideas of what it means to be Vegan we are making a good start in bringing about change. It's becoming a massive thing and by doing what we are doing you need to have hope that in will improve things for the better as time goes on. For you right now, focus on what is achievable and realistic and don't put undue pressure on yourself, and don't over-google things!
 
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