Baffled about this forum

[Ruthie]

Hi everyone ,
I'm feeling a bit baffled by this forum . I joined because l wanted to connect to other vegans .
However , firstly it seems that animaI -eaters are members too ( flexitarian ? This is just a fancy word for omnivore , or the average meat-eater out there - so why are they wanting to be in this forum ?)
Secondly , there seems to be debate about what actually is "vegan" .. Er ... come on - it's pretty simple . A vegan is someone who doesn't knowingly consume or use animal products .. There's no grey area there . It just is ..

So I'm baffled by the "can eggs be vegan ? " thread - of course they can't be ..
And if I delve further into other threads , similar things come up . Lots of people who think we need to have "pretend -meat" labels on food items .. Why do we have to go by the "standard" of meat-eating ? Why can't we just have our own food , labelled exactly as it is?

Surely if you feel you have to eat pretend-meat , you must be feeling like you must fit in ? Surely this is a sign of not feeling confident in your difference ?

Why are we bending ourselves into conforming ? Because to me , that is what pretend-meat labels are - they are conforming to the dead-animal labels that the average person uses .
I love people who are different from average and embrace that . People who don't wish to travel the same old worn road and who live by their own core-values and ethics . People who are okay with not conforming to what they don't agree with .

I love people who walk the path of their own hearts and don't bend themselves to fit in with what passes as "normal" ..

Can we just embrace our veganism without all of the doubts and conforming behaviour and attitudes ?

Thank you for the space to express this ,
Ruthie

 

[KLS52]

Rule #1 of the forum says you don't have to be vegan to be a member but there can be no promoting of non veganism. I guess the way to get around that would be to try and change the definition. For me personally I agree with your take on that. Vegan is vegan. No need to water it down and I've expressed that in the other thread.

We don't need to conform in general. But pretend meat labels don't bother me. I think mostly they help people, who might be struggling, transition.

I'm ok with non vegans being here if they are looking for support and information on how to change their current lifestyle. I myself do not use the vegan label anymore because of certain concessions I make when eating out or when vegan items are unavailable to me. I will eat vegetarian bread/burgers that are not vegan. But this is just a repeat of what I've stated in the other thread.

I'm not sure where this forum is headed with Second Summer gone. I only know I have strong emotional connections to several members here and I hope it continues.

 

[shyvas]

It was decided a few years ago that Veggie Views (before the merger with Vegan Forum) would allow omnis to join, so that as a forum we could educate and promote veganism. However, it has never been permitted to promote a lifestyle other than a vegan one.

Eggs can never be considered as vegan as they belong to the chickens. Vegans simply do not consume them. I simply believe that some members like to go into depth and discuss themes that are controversial. As long as they abide by the rules, this is allowed as we don't over moderate on this forum.

I also never call a plant based protein dish with an animal name. I'm not trying to duplicate the taste of flesh when cooking. I also believe that it sends out the wrong message to omnis who think that we are all secretly dying to eat flesh.

 

[Jamie in Chile]

it seems that animaI -eaters are members too ( flexitarian ? This is just a fancy word for omnivore , or the average meat-eater out there - so why are they wanting to be in this forum ?)

There are not many meat eaters on this forum or if they are at any rate they keep quiet about it.

They are likely on the forum because they are curious about plant based food even though they won't ever be vegan, and perhaps want to incorporate more into their diet. Or they are considering transitioning to veganism. Or they are trolling.

I think we should allow them on the forum because shutting the door to them makes it less likely they will eventually go vegan while allowing them will help them transition. Of course, this does mean that you will inevitably get some trolling, but once people are being argumentative and slow to transition we can ignore them or moderators can ban them.

Exactly when to ignore/ban such a poster depends on whether your priority is a place for vegans to hang out (meaning you would be less tolerant) or whether you think we should be aiming to help animals (in which case we could be a bit more tolerant).

There are vegans on this forum that used to eat meat.

I myself came to this forum I think it was (or a similar one) and asked people to cross check my pro-meat arguments, and not long after that stopped eating meat forever.

Surely if you feel you have to eat pretend-meat , you must be feeling like you must fit in ? Surely this is a sign of not feeling confident in your difference ?

Why are we bending ourselves into conforming ? Because to me , that is what pretend-meat labels are - they are conforming to the dead-animal labels that the average person uses .

I think about we should do what is the best thing to help reduce animal suffering and do that. My view is that having vegan burgers makes veganism more attractive. Getting people to change from one burger to another that tastes and costs the same (more or less) is less of a change than getting them to eat a quinoa bowl (for example) and therefore more likely to happen. Therefore, these burgers help to reduce animal suffering.

The labelling of them of "burger", "hot dog" "chicken" etc is also good, since it seems normal, and makes the products more attractive. If they are forced to some up with alternative names like logs or patties, it will seem unappetizing, less people will eat them, and animals will suffer more.

The majority of these foods are eaten by none vegans where they do reduce suffering relative to the alternative of eating meat.

I do actually eat these things myself and the honest reason is convenience. If I could click my fingers and make the quinoa bowl appear, I would mostly do that instead, but these convenience foods can be prepared while I carry on working while they cook.

 

[Ahimsa24/7]

How far one needs to go to classify one's self as a "vegan" is a legitimate question.

Considering this -

5 Surprising Things That Have Cow Parts in Them

Image: Dudarev Mikhail/Shutterstock So, you're a vegan and you're mad that you can't drink Starbucks' Pumpkin Spice Latte. Well, maybe you want to skip this post because your day ain't going to get much better. You see, almost *everything* in the world contains something made from animal parts...

www.neatorama.com

I suddenly don't qualify as a vegan anymore, despite 11 years of not eating or wearing anything that is stolen from an animal.

Unless you're building your own house from scratch, good luck being certain that you have vegan drywall. Unless you paint every inch of your house yourself, good luck being certain you don't have animal product in your paint.