Health, environment & animals - why are you vegan?

Huawei

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I thought it would be interesting to hear WHY people became vegans or started to eat less meat. The reason for that is because I am doing it almost 100 % because of the (extreme) environmental impact that is connected with the meat industry.

However, I know that people also see a vegan diet as a healthier alternative – and others are more concerned about the animal welfare aspect.

So what is your reason to eat no meat/less meat?
 
All those reasons are important to me. but the main thing in my mind is animal rights/ethics. The health issues and the environmental issues are just the frosting on the cake and the cherries on top.

I know that a lot of vegans have different reasons, but there are lots of things that vegans do that only have to do with ethics and animal rights. If you are mainly concerned with health, you don't have to stop wearing fur. If you are mainly concerned with the environment, you don't need to buy cruelty-free.

But yeah, Go Vegan! For whatever reason you want.
 
I went Vegan because I became convinced humans were not meant to eat animals and their by products. Later I was informed of the impact on humans in certain areas (imposed starvation by taking over crop land to feed animals instead of humans), on the animals themselves and the environment, and those reasons became further reason to stay Vegan.



Initially though – health.



I think there is a general conception that people who do it for the animals have a greater (more ethical) reason. To me this is backwards. If you tell Grandma to go Vegan for the animals and neglect to tell her that eating an exclusively plant kingdom diet closest to what nature provides will improve and solve many of her ailments over time if adhered to, you are really not acting ethically. An animal rights focus that excludes human health is quite the opposite of ethical. I do think it befits certain type of people though with something to prove.
 
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I am primarily vegan for animal rights/ethical issues. Second, I am pleased with veganism's positive impact (or less of a negative impact) on the environment. Third is health, though that isn't even a close third.
 
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Mine was for health. My husband's cholesterol was at heart attack level (they were surprised he didn't have one yet). Doctor told him to exercise. It's been over a year and he's cholesterol is now almost considered low. That's amazing what eating plants can do for you. I'm also type one bipolar with rapid cycling and psychosis and being vegan has made me more stable than any medication ever made me.
 
I am for medical/health reasons.

Sick and tired of being sick and tired. Since switching to vegan, I've felt better than I have in decades.
 
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I am primarily vegan for animal rights/ethical issues. Second, I am pleased with veganism's positive impact (or less of a negative impact) on the environment. Third is health, though that isn't even a close third.

Me, too. I was a vegan for years before I became convinced it was more healthy. I still don't eat as healthy as I should.
 
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Health was the reason to start, "health/animals/environment/just the right thing to do" are the reasons we remain.

Emma JC
 
My original reason was environmental which in a way is for the animals because of wildlife, I think what makes me angrier than anything is the way capitalist development has not only compromised our own lives but that it's driving multiple species extinct. Animal rights was secondary for me because I don't think I realized how bad it was, I was more of a welfarist (a lot of vegetarians are welfarists, many vegetarians really think it's okay as long as they don't actually eat the animal). But now I also care strongly about animal rights.

Health for me was like okay whatever. I'm' not particularly vain about my weight and I guess I was young and active enough to where I didn't see myself as having any health problems. The longer I am vegan though, the more appealing the health aspects appear. However, it's so minimal for me that when people tell me they're vegan for health reasons I'm like really ok are you vegan or are you just plant-based, because that's a thing. The end result is the same (no animals were killed in the makings of this product) but the "health only" people are more likely to move on selfishly to the next fad diet that makes them think it will improve their workout. I'm not saying that's always the case but you know.
 
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I went Vegan because I became convinced humans were not meant to eat animals and their by products. Later I was informed of the impact on humans in certain areas (imposed starvation by taking over crop land to feed animals instead of humans), on the animals themselves and the environment, and those reasons became further reason to stay Vegan.



Initially though – health.



I think there is a general conception that people who do it for the animals have a greater (more ethical) reason. To me this is backwards. If you tell Grandma to go Vegan for the animals and neglect to tell her that eating an exclusively plant kingdom diet closest to what nature provides will improve and solve many of her ailments over time if adhered to, you are really not acting ethically. An animal rights focus that excludes human health is quite the opposite of ethical. I do think it befits certain type of people though with something to prove.

A lot of people would argue though that your view is far too humanist, that humans already think much too much of themselves.
 
when people tell me they're vegan for health reasons I'm like really ok are you vegan or are you just plant-based, because that's a thing. The end result is the same (no animals were killed in the makings of this product)

My feelings exactly. Like how is not wearing leather jackets a health thing? Or cruelty-free household products?
But yeah. whatever floats your boat.
 
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I started eating a vegan diet for health reasons. I continue to eat a vegan diet for health reasons , habit, and I like the food.
 
Ethics - both factory farming and its terrible suffering, but also fundamental rights.
 
We once kept goats for their milk. We drank some and sold the rest and made a little extra income. We also had the company of some beautiful and friendly animals.

A male kid was born and we kept him for a few months until he had put some weight on. I took him to the local abattoir and left him there alone in a pen. I am still haunted by the questioning look in his eyes as I walked away.

That was the start. The finish was later when his flesh was on the plates in front of us.

I believe that the majority of vegans were converted mainly because of ethics. For those of us motivated by health or environmental concerns I say “Welcome aboard” because whatever the reasoning the result is the same. Death and suffering in animals is reduced.

And isn’t it interesting that we use that nice sounding French word “abattoir” instead of the much more descriptive “slaughter house”?

Roger.
 
Nice story, rogerjolly.

I saw a TV program a couple of weeks ago that said that: the closer people come to the meat production (e.g., that people see the animals being slaughtered) , the less motivated they become to actually eat meat. In other words: people want the steak on their plate, but they NEVER would want to know that it actually has been a living creature about a week ago.
 
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Me, too. I was a vegan for years before I became convinced it was more healthy. I still don't eat as healthy as I should.

tenor.gif
 
I'm vegan for ethnic reasons. I've had 2 lovely guide dogs and rescue rats, and I know how much feelings they had. Another reason for going vegan is after I visited an agricultural college and I was told about the state the pigs were in. After that experience I started off trying to source my meat but free range meat is very expensive so in the end I decided to go pescotarian. As I didn't know about fish back then. I became vegan in my 30's after accessing the internet and reading about animal cruelty there. Health is not so important to me.
 
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I started being vegetarian when I learned it was really healthy to not have meat. I might have become vegetarian much earlier. I was glad to eliminate harm to animals with their slaughter. I eventually went online, and some point learned more of how much harm there is to animals, and I knew I should be vegan. That there is the need for many further to come to that for the environments, resources, and for feeding more of the people who are starving further solidifies the basis to be vegan. There is certainly no good reason left to not be.
 
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I'm vegan for the animals. It's been interesting finding out that environmental problems like a lot of the destruction of the rainforests are caused by breeding animals for food. I hope that if we all became vegan that the pollution of the oceans would still be addressed if nobody was losing money because of it. I seem to be alone here, but I still think that the mobile phone towers are interfering with the bees ability to find their way back to their hives.
 
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