Indirectly paying for non vegan stuff at the event

[chamomile]

So basically in my country we have this celebration for seniors in highschool, 100 days before the final exams. Usually at first its something at school, but then there is usually an afterparty organized by students themselves.

So everyone who wants to join has to pay (for the place, food and alcohol), but I feel bad about it because A) I know for sure the food is not gonna be vegan B) I can't be sure the alcohol is gonna be vegan

And I mean I really wanna go and my friends want me to come... But I feel bad for indirectly paying for non vegan stuff..

I don't know what to do, would it be wrong to go anyway?

 

[Emma JC]

this is a challenging topic for some - my opinion is that you should go and you should make sure that there will be something that you can and drink without compromising your own vegan ethics - there are many things that we all pay for, on a daily basis, that support non-vegan industries, it is almost impossible to avoid

welcome to the forum and enjoy your party!

Emma JC
Find your vegan soulmate or just a friend. www.spiritualmatchmaking.com

 

[Lou]

I agree with @Emma JC .

This is one of those things that fall into the Personal Purity thing. And if I'm not mistaken, (I'm not feeling like going back and checking) this has come up before with conversations with you. At the risk of feeding a dead horse, I don't put much stock in Personal Purity. No one can be 100% vegan anyway and then it's just a matter of working on small percentages. So falling back on one of my favorite slogans, Don't let Perfection Be The Enemy of Good. Don't sweat the small stuff.

Hopefully this will give you some perspective and not make you feel worse but we are always and constantly indirectly supporting animal cruelty. Not sure what it's like in Lithuania but my taxes go to subsidizing meat and diary. Almost all of the food I buy comes from Big Food who also sell meat, and diary.

Maybe your party seems more in your control or more direct - but it's more of a matter of degree not kind.
Oh, sure you could boycott the party on principle. but how is that going to help any animals. And in the end that is what it's all about. It's not supposed to be about making you feel less guilty.

 

[Tom L.]

It's nice that your friends don't want you to miss out on the celebration. If there will be plenty of vegan foods for you to eat, maybe you should go. Will people be allowed to take leftovers home? If so, maybe you can give some to your family (after you ask them if they would like that). Or maybe you have some non-vegan pets who would be able to eat it (but check to see of it's healthy for them first). The food you share with them will replace the non-vegan food they would have bought and eaten.

 

[chamomile]

this is a challenging topic for some - my opinion is that you should go and you should make sure that there will be something that you can and drink without compromising your own vegan ethics - there are many things that we all pay for, on a daily basis, that support non-vegan industries, it is almost impossible to avoid

welcome to the forum and enjoy your party!

Emma JC
Find your vegan soulmate or just a friend. www.spiritualmatchmaking.com

Thanks for the response, I will probably go I usually make sure to eat before the events and with alcohol I'm not that strict, I wouldn't drink something with milk for example, but I'm not so strict about isinglass, if I don't have a 100% vegan option.

 

[chamomile]

It's nice that your friends don't want you to miss out on the celebration. If there will be plenty of vegan foods for you to eat, maybe you should go. Will people be allowed to take leftovers home? If so, maybe you can give some to your family (after you ask them if they would like that). Or maybe you have some non-vegan pets who would be able to eat it (but check to see of it's healthy for them first). The food you share with them will replace the non-vegan food they would have bought and eaten.

I honestly have no idea what food will be there, but I usually eat before the events just in case and then eat fruits/veggies if they have them, cause usually there aren't any vegan options. I don't think there will be that much food though, it will be mostly alcohol and even if there was I feel like people are gonna be too drunk to deal with packing leftovers and I even if I wouldn't be too drunk I would be too shy to ask. But I'm thinking of going anyway.

 

[chamomile]

I agree with @Emma JC .

This is one of those things that fall into the Personal Purity thing. And if I'm not mistaken, (I'm not feeling like going back and checking) this has come up before with conversations with you. At the risk of feeding a dead horse, I don't put much stock in Personal Purity. No one can be 100% vegan anyway and then it's just a matter of working on small percentages. So falling back on one of my favorite slogans, Don't let Perfection Be The Enemy of Good. Don't sweat the small stuff.

Hopefully this will give you some perspective and not make you feel worse but we are always and constantly indirectly supporting animal cruelty. Not sure what it's like in Lithuania but my taxes go to subsidizing meat and diary. Almost all of the food I buy comes from Big Food who also sell meat, and diary.

Maybe your party seems more in your control or more direct - but it's more of a matter of degree not kind.
Oh, sure you could boycott the party on principle. but how is that going to help any animals. And in the end that is what it's all about. It's not supposed to be about making you feel less guilty.

Yeah, we talked about it multiple times and I keep it in mind, I just sometimes struggle to see where do I draw the line, like what counts as small stuff and what is actually wrong, so I occasionally still make posts like this one.