Lately I haven't had support from family

[Earthchild]

Lately I haven't had much support from family I live with about my veganism. They said what's it going to harm you to have a little dairy? It won't kill you! I kept on saying about they harm the cows so they said how do I know, I never went to the actual dairy farm. But aren't they all the same - taking the babies away from the mothers?

I had weak moments when I've lapsed due to my depression returning and I haven't looked after myself and my diet properly. But I want to pick up the pieces now.

 

[shyvas]

Lately I haven't had much support from family I live with about my veganism. They said what's it going to harm you to have a little dairy? It won't kill you! I kept on saying about they harm the cows so they said how do I know, I never went to the actual dairy farm. But aren't they all the same - taking the babies away from the mothers?

I had weak moments when I've lapsed due to my depression returning and I haven't looked after myself and my diet properly. But I want to pick up the pieces now.

No, but it will kill the calves and the mums.

 

[Jamie in Chile]

Have some videos prepared of slaughterhouses etc (so that you can quickly pull them up) and say "I watched some videos, would you like to see them" and then send them the videos and then later ask if they watched them. This may shut them up a bit as they won't want to watch the videos.

But if you'd rather not talk about it, consider that option as well.

Make sure you get the basics right - exercise, sleep etc to help with your mental health.

 

[Tom L.]

Hi, @Earthchild . I'm sorry you're having difficulty with your folks about this- but you're correct. A cow can only produce milk when she has had a calf. A dairy farm wouldn't be able to make a profit selling milk if it had to take care of all the cows and their calves for their full life span. They would have to charge more for the milk than anyone would be willing to pay.

It's important to get enough calcium and other nutrients, though- and if you're not eating dairy products, you'll want to make sure you're getting enough calcium, etc. We've been discussing this a bit over in the September Wellbeing thread (in the Members-only Health subforum).