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View Full Version : Why do you think omnivores don't turn vegans sooner ?



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Zero
Jan 29th, 2009, 04:22 PM
leedsveg and zero - i asked beacause i just didn't see any harsh language used atall...........

I did say in my response that I didn't see anything highly derogatory.

vegetarian_cat
Jan 29th, 2009, 08:10 PM
1) Habit (as mentioned)

2) They just don't care, literally, feel NOTHING for beings they don't know (an omni friend explained this to me)
.


Thank you for that exhaustive list..
I like lists.

Yes, I still think I'd add

13 lack of time and /or physical energy
for those who care and believe it's right, to still make the transition.
As easy as it is, it still takes SOME time and devotion (and some cooking)

14 conveniency : how much easier it still is for omni's in small towns to eat out, buy stuff in supermarkets,
go to family dinners, friend's parties etc without feeling left out
(or without being left out!)

15 TV and lobbies' years of brainwashing that milk is good etc etc etc


16 (for men especially, macho men in particular) the idea that meat= increased sexual potency and more veggies= more female hormones..
Not true i know, but go tell men around here :(

......................................

cobweb
Jan 29th, 2009, 08:14 PM
I did say in my response that I didn't see anything highly derogatory.


yes, you did :thumbsup:

Quantum Mechanic
Jan 30th, 2009, 09:22 AM
[quote=Quantum Mechanic;548658]
Personally, when I was making the transition to veganism, I was in the process of dealing with a number of chronic medical conditions like migraines, seizures, scoliosis w/ severe back pain, as well as managing my new semi-independent life as a student in a dorm room /quote]


Well, let me just say I'm impressed you managed to take
such a decision when in the midst of all those worries and pain..

Has any of those conditions improved after going vegan?

I'm a migraine sufferer too :(

It's still to early to say if cutting dairy will have any effect but
we'll see. It'd be a great bonus..

bye and i hope the food you like will be easier for you to reach
in the cafeteria...

Thanks.

As for migraines and seizures, I was taking medications at the start of the school year (when still an omni), and those had started taking effect, so it would really be impossible to discern whether there was any effect, as my seizures and migraines had decreased to such low frequency already with the medication and the avoidance of most trigger factors like fluorescent lights (by wearing a hooded sweatshirt to just about everyplace, and being made fun of for it), and the scoliosis was resulting in pain pretty consistently during the school year, up until the last couple weeks. Doctor thinks it's a pinched nerve. :( Probably got worsened because the start of this quarter we're supposed to take the big calculus book to class, which we didn't have to do before, and I did a really stupid thing and carried them over my shoulder since I didn't remember I had scoliosis until the pain was so bad that I couldn't get out of bed for a couple days. :rolleyes: :dizzy:

(Note: I would've rated this pain as about a 6 or a 7, and earlier on when I would about once a week have it bad enough that I would almost pass out from it, I would've rated it a 4 or a 5 on a pain scale - so anyone looking at a pain scale rating from an autistic person or someone who deals with chronic pain - or someone who is both - keep in mind that they're not often very accurate then, and that it would be better to ask for an example situation like I gave).

My chronic sinusitis that seems to pop up yearly appeared to have improved after I quit dairy, though. :thumbsup:

Verencemos
Jan 30th, 2009, 09:46 PM
I would agree that it seems fruitful to look at why any of us (except those lucky enough to be raised vegan) didn't do it sooner- then we can prepare and think in answer to the questions and obstacles that will be raised, and then we will have more chance of getting in under the defences during that fleeting receptive moment that I suspect some / many / most omnis have from time to time (my brother amazed me the other day by saying he agreed it was ethical to be vegan - that would not have been predictable a few years ago).
I hope the thoughts will have a drip, drip, drip, drip effect towards conversion

Sarabi
Jan 30th, 2009, 09:55 PM
Currently, I'm kind of bummed that yet ANOTHER omnivore on campus told me they "used to be vegetarian/vegan." What don't they turn vegan sooner? Hell if I know. I can't fathom why they would drop it after being "really passionate about it" or after "vegetarian for 20 years." They told me why, but it still frustrates me. Why do you think vegans become omnivores SO SOON or SO LATE? Of the at least four veg*ans I've heard of so far quitting around here, only one that I know of had an understandable reason to me... she was anemic and probably under "doctor's orders." Mind you, I don't call it a good reason, just a comprehensible one.

veganmuffin
Apr 1st, 2009, 09:51 AM
Because sometimes peoples' appetites are bigger than their hearts.

Also, people underestimate their self-control and will-power. If only they knew how easy it was to be vegan when you know all the facts about what NOT being vegan will do to animals!

terem
Apr 2nd, 2009, 09:27 PM
I would agree with laziness and convenience. I used to tell myself that I couldn't afford to be vegan. That was because I would be buying all of my food, and being a college student thought I would go broke. However, I make enough that I could afford it, and it was a silly excuse. Many might not realize that buying a bunch of veggies is so much cheaper than buying a bunch of nasty meat. Also, dried lentils, kidney beans, etc. from the international section can last a long time and are very cheap.
Many omnis might also think that they couldn't because of nutritional reasons and don't take the time to do the research.
I was at an Italian restaurant once and I checked to see if there was meat in the pasta sauce, and the waiter asked if I was vegan. Turns out he used to be vegetarian but had to start eating meat because he became anemic. With a little time and research he could have filled those nutritional needs and have been a healthy vegetarian.

terem
Apr 2nd, 2009, 09:30 PM
Because sometimes peoples' appetites are bigger than their hearts.

Also, people underestimate their self-control and will-power. If only they knew how easy it was to be vegan when you know all the facts about what NOT being vegan will do to animals!

Agreed. I would never be able to go back knowing what suffering goes into meat and dairy.

bradders
Apr 3rd, 2009, 12:17 AM
Because sometimes peoples' appetites are bigger than their hearts.

Also, people underestimate their self-control and will-power. If only they knew how easy it was to be vegan when you know all the facts about what NOT being vegan will do to animals!

agree with it pretty much
I used to kid myself that it would be too difficult etc. there is a blindness, people have a switch thrown in their head where they see and know but do not see and know (Orwellian doublethink) it takes something serious to get that switch to move back where it should be

Johnstuff
Apr 3rd, 2009, 04:35 PM
Yeah I've often thought it's a bit like a switch in my head, once switched there could be no going back.

I think the main reason is brainwashing/social conditioning. An inocent child would most likley be horrified if they knew how their food was produced. After 20 years in a crazy society it is hard to break through to someone.

I was lucky that my dad is very unconventional (and vegetarian) and he sowed the seeds of doubt in my mind.

If someone points out that something I do causes suffering then I would be very interested and want to find out the truth. A lot of people don't want to know.

Our society is so full of crap. People are so afraid of being taken in that they cannot be taken out.

KcCrash
Apr 3rd, 2009, 06:02 PM
Because they can't be arsed.

buttons
Jan 15th, 2010, 05:16 AM
For some people, the fear of being seen as "abnormal" or "odd" is a factor. Thankfully, I've always been a bit peculiar, so it wasn't a consideration for me!:D

glovesforfoxes
Jan 15th, 2010, 12:46 PM
Because we are taught that eating meat is a matter of practicality, it is necessary, & most importantly, has nothing to do with justice.

VeganLu
Jan 15th, 2010, 06:44 PM
In my experience, most of the non-vegan people that know me are very nice to me about my beliefs. They show interest and I am glad to answer their questions. But, when I finally get to the point of telling them what goes on in factory farms, all of them say "I don't want to know". What they are saying is that they will feel bad to know what is going on, but they want to continue to eat meat and dairy. I immediately tell them "okay".

Keep on keeping on!

Tishy
Jan 18th, 2010, 01:59 AM
I feel one thing that stopped me from going vegetarian then vegan sooner was to being apart of the actual process. My boyfriends mother is a meat-a-holic, one time we did the whole "but you would never kill an animal?", and she was like "no i wouldnt, someone else does it for you so I'm not apart of it".

I pretty much became vegetarian as soon as I left home at 17, as soon as I got away from my force feeding meat mother. One time when I was 13 she made me sit at the table until 12 at night because I didn't eat my chicken (I wouldn't eat meat that resembled animals, eg. chicken, steak).

My mum and my boyfriends mum, they aren't cruel people. They just disassociate themselves with the whole process. My Mum will never have a pet bird because she can't bare the thought she would have to keep them in cage. But yet she's happy eating pig? It doesn't make sense to me now, but I used to be the same! I didn't physically kill the animals, so I didn't feel bad about it. :(

RainInStarlight
Jan 19th, 2010, 09:12 PM
16 (for men especially, macho men in particular) the idea that meat= increased sexual potency and more veggies= more female hormones..
Not true i know, but go tell men around here :(

......................................

Yeah...but then they complain in their later years about having ED, and they wonder why.....:dizzy:

Blueberry
Jan 19th, 2010, 09:17 PM
Because they can't be arsed.

As a very new vegan, I can confirm this in my case! I have always felt guilty for being an omnivore, and yet the thought of living on brown rice and kidney beans didn't appeal. I didn't research what it meant to be vegetarian, let alone vegan. I had years of conditioning from my family, and when you grow up thinking that humans are more important than the planet which supports them, and that "all the farmers lose their livelihood if we all go veggie" (mum) then it's hard to make the break. I thought buying products not tested on animals was enough. I now know that it isn't, and vegan is the only way.

Blueberry
Jan 19th, 2010, 09:19 PM
And I also agree with a previous poster - it has been too easy to make the switch! Unbelievably so for me - but that's because I have always cooked fresh food as I can't bear convenience food. And many of my favourite foods I have eaten for years were "accidentally" vegan, so apart from eggs, I don't feel like anything is missing yet!

MariaTrekker
Jan 21st, 2010, 06:25 PM
If they read omnivore's dilemma they would go vegan asap!

EcoTribalVegan
Jan 23rd, 2010, 04:44 PM
I think it simply boils down to laziness and/or a fear of change. Most hide behind the pitiful excuse "well I couldn't live without [insert some animal derived product here]".

RainInStarlight
Jan 23rd, 2010, 09:14 PM
I think it simply boils down to laziness and/or a fear of change. Most hide behind the pitiful excuse "well I couldn't live without [insert some animal derived product here]".


I used to be that way! (It was about cheese, too.)

And now, the smell of cheese cooking is gross. I suppose tastes change once you haven't had something in awhile? :dizzy:

I dunno.

pete_m
Jan 30th, 2010, 10:24 AM
I'm not sure that it's just laziness that stops people going vegan. Being "lazy" implies that that particular non-vegan realises there's a problem to begin with.

I know for me, it was because I've never fully investigated (and fully thought through) what I was eating.

So for me it was ignorance, fuelled by a lack of imagination ("what, there's a reasonable alternative?") and lack of curiosity ("how exactly *was* this burger produced?").

leedsveg
Jan 30th, 2010, 12:25 PM
I'm not sure that it's just laziness that stops people going vegan. Being "lazy" implies that that particular non-vegan realises there's a problem to begin with.

I know for me, it was because I've never fully investigated (and fully thought through) what I was eating.

So for me it was ignorance, fuelled by a lack of imagination ("what, there's a reasonable alternative?") and lack of curiosity ("how exactly *was* this burger produced?").

+1 I can fully identify with that pete.

It's marvellous the lack of understanding/compassion some vegans have for omnis, the very people the vegans were some years ago*, before they 'saw the light'. :mad:

(*unless of course they were born to vegan parents)

lv

Blueberry
Jan 30th, 2010, 02:20 PM
It's marvellous the lack of understanding/compassion some vegans have for omnis, the very people the vegans were some years ago*, before they 'saw the light'. :mad:

hmmm... I'm not sure I agree. I was only omni four weeks ago, so coming to it fresh, it's awful to admit but I did know what goes on in the farming and meat industries. But I did really enjoy eating the products. So I was in denial... I always felt guilty but justified it in some way. "The animal is already dead, so why not" kind of attitude. Sad but true. And I was too lazy to give that much thought to what the hell my family would eat if I stopped cooking their favourite food.

My vote still goes to laziness.