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View Full Version : Why weren't you vegan before you became vegan?



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Joeybee
Apr 8th, 2008, 12:53 AM
Pure ignorance was my reason...ignorance and also I think avoiding thinking too deeply about it, cos i did hate eggs and cows being milked......I don't know what took me so long to do something about it.

Animosity
Apr 8th, 2008, 09:02 AM
This will sound more like a story to the becoming of veganism but it has my reasons mixed in so don't think I didn't read the thread!

I always had a deep love for the environment and animals alike, I was all for AR from the very begining of my being. I even protested the killing of animals and the needless cuting of trees plants and even grass as a child. I was a hippie. :D I was just raised to belive that vegetarians ate fish and chicken and I didn't value them over other animals so under the influence of the lies, I kept eating meat. I was raised to belive I would die without it. "God" I can't belive I fell for that crap! I felt super guilty for years, It wasn't until age 13 that I realized vegetarians didn't eat animals and I was completely veg less than 6 months later. (It was a little difficult for me, I was already so awkward, I was afriad to make myself even "weirder"). I actually went vegetarian in the middle of the day, I remember saying "i'm not going to eat meat" to my Mother(whom assumed I meant for dinner) :p and I didn't. It was that simple. Veganism also happend unexpectedly. One day I was eating cheese and realized how wrong it was, Threw it out and the next day I went shopping and bought only vegan stuff. Never looked back.

Huddy
Apr 8th, 2008, 11:55 AM
I was raised to belive I would die without it.
Same here.
I was raised in a meat eating family, but I always hated meats and eggs from a very young age. I turned vegetarian (lacto) when I was in my teens. I only returned to meat eating while I was pregnant with my son in 2004/2005, due to pressure from family and friends. Trust me-I was not happy.:(
I didn't return to my meat free ways until a couple of days after my beloved dog died (Hudson died in July last year)-I just had an 'awakening' (if thats what you'd call it).
I turned to my husband one night and said 'Im going vegan', and that was that.
I was completely unaware of the horrors of the dairy industry until last year, and when I found out I was horrified-made me want to gag for all those years that Id been consuming it as a lacto vegetarian.
My family and friends are still trying to come to grips with my beliefs, but at the end of the day, I feel alot more at peace knowing that I am not contributing to these horrible industries anymore. I just hope and pray that maybe some of my family and friends will see the light too one day:)

x-SaRaH-x
Apr 8th, 2008, 02:15 PM
I have had numerous people tell me that they "tired to be vegetarian" or "tried to be vegan" but it was "too hard".

i really hate it when people say that!! Because if they cared enough they would pursue it and work through the 'hard times'

Honestly people!!

Est
Apr 8th, 2008, 07:45 PM
I wasn't really aware of veganism.

I was veggie for 3 years as a teen, and very into AR. And I *still* never thought about quitting with the dairy.

Going vegan in February appeared a very sudden decision with me, but with hindsight I now remember that I met a vegan at an internet geek meet :D a couple of months before and I was quietly impressed with her, and there was also a thread about veganism on another forum which I read with interest.

I strongly believe that many people don't consider being vegan as an option because they haven't met any (or enough) vegans and therefore still think of it as a weird and limiting choice. They simply don't understand how making a decision to give something up can bring an entirely new freedom and pleasure.

Someone I work with said on Monday that he and his colleague are always in awe of the range of food I bring in and how tasty it looks! And I was very pleased because maybe I, in turn, am being the vegan who manages to touch someone else's life.

*Takes a bow*
*Climbs off soapbox*

:D

Sluggie
Apr 8th, 2008, 08:07 PM
Someone I work with said on Monday that he and his colleague are always in awe of the range of food I bring in and how tasty it looks! And I was very pleased because maybe I, in turn, am being the vegan who manages to touch someone else's life.

*Takes a bow*
*Climbs off soapbox*

:D
That's great. I'd never met a vegan until I became one. If I ever get organised, I want to start baking cupcakes and taking the extras to the pool when I go diving to hand out to my friends. Maybe it will help convince a few people that vegans don't live on twigs and sawdust.

Est
Apr 8th, 2008, 08:17 PM
vegans don't live on twigs and sawdust.
It's true - I even eat some lettuce as well! :D (Only for a treat on Sundays, mind you ;) )

Sluggie
Apr 8th, 2008, 09:03 PM
You radical!

erfoud
Apr 11th, 2008, 04:33 PM
I think I hadnīt even heard of that concept -veganism-before I started to get involved in the vegetarian world. I donīt know what the situation is elsewhere, but at least in Spain veganism is alien to most common people

pavotrouge
Apr 12th, 2008, 07:04 AM
it's totally unknown here, too. I grew up in a rural area and don't remember having a vegetarian around me anywhere at no point of time. In the cities, people know what a vegetarian is, but veganism is an entire new concept to them. Many people think it's a religious cult or something.

For now (and hopefully for the future, as well) I have a working environment that's well aware of liberal ideas, so it's fine.

Roxy
Apr 12th, 2008, 07:23 AM
I'd never met a vegan until I became one.

Me neither!

Kitteh
Apr 14th, 2008, 02:46 AM
I'd never met a vegan either before becoming one. I was raised omni and never considered what being vegetarian was. I do remember there being one girl in high school who was vegetarian but most of us were like "do you look out for gelatine in things?" and "your shoes are leather"... but it never occured to me to think about being vegetarian.

Anyway, I was always big on not buying products tested on animals. I used to shop Body Shop and when I read about them being bought by L'Oreal I started googling for alternatives. I found the Choose Cruelty Free website and then started reading about the cruelty of farming and was like :eek:. So I was thinking about becoming vegetarian but knew I couldn't cop out, I had to go it all and be Vegan. So I did, that was August '06. Best decision I made :D.

xErasedCitizenx
Apr 20th, 2008, 10:37 PM
1

Healthy
Apr 21st, 2008, 05:59 PM
I became a vegetarian in 1986 and also conscious of not buying things that tested on animals. I was just not educated enough to be a vegan. The few times I tried, I either gave in to cheese after a few months; or got dizzy from not taking the right vitamins, etc.

Then in later years a lot of the PETA folks turned me off with their over-the-top antics and I didn't want to be associated with that. I even spent time in the PETA house and didn't like the hypocriticism I was exposed to (they used products that tested on animals, wouldn't let me bring my own cat to the house -- only the house mother could keep her cat, etc.)

When I became vegan on my own terms, without it being shoved down my throat by judgmental people, I started to thrive and do more and more and more for the animals (and for myself!)

It's now almost 8 months of pure veganism (no cheats at all) and I'm like, wow, why didn't I do this sooner? :)

I now have proper education on eating right, taking supplements, etc. and it's all second nature :)

DiaShel
Apr 21st, 2008, 06:31 PM
I went to two colleges undergrad. One was very artsy/new age and there were a lot of vegans (not to sterotype but that's how it was). The second was in a really "hippie" town. So I was exposed to a lot of Vegans and everything I'd catch a bit of conversation about why someone was vegan I'm shut down. I didn't want to hear it because I didn't want to change. Sad, but true. Now I go to grad school in a place where NO ONE is vegan and that's when I changed. Weird huh? I read something about health benefits which I'm obsessive about, which led to reading about the environment, which lead to AR, and it all just snowballed. It just made complete sense! I think people just need to be in a place in there lives where they are open to the idea.

heat13
Apr 26th, 2008, 05:46 AM
Sorry, I was trying to keep it simple. My friend was ahead of me in line. When she was checking out, she made a comment about one of the products she was buying and I misheard her, I said "Oh, is it really vegan"? She said "No, it's not vegan! I'm a meatatarian; sorry, honey..."

So that's how the cashier got draw into the conversation. He was just a young kid. I don't think he was even aware of the fact that just about everything I was buying had "100% vegan" on it.

Oh, I wish I had said something... I don't want to be a vegan evangelist. I mean, I actually really do, I really want people to be better informed. But considering how much I detest religious evangelism, I find it difficult to engage in spreading the Vegan Gospel according to Rami to unsuspecting strangers... This is why there will never be a book called "The Acts of Rami".

That is exactly how I feel! I don't want to push anything on people, but at the same time I want to say SOMETHING. A lot of people checking at Whole Foods are just young kids, who actually have no clue about health or veggies/vegans. Although there are some really good employees in the acutal store to help with things.

crazy_vegan
Jul 5th, 2008, 05:58 AM
I have been a vegetarian since I was 9, and I have been a vegan for about a year. (I'm 20 now.) I wasn't really educated on the dairy industry and I thought if they didn't have to KILL the animal that it was ok. But I was verrrrryyyyy wrong! I'm so glad I educated myself and made the switch! ( I also made my boyfriend go vegan! Muahahah)

Ruby Rose
Jul 5th, 2008, 09:39 AM
Why didn't I go vegan sooner than I did? Looking back now, I could bloody kick myself. I suppose there were lots of vague assumptions that I hadn't really thought through properly - that it would be about giving things up that I liked or that made eating out and eating with other people easy; that I'd have to become super-aware and careful about my nutrition; that others would think I was a complete fruitcake rather than just a bit eccentric and difficult; that vegetarian was "doing enough"... but in reality it's because I was too stupidly lazy, and it was easier not to confront the issues of animal welfare and environmental damage that I knew about but didn't want to *know*.

Sarah_
Jul 5th, 2008, 09:52 AM
I wasn't a vegan before I was a vegan because I was raised as an omni and I never really understood how bad it was. I think it'd be so awesome to be one of those folk who were raised vegan. Oh well.

exec
Jul 5th, 2008, 01:54 PM
I had been too selfish to give up the 'good taste' of meat and dairy products. Before turning into vegetarian, and then vegan, I was an inclined 'carnivore' instead of an 'omnivore'. I would not take my meal without meat, and would rant on those greenish veges whenever I saw them in my meal. I have no sensible pretexts, other than 'I was selfish' for what I was.

This thread is a sad one. It raises my bad memories as much as how one scatters garbages around one's house.

KayVegan
Jul 5th, 2008, 03:06 PM
What an interesting question! I spend a lot of time thinking about it and questioning myself why I did not go vegan much sooner than I actually did. Grown up in a meat eating family, I became a vegetarian at the age of 8 and continued being a vegetarian up until about 5.5 years ago. I was so silly to think that being a vegetarian is ethically correct and no animal would get harmed / killed. I feel so ashamed for my stupidity. Of all people, an omnivore made me question my vegetarianism. I changed. On the spot. And became a vegan. So glad I did. It was not difficult at all. Many vegetarian (and definetely omnivores) think that being a vegan means sacrificing but it is not like that at all! The minute I have stopped consuming animal products - milk, cheese, eggs, wool, silk, etc. (leather I did not use either when I was vegetarian) I felt so reliefed and I never sacrifice at all.

Looking back on those many years where I was living life as a vegetarian to me is a loss. Unfo I can not undo that. I wish for more people to make that change and go vegan.

Today I feel strange about vegetarians when they claim to feel so sorry for the animals and do not condone the cruelty but they can not do without animal products.

It is not my intention at all to offend some vegetarians but I hope they can realize the difference. A vegetarian might make a change to the climatic disaster but he / she does not contribute a major change for the animals.

That is why I sympathise with this quote made.



i really hate it when people say that!! Because if they cared enough they would pursue it and work through the 'hard times'

Honestly people!!

vava
Jul 5th, 2008, 04:19 PM
I kept having a recurring dream when I was 26 - I had a son ages 3 and a baby at the time and i said to my then husband I am going vegetarian. His reply was well if you are going to do it, why dont we all do it?

That was a different matter cos I didn't want to do it without researching child nutrition. Did the research and was veggie all that time and felt quite smug about what I was doing for the animals. Brought up 3 veggie children.

Then my friend told me about the Carol Vorderman Detox diet. I tried it for a month and felt great and then I thought hang on I don't want to only feel great when I am on the detox - I want to feel great all the time - what is it about this diet that is different? Apart from honey the penny dropped and I though wow it is easy. I, like everyone else feel like a complete nitwit for not thinking of it sooner but hey! I'M VEGAN NOW! My current husband is omni and so is my stepson and they have no feelings for animals in the way that I have. My 3 children are all still veggie and even tho they prefer some of my cooking they are not inclined to be vegan by the looks of it. still - softly softly catchee monkey as they say!:thumbsup:

erynne936
Jul 6th, 2008, 02:57 AM
to sum it up: cheese addiction. i thought it would be too hard to give up cheese, cream cheese, ice cream. my vegetarian diet of 15 years depended all too much on dairy products. in fact becoming vegan was incredibly easy! 4 months have flown by! my diet is far healthier and a i feel 100% better! i only wish i had done it sooner!

wildcatstrike
Jul 8th, 2008, 01:39 PM
1. because i had no idea what the lives (and deaths) of dairy cows, egg hens etc was like or what happened to their young.

2. because i didn't connect killing to dairy and egg farming (i thought being vegetarian was cruelty-free)

3. because i didn't know you could get vegan custard, vegan milk, vegan sausages, vegan ice cream etc etc etc. and especially not in the supermarkets i was already shopping in anyway.


To sum up.. i knew nothing ABOUT veganism. and for some insane reason had NEVER even thought about it as a vegetarian. i still cannot work out why. i guess quite often it's just about what you know.

BagelKitty
Jul 9th, 2008, 08:11 PM
The reason I wasn't a vegan before:

I was a vegetarian from the time I was 13 (ten years). At 13 I decided I was old enough to make a decision about my health. My parents didn't think I'd stick with it, but since I did, they didn't argue with me. The reason I didn't go full-on vegan is because I used to think milk/butter/honey, etc. came from living animals who did not have to die to give me these things. It wasn't until years later I watched a documentary on how cows have to be constantly pregnant to lactate, and that the living conditions for chickens are abhorent. Bees are often smoked out of their hives. I thought the cows lactated naturally on their own, and that milk was plentiful for humans to take. I didn't realize how cruelly the animals were treated, even if they hadn't been slaughtered yet.

I know I can't change the world, but I don't want a single dollar of mine to support these types of farms.