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Thread: Being a vegan in the U.S.A.?

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    Default Being a vegan in the U.S.A.?

    How do you manage it? Virtually nothing even says 'vegetarian' on it, and yet it could have BHT from an animal source, sugar refined with bone char etc etc etc

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    Default Re: Being a vegan in the U.S.A.?

    Nothing in Italy says Vegetarian or Vegan either. I just read the labels, and try not to get hung up about whether sugar has been processed with bone char and so on... I do my best. I think those from the UK are very lucky; I don't think the rest of the world is so tuned in to vegetarian/vegan issues... Germany maybe.

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    Default Re: Being a vegan in the U.S.A.?

    In my part of the USA all I can do is read the labels and not purchase anything with animal products in it , Of course BOCA and MORNING STAR FARMS is your friend but still read the labels just to make sure. For milk we have SILK which tastes excellent. I dont think the USA is cashed in yet on the possibilities of vegan fare.
    I am the Devil, and I'm here to do the Devils work.

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    phact0rri
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    Default Re: Being a vegan in the U.S.A.?

    you should always read labels no matter what the package says. There are obvious things you can't get away from, like soil with bone char and blood meal. You do what you can. The thing is how far you want to get into the vegan boycott. for example SILK is subsidiary of Dean foods, who are the largest manufacturer of Cow's milk.

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    Default Re: Being a vegan in the U.S.A.?

    I am not to difficult. I really don't take in account if sugar is whitened with animal produkts , I just do my best. Otherwise you might as well stop eating

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    RubyDuby
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    Default Re: Being a vegan in the U.S.A.?

    I'm lucky that the largest chain of grocery stores around here has caught onto the idea and label their animalproduct-free store brand items "vegan". A few years back Wegmans was targetted for inhumane treatment of chickens and a video swept the web. I'm guessing that helped in the new vegan awareness there.

    Whole Foods Market and Trader Joes also label some of their items in the U.S. (none of those around here, unfortunately) and, as others have mentioned, there are specific brands that you can always count on to label, such as Amy's, Gardenburger, Boca, Morning Star, etc.

    With anything else I agree with Fiamma and what others have said. It comes down to trying your best, reading ingredients, and not getting hung up on things that you can't be sure of. It's more about the intention to do no harm. Being ridiculously impossible just makes life hard, doesn't really help the animals, and it looks really difficult to go vegan for anybody else considering the option.
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    Son of Otis Panzer's Avatar
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    Smile Re: Being a vegan in the U.S.A.?

    Quote wendy View Post
    I am not to difficult. I really don't take in account if sugar is whitened with animal produkts , I just do my best. Otherwise you might as well stop eating
    Very good post Wendy , This is what I do I do my best to keep any animal products out of my diet , but I dont go into minute detail because it would just be counter productive and Id starve.
    I am the Devil, and I'm here to do the Devils work.

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    Default Re: Being a vegan in the U.S.A.?

    Quote wendy View Post
    I am not to difficult. I really don't take in account if sugar is whitened with animal produkts , I just do my best. Otherwise you might as well stop eating
    Or try to encourage manufacturers to copy the U.K. labelling

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    Default Re: Being a vegan in the U.S.A.?

    Quote RubyDuby View Post
    I'm lucky that the largest chain of grocery stores around here has caught onto the idea and label their animalproduct-free store brand items "vegan". A few years back Wegmans was targetted for inhumane treatment of chickens and a video swept the web. I'm guessing that helped in the new vegan awareness there.

    Whole Foods Market and Trader Joes also label some of their items in the U.S. (none of those around here, unfortunately) and, as others have mentioned, there are specific brands that you can always count on to label, such as Amy's, Gardenburger, Boca, Morning Star, etc.

    With anything else I agree with Fiamma and what others have said. It comes down to trying your best, reading ingredients, and not getting hung up on things that you can't be sure of. It's more about the intention to do no harm. Being ridiculously impossible just makes life hard, doesn't really help the animals, and it looks really difficult to go vegan for anybody else considering the option.
    But then in reality it IS difficult to go vegan in the USA - so why pretend otherwise? I heard that beet sugar is not made with animal stuff, dunno. And found ONE expensive cereal that didn't have BHT. No bread though, apart from one that didn't look nice.

    Saying you might as well not bother about whether a product has any animal stuff in it is like saying as a vegetarian, when buying fries, you might as well not bother asking whether they're cooked in animal fat - and if you're not going to bother about whether something is vegetarian or vegan or not, how can you possibly say you're a vegetarian or vegan? And if it IS difficult to know whether food has animal products in it, then it is difficult ot be a vegan - so telling people it isn't difficult is just lying.

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    Quote LionSpirit View Post
    How do you manage it? Virtually nothing even says 'vegetarian' on it, and yet it could have BHT from an animal source, sugar refined with bone char etc etc etc
    Living in the US using strict vegan standards is impossible unless one privately imports all their food from the UK or other labeling countries and only eats that. Obviously that's tremendously expensive and not very eco-friendly considering the carbon footprint of the transportation costs.

    I think we all (speaking about everyone all over the planet) have to make concessions for the environment we live in.

    P.S. I'm not sure if you selected "BHT" as a random example of "chemicals they put in food in the US one would need to scrutinize personally if the Vegan Society or the store one was buying it from hadn't already done so for you", but to the best of my knowledge BHT is always vegan. The four main ingredients which would make scrutinizing American foods virtually impossible are sugar (may have been bone char filtered), salt (many brands such as Morton's have added dextrose which also may have been bone char filtered), the ubiquitous "natural flavoring" (which can be almost anything and may change week to week so emailing them is pointless in my personal opinion), and flour (which often contains mono and diglycerides, DATEM, stearoyl lactate, l-cysteine or other iffy compounds).
    Last edited by Mahk; Oct 5th, 2009 at 06:26 PM.

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    Default Re: Being a vegan in the U.S.A.?

    It is so not hard to be Vegan in the USA. I think its a piece of Vegan cake
    "i'm rejecting my reflection, cause i hate the way it judges me."

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    Default Re: Being a vegan in the U.S.A.?

    It's super easy, until you want something like pre-mixed pancakes. But for the most part I'm happy with a basket full of stuff from the produce section.

    If you want junk or don't want to bother cooking is when you run into any real issues. The easiest way to have junk is to eat the vegan chocolate chips by themselves, or make the cookies yourself. Or just avoid it altogether.

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    Default Re: Being a vegan in the U.S.A.?

    I think it is only difficult to be vegan if you make it difficult.
    Who really benefits if you meticously investigate everything you eat?
    I don't think that is a good example for other people and it discourages people to go vegan. Because who would want to live like that?
    I personally think it does more bad then good to freak about everything you eat.

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    Default Re: Being a vegan in the U.S.A.?

    I totally agree with residualvisuals. It is easy if you make it easy. Eat foods you know are vegan. I think it's amazing of how many of us rely on met substitutes and whatnot. Fresh fruits and vegetables, legumes and beans and whole grains. You can make a ton of stuff with things you know are vegan and really good for you.
    And white sugar is terrible anyway.
    pro-vegetable

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    RubyDuby
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    Default Re: Being a vegan in the U.S.A.?

    Quote LionSpirit View Post
    I heard that beet sugar is not made with animal stuff, dunno. And found ONE expensive cereal that didn't have BHT. No bread though, apart from one that didn't look nice..
    It's pretty easy to get vegan sugar on it's own. I think most of us were referring to sugar as an ingredient. Where did you have such trouble finding cereal and bread? The U.S. is pretty big... as I'm sure you know...

    Quote LionSpirit View Post
    Saying you might as well not bother about whether a product has any animal stuff in it is like saying as a vegetarian, when buying fries, you might as well not bother asking whether they're cooked in animal fat - and if you're not going to bother about whether something is vegetarian or vegan or not, how can you possibly say you're a vegetarian or vegan?
    Who said "not to bother about whether a product has animal stuff in it"? It's just a few small ingredients at the bottom of lists of ingredients (which Mahk covered) and it's easy enough to A.) when possible not buy food with those items, or B.) when you do have to purchase one of those items that may or may not have a miniscule amount of animal product in it realize you're not contributing to animal suffering.
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    Default Re: Being a vegan in the U.S.A.?

    I find it really easy to be a vegan in the US. I don't buy a lot of prepackaged stuff though and the ones I do buy are natural, usually organic, and vegan. The bigger problem I've found is avoiding hydrogenated oil as that seems to be in everything, even some of the tofutti sour creams and cream cheeses.


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    Default Re: Being a vegan in the U.S.A.?

    since ive found all of the uses of tofu and how versitile it can be its got alot easier for me. Between fresh veggies, tofu , and Boca products I can survive albeit with a smaller menue than when I was an omni. It all has to fit into my budget tho and I have to remind myself my main reason for becoming vegan was my health , secondly for the animals....So I live vegan and healthy and all is well with the world.
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    veganmatters sparklingsights's Avatar
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    Default Re: Being a vegan in the U.S.A.?

    I live in Canada but in matters such as this it's basically the same.. ha. I 100% agree with what fiamma said, this is pretty much exactly what my reply was going to be :
    Quote fiamma View Post
    I just read the labels, and try not to get hung up about whether sugar has been processed with bone char and so on... I do my best. I think those from the UK are very lucky; I don't think the rest of the world is so tuned in to vegetarian/vegan issues...
    Some products do have a 'vegan' label but it's not required by any law and it's really only from the companies that are really into supporting this niche market (dare I call it that). Who knows, maybe those products are even from the UK... I really have no idea.



    Quote phact0rri View Post
    for example SILK is subsidiary of Dean foods, who are the largest manufacturer of Cow's milk.
    WOW, really? I didn't know that... yuck. Makes me glad I switched over from Silk soy milk to an almond milk months ago for other reasons... but now I'm thinking I'll have to research where my almond milk comes from!

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    RubyDuby
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    Default Re: Being a vegan in the U.S.A.?

    Quote Panzer View Post
    since ive found all of the uses of tofu and how versitile it can be its got alot easier for me. Between fresh veggies, tofu , and Boca products I can survive albeit with a smaller menue than when I was an omni. It all has to fit into my budget tho and I have to remind myself my main reason for becoming vegan was my health , secondly for the animals....So I live vegan and healthy and all is well with the world.
    with so many fruits and veggies, different grains, etc, out there your menu could be so much bigger! Unless you don't cook I guess...
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    Default Re: Being a vegan in the U.S.A.?

    Quote wendy View Post
    I think it is only difficult to be vegan if you make it difficult.
    Who really benefits if you meticously investigate everything you eat?
    I don't think that is a good example for other people and it discourages people to go vegan. Because who would want to live like that?
    I personally think it does more bad then good to freak about everything you eat.
    If you're not going to make an effort to be a vegan, you might as well buy chips (or fries) without bothering to check what they've been cooked in.

    Tricking people into following an "almost-vegan" version of veganism does not make being a vegan any easier. If being aware of ingredients discourages people, then so be it. It's easy to be a vegan in the U.K., so it makes sense to say that. It's nigh impossible to be a vegan in Antarctica, so it makes sense to say that. And if it's difficult to be a vegan in the U.S.A., it makes sense to say that instead of making false claims.

    By the logic that appears to have been used in your question about who benefits... meat-eaters are right when they say "who benefits if you stop eating animal products but loads of animal products still get eaten (by other people)?". In both cases, animals benefit - in the former case, in response to your question, animals benefit due to less animal products being demanded.

    Quote burl View Post
    I totally agree with residualvisuals. It is easy if you make it easy. Eat foods you know are vegan. I think it's amazing of how many of us rely on met substitutes and whatnot. Fresh fruits and vegetables, legumes and beans and whole grains. You can make a ton of stuff with things you know are vegan and really good for you.
    And white sugar is terrible anyway.
    I do eat a lot of junk. Used to it in the U.K., as it's incredibly easy even if you don't shop at a supermarket that labels most vegan foods as vegan.

    Quote RubyDuby View Post
    It's pretty easy to get vegan sugar on it's own. I think most of us were referring to sugar as an ingredient. Where did you have such trouble finding cereal and bread? The U.S. is pretty big... as I'm sure you know...
    Walmart. Was trying to find out if the sugar used was refined with bone char - I would have to ask for each individual product. Also, didn't know that BHT is now usually vegan. The only other supermarket (or, due to the size of American things, probably a mini-supermarket) was Piggly Wiggly's.

    Who said "not to bother about whether a product has animal stuff in it"? It's just a few small ingredients at the bottom of lists of ingredients (which Mahk covered) and it's easy enough to A.) when possible not buy food with those items, or B.) when you do have to purchase one of those items that may or may not have a miniscule amount of animal product in it realize you're not contributing to animal suffering.
    The people who suggested that not being concerned about whether a product has an animal ingredient in it, essentially therefore said don't bother about it.

    If it's "just a few ingredients", then by that logic surely it's O.K. to eat pizza with "just a bit of cheese" on it or spaghetti with "just a bit of meat in the sauce"?

    By buying products that have animal products in them, I am contributing to the suffering of the animal(s) who were exploited to make those products.

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    Default Re: Being a vegan in the U.S.A.?

    i don't think they were saying that they eat intentionally stuff that isn't vegan. they were saying that they do their best to be Vegan, which is all anyone can do.


    And you know, not to be rude but don't you think the people that are actually living in the US would have a better idea of how difficult to live here as a vegan? And I think that most of us if not all of us find it pretty simple.
    "i'm rejecting my reflection, cause i hate the way it judges me."

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    RubyDuby
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    Default Re: Being a vegan in the U.S.A.?

    I think s/he is saying it isn't possible therefore we aren't vegan... I wish I could find that thread Korn posted a while back about being a self-defeating microgram counting vegan... anyone know where it went? I can't remember the exact words used in the title.

    ETA: found it. Here
    Last edited by RubyDuby; Oct 6th, 2009 at 08:07 PM.
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    RubyDuby
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    Default Re: Being a vegan in the U.S.A.?

    LionSpirit- you've made blanket statements about "America" in a couple of threads now making it very clear you are anti-American on a board that has quite a few American members. Are you intentionally being rude and looking for a fight or are you honestly asking a sincere question?

    When I asked you where you were I meant where in America. If there was a Piggly Wiggly I'm assuming you were in the South? Either way, surely there was more than just a Wal-Mart and Piggly Wiggly to choose from. Did you not have access to the internet to look up a health food store?
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    veganmatters sparklingsights's Avatar
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    Default Re: Being a vegan in the U.S.A.?

    Quote RubyDuby View Post
    with so many fruits and veggies, different grains, etc, out there your menu could be so much bigger! Unless you don't cook I guess...
    I hate cooking but I live in a hotel 5 out of 7 days of the week so it's pretty much impossible anyway. A surprising amount of yummy veggies can be cooked to perfection in the microwave, as I've had to discover.

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    veganmatters sparklingsights's Avatar
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    Default Re: Being a vegan in the U.S.A.?

    LionSpirit - Being vegan in North America is relatively difficult if you intend to survive on processed/pre-packaged food and snacks. If you make most of your own food from typical, raw ingredients - nope, not difficult at all!

    Case closed?

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    Default Re: Being a vegan in the U.S.A.?

    ...i can find a bunch of pre packaged processed crap... I mean as far as I'm aware I think the UK has more but I still find my fair share.
    "i'm rejecting my reflection, cause i hate the way it judges me."

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    veganmatters sparklingsights's Avatar
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    Default Re: Being a vegan in the U.S.A.?

    Oh me too, but the person who is asking apparently shops at Walmart, and places like that typically don't have a wide selection. Hence the 'relatively' difficult... depends where you want to shop!
    Last edited by sparklingsights; Oct 6th, 2009 at 08:40 PM. Reason: typo

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    veganmatters sparklingsights's Avatar
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    Default Re: Being a vegan in the U.S.A.?

    Actually it depends where you are on the continent as well - I recently visited California and found that it catered the vegan/vegetarian/healthy lifestyle much better than anything in my region! I enjoyed it so much I considered moving there, ha!

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    Default Re: Being a vegan in the U.S.A.?

    i hear that Oregon is even better!
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    Default Re: Being a vegan in the U.S.A.?

    When I was in Seattle a few years ago, I wanted to move THERE.


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    Default Re: Being a vegan in the U.S.A.?

    And FYI, Walmart is not an ethical company no matter which way you slice it, so if at all possible try to avoid shopping there.
    "i'm rejecting my reflection, cause i hate the way it judges me."

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    Default Re: Being a vegan in the U.S.A.?

    ^Ditto. I've been biting my tongue trying not to say that.


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    Default Re: Being a vegan in the U.S.A.?

    meh. it needs to be said.

    however it does put people in an awful situation because since Walmart has put other small businesses out of business some people have no choice but to shop there. especially in the midwest.
    "i'm rejecting my reflection, cause i hate the way it judges me."

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    veganmatters sparklingsights's Avatar
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    Default Re: Being a vegan in the U.S.A.?

    Quote missbettie View Post
    i hear that Oregon is even better!
    Quote veganwitch View Post
    When I was in Seattle a few years ago, I wanted to move THERE.
    I don't know what the west coast of North America is doing but they're doing it right! Must be something in the water, ha! Vancouver is really awesome for that kind of thing as well... the weather's not as nice as California but at least it's still in my own country.

    Quote missbettie View Post
    And FYI, Walmart is not an ethical company no matter which way you slice it, so if at all possible try to avoid shopping there.
    UGH no kidding. That place is the devil. I used to work there, when I was in University (summer and Christmas holidays). I knew it was the devil the entire time but unfortunately needed money for tuition (which, got me the type of job now that I can actually do some real good for the environment, so hey). Aside from being ethically disgusting they're just creepy... the training is basically brainwashing, there's a cheer, and more brainwashing, and... *shudder* I'm so glad to be out of there.

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    Default Re: Being a vegan in the U.S.A.?

    Quote RubyDuby View Post
    LionSpirit- you've made blanket statements about "America" in a couple of threads now making it very clear you are anti-American on a board that has quite a few American members. Are you intentionally being rude and looking for a fight or are you honestly asking a sincere question?

    When I asked you where you were I meant where in America. If there was a Piggly Wiggly I'm assuming you were in the South? Either way, surely there was more than just a Wal-Mart and Piggly Wiggly to choose from. Did you not have access to the internet to look up a health food store?
    I aint got much time to reply as using a public computer and about to be logged off but are you serious? Or do you just hate non-Americans and are using this thread as an excuse to attack their sincerity or something?

    I was asking a genuine question. Funny, I thought that was one of the aims of message boards. Should I just agree with everything someone says now?

    And I said nothing bad anti-American. It was simply about it being difficult to be a vegan there.

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    Default Re: Being a vegan in the U.S.A.?

    Quote LionSpirit View Post
    I aint got much time to reply as using a public computer and about to be logged off but are you serious? Or do you just hate non-Americans and are using this thread as an excuse to attack their sincerity or something?
    I'm sorry I agree with Ruby and I'm happy she said it. And if she hated non-Americans she definately would not be using VF.

    We gave you our answers about what we thought and you were rude back. If you don't want our opinions or to listen to what we have to say, don't ask.
    "i'm rejecting my reflection, cause i hate the way it judges me."

  37. #37
    RubyDuby
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    Default Re: Being a vegan in the U.S.A.?

    (thanks missb)

    Quote LionSpirit View Post
    I was asking a genuine question. Funny, I thought that was one of the aims of message boards. Should I just agree with everything someone says now?

    And I said nothing bad anti-American. It was simply about it being difficult to be a vegan there.
    Of course you can disagree, but it doesn't seem like you're reading what we're saying... or maybe you're just misunderstanding what we're saying???
    If your intention was just to say it is difficult I guess it came across wrong.
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    Default Re: Being a vegan in the U.S.A.?

    I just eat mostly whole foods, but most packaged stuff I do buy has simple ingredients. I wouldn't be buying stuff with BHT, etc in it. And many companies do have a big "V" for vegan on their packaging.
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    Default Re: Being a vegan in the U.S.A.?

    Quote LionSpirit View Post
    But then in reality it IS difficult to go vegan in the USA - so why pretend otherwise? I heard that beet sugar is not made with animal stuff, dunno. And found ONE expensive cereal that didn't have BHT. No bread though, apart from one that didn't look nice.
    Even in the regular supermarkets here, non-white/refined sugar products abound, and there are TONS of organic cereals and breads without preservatives. If I buy something sweetened it's often made with cane juice. Heck, even corn syrup is vegan (gross, but vegan!).
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    Son of Otis Panzer's Avatar
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    Default Re: Being a vegan in the U.S.A.?

    I dont like wal mart for my own personal reasons but they have ran every other buisness under that is withing 100 miles of me..I have to drive 25 just to get to the nearest town which has a wal mart. My only other option is Krogers and they dont even have tofu. so I am stuck shopping at wal mart.
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    Default Re: Being a vegan in the U.S.A.?

    LionSpirit you live in the UK which is very sensitive to the vegan/vegetarian issue, so it seems to me you are doing nothing other than sitting in your ivory tower and attacking people in countries less fortunate than yours from a veg point of view, on issues they can do very little about.

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    Default Re: Being a vegan in the U.S.A.?

    Quote missbettie View Post
    I'm sorry I agree with Ruby and I'm happy she said it. And if she hated non-Americans she definately would not be using VF.

    We gave you our answers about what we thought and you were rude back. If you don't want our opinions or to listen to what we have to say, don't ask.
    Well if someone not agreeing automatically with everything someone else says is "rude" in your opinion, then I feel sorry for you when you come across actual rudeness. People will blatantly say to you "you're wrong", "that's stupid", or much worse than simply responding to viewpoints.

    As for "ivory tower" - NO. I was HOPING to get some advice about living as a vegan in the U.S.A. as I'll be holidaying there soon (obviously my reason for holidaying there must because I hate Americans so much). What I got was, to shorten all the responses down, basically "don't bother trying", "you hate Americans", "you're not American so you must think you're better than Americans". I guess those who posted the responses maybe just automatically see any debate about anything related to American as an attack on America.

    I said NOTHING anti-American. I spoke about the difficulties of being a VEGAN in America - I could have just as easily said Peru, except that would be irrelevant for me personally.

    Just because a person says something about a particular topic within a country, that does not mean they are anti-that country. If the reverse was true, then vegans would all be anti-American as most Americans eat animal products.

    Not everything said about America is automatically anti-American just because it comes from a non-American.

    And RubyDuby, where exactly have I made "a couple" of threads about America? I have posted in FOUR threads - this one, which I think should now be obvious is not an attack on America. One asking for advice on using Amsterdam Schiphol airport. Both of these were threads created by me. I have also posted in a thread about past tattoos, asking someone if they were sure the BRITISH National Health Service would remove tattoos for anything other than health reasons, and I have posted in the thread 'The "duty" of beauty' - and nothing posted in there was in any way even RELATED to America.

    Using the tactic of making things up to make a newcomer look bad is probably a useful tactic normally - they're a newcomer, so haven't gained anyone's trust. And you've been here longer, so some people would probably automatically believe you without checking things out. But making things up is not much use when the newcomer can quite easily counter what you say - WITH EVIDENCE. People can use the Advanced Search to look for all posts made by me, and see exactly what I have written - and exactly what I HAVEN'T written too.

    And no, there was not more than a Walmart and a PigglyWiggly to do general shopping at - there was a McDonald's, some takeaways, and a chemist. No health food store. And I checked before I even arrived there, AND looked around, with the help of a local.

    Thank you to those who gave useful advice rather than sitting at your computers and judging - especially Panzer, Mahk, burl, veganf, and sparklingsights. And mahk, didn't mean to contradict you in a previous post by saying "usually" instead of "always" in reference to BHT - probably didn't have much time to check properly what you had said (though I did read it properly originally). Sorry about that.

  43. #43
    residualvisuals's Avatar
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    Default Re: Being a vegan in the U.S.A.?

    Quote Panzer View Post
    I dont like wal mart for my own personal reasons but they have ran every other buisness under that is withing 100 miles of me..I have to drive 25 just to get to the nearest town which has a wal mart. My only other option is Krogers and they dont even have tofu. so I am stuck shopping at wal mart.
    So uh... yeah. WV continues to live up to its reputation, LOL

    I hear you guys get some awesome snow up in the mountains though. My family and I want to go over and camp out.

  44. #44
    Son of Otis Panzer's Avatar
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    Smile Re: Being a vegan in the U.S.A.?

    Quote residualvisuals View Post
    So uh... yeah. WV continues to live up to its reputation, LOL

    I hear you guys get some awesome snow up in the mountains though. My family and I want to go over and camp out.
    I live on top of a mountain 11 miles out in the woods. Its beautiful here in the winter when the snow and ice blankets everything. Sometimes we get snowed in for a week at a time without electricity tho , but the beauty of the place makes up for that. I love my wv mountain /forest world here lol.
    I am the Devil, and I'm here to do the Devils work.

  45. #45
    RubyDuby
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    Default Re: Being a vegan in the U.S.A.?

    LionSpirit- To clear up any confusion I was referring to an irrelevent comment you made regarding how Americans don't know what vegetarian means in the now deleted "suitable for vegetarian" thread, as well as the comments in this thread (putting words in our mouths about not bothering to find out where animal products came from, and implying that everything in America is huge).

    I'm sorry, but I am not going to fight with you.

    If you would like advice on how to find vegan items in the U.S. it would be useful to say where you will be staying... as I said before America is huge. That's not a question that just anybody from America can answer for you.
    Each snowflake in an avalanche pleads not guilty.

  46. #46
    RubyDuby
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    Default Re: Being a vegan in the U.S.A.?

    Quote Panzer View Post
    I live on top of a mountain 11 miles out in the woods. Its beautiful here in the winter when the snow and ice blankets everything. Sometimes we get snowed in for a week at a time without electricity tho , but the beauty of the place makes up for that. I love my wv mountain /forest world here lol.
    That sounds like heaven!

    I was thinking you could probably find bags of Goya beans and grains to expand your menu a little. We don't eat quite that healthy in my house, but we buy those for the dogs and sometimes use them to make big batches of soup. (split pea, barley, lentil, black bean, brown rice..)
    Each snowflake in an avalanche pleads not guilty.

  47. #47
    Son of Otis Panzer's Avatar
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    Default Re: Being a vegan in the U.S.A.?

    We eat alot of beans here on the mountain, I have never tried or even heard of goya beans. I do love black beans and brown rice and another favorite of mine is brown beans and sourkrout mixed together, the flavors compliment eachother.
    I am the Devil, and I'm here to do the Devils work.

  48. #48
    RubyDuby
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    Default Re: Being a vegan in the U.S.A.?

    I love sauerkraut... never tried it w beans! I was thinking Goya would be easy to find in the pre-measured bags, but whatever works I guess.
    Last edited by RubyDuby; Oct 10th, 2009 at 01:06 PM.
    Each snowflake in an avalanche pleads not guilty.

  49. #49
    phact0rri
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    Default Re: Being a vegan in the U.S.A.?

    I never thought inspecting a foodstuffs before putting it into ones cart is a vegan-centric thing. I think people should always investigate before buying anything. I mean there's all sorts of horrible things in processed foods I'd never put in my body... vegan or otherwise.

  50. #50
    residualvisuals's Avatar
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    Default Re: Being a vegan in the U.S.A.?

    Quote phact0rri View Post
    I never thought inspecting a foodstuffs before putting it into ones cart is a vegan-centric thing. I think people should always investigate before buying anything. I mean there's all sorts of horrible things in processed foods I'd never put in my body... vegan or otherwise.
    Yeah. It's pretty amazing some of the things they put on the shelves. Like Twinkies, for example.

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