How do you look at your past as a meateater?

[Kevster]

i disagree. few parents will let their children starve to death. if a child wants to quit meat bad enough all they have to do is refuse and they will get their way. if only kids weren't so defeatest

The oppression that children face in front of parents/teachers/adults in general, is massive. It cheers me to see children rebelling against conformity, but it is a mountain to climb. I think it is very difficult for younger people to take a different path from their parents, they are rarely supported to do this.

[Kevster]

Then they would be breaking up with them over something which was a 'personal choice', something which wasn't directly affecting them, but still they dislike it so much that they break up.

Bingo! This is one of the central points of animal rights, albeit in a different context. The problem is that the suffering of animals does not affect us directly, it is not as if we are fighting for our rights or our freedoms. Or even of those of our brothers or sisters, this is what is often so hard for people to understand. They'd fight for themselves but not for others of a different species.

Meat eaters should not be tolerated, i don't think that is a good word to use, perhaps accepted at present, but as it is something that i fundamentally disagree with, that is the phenomenal level of suffering that they are directly responsible. Animals do not want vegan tolerance, they want to be free from suffering inflicted on them by human beings. Of course, if they just wanted to walk into labs and slaughterhouses i would think differently.
My Dad eats meat and some of my friends eat meat too, and i accept it. But if i were tolerant i would say nothing, i would not speak out against their actions.

[Tombstone]

Generally, I'd use the word 'tolerate' to mean that you 'agree to disagree' or whatever, over something trivial. For instance, if I am at my friend's house, and he puts Stargate SG:1 on the TV, and I don't like it, rather than walk out of the house, I tolerate it. But I don't think he's bad for watching SG:1, I don't like the show personally, but I'm not going to judge him for it, and I'll tolerate being there while it happens even though it's a little irritating.

Eating meat, while it is something that I know is happening everywhere, is something that I morally disagree with. I do accept that it happens, and I don't flip out and start elbowing people in the top of the head whenever I see them eating meat, but I am very aware that I don't agree with what's happening. This is different to tolerating it, the word toleration suggests some okayness about the situation, and I don't see that it's okay at all.

Like when I was at school, there was one time that a bunch of bullies were picking on this kid, there were about 5 of them, and they were being totally mean to him, and pushed him against the wall and stuff. I hated it, but I felt there wasn't anything I could do about it. That doesn't mean that I tolerate it, it just means that I can't do anything about it.

[VeganMan]

...I think it is very difficult for younger people to take a different path from their parents, they are rarely supported to do this.

I couldn't agree more. Children of Vegan parents don't have this problem and I think we need more of them.

That's why it sickens me when people suggest that Vegans shouldn't reproduce. Even if I hated humanity I could never go along with this view.

As long as Vegans remain such a small minority of the general populous, (almost all) children will have to grow up choosing between fitting in and doing what is right.

[sugarmouse]

i was too young to know better!but im proud i stopped eating meat so young.i should have become a vegan a lot earlier and to this day i am not really sure why i didnt!

[moochbabe]

i see the time that i was not a vegan as a time when i was learning, forming my own opinions, and was not yet enlightened to the knowledge i know now. i see omnis the same way, as people that do not have the knowledge to stop, and if they do, they do not have the necessary resources (whether it be nutritional knowledge or whatever it is) they have been trained by society that meat is essential to health, and for me to feel anger at them for their ignorance would be like me feeling anger at someone for not being able to speak the same language as me.

[dreama]

If someone doesn't know what meat is, I can't hate them, or even blame them. And if they are so young and impressionable that they are being dominated by parents, friends, teachers etc, I can't blame them. And if they are brain-damanged or otherwise mentally unable to consider what's happening, I can't blame them.

What about if they are sensory impaired and the only information about why meat is wrong is in a format that they can't read?

For example I used to think that cows just gave milk naturally. I didn't know about them having to give birth or anything like that. Their is nothing about it in Braille. Most of the books I read with cows in do not mention a cows trama at loosing its baby. In fact none of them do except the ones connected to Animal rights. Most books would make you believe the cows just produce milk as if by magic. But thats only an excuse really.

I'll have to confess that I only became Pasco vegitarian in my 20's and I've only been vegan for 3 years.

What do people think about people who wear fur/leather. My friend who helps me with the chinchillas has this fur collar on her coat. She assures me that its fake but I still find it horrible. Although I used to wear leather and even fur at one point. Now I can't even stand touching leather never mind fur.

[Cherry]

i see the time that i was not a vegan as a time when i was learning, forming my own opinions, and was not yet enlightened to the knowledge i know now..

I feel a bit like this too Mooch. I feel a bit ashamed of the things I ate and the way I thought, but I was just a child and it was a learning curve. Even when I did want to become vegetarian (not until I was about 12) I wasn't able to stand up to my parents and wasn't fully vegetarian until I was 16.

My family and friends know how I feel about the meat and dairy industries and I don't feel I need to keep reminding them about it. I don't hate them for doing it. I see all meat eaters as potential vegetarians/vegans and am waiting for reality to dawn on them.

Obviously that doesn't ever happen to the majority of people and it does depress me a little when people really do seem to understand the suffering they're causing and STILL continue to eat meat.

[Pilaf]

I see myself as misguided back then. I claimed Straight Edge for years..so proud of my imagined "bodily purity" that I never stopped to think that maybe eating meat was polluting me both spiritually and physically. I'm proud of the decision I made, but I realize I was ignorant and misinformed beforehand.

[Zandi]

I see meateaters as ignorant and, sometimes, selfish. I know that's terrible because not too long ago I was doing the same thing! It's just very hard to watch now though. I am disgusted by the commercials on tv that show meats and dairy, and I feel how much it influences people and perpetuates the problems. I feel a cynical toward "animal lovers" who eat meat now. I definitely do not want this negativity and will try to find a way to resolve these things I feel like disappointment, anger, sadness, frustration...etc...

My most difficult challenge is when someone I know (who knows I am vegan) teases me about the meat they are eating. You know, the people who possibly feel threatened and judged so try to make a big joke about killing animals for their taste buds. I really get enraged at them describing, supposedly in jest, how good the steak is. I want to lash out because I think of the entire cow there and want to appologize to the cow and say that we are not all that horrible!! I cannot show rage or else the taunter feels "they got me!" I have to act like it doesn't hurt and just keep stating facts about why I choose what I choose. ARGH!! It's the toughest part of veganism for me....the meateaters.

[Seaside]

My most difficult challenge is when someone I know (who knows I am vegan) teases me about the meat they are eating. You know, the people who possibly feel threatened and judged so try to make a big joke about killing animals for their taste buds.

I know what you mean, Zandi. I rarely encounter one of these sorts of people who isn't suffering from some kind of appearance challenge due to their poor diet, and my trouble is not making angry comments about the animals they are eating, but bringing up, in a similar joking way, the pimples, pock-marks, greasy hair, cellulite, etc. that they could improve if they gave up the animal products. I'm not saying I am perfect, but people do envy my skin and hair, and are usually shocked if I tell them my true age, and I feel that these are some of the more superficial rewards of veganism. I don't ordinarily care about these kinds of things, as appearances do not matter much to me, but I know they matter to others. So far I have resisted all urges to laugh along with them and drop jokes about their dandruff or whatever. It would be too mean.

[Zandi]

I rarely encounter one of these sorts of people who isn't suffering from some kind of appearance challenge due to their poor diet...

Lol!! Appearance challenged! That's great!! (and so true!) I need to figure out how to be as calm as lots of people here seem to be though...and non judgemental too. When teased about the meat, I think to myself about the cholesterol meds they will eventually be on for life and I feel better. (lol!!) I get the attacks at home too, so it's particularly hard when it's never ending!

When I first mentioned that I do not eat meat and dairy, my "friend" said to me that I'd better get all my arguments ready to defend myself because I need to be able to answer everything correctly when making my points. I asked sarcastically who I was expected to battle with when I was simply doing this for myself?? It's odd how you can upset a meat-eater by simply saying you choose not to eat meat. So if I'm overly negative toward meat eaters, it's because I have been hearing nothing but taunting from them. I'm happy to have come here though and have such a wonderful group of people to listen to and write to!

I'm not saying I am perfect, but people do envy my skin and hair, and are usually shocked if I tell them my true age, and I feel that these are some of the more superficial rewards of veganism. I don't ordinarily care about these kinds of things, as appearances do not matter much to me, but I know they matter to others. So far I have resisted all urges to laugh along with them and drop jokes about their dandruff or whatever. It would be too mean.

Awww! I'm sure you are gorgeous on the inside and out and if you need to drop jokes now and then to defend yourself...so be it! I feel your presence will speak for itself though!

[Seaside]

When teased about the meat, I think to myself about the cholesterol meds they will eventually be on for life and I feel better. (lol!!)

I think about colostomy bags myself.

I get the attacks at home too, so it's particularly hard when it's never ending!

That sucks. I am so grateful that my family has never given me trouble.

When I first mentioned that I do not eat meat and dairy, my "friend" said to me that I'd better get all my arguments ready to defend myself because I need to be able to answer everything correctly when making my points. I asked sarcastically who I was expected to battle with when I was simply doing this for myself??

That's a very good point. You shouldn't have to prove yourself to anyone.

[greenworlds]

I look at my meat eating past as the 'dark age' of my life, I'm glad to be living in the 'enlightened' stage now.I sometimes feel vegans are ahead of our time almost caught in a time warp when I see people eating animals and when passing butchers etc, I now view omnis much like I view canibal tribes.It is saddening and far too serious an issue to view eating animals and veganism as a matter of choice, or any of those views like 'live and let live' etc. (In an idea world 'live and let live' would include other animals). I think we should do all we can to encourage omnis to realise how serious a thing eating animals is.

[akaredarcher]

I've come back to veganism after a 6 month reversion to an omni diet with disastrous effects! First day was difficult, second day challenging, third day barely had to think about it, fourth day - well & truly back on the wagon Now I look at people eating meat. dairy etc and I feel sorry for them. Knowing I still have meat in my freezer almost makes me want to cry. Haven't decided how to handle my omni boyfriend eating meat. I've been avoiding mentioning meat around mealtimes. I've just been cooking vegan meals & he hasn't said anything yet. I've always cooked lots of vegetarian food - maybe he just hasn't noticed the meat avoidance??

I feel really frustrated thinking about my boyfriends 2 little nephews (they love sausages, cheese & a pressed lunchmeat referred to variably as 'fritz', 'devon' & other things depending on which state of Australia you happen to live in - it's completely revolting). They have 'issues' going to the toilet because of eating these foods too - constipation in young children, what joy My decision to bring up vegan children (when the time comes, probably just a couple more years...) is a definite one.

Another thin with veganism - for me, it may not be the 'easiest' way to live my life in the society in which I live but just because something's easy/easier, doesn't make it right.

Diana
akaredarcher

[BadBoredBony]

Flesh eating zombies.

I've always tried to respect other people's viewpoints and not judge them, but the more I see and hear about animal suffering, the more it sickens me that people eat meat. I never preach to people, but at the same time, I can't help how it makes me feel inside. When I see people eating meat, I see it both as dead, decomposing corpse flesh and I also see the living sentient creature it once was and how it was slaughtered and everything - that just makes me so angry when I know all that suffering and death is needless.

aye... totally agree with what you said... i never try to judge people... as i hate people judging me... but i more and more experience that meat-eaters do have a go at me, even tho i do not judge or preach my believes, they think that all vegans are militant or something... i dunno... but it makes me sad that people seem to have so little understanding for a cruelty-free lifestyle

bbb
xxx

[lozza]

looking at my past, i feel like i used to be so naive and just so unaware of everything.

i found a video of me at age 12 or so, at xmas, eating a piece of ham & going "look at this *oink oink* it used to be alive!"

i cant believe that i would ever actually do or say something like that! i think i went vegetarian shortly after that. but i just feel like i used to be so naive..and i kinda wish i hadnt been a child that was brought up on meat eggs & dairy..and didnt used to go KFC when me & my brother were kids.

i still have vivid memories of my mum taking me to whimpy and it always being a really happy occassion..like getting a whimpy burger was always a treat! my parents say they tried to bring me up to eat veggies (i never ate any as a child! i hated them!) but i remember so vividly all these bad foods they used to feed me.

i'm not blaming them for anything though..how could i? look at the way i turned out..no one else in my family is like me. i think i was adopted :P aside from the vegan things, i'm the only one in my family who doesnt smoke, i'm not addicted to anything, i'm the only one who eats healthy, i care about animals, and the environment. no one else in my family cares about any of that stuff. although my brother has issues with big corporations, and consumerism..i guess thats one thing we share.

[tabitha]

I thought about being vegetarian years ago and it always bothered me about the makeup being tested on animals, but I shut it out of my mind. Thats what really bothers me the most. I could have bought my children up vegan if I had done this in my 20s. It makes me very sad.

[lozza]

i used to think that too - about the animal testing. even as a child (not a very young child but still as a youngster), i knew most make up was tested on animals. but i just put it out of my mind cos i thought "theres nothing i can do about it" - i didnt realise i could choose NOT to buy products i didnt agree with!

i wish i'd had some influence off my parents..then i wouldnt feel so alone about being a vegan!

[Kiran]

Good for me, I never have to look at that past because I did not have that. I consider myself lucky to have been in that position. I was born vegetarian, so the transition from a veggie to veganism was not hard for me.

Even as a veggie, we were not allowed to eat eggs. So milk was the main non-vegan element I consumed as a vegetarian. I am currently telling my veggie parents to go vegan. But I am not sure if they can do it.
.

[lozza]

Good for me, I never have to look at that past because I did not have that. I consider myself lucky to have been in that position. I was born vegetarian, so the transition from a veggie to veganism was not hard for me.

Even as a veggie, we were not allowed to eat eggs. So milk was the main non-vegan element I consumed as a vegetarian. I am currently telling my veggie parents to go vegan. But I am not sure if they can do it.
.

why werent you allowed eggs?
i think if you can do it, they can do it..you can be a good example to them

[Kiran]

why werent you allowed eggs?

Eggs prohibited for the Hindu priestly group.

[insubordination]

Turned vegetarian and 13 (though had a half a year at least when I was 6 but that doesn't count as my mother hid meat in things to trick me).

I'm not ashamed of my meat-eating past. It is what it is. However, I'm sad and sorry for all the lives that were lost on my behalf.

I hate to admit I'm quoting Oprah but "When you knew better, you did better."

I've come back to veganism after a 6 month reversion to an omni diet with disastrous effects!

Am very curious to know about the negative effects. So glad you came back again. Awesome!

[FR]

I am embarrassed and feel extremely guilty about my animal corpse/flesh eating past. I consumed animal flesh the first 18 years of my life before becoming a lacto-vegetarian. That unfortunately lasted 10 years before I woke up and became a real vegetarian (aka a vegan) a little over 6 years ago.

I don’t know, I think calling animal corpse eaters “meat eaters” is being a bit too nice, let’s call them what they are, that is, animal flesh or animal corpse eaters. I eat “meat” as I eat nut and bean meats quite often, that would make me a meat eater, no?

[Purity]

I went veggie at 13, and I look back on those first few years as a time when I didn't know any better and was still forming opinions on the world. The fact that I haven't touched animal flesh in over half my life makes me glad.

I only went vegan this year, and to a certain degree I think I was unaware of the reality behind dairy until the end of last year. As soon as I actually put the effort in to educate myself, I found the truth and immediately went vegan. I only wish I'd done it sooner, and that's why I think I'll always have a tinge of guilt about my first 28 years on this planet.

[tabitha]

I would call that kind of thing "meat". Do you mean its "meat" because it is the main part of the dinner i.e. "meat" , potato and veg.?

[tabitha]

Sorry, I mean "wouldnt call it meat"

[laurin]

I don't get mad when people eat meat, because I was once a meat eater but I do get mad when people say, "Why are you being a vegan thats so dumb, just don't think about what it does to the animals." I get annoyed when people try to persuade me that I'm the one seeing things wrong.

[Russ]

People change. I don't really think I'm the same person I was five years ago. I wouldn't do a lot of things I used to do now, so I don't really feel like I have to excuse myself or apologise for some things I did in the past.

As someone before me said, every omni is a potential vegan only if given the right information. Meat eaters are not "weak", or "stupid", or "selfish" necessarily; just ignorant. And that's because they've never been informed.

Here's a point no one's raised yet.
If I were to hate everyone who ate meat or dairy, because they contributed to crimes against animals, logically I should hate people because they indirectly contribute to other things I consider crimes. For instance, people who buy clothes made in sweatshops; they help maintain businesses that exploit people in horrendous ways. I'll bet that a lot of people on this forum have bought and own sweatshop-made clothes. Do you think it's fair that I hate all those people? They probably didn't even consider the welfare of the workers when buying those clothes. What about people who buy from superstores like Marks and Spencer? Should I hate them for patronising evil corporations? It's the same issue. And I'd just end up hating everyone, all my family and friends and myself included. I do what I can, but I'm no purist.
Yes, I think more people should question tradition and convention. But I can't consider someone evil who just follows what they're taught.

[ScandinaVegan]

I don't really - it's all a blur...

I went veggie when I was 12, so I don't really remember much from back then. I went vegan a little year or so after... So being vegan is kinda all I know..

I hate the thought that I devoured fellow beings once...

[Sheila]

It sickens me to think that I once ate meat. To me I mindlessly murdered hundreds of animals through consumption.

I often feel like I do not have enough years left in my life to make up for my past as a meat eater.

Sheila

[eclectic_one]

I try to think of how wonderful it is that there are those of us who came to the awareness that we were doing was wrong and unhealthy. I am proud of my vegan "evolution"--as I still feel I am learning and growing daily--and see my past meat-eating as one stage of that. (I chose to be vegetarian once out of my parents' house--where I woulda probably died of malnutrition if I hadn't eaten meat--and vegan once I really learned about it.) I try to feel good about the impact I'm making now instead of focusing on how "wrong" I was before...but then again I try to be a "realistic" optimist

[jackxattack]

People change. I don't really think I'm the same person I was five years ago. I wouldn't do a lot of things I used to do now, so I don't really feel like I have to excuse myself or apologise for some things I did in the past.

As someone before me said, every omni is a potential vegan only if given the right information. Meat eaters are not "weak", or "stupid", or "selfish" necessarily; just ignorant. And that's because they've never been informed.

Here's a point no one's raised yet.
If I were to hate everyone who ate meat or dairy, because they contributed to crimes against animals, logically I should hate people because they indirectly contribute to other things I consider crimes. For instance, people who buy clothes made in sweatshops; they help maintain businesses that exploit people in horrendous ways. I'll bet that a lot of people on this forum have bought and own sweatshop-made clothes. Do you think it's fair that I hate all those people? They probably didn't even consider the welfare of the workers when buying those clothes. What about people who buy from superstores like Marks and Spencer? Should I hate them for patronising evil corporations? It's the same issue. And I'd just end up hating everyone, all my family and friends and myself included. I do what I can, but I'm no purist.
Yes, I think more people should question tradition and convention. But I can't consider someone evil who just follows what they're taught.

Totally agree with what Russ said. People are just stuck in their ways/misinformed a lot of the time. Would I have gone vegetarian and eventually vegan if I hadn't given up eating red meat on a whim when I was 19 and then read Diet for a New America? I'd like to think so, but it could have gone either way. I actually became informed about veganism when I was 15 and made friends with a guy called Patrick who was vegan but at the time thought it was 'silly' and enjoyed eating meat too much to care (like a lot of omnivores today I'm sure). Sadly, eating meat and dairy products is seen as the norm in our society and so I really don't judge myself or others for having done/doing so.

[Haniska]

I'm convinced that it is the distemper caused by putrifaction in the intestines of meat-eaters that leads to war and terror bombings, not to mention the ravages on the filtering organs that bring on old age prematurely and cause disease and wrong thinking.
.

Not to mention that a lifetime of killing animals makes you more numb to killing humans.

[Haniska]

I agree that if society was vegan, then people would unquestioningly be vegan, and people would rarely if ever decide to eat meat. And by contrast, the main reason why people eat meat is because they have been told to from a young age, and told that not eating it is weird / wrong / stupid / unhealthy etc. However, if you explain to them why it's wrong to eat meat, in every detail, and they don't agree with you, then at what point do you stop talking about them being preprogrammed?

It doesn't help that there are unhealthy vegetarians running around eating nothing but chocolate and chips, "My diet is So much healthier than yours because I'm vegan!" pale and wasting away, giving us a bad name.
That is why I feel that it is my duty to be/appear healthy. I think that it is the duty of every vegan who wants to see a change.

[Shadowsoul]

I was pretty unhealthy, I had digestive problems, fiber deficiency, indulgent, uncontrolled eater.

I am happy I made the decision to be a vegetarian, and eventually a vegan, I am much better now, I lose my simple anemia, unnecessary weight, even my skin looks so much better, my stamina tremendously improved. Im satisfied being a collected, conscientious, compassionate eater.

Though one person always retorted to me "I didn't climb the food chain for thousands of years just to eat grass." Well, that line was a little inaccurate and pompous We were way above the food chain even during the time when our ancestors just eat grass.

[Ashee]

I know that I am probably very lonely in my views here, but I cannot judge meat eaters. I just don`t. It`s their choice, they do not want to know or do not care enough, but who am I to judge their lifestyle or even try to change them? I have no right. At the same time, I get very upset if people try to change mine.

@ Mary: I have the same experiences. I never enjoyed meat, particularly pork I always hated. But obviously, it is the mother who decides what is bought and what is cooked, and she was one of the mothers who insists in their kids emptying their plates. Unfortunately, meat is very important to my dad and she cooked accordingly. Only when she started working again and be out at lunch time, I was free to stop eating meat - my sister was too happy to take my portions which mum had prepared. Back then, I was obviously not educated enough to know that I have to substitute the meat with something else, so basically, I just had what everybody had, but without the meat. On a Sunday I still had to eat it and hated it.

You are right, Mary, the kids are not guilty. They have little say and have to go along with the choices the parents make for them.

littleTigercub

I aggree in all that you both had said but i have one point to make: I have a five year old, I have explained to him where meat comes from, I also ALWAYS make vegan dinners, lunchs and breakfasts. The point I am trying to make is that it's not always the parents foult that children choose to eat meat, try handing the blame on other aves for example: schools- how much vegan food are in the canteen? Media- we all know how happy a "happy meal" is ...(not) I can not and will not tell my child what to eat, BUT I can educate him, as we all can to others that we know.

[satirecafe]

i think i would tell me child what to eat. i wouldn't consider it "pushing my beliefs" on him/her. any other person would raise their child teaching them not to murder or steal. this is the same thing, only we're extending it beyond our own species.

[philfox]

my meat eating past is a weird one, and one which i almost hate myself for. i was raised a vegetarian from the age of about 3 (although i was allowed to try meat at my grandparents i never liked it, mainly because i knew where it came from, even things like penny sweets and jelly where off the menu in my early childhood) i went through my teens very strict veggie and my early twenties, until my first holiday abroad, finding nothing to eat and being with an omni i started eating meat. for 5-6 months afterwards i continued to eat meat. it is that period of my life where i hated myself, as i was vegan for 1 1/2 years before eating meat, and ive always hated veggies who go back to eating meat. i didnt even like the taste, i was in a depression and didnt think anything i did was going to change, so why should i miss out. when i look at the stats of how many animals the average person eatsin just one year and divide it into that half a year, i still cry sometimes with regret, and have vowed never to question my beliefs or stray off my path again. i hate myself for that, only because i knew the truth and yet rejected it.

[Bic]

Aw, philfox - but look at you know! You changed. You've grown. You may have harmed a little - but you're helping now. In comparison to many people, you've caused very little harm.

My own past...I hated the taste and texture of most meat. Only ever liked fish. Giving up fish-sticks was the only hurdle I had when I stopped eating meat. (Dairy & eggs are a different story.)

[vegcurry]

How do you look at your past as a meateater? As a time when I knew better (I'd cry my eyes out seeing dead rabbits in the meat/fish market) but was too young/nervous to have done anything about it.

[Manzana]

I am happy and proud that I made the transition on my own.

It is easy to give up meat (dairy, fish...) if you do not enjoy the taste of it... or if your family or friends or social group support you. it requires a lot thinking and for a person to be very brave and determined if this is not the case.

I used to love meat, it was my favourite food (without a doubt). I never thought about it as something bad because everyone around me never questioned it (and quite frankly, i did not even know vegetarians existed till I was 18... in Spain things are a bit different)...

I think eating is probably the most consistent pleasure that human beings get throughout life (and that is probably why talking about veganism is sometimes taboo and makes some non vegan people so upset!)... to be able to question the morality or ethics behind your eating habits is an amazing achievement (SO WELL DONE TO ALL OF YOU!)

I also get GREAT PLEASURE when a meat eater finds out I am a vegan and looks at me and tells me with a SMUG smile "You dont know what you are missing" and i can reply "Actually, I know perfectly well, I ate meat for 19 years, you are the one who hasnt got a clue of what you are missing!"

I dont feel sad i did it... everything happens for a reason and it is good that i can put myself in the place of people that eat meat (what i cannot do is put myself in the place of those people who know what happens in factory farms, how unsustainable meat eating is, how animals feel pain... and still choose to eat it!)!!!!!

[emmapresley]

I've read through all the posts on this thread and agree pretty much with the fact of I think I've only come to be at this point at this time. I don't think I would've been at the stage in my life to be vegan succesfully at any previous time..either through being ignorant about the milk industry, animal testing or really just 'getting it'. It's like something has clicked that hadn't before, so I can't berate myself. I'm a firm believer in things happening when the time is right. I've spent quite a few years of my life berating myself over things that have been out of my control and that I feel couldn't have been worked out/through until the time was right.

My regret is that I wish I felt as strongly as this before I'd had my children then I would've raised them vegan from birth..my youngest daughter is eating practically vegan now..apart from one egg a week at home and is I feel, quite old enough to understand the cruelty behind how her (albeit free range, organic) egg gets onto her plate. My other older daughter is approaching the age where she wants to rebel against anything I stand for (she has an incredibly strong personality) and maintains she understands about how cruel it all is, but 'loves the taste', even going so far as to tease her sister. It's frustrating but I can't let it dominate everything. I feel she knows the facts as suitable to her age group and I don't intend to make her meat or dairy based meals in our house.Outside our home i guess she gets to make her own choices and at this time they don't coincide with mine.

[snaffler]

The last time meat passed my chops I was 11 I am now 35 so I can not remember it that well which I think is for the best, I guess if I thought about it I would cringe that I polluted my body

[Lilac Hamster]

I feel that I did not care about anyone or anything but myself when I was a meat-eater. Then sometime in my teenage years it was as if a light suddenly switched on in my head, I went veggie around the same period of time as I started to think about right and wrong in other ways, and for a while was involved in other groups such as a peace group, so I don't think I was ever a true speciesist who cared about ppl but not animals, I was selfish through and through for so long. I am glad that for me a big part of growing up meant going veggie then vegan about three years later, but I wish I had not wasted my childhood not caring. I was intelligent enough and should have known better from a lot earlier.

Actually when I was young I did go through short phases of being concerned but then other selfish concerns would take over my mind and I was not mature enough to make a commitment to doing the right thing.

[SpaceMonkey]

I look at my past as a meateater with alot of regret. Even as a really young kid, I remember having feelings that eating meat was wrong. Sometimes I would even ask my parents questions about where it came from and if the animals were treated well and they always told me that animals were killed humanely. So I just accepted what they told me. I honestly believed that cows lived in a field their entire lives and were killed quickly and painlessly. When I saw my first PETA video a couple years ago, I was shocked and appalled. I'm pretty sure the first video I saw was about the day in the life of a cow on a factory farm. I was so angry at myself for contributing to it, I cried until I couldn't breathe anymore. I became vegan in an instant. I went through a period where I just hated myself. I was even angrier at my parents for lying to me. Now I just regret not going vegan sooner.

[Fifty9]

When I look back on my dietary past, all I can really think was how ignorant I was about human anatomy, physiology and nutrition. At the same time, I get a little mad because I believed the suggestions from advertisements to be fact. My diet changed as I became educated, and it still changes as I continue educating myself.

I don't get upset with people who eat meat and dairy, because I use to do the same thing. The only real difference between them and me is that I know stuff.

[BlueTone]

I blame my parents for not raising me vegan or at least explaining to me where meat etc. comes from. When I was about 3 years old, we lived near a forest. Whenever hunters passed our house with dead animals I would run out of the house and scream at them so bad that my parents had to lock me up inside untill they were gone. Then later I probably ate meat without a question on my mind (who was I to question what my parents fed me?). It took me untill my teenage years before I started thinking about it and make the connection.

If I ever have children, I'll raise them vegan. If one day they'll really want to eat meat, that's fine but first I'm taking them to the slaughterhouse.

[Hemlock]

I feel I must have been asleep all my life not to notice the abomination of meat eating.
Same with cigarettes, what the hell was I thinking to smoke for years? I must have stunk

[catala]

mmm.. never really liked meat, I did like tuna and anchovies.
Whan it comes to eggs and dairy, I used to consume them because of my sugar addiction:confectionary, croissants, dougnuts, muffins.
But I never bought an egg or milk.
SO now that Im a vegan, Im unhooked from all those contaminating foods and as a result I no longer consume eggs, milk or honey.