Things meat eaters say and do

[veganblue]

I actually got the "chickens were made to be eaten" thing today. I was so depressed--I'd never met anyone that ignorant before.

Just makes you wonder where to start in trying to reach someone like this. He doesn't like birds - that just it.

I figure that his empathy has gone out the window. It's a bit scary actually.

[claireyveg]

I rang a dietitian today because my mum is obsessed with the fact that i must be unhealthy because i don't eat meat, so to put her mind at ease i said i would ring a couple and sus it out, I rang one lady and as soon as i mentioned i was vegan she was like, well thats just stupid, cows don't suffer from milking them, its acctually helping them, they produce too much milk and humans save them by milking them, i said, they produce the milk for their calves not for us, and she was like noooo they make more then enough for the both of us, and i just bit my tongue and proceeded to let her rip me to sheds, "you must be lacking in b12, blah blah blah" then she went on say "i've never really reseached the vegan diet but i can make you an appointment" I was like, "no, thanks, i'll find someone a bit more knowledgable!" then i hung up, boy was i mad!!!

Then i found this lady online who is a vegan natropath and i am going to go and see her, she was lovely on the phone, i'm excited now!

Still fuming about that arrogant old biddy tho!

[Haniska]

How would a cow survive without human intervention before we domesticated them then? That is just stupid.

[claireyveg]

So true Haniska, the thing that annoyed me most was this woman is supposed to be a pofessional, you would think she would know something about how much cholesterol and other unhealthy stuff is in cows milk, i just couldn't believe she was pushing me to drink that, esspecially after i said i was lactose intollerant anyways! grrr...

[claireyveg]

Today one of my co-workers commented (after eating hotdogs, coleslaw, and potato salad and then throwing the plates in MY TRASH) that my vegan Miso Hot and Sour soup "Smelled like ass"

I can totally relate to that Keenkitty, my brothers friend came over last night and I had made this divine lima bean, pumpkin and herb soup and it smelt soooo good and tasted great, then he came in with greasy chinese take-away for him and my brother and proceeded to say "wouldn't you rather be eating this" and I was like "no, acctually i'd rather eat my soup" then he was like "what is it ass soup", "mmm ass soup" I F***ing hate when people say that, its so offensive in my opinion, if they don't want to eat it they don't have to, they don't have to try and turn us off what we enjoy eating! besides, we're vegan we don't eat ass... lol

[KatyB]

Hi, first post here! (I will get round to introducing myself in another thread, shortly!)
I have now had two silly comments made by my mum, which I feel compelled to tell you about because they sure as hell P'eed me off at the time! I recently went back to a vegetarian lifestyle (which has now become a Vegan one), but for the past few weeks I have been very run down and 'depressed' - something which I used to crash down with when I was a meat eater to, please understand. Anyway when I told my mum that I was feeling bad again the absolute very first thing she said was "It's 'cos your a vegetarian-eat some meat" - aargh!!!!! I know deep down she was only joking, but really it doesn't need to be said and only serves to wind me up- so why say it? Grrr! I very quickly pointed out that my diet had not even changed in those 2 weeks since I made the conscious desicion to be Veggie as I hardly ate meet anyway and usually stuck to quorn as it was less fatty! (and BTW my depressions have turned ut to be caused by my bloomin' contraceptive pill)

Secondly, and this happend only yesterday. When I announced that I had decided to go Vegan she said "Oh no, thats going too far!", so I have decided to put together a load of links and bombard her email box with all in information she will ever need! I know it is because she is worried about my wellbeing, but it really does stem from ignorance. What I love about going vegan is that I am now eating far more healthily than when I was just munching down Weight watchers ready meals and nasty processed meats just beacause they were low fat. I now pay attention to my nutriants!

My husband has been OK with me going veggie. (I was veggie when I met him - but then lapsed as I was young, in love for the first time and had a 'what the hell' attitude. I've grown up now). But the first thing he said was "just don't be going Vegan". So now it feels like I have to make a CONFESSION that I'm following a Vegan lifestyle. I'm just choosing not to say anything. He's already spotted all my new beauty products and said 'You are really getting into this aren't you' and I've left my copies of the 'Animal Free shopper' and Vegan magazine casually lying around, so he gets he hint! Tee Hee.

Why does Vegetarianism and, to a greater extent, Veganism offend so many people?

Wow, that was a long post! Thanks for letting me vent! x

[Jamie]

Today one of my co-workers commented (after eating hotdogs, coleslaw, and potato salad and then throwing the plates in MY TRASH) that my vegan Miso Hot and Sour soup "Smelled like ass"

In an office once I was eating a pack of Cauldron tofu chunks (the ones that are marinated and then deep fried or something and you can eat them hot or cold) as a snack... then someone behind me said 'has someone taken their shoes off??!'..!!! I don't *think* they meant it as a mean thing as they seemed a bit embarrassed when I said it was probably my tofu.... but I bet they all thought it was gross. I thought it was DISGUSTING and hardly bearable when in another office where the desks are arranged back to back so you sit facing someone with no divide or anything, and he'd bring in his sandwiches from home that were basically two bits of bread with a MASSIVE hunk of animal between them... and then he'd MICROWAVE it and it STUNK like horror. URGH it was so disgusting to have to try to work while he had that, I'd have to say I was hot and open a window or thing of some excuse to do something in the other offices because it was AWFUL.

Now you can't say my tofu was THAT bad!! urgh sickening.

[sandra]

Hi, KatyB, you're right, veganism does seem to offend a lot of people, I think it's because deep down they know we are right and it frightens them. Your mum will hopefully realise you are doing the right thing when she sees how healthy you are! By the way welcome!

[Nadine]

When some of my hens died, a TU colleague at work asked if I'd put them in the pot! Sensitive

[sandra]

Oh, Nadine that kind of comment would infuriate me too, that's like us asking them if someone close to them died, did they cook them?

[Nadine]

Oh, Nadine that kind of comment would infuriate me too, that's like us asking them if someone close to them died, did they cook them?

Exactly!
And she knows I'm vegan. Some people are just ..... Spit!

[paulvegan]

When some of my hens died, a TU colleague at work asked if I'd put them in the pot! Sensitive

sorry to hear about your hens,
hens are so loverly, the way they peck at you when you walk past its so cute and kind of feels nice.

[Tigerlily]

I was at work today and working with my older cousin. We were looking through the newspaper, and I pointed out an article about a man who was sentenced to jail for abusing a baby. I told her that anyone that abuses children are horrible. She agreed with me and told me that she thinks anyone that abuses children and animals are horrible. She says "animals especially" since they don't understand what's happenening to them, etc etc. She obviously forgot pigs, chickens, and cows are animals too (she just finished having an egg-bacon-cheese-cholesterol sandwich).

[paulvegan]

some people just dont get the connection, it doesnt matter how you say it,

[veganblue]

..."i've never really reseached the vegan diet but i can make you an appointment" I was like, "no, thanks, i'll find someone a bit more knowledgable!" then i hung up, boy was i mad!!!

Then i found this lady online who is a vegan natropath and i am going to go and see her, she was lovely on the phone, i'm excited now!

Still fuming about that arrogant old biddy tho!

I was a little concerned about my diet - yes all those worried people finally got to me even though I wasn't sick - and saw a University trained run-of-the-mill nutritionist who had prepared me this document of all the things I could think about including in my diet. Apart from the *mountain* of food that I was supposed to eat, she was very positive - though not being vegan or vego herself.

Clairey veg - maybe you can provide the not so nice lady with some information about vegan diets - from reputable sources. Recommend to her the China Study. Interesting stuff.

[Shisha Fiend]

You ever get people telling you that you're only vegan because 'you just want to be different'? That pisses me off.

[DancingWillow]

I was visiting relatives this weekend and though they were very respectful of my diet and cooked me vegan meals, they accidentally served me something with eggs. I found out and was upset, and the next day I politely said that I couldn't eat from it anymore. I also mentioned that I get an upset stomach if I eat non-vegan foods (which is not true, at least yet). Then someone told me that Roman empires used to eat a little bit of poison with their meals so that their bodies would develop a tolerance and defense mechanisms in case someone tried to poison them, and then told me that I should eat a little bit of dairy and eggs, so that if I accidentally eat them sometimes, I wouldn't get an upset stomach. The person who said this is very intelligent and kind, but I thought that this was a ridiculous thing to say!

[Pilaf]

You can remind him of how much lower the life expectancy was back during the Roman Empires, too.

[Enchantress]

There's something my sister said once that annoyed me. My parents refer to themselves as vegetarians (they're not, they eat fish, but that's another rant) and me and my siblings were raised on the same diet, but my sister now eats meat. Anyway, when someone asked if we were all vegetarians my sister said "I'm not. I'm the rebel.". Yeah, because changing to fit in with mainstream society is sooo rebellious .

[lozza]

i used to get really embarassed about some of the foods i ate, cos i thought everyone would think i was a freak (cos thats how they treated me)..so i didnt talk about what i ate to people, but now i am getting over that and i am starting to talk about food more now (like to people at work, for example).

and i've started making it part of normal conversation; "i went to buy some soya milk yesterday" and its kinda working. people at work are becoming more accepting

[sorry, just realised this isnt a rant]

[eclectic_one]

Well, a guy with a meat truck stopped at my house yesterday. I had seen his truck, so I opened the door and said, "I don't eat meat, AT ALL." He said, "why not, it's so tasty?" I thought he was going to try to "convert" me for a minute

[Hemlock]

Someone at work today - so you're a vegan, do you eat fish then? Cue roll eyes, sigh, fart, scratch belly whilst trying to think of suitably sarcastic retort

[Haniska]

I think that comments like this are not so much the fault of meat-eaters so much as the fault of meat-eating "vegetarians".

[satirecafe]

when i went vegan my friend goes "oh my god, you can't eat any REAL FOOD!" every time i named vegan replacements for meat and dairy she would say "ew" even though she hasn't tried any! i don't remember where i got this quote from, but if meat is your idea of real food then you better live real close to a real good hospital!

[Orange-powered]

i don't remember where i got this quote from, but if meat is your idea of real food then you better live real close to a real good hospital!

I had a bit of a weird thing happen yesterday. i met up with a friend, she's a meat eater. Anyway we were talking about food and I made a comment about how at least she was open to the idea of vegetarian/vegan food, as her grandma was vegan for religious reasons (she's chinese and apparently there are a lot of vegan chinese people which I didnt know!)

she then started to defend her meat eating, though I wasnt even aware I was attacking her for it, I was simply saying that there are a lot of people I know who completely shun vegan food not just because they like meat but because of ignorance. Anyway she said something like, "well yea I like vegeatarian food, but I also happen to really like meat. I happen to like dishes that happen to contain meat"

that comment kind of didnt make any sense to me!! she said that those dishes she likes "happen to contain meat" but surely she's eating them because they contain meat?!


anyway I found it really weird. then we started talking about baking and she said how she could never give up eggs and dairy because she loves sponges too much, like being a vegan means depriving myself. Its just got me thinking how when it comes down to it its a case of whether you're prepared to give up something you like the taste of, which is at the most a fleeting sensation, for something bigger that could potentially have an impact on a massive global scale.

She is generally really supportive and we get on well, but obviously we clash when it comes to the big things!

[Ashee]

Its just got me thinking how when it comes down to it its a case of whether you're prepared to give up something you like the taste of, which is at the most a fleeting sensation, for something bigger that could potentially have an impact on a massive global scale.
[quote]

You are so right!!!! Give at little!!!

[Soyalicius]

Even so, there are some really lovely cakes in the cake scoffer from Animal Aid. Bake her some of those to show her what you are enjoying and most definetley not missing. The only thing missing is the cholesterol and most importantly cruelty.

[Orange-powered]

yea the thing is I have made her cakes and stuff before and she has liked them, I was just making an observation that despite that, and like I say she can be really understanding, she would still never consider giving up eggs or dairy, or meat for that matter!

[Enchantress]

Non-vegans don't let (animals) live .

[fiamma]

I'm always intrigued by the fact that meat eaters defend their diet so stauchly, yet won't watch videos involving the slaughter of animals for meat. I can watch them, and I don't eat meat!! I don't think I'm particularly warped, I just have a clear conscience. What other possible explanation can there be?

[Orange-powered]

Non-vegans don't let (animals) live .

my sentiments exactly! although its not like I was forcing my ideas on my friend,
its just that at times I can't help but feel exasperated with the whole idea that people dont think they could ever give up certain food stuffs because they love them too much, to the extent that they are willing to overlook the cruelty behind them, or worse - not wanting to hear about the cruelty at all. I know I'm biased, but that's how I feel.

[sandra]

I agree with you orange-powered, it's like a cannibal saying, 'but I like the taste of human meat'. There are just some things that are wrong and eating another living being is one of them!

[Tigerlily]

"What?! Isn't that unhealthy? Did you tell your doctor? How is that healthy!?"

So says the woman who's kids eat junk food all day.

[satirecafe]

this is a dialogue between me and a friend, after i explained, for the 2nd time, what vegan is.

lauren: so you can eat fish right?
me: no, why would i?
lauren: fish aren't really animals
me: sure they are, have you read anything about taxonomy?
lauren: what?? what do taxes have to do with anything?

[Sheila]

Stupid title but I could not believe I heard this today!

This very nice girl came over to my house. I just met her and she told me she has been veggie for the last ten years. After we talked a little more she told me that about a year ago her doctor told her that she would need to eat meat if she ever wanted to get pregnant. She's 27. I called bullsh*t and then she told me she only eats seafood every 3 or 4 months!

If you want to eat meat just say so. Don't make excuses!

Sheila

[my3labs]

Unbelievable. If her doctor told her this, he/she is surely a quack!! Un-freakin-believable.
My daughter's friend decided to become vegan. Two weeks into it her doctor told her she was anemic and insisted that her mom force her to eat meat again.

[Jamie]

I'm always intrigued by the fact that meat eaters defend their diet so stauchly, yet won't watch videos involving the slaughter of animals for meat. I can watch them, and I don't eat meat!! I don't think I'm particularly warped, I just have a clear conscience. What other possible explanation can there be?

I don't watch them, and I'm not surprised other people, omni's included, don't want to either. A meat dish on a plate is just "food" - I think hardly any of them actually equate it to something that has come off a dead animal who was just killed inhumanely after living a horrible unnatural life... it's not like they have gone up to a steaming carcas and taken a bite of it! That's a horrible mental picture, I'm sorry, but I just think most omni's live in permanent delusion about where their food comes from. They don't want to know, because they know it's not good.

... me: sure they are, have you read anything about taxonomy?
lauren: what?? what do taxes have to do with anything?

I don't know what toxonomy means... I thought it said taxidermy first and thought that's a strange idea for a fish...! It would smell wouldn't it?? then I realised it was some other word!

[fiamma]

I hope I didn't come across too strongly - my point is simply that while most vegans would probably be happy to watch a video of how their food is made, the same doesn't hold true for meat eaters. Okay, so slaughter videos depict cruelty, but that cruelty exists to put food on their plates. And they could stop it by becoming veggie or vegan.

[Maisiepaisie]

Is that not child abuse, to force a kid to eat something they don't want? I would have thought it was

[Jamie]

my point is simply that while most vegans would probably be happy to watch a video of how their food is made, the same doesn't hold true for meat eaters.

I like it! If I get a chance to throw that into an arguament with an omni I shall use it

[sandra]

Me too!

[sugarmouse]

when it comes down to it its a case of whether you're prepared to give up something you like the taste of, which is at the most a fleeting sensation, for something bigger that could potentially have an impact on a massive global scale.

This is the bottom line, and what I always say to meat eaters.It has been long established that we do not need meat forhealth reasons.With this in mind, the only reason anyone continues to eat it is for the reasons defined by their taste buds...selfish,hedonistic,morally wrong?.....never mind.
With the fish thing, and I have to agree many people see fish as vegan or vegetarian for some unknown reason to me.If anyone tells me eating fish isnt eating meat, or a fish isnt an animal ,I say 'Really?well what is it then?'

[sugarmouse]

If thats child abuse I was a heavily abused child!
I do agree its wrong.This just sums up my opinion of doctors.I dont trust any doctor and never have!
madness!

[Jamie]

I *so* don't get this fish-isn't-an-animal thing!! What is that about?!!! It seems mostly middle aged to older people who think that, I find. My friend's dad was saying that the other day... I just think it's crazy. What is it that makes it not an animal??!

[Orange-powered]

I think the fish thing is weird too, maybe its because there are quite a lot of pescatarians out there who actually call themselves vegetarian? just an idea!

[Kiran]

because there are quite a lot of pescatarians out there who actually call themselves vegetarian? just an idea!

Well.. its not just the pescatarians who call themselves vegetarian. Supermarkets and bakers such as Ainsleys, Greggs etc sell tuna sandwiches marked as vegetarian. Like fish is seaweed or something.

[fiamma]

What is it that makes it not an animal??!

Because they aren't "cute" and don't have fur I guess because they're not mammals they are somehow automatically excluded from the "animal" group.

[Orange-powered]

Well.. its not just the pescatarians who call themselves vegetarian. Supermarkets and bakers such as Ainsleys, Greggs etc sell tuna sandwiches marked as vegetarian. Like fish is seaweed or something.

well yea that is just plain stupid you'd think they'd do a bit of market research on vegetarianism before they put stupid stuff like that on their labels! but obviously that's expecting too much

[Orange-powered]

also from my experience with friends who eat fish but no meat they always talk about it from a food perspective how they dont think they can do without fish for the protein and all that crap, but then they've lived with me for two years and I'm fine!

[xwitchymagicx]

Wow, tut, how stupid.

I think some people think meat is important, someone tried to convince my mum once to force me to eat meat and stuff, thank god my mum pretty much supports what I do.