Things meat eaters say and do

[DiaShel]

One of my coworkers found out I was a vegan and replied

"You're not a very good vegan if you are wearing polyester"

I replied "Poachers stopped hunting wild polyesters after they figured out how to synthetically replicate their skin, now there just isn't a demand for the killing of innocent polyesters."

I hear that those poor polyesters were at risk for extinction because this! Thank god for modern innovations.

[Daffodil]

i'll be taking my mum to dinner on sunday (mother's day) and she's chosen this vegan-unfriendly pub but phoned them to ask if they do any "vagan" (as she pronounces it! lol) meals and they said yes they do stuffed peppers. well that's alright then... i dread to think WHAT they'll be stuffed with as the chef, obviously so knowlegeable on the subject forgot to mention that, and my mum (omni) forgot to ask!

lol don't you just love 'em!

[jimmeh]

i'll be taking my mum to dinner on sunday (mother's day) and she's chosen this vegan-unfriendly pub but phoned them to ask if they do any "vagan" (as she pronounces it! lol) meals and they said yes they do stuffed peppers. well that's alright then... i dread to think WHAT they'll be stuffed with as the chef, obviously so knowlegeable on the subject forgot to mention that, and my mum (omni) forgot to ask!

lol don't you just love 'em!

Ha ha, oh I know exactly what you mean. I'm going back home to the wilderness for mother's day. I called the place we've booked to eat on Sunday and if I take my own sausages they'll make up a gravy and veg for me. At least they are trying I suppose Oh and my mum also pronounces it vaygun

[Bartlebee]

...if you're up it, look up a human's average daily requirement of each amino acid.
I found it under the WHO to talk back to an (idiot) instructor who said about the same thing.

Once you start throwing arginine and tryptophan around, most people shut up.

oooh, found it here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Essential_amino_acids

Don't memorize, just sound like you know what you're talking about.

Thanks, this'll be good for future ass wooping

I just asked her where the cows she eats get their protein from, she didn't know
Suddenly now I'm vegan I'm really unhealthy but I was veggie for 6 years yet i was perfectly fine

[LaceytheCrazy]

Dear, oh dear, oh dear... How many times have we heard this one?

"Oh, so you don't eat fish, either?"

*shakes head* Blub. This just today.

Mmm that's so frustrating! I have an issue where I just moved back home, and my mother generally won't eat meat or dairy for health reasons, but doesn't call herself vegan because she's not completely strict with it and doesn't want to associate herself with the ethical associations and 'subculture.' This in and of itself is all right with me, I mean at least that's progress, and regardless she got me started on my vegan path...

But recently she's started eating fish on like a bi-weekly to monthly basis, and the other days she made vegan soup with tuna samiches...and she was like "Are you having some tuna samiches? I eat tuna." And i was like...but...it's tuna...why would I eat tuna?? And it's mixed with mayo!!!! So confused.
(Oops. I rambled!)

[Quantum Mechanic]

So you assume people from a religious background are more likely to espouse ridiculous ideas than atheists, or that religious people don't question what they were taught?

Whoops, should've been more specific. I meant that of specifically religions that encourage anthropocentric ideas (which not all religions do, from what I know), that, given that humans in general have a tendency to absorb the subtleties of cultural attitudes, that someone who has been exposed to a more intense version of what we're all exposed to in some degree, I supposed would be more likely to insist on the "humans are not animals!" type thing.

Sorry for the confusion; my wording was quite clumsy and unclear. I am Christian myself and wouldn't want to offend anyone, such as on basis of religion or lack thereof.

[treaclemine]

You could send the Head of Catering (for the whole of Staffordshire Council?) a copy of this: http://www.vegansociety.com/food/Veg...ering_for_All/ (free full-colour booklet for professional caterers, available in hardcopy from: http://www.vegansociety.com/contact/).

[VeganMonkey]

i'll be taking my mum to dinner on sunday (mother's day) and she's chosen this vegan-unfriendly pub but phoned them to ask if they do any "vagan" (as she pronounces it! lol) meals and they said yes they do stuffed peppers. well that's alright then... i dread to think WHAT they'll be stuffed with as the chef, obviously so knowlegeable on the subject forgot to mention that, and my mum (omni) forgot to ask!

lol don't you just love 'em!

I recently had stuffed peppers as a sad attempt at a vegan option in a pub back home. It could have been good but they were stuffed with .... diced peppers! And a little onion and sweet potato. No sauce. Too sweet and totally dull. Just ate it quietly though and said thank you afterwards as it was my grandad's wake so it really wasn't appropriate to complain.
Hope you at least get rice or something in yours Daffodil!

[Quantum Mechanic]

Man, that sucks. Even the microwaveable stuffed peppers (don't think they were vegan though) had rice in them...

That reminds me, though, I want to do a vegan version of chile rellanos. Aside from the cheese it's pretty vegan-friendly.

[harpy]

I recently had stuffed peppers as a sad attempt at a vegan option in a pub back home. It could have been good but they were stuffed with .... diced peppers!

What's the matter with people? Still I would have done the same as you - even if it hadn't been a wake I tend to think that if someone has produced something that's actually vegan it's a step in the right direction.

[Shisha Fiend]

From wikipedia:

'It amused him [Hitler] to spoil carnivorous guests' appetites... As they put their forks down in disgust, he would harangue them for hypocrisy. "That shows how cowardly people are," he would say. "They can't face doing certain horrible things themselves, but they enjoy the benefits without a pang of conscience."'

I guess he should know.

[Shisha Fiend]

Even as an omni kid I knew that was total bogus, and I remember being tempted to say, "show me someone who just lives on fish, and I'll tell you what, I'll even call them a vegetarian."

Even though my wording was kind of confused, it did get the point across that, well, who in their right mind would call someone who ate only fish a vegetarian?! It pointed out the absurdity of calling someone who eats fish at all a vegetarian. I like the, "Wait, what? What kind of plant is a fish?"

I love that logic, fantastic. I usually say 'what plant does a fish grow on then?' but pointing out that someone who eats ONLY fish is obviously not a vegetarian is probably the best way to make the point.

[Shrapnel]

Whoops, should've been more specific. I meant that of specifically religions that encourage anthropocentric ideas (which not all religions do, from what I know), that, given that humans in general have a tendency to absorb the subtleties of cultural attitudes, that someone who has been exposed to a more intense version of what we're all exposed to in some degree, I supposed would be more likely to insist on the "humans are not animals!" type thing.

Sorry for the confusion; my wording was quite clumsy and unclear. I am Christian myself and wouldn't want to offend anyone, such as on basis of religion or lack thereof.

Ah sorry. I see what you mean (didn't mean to sound snippy, or something, if it came off like that). I do know what you mean totally. I think it's just human nature to think that "We" are better than "Them" whether "Them" is another species, race, ethnicity, gender, etc. I think that it's more our culture to assume the idea that humans are somehow not animals (though I haven't noticed maybe people thinking it through, like if we aren't animals, then what are we?), and reinforce this idea.

[Zorillo]

I guess someone said to me "How do you milk a soyabean?" It's been in my head anyway

[wdngyre]

Someone asked me the other day, "Do vegans breastfeed? Because you'd be letting your baby consume an animal product"...I was speechless.

[Mahk]

^I wouldn't say it is a 100% completly off the wall question, though. I would've said, "Yes, we oppose the mandatory enslavement and forced pregnancy (to induce lactation) of all animals, humans included, to act as involuntarily milk machines for the benefit of their masters. Mothers happily and voluntarily choosing to breastfeed their own children obviously doesn't fall under that description, though."

[veganista]

This book dispels the Hitler Was A vegetarian myth: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hitler-Neith.../dp/0962616966

[Sarabi]

I made the mistake of telling a young Jewish guy that animals live in concentration camps, and he got really pissed off and started shaking and told me that animals don't have feelings and that it's the most disgusting thing he's ever heard because "my ancestors were treated like animals." I was like, "What these animals go through is the most disgusting thing I've ever seen." But that was all a mistake because the conversation went nowhere, and I just left the room.

He also asked me if the Jews in concentration camps were there to be eaten by the Nazis, and I said no. He said, "That's the difference." I said that doesn't mean they have to be treated that way, just to be eaten. But apparently that wasn't the only difference for him as he continued to find other arguments. And it's pathetic that he thinks that eating animals makes it better to torture them, as if eating Jews would've improved things.

[Shrapnel]

Heh, I have Jewish ancestry, as well as Slavic, with ancestors on both my mom and dad's side killed in Auschwitz, and don't see the comparison at all offensive (in fact, it's pretty accurate). I wish he'd understand the disgust that he gets when the Nazis looked at Jews as "inferior" and therefore not deserving of life is the same disgust you feel when he looks at other animals "inferior" and therefore not deserving of life.

The thing about it being ok because the animals are eaten is just insane. Like you wouldn't tell the police, "Yeah, ok, I did stab him to death with a broken bottle, but I stole his wallet so it's ok."

[Sarabi]

Heh, I have Jewish ancestry, as well as Slavic, with ancestors on both my mom and dad's side killed in Auschwitz, and don't see the comparison at all offensive (in fact, it's pretty accurate). I wish he'd understand the disgust that he gets when the Nazis looked at Jews as "inferior" and therefore not deserving of life is the same disgust you feel when he looks at other animals "inferior" and therefore not deserving of life.

The thing about it being ok because the animals are eaten is just insane. Like you wouldn't tell the police, "Yeah, ok, I did stab him to death with a broken bottle, but I stole his wallet so it's ok."

Yeah, good example. My guess is that he was thinking that there's something worse about torturing and killing a race to eradicate them and torturing and killing a species to eat them. "The ends justify the means." Interestingly, he's a conservative who thinks that Andrew Jackson was a great president - the guy who had so many Native Americans killed and sent off on the Trail of Tears to Oklahoma. I just remembered that.

It's good to hear the perspective of another Jewish descendent. I wish you could talk to him because I didn't like the way that he made it so personal by emphasizing, "MY ANCESTORS" and "MY ENTIRE RACE" and how he wouldn't be alive if his ancestors hadn't somehow survived... I felt like he was trying to say, "Look, I'm a victim! ME!" And, well... I understand if he feels connected to his ancestors like I feel connected to other species, but I think he makes it too personal. It's not just about him and his ancestors. We are all vulnerable in this world.

[Quantum Mechanic]

^I wouldn't say it is a 100% completly off the wall question, though. I would've said, "Yes, we oppose the mandatory enslavement of all animals, humans included, to act as involuntarily as milk machines for the benefit of their masters. Mothers happily and voluntarily choosing to breastfeed their own children obviously doesn't fall under that description, though."

Yeah, or given that I am a female human of childbearing age, I could say, "As long as nobody's making the woman give birth and taking her milk to put in cartons and sell to people and is instead given willingly by the mother, I see no problem."

[Sarabi]

Someone asked me the other day, "Do vegans breastfeed? Because you'd be letting your baby consume an animal product"...I was speechless.

Hahahaha... Answer, "No, vegans do not breastfeed. We feed our babies to cannibals."

[KcCrash]

Ok this morinng I have been perving over Robert Cheeke and was speaking to my friend on msn about him and she says 'Is he veggie' (dumb question in itself as I had sent her a link to his vegan body building site) and I said yes, he's vegan.

Spotty* says:
so still eats meat
VeganSinner says:
eh?
hes vegan?

*Spotty* says:
a vegan is just dairy products tho

Gah.Some folk
(she is a vegetarian, aswell not sure if that makes it worse!)

[bradders]

I'm beginning to think we should do a Vegan bus campaign to get our message out. We could do London for £11k, anyone got that to spare?

[Haniska]

Hahahaha... Answer, "No, vegans do not breastfeed. We feed our babies to cannibals."

Sarabi, I put that as my status msg on aim!

[Frosty]

More of a statement than a question...
When talking to someone about veganism last week, she said she couldn't be vegan because she didn't like chick peas
That's all we eat, don't ya know!

[Mahk]

^Maybe she's nutritionally an idiot and one day discovered chick peas contain protein, by chance, so she then proceeded to conclude "Oh, so protein isn't found only in meat, dairy, and eggs; it is also found in chick peas." So she thinks that would be what we must have to eat in lieu of the animal based protein foods.

[Frosty]

I think you have it wrong, Mahk. She isn't nutritionally an idiot, she is just an idiot period

[Loss]

I just had to post this: I was having dinner earlier and one of my roomates enters the kitchen while I'm eating some freshly made bread. We start talking about bread making and he goes: "Wait, so there's actually VEGA yeast now?!?" (sic.) He then proceeds to assert that yeast is made from bacteria and therefore it's not vegan. Gotta love him and the complete lack of correct information (by the way, he wasn't aggressive about it or anything, he just sounded curious)

[Daffodil]

I just had to post this: I was having dinner earlier and one of my roomates enters the kitchen while I'm eating some freshly made bread. We start talking about bread making and he goes: "Wait, so there's actually VEGA yeast now?!?" (sic.) He then proceeds to assert that yeast is made from bacteria and therefore it's not vegan. Gotta love him and the complete lack of correct information (by the way, he wasn't aggressive about it or anything, he just sounded curious)

i've often wondered about yeast.... he's right about the bacteria. but if we didn't eat bacteria we wouldn't eat anything! lol

[Quantum Mechanic]

Not exactly a question, but when I was visiting my sister, she said out of the blue, "I think humans were originally meant to be carnivores." My head spun so fast from sheer trying to figure out what she meant (I can only hope she meant omnivores and said carnivore in a more colloquial sense, for the sake of the public school system). After a moment I stammered out, "Actually, evidence shows that early humans mostly scavenged plants and small amounts of meat."

[DiaShel]

^ I'd have said "Do you know anything, I mean anything, about Biology?"

[Loss]

i've often wondered about yeast.... he's right about the bacteria. but if we didn't eat bacteria we wouldn't eat anything! lol

As far as I know, bacteria and yeast are a different thing, but even if they weren't... that's right, do they really expect us to avoid microorganisms?

[asleep ona sunbeam]

I'm beginning to think we should do a Vegan bus campaign to get our message out. We could do London for £11k, anyone got that to spare?

What would the message be...
..."there's probably no meat so stop worrying and enjoy your nut roast"?

[harpy]

Yeast's classified as a fungus these days apparently

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yeast

ETA ...and a lot of bacteria like to live in our gut so we're doing them a favour by ingesting them

[CrunchyMomma]

I've been asked all of the cliche ones (I swear, I think there is some sort of brochure they pass around with what they think are clever questions):

-If there was a child and a hen in a burning house, which would you rescue first?

-Would you rather people or animals be homeless?

-Don't you kill bees and spiders if they get in your house?

-Aren't you worried about plants having feelings too?

-Do you care more about animals than humans?

-Aren't you worried about becoming anemic or having a protein deficiency?

[BlackCats]

-If there was a child and a hen in a burning house, which would you rescue first?

-Would you rather people or animals be homeless?

Me and my (omni) husband laughed at those first two questions.

[Daffodil]

I've been asked all of the cliche ones (I swear, I think there is some sort of brochure they pass around with what they think are clever questions):

-If there was a child and a hen in a burning house, which would you rescue first?

that's the same as asking me, if there were TWO children in a burning house, which one would I rescue first

-Would you rather people or animals be homeless?

-Don't you kill bees and spiders if they get in your house?

Definately not!

-Aren't you worried about plants having feelings too?

the are not sentient

-Do you care more about animals than humans?

I care about those closest to me more. My pets mean more to me than certain humans

-Aren't you worried about becoming anemic or having a protein deficiency?

[helen105281]

I laughed at those too, that is two questions I haven't heard before. My colleague actually looked for a website on how to argue with a vegan (have probably metioned that before).

[Mahk]

-Would you rather people or animals be homeless?

I don't understand what they mean by this. Would someone please explain it to me? Is it along the lines of "But where would all the cows go?"

[CrunchyMomma]

I don't understand what they mean by this. Would someone please explain it to me? Is it along the lines of "But where would all the cows go?"

It was in regard to a discussion I was having with a former co-worker about deforestation. I was talking about how sad it is that they keep clear cutting land around here to build huge subdivisions and how the animals are losing their habitat. He smirked and asked me, "would you rather people or animals be homeless?". Basically he was implying that if developers weren't building these huge subdivisions with homes that cost around a half a million dollars people would be destined to live on the streets.

[puca]

I have been told I can't do oral s3x because I'm a vegan,

[CrunchyMomma]

I have been told I can't do oral s3x because I'm a vegan,

Geez. I had a guy on a MySpace forum make an inappropriate joke about that when I was discussing veganism. He said something nasty like, "vegans lack protein. Here, I have a protein 'shake' just for you. Come here, baby."

[CrunchyMomma]

Oh, haha, I thought of one other question I've been asked before - "so, how do you feel about the fact that mammals eat other mammals?" My response is usually something to the tune of, "not all mammals eat other mammals. Some animals eat decaying animal and bird carcasses. Does that mean we should all go out and eat road kill?" They typically don't have a response for that.

[asleep ona sunbeam]

Geez. I had a guy on a MySpace forum make an inappropriate joke about that when I was discussing veganism. He said something nasty like, "vegans lack protein. Here, I have a protein 'shake' just for you. Come here, baby."

haha, this comes to mind:
http://www.lulu.com/content/4956212

[asleep ona sunbeam]

me: "wait mum don't get the humus out with that knife, someones cut cheese with it"
mum: "oh, you're right"
The only other person in the house is my dad.
30 seconds later he closely inspects the packaging of another cheese.
Dad: "so can you eat this cheese? I don't want to contaminate it with the other cheeses if you can"

*face palm*
it's very thoughtful of him, but after over a year of veganism, I'd have hoped by now he'd at least understand the dietary aspect of it even if he thinks a meal without meat isn't a meal.
At least he's not as bad as the people I was in boarding with a few years back who insisted: fish are plants, fish don't feel pain, vegetarians eat fish.

[squigaletta]

dad; 'i am a vegetarian'
me: 'dad, you've just ordered a sausage sandwich'
dad; 'how do you know its isn't made of vegetables'
me; 'because it's a sausage, a regular sausage!'
I had 'the talk' with my dad this weekend so I have many such comments, he has taken real exception to it.

[harpy]

A friend from university used to say she was vegetarian, but she sometimes ate sausages and anything else not immediately recognisable as part of an animal. She still avoids most meat most of the time, but has given up saying she's vegetarian.

On the other hand she did start reducing her meat consumption several years before I did, so perhaps she has eaten less animal matter than I have over a lifetime. Hmmm.

[jimmeh]

dad; 'i am a vegetarian'
me: 'dad, you've just ordered a sausage sandwich'
dad; 'how do you know its isn't made of vegetables'
me; 'because it's a sausage, a regular sausage!'
I had 'the talk' with my dad this weekend so I have many such comments, he has taken real exception to it.

I know "the talk". Makes ye wonder

[DiaShel]

dad; 'how do you know its isn't made of vegetables'

and I thought my dad was bad for eating meat broth.