There are definitely more vegans on lemmy but given they are frequently targeted with harassment and trolling I doubt all of them are willing to expose themselves to such behavior.
I'm happy lemmy is flexible enough to offer spaces for all of us, assholes be damned. Thanks for offering places for people to feel comfortable!
If everyone made an effort we'd live in a completely different world almost over night. At least as someone who cares about sustainability side of it, that's what matters. But I appreciate that veganism consists of a bunch of different forms of arguments and motivations.
My path to veganism has more to do with refusing to be poisoned by the corporate clowns that don't care they're killing us all with listeria and microplastics in EVERYTHING and a supply chain that I refuse to depend on.
It shouldn't be unreasonable to buy and consume healthy vegetables from a normal store but it gets harder every day. My means of survival will not be affected by recalls and cross contamination, corporate greed, or animal slavery.
IMO- Our survival will depend on our ability to take back control from companies that would sell us our doom with a shiny ribbon wrapped around it. Self-sustainable veganism is my bet for our future and I'm doing everything I can to bring it to reality as quickly as I can.
This statement (about everyone single personal effort) only becomes meaningful when you take into consideration why people don't. If you do, you will encounter the dialectics of structure and "personal choice" and how complicated history is and how it is not at all about "everybody make a small change in their life".
The liberal feverdream of individual solutions for structural problems is bound to end up in "I buy good groceries".
And, eventhough veganism is a good thing to do, this is why I'm personally so annoyed by vegan communities.
I dont know if reducing your personal sin count or whatever is a substitute for radical critique and political action, or an add-on, so I didn't downvote. But maybe it explains some of it.
How are the corporations and governments going to change if one person doesn’t commit the first action of doing better and inspiring others to do the same. As people buy animal products in grocery stores and people vote in carnist political parties.
The liberal feverdream of individual solutions for structural problems is bound to end up in "I buy good groceries".
And, eventhough veganism is a good thing to do, this is why l'm personally so annoyed by vegan communities.
That’s a strawman because if you were paying attention you would notice that vegans are doing street outreach, disruptive protests and factory farm liberation to save the animal victims from immense suffering. They’re not simply buying “good groceries”
Universal suffrage, abolition and gay marriage didn’t just suddenly came out of thin air because corporations and governments decided to become nicer no it was it was the unsurmountable pressure by the people protesting for better treatment for all.
How are the corporations and governments going to change if one person doesn’t commit the first action of doing better and inspiring others to do the same.
"Strawman" - and then you just go with "vegans"... so all? Most? Some? Or maybe just the tiniest percentage? I think you understand for wich ones my argument applies and how "strawman" doesn't, cause numbers. You know, if you pay attention..
Ok lets cut the rhetorics, I was trying to be sincere.
I think you might wanna pay some more of that attention (omg sry I stop now) to "dialectic". This does explicitly not mean you can turn the thing around and solely look at the other side.
So of course no change ever happens if all those one persons don't do anything. But they will only change history if they change the underlying structures. To do so, they have to overcome their individualistic constriction and reach collective agency.
You gotta organize. The market won't do, since it is THE form of organization that makes everyone a single player. Both, in their acting and in their consciousness.
You're doing more than the vast majority of people, so this isn't supposed to be an attack but isn't it kinda selfish to still eat cheese when you, from what it seems like, understand why it's wrong? Anyway, actual cheese can already be made vegan but, at least in the EU, the company just isn't allowed to sell it because they're still waiting for approval but other companies like Rewe are also starting to invest in it, so hopefully it won't take long until it can be sold. I think they're starting to sell it outside the EU tho.
The main reason for not eating cheese is that it's gross! Just think for a second what it is. Think harder. Gross. Admittedly pizza is kind of tasty - IF you can stop yourself imagining what it's made of.
Unlike meat, even the best fake cheese is not very realistic IME. But if someone else enjoys it, all the better.
This is a discussion about people approaching veganism. Someone describing their opinion of an animal based food is appropriate discussion for this thread.
Of course I don't, although in my case it is. The deeper point is that if people were to reflect more closely on the origin of their food, this would certainly be a win for veganism. After all, plants are seen as many things but "gross" is not usually one of them.
Disappointed you had to jump straight into censorious mode and tell others literally to shut up.
I'm not telling you to shut up. But I am telling you that you're probably not convincing as many people as you'd wish by telling them that their culture and way of life is "gross".
Also, some of the best plant based food is totally gross. Fermentation is life.
telling them that their culture and way of life is “gross”.
Hard to deny that in most cases. But not all, because people's minds work differently. Personally I rind risible the idea that somebody is attacking my "culture and way of life" when they question my diet. Am I really so rare in my individualism and openness to new ideas?
Because here's the thing: I personally have stopped eating certain foods simply after thinking about what they are. Cheese is literally the congealed secretions of the mammalian reproductive apparatus. Pretty yucky when you think about it like that, right? No rational arguments or statistics required. That's a pretty cheap conversion to veganism. Yes, I know that most people will not be open to this kind of novelty thinking. But presumably some will, especially if it can be done with humor.
Also, some of the best plant based food is totally gross. Fermentation is life.
True. I've always found mushrooms a bit icky too, but I soldier on and eat them anyway because they're so healthy.
I mean, I totally believe people who would find the act of milking a cow to be disgusting have no business drinking milk from the supermarket. We need to reflect on where food comes from, and if that changes people's habits that's probably a good thing.
In part, I think legislation should play a role here. When buying milk you should be able to know what kind of conditions the cows lived under and what they were fed. I don't think there's anything disgusting about cow milk as such. Induatrial farming, on the other hand...
To pursue my point, something is definitely happening on the disgust front. A few decades ago, it was normal in the West to eat offal. Now plenty of Westerners are grossed out when they find bits of bone in their chicken broth at an Asian restaurant. For meat to be widely palatable these days, it has be only the best cuts, if possible in a sealed packet with no indication that it comes from an animal. Part of the explanation is surely a subconscious awareness of the horrors of factory farming. But I think something more fundamental's going on. Something about disconnection from nature, ironically.
Absolutely agree that legislation must bring transparency to factory farming.
Same, and honestly, that's enough for now. It already cuts out a giant portion of the footprint and I got so many other things to worry about, I can work on finding replacement cheese that isn't a joke later.
Could be unrelated, but there was some fiasco a bit ago where some vegans on Lemmy were calling for withholding necessary nutrition to pets, and they got a ton of shit for it. There's been a kind of "fuck that place" vibe ever since.
Hopefully people can eat a little less meat and it loses its subsidies. That would be great.
some vegans on Lemmy were calling for withholding necessary nutrition to pets
That is misrepresenting the situation as synthetic taurine, B12 and vitamin A can be provided in a plant-based diet through the form of reputable kibble brands.
Please read the content linked in a drama thread. So many lemmy.world users and others admitted they did not read the actual words said but raged against vegans anyway. You've created an imaginary scenario, there was no call for fuck's sake. Just people discussing in a single thread if it is possible to feed a cat a vegan diet if you give them proper supplements. Cats do need taurine, but the cat food you buy in a store has synthetic taurine added to it because the processing removes actual taurine (this was mentioned in the thread btw). Someone even linked studies of it being possible. Then a lemmy.world admin got triggered because they were ignorant and did not even bother reading the content of the comments beyond the words "cat" and "vegan diet" and ended up removing the mod team for trying to push back. The admin was forced to apologize. But the userbase did not read anything apparently and kept saying Rook shouldn't apologize for trying to stop the evil vegans forcing cats to eat vegan diets. This spread like wildfire. Honestly, just reactionary bullshit and idk why I expected lemmy to be better than that.
There are definitely more vegans on lemmy but given they are frequently targeted with harassment and trolling I doubt all of them are willing to expose themselves to such behavior.
For real. There’s a significant number of downvotes on this article even. What the hell?
As if. People disagreeing with you is not harassement. I guess almost no one want you to stop not eating meat.
I’m happy lemmy is flexible enough to offer spaces for all of us, assholes be damned. Thanks for offering places for people to feel comfortable!
Vegans on Lemmy do get harassed, they get childish carnists coming to their threads telling vegans they are going to eat even more meat to piss them off or get called all sorts of things to provoke them into engaging in a bad faith "debate." I remember someone saying vegans are overemotional and are unable to comprehend the great logic of eating meat. They are trolls and they need to fuck off from vegan communities.
In my personal life, I've had a lot of push back from my family and SO about switching to veganism. My family has tried obnoxiously to get me to eat meat, they don't prepare my meals but felt they needed to "get these ideas out of [my] head." And my SO has tried to get me to eat meat multiple times, they make my meals and it would be "easier" if I just ate what they ate especially since they find my food "gross" and "sad." My SO has not even tried any of my vegan meals they have made for me because the food can't possibly taste good without meat in it. I wanted to visit a vegan restaurant and my SO refused to go. Not even for my birthday. When I first went vegan my SO told me my veganism wouldn't be a problem for them as long as I didn't make it a problem. Shit is depressing. Do you know how many times they have asked me what I wanted from the grocery store and after sending them vegan recipes, they came back with ingredients for only meat-centered dishes? Too many times. I pay for all groceries btw in case you were wondering about our arrangement. Sorry for ranting, it just sucks and has taken its toll.
That's crazy, I don't know how you do it. When my SO and I got back together after I had gone vegan she tried it for me and has stuck with it ever since. I can't imagine having to fight against my SO or watch them eat meat every day.
Sorry, I know you're not commenting for relationship advice. I'm sure there is a world where two people could have different beliefs on this and still coexist, but yours sounds... hostile. I'd really ask yourself if they're worth it.
The same meat eaters who say “respect my choices and stop judging me” while they childishly go out of their way to say “your vegan food looks sad”
Them taking my money and buying animal products would be my last straw, I would not let them buy groceries with my hard earned money ever again and would be seriously reconsidering my relationship.
Contrary point of view here. I'm not vegan, not even vegetarian, but reduced my animal produce consumption a lot (not that I consumed much anyway) and am always looking for further alternatives that are possible within my personal circumstances. However, what I've seen on Lemmy (and other social media, such as Reddit) regarding vegans, was highly militant and toxic people who spew nonsense and hostility towards anyone who is not vegan. Generally what you'd describe as veganazi or whatever. Seeing things like that definitely does not cause me wanting to join or even lurk such communities and is really just confirming the stereotypes being shared by certain trolls.
Joining a vegan community exposes you to toxic trolls that are hostile to the very idea of veganism aka carnists. Their comments are eventually removed at least. Calling things you do not like Nazis is extremely poor taste. Nazis killed an estimated 17 million people. This is very serious. You are comparing Nazis to vegans who just want animals to stop dying for human consumption. More than 80 billion land animals are slaughtered for meat every year worldwide. You may not value an animal as equal to a human life, but you must admit this is messed up.
I'm not directly comparing Nazis to vegans and you clearly not even attempting to differentiate between militant vegans and sane vegans kinda proves my point. There's no nuance, it's all a black and white "if you're not one of us, you're against us" type of mentality. If animal welfare is that important to you, then you'd at least attempt to communicate with others in a reasonable fashion instead of either trying to convert them to some sort of cult mentality or shunning them if they aren't able or willing to do so.
You literally called the vegans in lemmy communities "veganazis" and I'm not going to let that slide, it is not ok.
No it does not prove your point, I did not address "militant" vegans and "sane" vegans because I think your thoughts on this are reactionary bullshit. I don't think you've even been in the vegan lemmy communities, because vegans are actual people with different views and you only want to talk about a stereotype carnists use to whine. You want nuance but don't give it to vegans. Why? I mean you're either a troll or misguided.
I have a non-vegan/carnist SO, I'm not the only one that dates non-vegans. My family is non-vegan. My friends in RL are all non-vegan. You apparently know all about my life even though I have never tried to convert people into a "cult" or shunned people for not being vegan. I have only talked about veganism when it is prompted, like when people were curious why I decided to switch or online when the subject comes up. Different vegans have different approaches to things. Some vegans only date other vegans, after the bullshit I've gone through with my non-vegan/carnist SO I can see why.
I felt you leaned reactionary due to your take on veganism but replied anyway in good faith because your use of the word Nazi was unacceptable. Why is it a cult to not eat meat? Why am I the Nazi for wanting the animals to stop dying? The answer to me is that people who eat meat can get incredibly defensive when you point out that it is messed up what happens to animals so that they can eat meat from the grocery store. It is bad for the environment too. In order to deflect from this revelation they decide their behavior is not the problem, it is the "militant" vegans in a "cult" thinking they are better than everyone that is the problem. This is all reactionary thinking. I've only seen this reaction online and once in person. I would love for everyone to be a vegan but I know it is not realistic. It is not a matter of how vegans communicate, it is how people process their justification for eating meat. You can be as sweet as possible about being vegan and a carnist will still spit in your face. They don't want to hear about veganism, they frankly don't give a shit about animals no matter how you deliver the message to them.
You do realize urban dictionary is rife with sexist and racist terms on it? Jesus Christ. At least try to troll better. You clearly came here to push an agenda that failed miserably.