Hi everyone, I want to preface this by saying that I'm not vegan yet, but I'm extremely troubled with my choices.

I'm a passionate angler. Fishing is one of the biggest passions in my life, and I genuinely don't know what I'd do without it. To be completely honest, fishing saved me from suicide. It gave me something to look forward to, a reason to get outside, something to work towards, and something that made life feel worth living again. I'm not exaggerating when I say that it's had that much of an impact on me.

But lately, I've been struggling with the ethics of eating animals, and I've pretty much been sold on veganism. The more I think about it, the harder it becomes to justify killing animals for something as trivial as taste, especially when we have perfectly viable alternatives.

And here's where my dilemma begins.

I love fishing. I love everything about it, from researching species and learning their behaviour to choosing the right tackle, reading the conditions, working a lure, and finally getting that bite. There's something incredibly special about being out on the water, connecting with nature, and putting your knowledge and skills to the test. It's not just a way to get food for me. It's a huge part of my life.

But I can't help wondering how much of that enjoyment comes at the expense of the fish. They don't choose to participate in this. They experience stress, injury, and potentially pain, all for my enjoyment. Even if I practise catch and release, I'm still deliberately putting a living animal through that experience purely because I find it fun. And if I keep the fish, I'm ending its life for something I don't actually need.

I've tried to think of ways to justify it. Fishing is more sustainable than industrial fishing, I can eat what I catch rather than buy meat from factory farms, fish are killed by predators in nature all the time, and I can do my best to minimise suffering. But the more I think about these arguments, the more I feel like I'm just looking for excuses to keep doing something I love.

The fact that fishing has helped me so much makes this even harder. I don't want to give up something that has genuinely helped me stay alive, but I also don't want to use that as an excuse to disregard the interests of other sentient beings. My own suffering matters, but surely theirs does too?

I'm not looking for people to tell me what I want to hear, and I'm not here to argue against veganism. I genuinely want to understand how other vegans would approach this situation.

Are there any anglers here who have made the transition to veganism? How did you reconcile your love for fishing with your ethics? Did you give it up entirely, switch to catch and release, or find another way to engage with the hobby?

And for those of you who aren't anglers, how would you approach this dilemma? Is there a morally defensible way to continue fishing, or am I kidding myself by trying to find one?

I really want to do the right thing here. I just wish the right thing didn't seem to involve giving up something that has meant so much to me.

In almost every vegan post I see there’s always some leftists shitting on veganism, it rly doesn’t make sense to me, aren’t us leftists supposed to be against oppression?? Tf is my team doing why are they tryna defend it??😭

Until I turned vegan I never realised just how many “woke” people aren’t actually that woke, they always claim to stand against oppression, rape, torture and death of innocent beings until it comes to a different species.

Tbh they start sounding mighty conservative with the “it’s always been that way!!” bs when veganism is brought up..😬

Steam is having a big sale this weekend on food and cooking-themed games. It made me wonder, does anyone know of vegan games? I don't generally play much in that genre because I find it grotesque when animal products are included, but it would be great to play something that intentionally or incidentally plant-based or vegan.

Edit: dear contrarians, I am actually aware that games aren't real. I play a lot of violent games and many include consuming animal products for game mechanics. What I want to personally avoid is so-called "cozy games" that simulate ostensibly wholesome scenarios using chunks of tortured animals as simple props. Cooking and agriculture are some of my personal interests, and I'd like to indulge in games featuring these things without normalizing the fiction that pork chops embody sweet pastoral purity.

I’ve been vegan for a while now, my family knows my motivations are environmental issues and they respect me and enjoy our discussions. Of course I care about animal welfare, just that I lead most of my reasons being environmentally since my family cares a lot about the environment.

My mom has been struggling with her health for a bit, she’s going through pre-menopause and has had to adapt her medication, exercise, etc. her parents grew up in a time where they would have to catch animals to eat and she did as well, so she didn’t grow up concerned about their feelings as she was more focused on survival. Now she sees my veganism as something well meaning yet unrealistic for her for those reasons, although I think it’s mainly trauma from growing up in uncertain times.

Anyways, more recently she’s been mentioning how much better my health is (I am chronically ill, so my health is constantly talked about) and how she might consider veganism for her health (mainly weight and hormonal issues.) I don’t want to be annoying and overdo it, but I do think it’s important for women to know about what they put in their body and how the hormones the animals are forced ultimately effect consumers too.

My whole family lives in a heavily meat eating community, so vegan restaurants are very uncommon and most restaurants include meat and dairy nonconsensually or unknowingly. I make all my meals myself and meal prep just for these reasons. How can I help my mom make the switch? I have a feeling that shes curious, as she’s supportive of my journey. all help is appreciated and will update if the situation changes!

Hi!

I live with a family of meat and dairy consumers...like they barely consume anything else, the fridge is full of dairy and meat and almost nothing else.

And I know they can't possibly understand how little I can eat, since their brains only naturally recognize the foods THEY can eat. And no matter if we have pasta and bread and cucumbers at home, that still won't cover many of my bodies' needs, the biggest one being protein. I know how to earn it, which foods to eat etc. it's just that I became unemployed this month and the food I can afford will soon be nothing. I'll be forced to eat what's left/ cooked home and my mother does a vegan version of every meal for me, but between bigger meals I'm truly stuck with meats and dairies and I feel like I'm getting sick. Like, my body feels weaker by the day, since I can't eat nothing at home.

The question would be, what are the cheapest vegan protein sources?

Helpful resources first:

https://www.thebloodcenter.org/basics

Scroll down to “General Blood Donor FAQs” and there’s a question about increasing iron levels. Click to open it and they’ve made an answer with a list of iron-rich foods that is at least 1/2 vegan, if not more.

Start throwing as many of those foods as you can into a place in your diet where they’d fit. Spinach is good in wraps. Beets are good in salad or soup. Fortified cereals make a good quick breakfast, and can be topped with any of the dried fruit on that list. Etc, etc. Find some things you like.

I’ve seen a LOT of questions about iron on this sub lately. It’s not so much an issue of iron being hard to get on a vegan diet, as much as it is an issue of things like chicken and beef being staples in a standard American diet while high-iron plant foods are not (at least not to the same degree). This is part of the reason why the US government started fortifying wheat products like breads and cereals that WERE already staples.

If you follow the consensus advice on iron (vegan or not) and you still have a problem keeping your iron up, that’s a medical issue, not a vegan issue. That’s something a doctor can help you with, and for most people they should be able to help you with it within vegan parameters.

For me it was an issue of losing too much blood every month due to a disorder that was causing other symptoms. Once I got treated for that disorder my iron levels were easier to get up with just raw spinach thrown into lunch wraps.

I hope this helps someone.

Hey all. I’ve been Vegan for around 8 years and can’t see a future where this changes - it’s opened up my diet so much and has converted me from a fussy eater to a health-conscious person.

When I’m out and about, in my old meat/veggie days I used to pop into a shop and buy a chocolate bar/croissant for a snack with ease, in and out in 2 minutes. These days I have to scour up and down the aisles trying to find something I know will scratch the itch but also align with my diet values. I’m asking for advice on what your go to snacks are?

Also for on-the-go protein? For example my old lunches used to be a chicken sandwich, and I could even grab some meaty product for more protein on top of that. How are you getting your snack-bag protein hits?

Thanks in advance :)

After reading much of the other thread here discussing Atheists and the common overlap with Vegans, I saw a general discord with the vegans here fitting in with the general mindset in the Atheist groups because of other vitriol in those groups. So since I am both I searched for a community to join for Atheist Vegans or Vegan Atheists and there doesn't seem to be one (or I can't find one if there is) even though it seems like there are a lot of us in that thread that are both. Could somone share the link to one to join if you know of one? or if not can/should we create one and jump into it all together??

So i recently made the decision to go vegan and me and my mother went to a pizza place and they had vegan pizza options! She wanted to share the pizza i said that's fine are you okay with it being fully vegan? She said that was fine so I thought we were on the same page.

Now she's pescatarian but I told her that im going vegan before this and while the pizza is being made the guy making it asked if parmasean was okay and she said yes and I couldn't say anything in time. I asked her why would you say it was okay when we are sharing it? When she knows i don't want to consume dairy anymore and I told her thay and she looked at me like🫩

She said "seriously it's just a sprinkle of cheese just eat it" "cant you make an exception" and I did but I feel ashamed. Am i in the wrong? My mom wasn't being very considerate am I being extreme? Idk let me know how I should go about things next time.

When someone tries vegan food for th first time it’s an encouraging experience that is sometimes few and far between.
Another step in the right direction for our vegan community! Today another family member tried an impossible burger for the first time and had pasta made with chick pea flour for dinner, avoiding animal products.
I’m so excited that my family is even trying some of this stuff! Yesterday I made vegan gf cinnamon rolls and they weren’t as well received on the other side due to some unforeseen issues, but they did try them.
In this case, my stepdad tried an Impossible Burger, and tried chick pea pasta!!
For the wellbeing of animals, I’m going to continue making veganism as pleasant and caring as possible. People should know the empathy and consideration for animals is as important as making interactions with vegans informative and respectful along with alternative options for what they are used to consuming.
Encouragement for anyone who’s waiting for their family or someone they love to give us a chance. Vegan love 🥦❤️

In a recent post i saw many people show support towards hunters and hunting after shop meat buyers, these "vegans" were defending this activities are more ethical and practical than the normal buyer.

So, before start a discussion, im gonna use some data that i let you at the end of the post! So now, with this numbers lets disscuss.

Starting form the mere moral and ethic that i assume we all share; killing directly and causing suffering to a big animal and find, in that fisrt hand experience, enjoyment and delight is worse than participating in the meat industry and buy a box of meat in the supermarket.

Before talk about the "impact" i want emphasize this ethic topic: a person who copes, who ignores the suffering of meat indsutry is easier that shows empathy towards the victims, why? Because even if the system hides the reality form the consumer, we, as humans, can feel empathy; and most people grew unaware of the horrors behind their box of meat and when you show them they, usually are horrified. People who grew not just seeing violence, but doing it itselfs, devaluing lives and being taught to find satisfaction and derive pleasure from it, are, indeed way far from change than usual people.

They do find joy in murdering first hand, they also are further from seeing animals as what they are. But still some vegans defend them saying "they do less damage", they do? They dont, because most of hunters do it, precisely, by pleasure, by sport, there no exist nothing like hunter by need, they kill because they feel it and when they feel it and that means they kill a lot more than what you would do just to eat, even if they consume all of it, they just do a lot more than what they would need (Almost the double amount in my country with biased assumption towards the hunter cause).

But still, i want to point to the cynicism, if the hunters are better because they dont make use of meat industry (ignoring the sadism, all ethics and the fact that they all still make use of the meat industry), why is better to kill, persecute and make suffer the only ones that are free?

Hunters not only also take part in the meat industry, they also kill by its own by pleasure, kill directly more than normal people indirectly and also themselves kill indirectly, and many times have done some species come to the limit of extinction, like: Iberian Lynx, Panda, White rhinoceros, Arabian oryx, etc.

Anyways.

Im gonna use my country, Spain, for being easier for me to find this.

Spain is in the top european countries in amount of active hunters, with 870.000 licencies, and 577.000 hunters (each CCAA needs a licency so there are more of these than hunters for obvious reasons).

The UVE (Unión Vegetariana Española) estimates 20.000.000 of deaths caused by hunting.

Also in Spain we kill around 1.000 M of animals each year (MAPA data [Ministerio de Agricultura, Pesca y Alimentación]).

In Spain, like most countries a hunter cant subsist from only its hunting, what i mean by this is that they also rely on meat industry, but we are gonna ignore this, and gonna think they can, and they all do.

Spain has 50 M inhabitants, so lets do the math!!!

Animals directly killed to "eat":

• Hunters: 20M/577.000=34,66 ak/p
• Rest of people 1.000M/49,5M=20,20 ak/p

I decided to go to a pizza place I haven’t been to because I did a ton of research and it said they have gluten free and vegan options.

I asked for ingredients lists, but they said they don’t have them off hand. They ensured me that both the gluten free crusts were vegan because they get asked that a lot. So I went with the smaller one as I didn’t want a huge one.

The crust they gave me is not vegan. I sent an email to the contact page and they replied with “sorry for the confusion”. The crust I got has eggs and dairy in it. I am so lost for words and upset right now.

I haven’t consumed any animal products in over 10 years. I’m devastated.

Like I know it wasn’t my fault because I believed the business.

I could really use some advice because I feel sick about it.

EDIT: The had two different sized gluten free crusts. The smaller one was a cauliflower crust, which I am well aware are typically not vegan. But I’ve also seen plenty that are. So when I asked to clarify multiple times, because I know there are ones that aren’t, they said that this one was vegan. I didn’t want to spend more on a bigger pizza so I took them at their word on the smaller one.

There is a post on r/atheism asking about veganism. The poster seems genuinely curious and wants to learn, but the comments are so disheartening.

I tried my best to explain my reason for being vegan to answer OP and also converse/debate with some of them politely, but trying to interact with people who obviously have very little understanding of philosophic/moral arguments is like trying to explain things to children.

I totally thought there would be a lot more overlap with atheists being vegan. Without religion as a justification to harm animals, it seems like being vegan is a relatively easy next step. There were some vegans who also commented. But it's mostly just "lions though", "we're carnivores", "meat is tasty" arguments.

I’m currently on a journey to transition to veganism after being vegetarian for almost my whole life. I’ve struggled with a lot of restrictive eating disorders for a while, and I’m currently in recovery. I have gotten to the point where I don’t eat anything that obviously contains dairy or eggs, but I don’t read nutrition labels to see if something has dairy or eggs baked into it or hidden. Reading every nutrition label has been really triggering for me because of my past eating disorders, and I’m not sure how to get past this. My dietician advised against me going vegan, so I can’t ask for advice there. Are there any ways around reading every label?

I’m a vegan. a lot of my diet is vegetables and high fiber foods. I also have hypothyroidism. So my digestion is naturally slower than most people.

I tend to get gassy at night very frequently and have bad smelling farts.

I hate it. I want to be able to eat healthy without having this issue. I don’t want to keep blowing up like a balloon after I eat dinner and be smelling rank farts all night. If I eventually have to share a bed with someone, I don’t want to keep having this issue.

Is there either something I can do to prevent, a solution, or treatment I can use or take?

Context: I was out for lunch in Manhattan at a Japanese
restaurant with a “V” with a leaf on some menu items - which I’d understood to mean vegan. My friend (non-vegan) suggested I confirm, just to be safe. Lo and behold! They understand it to be vegetarian with eggs, dairy and fish. 🙄

Not sure if this is a question or a rant.
I was very disappointed - this is impossible to always verify when you’re selecting a place. Any tips / tricks?

I eat a lot of takeout because of my work hours. Re-thinking all my orders now.

In a family of meat-eaters, my dad and brother have over the last year or two been turning into hunters. Slowly buying all the gear, learning to shoot with various guns and bows. At first it just seemed like a fun hobby. But lately I've been getting hints that at least my brother has ventured into the wilderness once or twice with the purpose to kill, but I haven't heard of him succeeding yet. My dad seems interested in doing the same, and has expressed positive emotions towards hunting.

I've tried avoiding thinking about it during the build up, but feel like this is where the line is. Buying meat from a grocery store is wrong, but at least I can't say one takes joy in it. Looking an animal in the eye through a rifle scope and taking joy in pulling the trigger... well, now it feels like I'm dealing with a monster.

I'm thinking of having a serious conversation with my dad first where I explain how this would make me see him as a murderer and that I wouldn't be able to continue having a relationship with him if I find out he's killed an animal. I suspect he doesn't grasp the immensity of my conviction, probably just sees it as a personal preference.

Anyone ever had this conversation? Any hints or thoughts on how to approach? For context, he and the rest of my family are very loving and feel great compassion for non-agri animals. E.g. they would go out of their way to defend dogs, and even make effort to keep from interfering with bird activity in nature. Dad was responsible for the accidental death a cat many years ago and he was absolutely shattered.

EDIT: There's a lot of debate on whether hunting is justifiable. To clarify, that's not what I am trying to deal with. However many benefits there may be to hunting instead of shopping, their intention isn't to do good. Their intention is to have fun. So my opposition comes from the feeling that I can't respect someone whose INTENT is to do harm, even if it turns out that their behaviour actually turns out to do good.

So im pretty new to the whole vegan thing, I've heard about the horrors very briefly of the animal industry but I finally decided to watch a documentary on YouTube a few days ago and that was the end of eating animals for me. Can't do it anymore after seeing what I saw, its alot and im making changes and going full vegan. I truly didn't know how horrible conditions these animals live in.

When it comes to veganism I am quite overwhelmed at the social aspect of it, so I need some advice from fellow vegans who have also been through this. I go out to eat alot, and have events where there will be lots of food often with other people. How do I speak up for myself without feeling like im doing too much when it comes to my accommodations?

I want to be able to ask the questions "does this have any dairy" or any meat products whatsoever. But im nervous of what other people will think, i shouldnt care but its something ive always struggled wth normally. i dont want to have the uncomfortable vegan conversation with everybody often and like to avoid it.

And what if we go to a resturant last minute and there isnt any vegan options that I like, what am I supposed to do in that situation? Should I always carry some type of food on me at all times? I dont want to be the person that says "they dont have any options for me here can we go somewhere else" when the majority wants to go to that place. Just at a loss of what to do when these situations happen, and want to be as prepared as I can be. Helppp

I am having a hard time in my emotional life right now, and I as write in my journal and try to talk to my inner child and look at my life from a different perspective. One that I didn’t have access before all the experiences taught me.

I became vegan in my 20’s. I’ve never met another vegan in real life before. I am from Brazil, and veganism was unknown at the time. But with times, and thanks to all online friends. I became more of an activist. I participated in protests. I had a bunch of stickers on my school material. I was going to college at the time, so people could see my stickers. So, I am guessing little by little I was planting a seed, and because I was part of an online community, my friends were probably doing the same.

And little by little, something that was unknown is better known. You can go to many places in small cities but where tourism is popular, that restaurants will have at least one version of vegan options. Some of these options are veganized versions of our traditional dishes. There are vegan celebrities, etc. The movement that started somewhere among people who wanted a world a better place reached people from different backgrounds and social class.

I’ve also heard from people whom I’ve never had talked to that I had inspired them to go vegan. And with every person you touch with your lived experience as someone who cares about making this world a better place, and include animals in this better world. It is good to know that for a little some unknown individual was happier.

Sorry if it doesn’t make much sense. I just want everyone to know that together and individually we can affect the world around us.

Thank you.

ive been vegan for three years and it is a decision i would never change. but when i first became vegan, i knew my cognitive dissonance was definitely bigger. i wasnt yet aware of how much the animals suffered, and just how unique and filled with personality each animal is. i just knew it wasnt right to hurt and abuse them, and thus i became vegan.

now i adopted my rescue cat a year ago. hes a senior with no teeth left, most likely with bad eyes, and he was supposed to be euthanised before he was rescued. after he spent months in his foster place locked in a small room, because he didnt get along with the other cats.

when he came to us, he had lost all hope in life. he was terrified and would cry all day and he was so tiny and starved (he has terrible seperation anxiety and wont eat if he doesnt feel comfortable). it took him a year to become accustomed to us, and now he is the most loving and chatty cat in the whole world.

what i never was aware of before him (id never had any pets) is just how unique each animal is. and throughout this year ive become so heartbroken for all animals in animal testing and in factory farms.

i will never know the personality of the animal that my family is eating for lunch. i will never know if they liked to be pet and where, if they are more calm or perhaps more energetic. if they have any unique quirks. it is just a corpse of a poor being that probably was in so much pain and so scared.

when i look at videos and photos of those animals, i see my cat in each one of them. i see animals that wanted to play with their friends, and nap in the sun, and have their bellies cuddled like my cat does. but instead they were forced through so much pain and suffering, and they were probably more terrified and more broken than my cat was.

i can never give them the life they deserve, i will forever have to live with my loved ones paying for those atrocities and serving their corpses as food.

i just needed to rant about this. today i looked at videos of piglets in factory farms and they are so scared and cant reach their mommy because of the iron bars. and i will never know if they liked a certain treat, or if they liked to sleep in a certain spot, or if they liked to run or laze around... i just dont get how anyone can keep supporting this animal abuse, and how people are even willing to eat corpses. obviously i cant ask anyone in my family or friend circles, because they themselves dont know

Hello everyone! I've been a vegetarian for almost 5,5 years now and I've recently been going more and more plant based with the goal of becoming fully vegan soon enough (I have to relearn some recipes and such since I bake a lot 🙈). The thing I'm the most worried about however is what people will say and ask after I become vegan full-time and therefore I'm looking for some answers/arguments to things I believe my family and friends will ask.

The main thing I've been thinking about lately is what nutrients am I really missing out on as a vegan? Since I already am a vegetarian and haven't died of malnutrition yet, I don't really see how cutting out dairy and eggs (and a few other things) will fundamentally change my nutrition and make me need a billion more supplements, as meat eaters often try making me believe.

I hope I can get some answers here and be more confident in my vegan journey. 🌱

I’ve marked this as funny because … Well it is. In a sweet way.

It was my son’s 1st birthday party today. We had all vegan cakes and sandwiches, it was lovely.

Anyways, my Nanny turns up (89 years old!) and hands me a packet of biscuits, proudly claiming “they are gluten free, dear!”. They were all butter shortbreads and chocolate chip cookies.

I laugh because no matter how I simplify what veganism is to her, she’s still somehow confused and has conflated veganism with gluten intolerance. I don’t mind, she’s my grandma and I love her, and she’s trying her best to understand our vegan lifestyle.

My non vegan in-laws got gifted the biscuits in the end.

I went vegan three years ago, and I will never go back on that decision. The thing is, I'm depressed. I suffer from depression since six years ago, and I'm struggling to have a good, or normal diet at the moment. I don't have any energy to cook or even do groceries nor do I feel hunger, I've lost a lot of weight. I need some lazy tips, I guess. I know nutrition is important for mental health. I apologize in advance if this is badly written, English is not my first language.