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I have given my life to the cause, I suffer for what I know is right.

You can live without food for a month, you can live without bathing for a Lifetime.
But they have to die because you are spoiled.

Whats wrong with you?

To me, a person is spoiled if they have access to 100% vegan products.

If you buy or can buy: vegan cheese, tofu dogs, vegan soap, vegan ANYTHING, then you have luxuries available to you.

I'm lucky to find a boca burger in the grocery store; I'm even luckier if I can afford decent food.

Yet I'm spoiled, because I'm not vegan?

Like hell I am.

I don't believe that eating meat is wrong; I believe that the majority of meat eaten in society is unnecessary, however, and very unhealthy. That's why I'm vegetarian. But I have a VERY limited budget, and it's hard enough to get the right nutrients as a vegetarian. I could not be vegan, even if I wanted to.

So no, I'm not going to starve myself or refuse to wash for the sake of a cow. Maybe you're luckier than I am, but I would be fired if I came into work after not showering for a month.

Get a reality check.

A lot of vegan products are, and have always been available in grocery and drug stores...they are very basic things like vinegar, baking soda, flour, salt, witch hazel, lemon juice, even plain old water... which if used resourcefully can replace a lot of consumer goods that we think we need but really don't. Corporations want us to think we need their products, so they use brand recognition and subtle marketing strategies to make their products seem like necessities. I guess this could be said of vegan products too, but at least these vegan products help bring an awareness of veg*nism in general, and that, I take no issue with. Yes, these products are expensive, so I try to make a lot of my own stuff, like cleansers and soaps, which is actually not all that hard, and pretty fast to do, if you have the right recipe. Veggie burgers, veggie dogs... yes it's possible to be vegan and get by without all that crap. It's healthier just to eat real, unprocessed food anyways.

Of course no one is going to be perfect, but I think it's better to try and elminate as much animal cruelty as possible. For me that means being vegan, and it gives me a powerful peace of mind.

Unfortunately there are going to be situations where beliefs have to be compromised to some degree, but it's hard to live life without such encounters.

Here's what I'm struggling with now. I haven't yet figured out whether it is better to use something that would otherwise go to waste if it's non vegan/vegetarian, and I'm hoping someone here can comment on that. Apart from a few wool sweaters my grandma made me, and a couple of pairs of leather boots that haven't come apart yet, I don't wear or buy things that are made of animal bits. I mostly buy used clothes, except for work outfits, and on the whole I think used is the way to go for most things. I don't think I'd feel as bad about buying used leather, except for the fact that it still is like an advertisement that endorses the purchase of new leather. Weighing the options though, maybe it is better to just buy the used leather goods because they will last longer than a synthetic leather substitute, which, if no longer usable, would just sit in a landfill and do nothing (apart from contributing to other environmental problems).

I don't see why people attacked you... this is a valid topic. Some of us have been in bad bad places.

I am vegan. While I was vegetarian (not vegan) I actually have been HUNGRY. I don't mean "oh, I haven't had food in 12 hours, I'm hungry". I mean, I was poor and didn't have food. I would go for a day or two without eating. When I did eat it was tiny amounts... a can of fruit, a bowl of vegetarian ramen.

I lost a lot of weight. My hair fell out. Sometimes I would eat vegetables that had gone bad because I was so hungry, and get very very sick.

I didn't eat meat. I lived with my aunt, who works in the meat section of a grocery store. She was poor too, but she would bring home large things of hamburger that she got at a major discount, or got free when it was expired. I wouldn't touch it. I wasn't tempted to.

However, say I was at the edge of death and someone offered me a corn dog. Would I eat it? I don't know. Actually, I don't know if my body would just reject it and it would do more harm than good anyway. (I've not eaten meat in 10 years. My body might have a coniption fit if I tried it, especially when it was that weak.) When people are really starving, you can't introduce solid foods right away without hurting them. They gradually wean people onto eating if they're in such a state.

"Live without food for a month"? Said like someone who's never been hungry. At any rate, I don't think you'd live very well without food for a month. Cruelty to humans -- even to ourselves -- is also bad. Not just cruelty to animals. If someone starved a chicken 14 days to get it to lay eggs faster, and said "It can live that long", we call it cruelty!

I was in the hospital once, and they brought out dinners and mine was not the vegetarian one I'd asked for. I just didn't eat, which made them very very angry. They threatened to stick a tube down my throat.

Would I use soap with tallow? No. I would walk to the store and buy vegan soap or go without for a while. Ew. ;> And I have Obsessive Compulsive Disorder! I take obsessive showers.

Now... would I look down on people who DID eat meat because they were (really honestly and truly) hungry? No. Everyone has a right to life, comfort, and happiness. Being hungry (and by this I mean real hunger, not having not eaten for a day) is NOT something I would wish on anyone.

Been there, done that, am desperate not to go back.

Again, thanks. I get frustrated with these animal rights people who think I'm some sort of freak for enjoying cheese. Animals are harmed by the factory production of Cheese and Milk, true, but because animals suffer for these doesn't mean they necessarily have to.

I tried to go vegan, but I was sick for those weeks, and spent many nights without sleep. The absence of Dairy from my diet was hurting me, so I had to stop. No, I am not willing to suffer for this. I have s**t to do with my life, and therefore carelessly endangering my health is not something I care to do.

Also, I found out the only way somebody who is not a spoiled upper middleclass kid can go vegan is if all they eat is rice, pretty much.....



Grow the ******** up. You made a mistake. We all do. Usually, when at family gatherings, there is a meat chili and a non meat. I was accidentally lead to the wrong chili. Took a bit, put it back. I'm not going to complain about it.

Also, how can a house laugh at you?

Look, Obviously I'm not a big fan of meat. But I don't see why you should compare accidentally eating meat to being raped?

Example: my parents are very stingy, and won't buy me a good, animal-free coat. Because, I have a leather coat I got secondhand. It's very cold where I live (i.e. tomorrow's supposed to hit negatives in the 20's to 30's with wind chill). So, if I'm spending time outside, I have to wear the leather jacket. I don't like it, but since I don't have a job (and, ironically, I can't get a job because I refuse to contribute to the exploitation of animals), I can't do anything about it.