I'm talking about things like the Impossible Whopper from Burger King or the Beyond Chicken from KFC: stuff designed to look/taste like real meat that's actually made from plants.
There's nothing wrong with enjoying plant-based meats. I myself just don't see them as authentic, and I'm a person who likes to do/see/have the real, authentic version of something.
Think of it this way: if I wanted to stop eating strawberries and eat more cherries for whatever reason, I wouldn't go and try to make "imitation strawberries" out of cherries and then eat those. I would just eat cherries instead of strawberries. Catch my drift?
I wanna hear everything — the good, the bad, and the ugly.
I just wanted to put this out there as I’ve been seeing/hearing a lot of commentary from people who are “vegan” but aren’t doing it in support of animal rights (but for other reasons like environmentalism/health/etc).
You’re not vegan if that applies to you. Being vegan is based off the core concept of animal rights activism. If your “veganism” does not come from an ethical background, you’re not vegan, but rather someone who has adopted a special diet.
Thanks for listening to my rant.
EDIT: Considering that this is the r/vegan subreddit, I think that there is an important distinction to be made between plant-based diets and veganism. Sure, reducing your consumption of animal products is good for the environment as well as your health (and I won’t complain if someone does switch), but that doesn’t make you vegan because the change was not for the animals. It’s really that simple.
By removing that distinction, you dilute the cause that veganism was founded upon: animal rights. If one movement becomes focused on too many things, its effectiveness is cut as a result.
This post isn’t “gatekeeping,” nor will it ever be. It was intended to clarify the difference between a diet, and an ethical stance.
"Vegan food doesn't taste good" - India
"It's too expensive" - India
"The vegan diet is unhealthy." - India
"Meat is required for brain development" - India
"What about poor people who don't have time to be vegan?" - India
"It's a white people thing." - India
"The cows will go extinct!" - India, kinda (we can just let them roam/graze and harvest their poop as fertilizer. Maybe worship them a little.)
EDIT: Don't get me wrong, I know most Indians eat meat. However, lots of Indian cuisine's vegan "options" are staples in the Indian diet. That is, while meat and dairy are all over the place and commonly eaten, equally or more common are the cheap delicious and nutritious Indian dishes that are completely vegan. that it sufficiently counters the above anti-vegan claims.
I’m trying to make an effort this year to reduce some of our plastic waste, meat consumption etc. It’s not a big all or nothing crusade, just trying to do a little bit to help. As I’m running out of stuff (like cling film) I’m replacing it with a more sustainable alternative (like reusable food bags).
The problem I’m finding is now I’ve started to look into this, I’m getting loads of ads for different alternatives and I’m hugely overwhelmed/bamboozled by the choice. Cleaning products, shampoo bars, detergent, you name it, there’s suddenly a thousand possible options. Same when I go to the supermarket and look at plant-based/vegetarian alternatives.
Has anyone tried any of these products and has any recommendations they’d be happy to share? Thanks
I believe it's more realistc to say that you can learn a lot about yourself based off of the expectations you place on others on your birthday. My original statement ignored the complexity of human behavior.
I have summarised all this at the end under TL;DR
This is such a confusing topic because I’ve never heard of actual evidence to support either side (but correct me if I’m wrong about that). I apologise if I sound ignorant, and for this essay of a post.
Here are some of the points I’ve gathered since going vegan and amid all this debate around KFC——
FOR it:
• subway in Canada doesn’t have plant based options because the demand wasn’t high enough when they did
• having plant based options at non vegan places can help carnists realise plant based foods are tasty/affordable etc.
• if there’s a demand for plant based food, they could add even more (but who’s to say that the carnists will eat it and it’s not just vegans eating it?)
• supporting it can help plant based food become mainstream (I don’t think I agree, as I explain below)
AGAINST it:
• supporting KFC is worse than buying from supermarkets because they are built on carnism
• they don’t care about animals, they just want money
• if there are vegan restaurants/cafes around you, why wouldn’t you support them instead of a carnist company? That also increases demand
• by supporting all vegan places, vegan food can still become mainstream. How common is it that carnists who eat at KFC etc. will actually get the plant based option? (When I wasn’t vegan, I did do this and it helped me realise plant based food was really good, activists/documentaries made me vegan, not the beyond burger at a carnist burger restaurant)
I’ve seen many activists supporting PBC, with some saying they wouldn’t buy from KFC but having a vegan option is good for the animals if carnists choose it. This just makes it more confusing since for the most part vegans are on the same side, especially activists. It’s also concerning to see some activists use carnist arguments in favour of PBC (e.g. Lifting Vegan Logic said something like “if you don’t think it’s ethical why do you shop at a supermarket?” which reminds me of the “phones tho” argument). There is no such thing as a vegan supermarket (I suppose a farmers market works, but are the farmers vegan?), but there IS such thing as vegan restaurants/cafes. At least there, although they would buy food from supermarkets, the profit would go to vegans and not carnists.
I’d love to hear more insight and what everyone’s opinions are. As you can see I’m really torn so I want to learn more about this topic and would appreciate any responses.
Note: I wanted to post
... keep reading on reddit ➡My family is filled with narcissists. When I made the transition when I was like, 15 , everyone legitimately lost their minds save my father. Even though I told everyone it reduced my pain and made me feel better.
Even after the 3 months every Sunday where everyone was passive aggressive because I ate pasta they all were eating, except I didn’t reach for meat balls. Because that’s horribly rude!!!
But I thought it would end. I never brought it up. But it never did. After my father passed away still wanted to keep fighting and battling because she believed it would “cure” my condition.
And the god dam excuses she kept using was outrageous.
Huge slab of fish out in my food when no one else had it: “fish isn’t meat”
Family brings over tray of all meat for my dads funeral and I ate literally nothing: you’ll eat this right ? It was given to us free!
My grandmother wanted complete control. So she would nonstop begin sobbing if she realized I ate someone else’s food when I stayed over post death. She fell on her knees over a can of soul for gods sake.
But i draw the line here: she kept making me “plant based” soups. I couldn’t figure out why on earth she kept asking how I felt.
I kept vomiting which was weird. She kept yelling at me over it sobbing. Guess I’m suppose to ignore the pain ?
And then after the 5th time I demanded to know what it has
“No no it’s nothing! All plants ! It has bacon for flavoring but it’s not in the food, it’s flavoring it!”
This is why I throw out all your food .
You become passive aggressive al the time over this. You don’t watch anyone else not eat certain items in the table, just me.
And you began sobbing because I told you I didn’t want any more of her food.
There is always a excuse for you to poison me isn’t there? But it doesn’t matter how many times I vomit! You deep down know why I’m disabled and will spend even more than the 10 years that have passed arguing about this like you are a victim. Crying to other people about how I’m mean and bad.
For gods sake. I was with you last night at another family members house celebrating. And there was multiple types of the same food. And you asked me which one I wanted. I told you the one without meat.
You pretended not to hear me, asked again.
I repeated the one without meat.
“Okay” and she knowingly grabbed the one with meat and ploped it in front of Me.
I’m done with this.
Why are meat eaters so god dam sensitive over this ?
I’m not stupid. I’m not weird. And it h
... keep reading on reddit ➡There was recent exchange on one of the other posts here about eating more plants. In that vein, any plant based or plant forward otf-ers here? I’ve been focusing on a whole foods plant based diet since the pandemic began and the benefits have been so palpable, performance wise as well as general wellness. I sleep better, no signs of fatigue, I can pack a lot more into my days. Anyone else here?
