On Vegans

[dcseain]

Reply to this post saying “pick me” or something similar. I'll pick one of your interests, and then you must tell me a a lot about it. Then I (and the other readers here) will learn a bit more about you and your interests.

muzikmaker21 picked Vegans from my interest list:

Vegans

(not veganism, but vegans)

I met my first vegetarian when i started high school. I knew they existed, especially among adherents of Hinduism, but i'd net met one. The first vegans i became aware of were my cousin Katherine and her hubby, Ottmar. I remember going to the Rini-Rego Stop-N-Shop with my grandfather in 1986, and showing him that cooking vegan was not hard, it just meant he had to read ingredient lists more carefully.

I met nadyalec my first year of high school, which started late that same summer. She and her sister, L, were vegetarians when i met them. L became a vegan not too long after i'd gotten to know them. But anyway, L was the first vegan i really knew, and i hung with a largely veggie crowd. L did it for mostly animal rights reasons. For that matter, aside from agentxs, who is vegan for health reasons, all the vegans i have known are vegans for animal rights reasons, and that plays a significant role for agentxs, too, form my understanding, though it was not his initial impetus for the dietary lifestyle.

Part of my interest in vegans, is that i'm too lazy to be one; what's life without yogurt, and butter, and cheese, and heavy cream. I eat those despite my lactose intolerance. The effort of maintaining veganism is just not worth it to me, though i eat, and cook, vegan often.

I have no animal rights component in my vegetarianism, ovo-lacto variety, or at best no more than your average Hindu. Most vegans i've met have a strong animal-rights bent. My family is fairly crunchy on both sides, so i understand the concept of animal rights, and having spent many a school break on a small, family-run, dairy farm, i saw, and learned, first-hand, how to properly treat animals. I learned first-hand, how to kill a chicken and a fish with minimal cruelty, and according to kashruth.

I've experienced funny looks from strangers as my sister and i scold her young children when they go to chase animals who are minding their own business; one must respect the natural world, of which we are a part. Just because they let their children terrorize the pigeons and squirrels does not mean we need to teach our children to be such disrespectful hellions. *steps down from soapbox*

So, in summary, my interest in vegans is fundamentally all about why they've chosen to be vegan, as i am too lazy to do so myself, in part because it makes dining out rather a pain in the ass.

Comments

[dcseain.livejournal.com]

You've an excellent point, and your chronolgy of him matches my own, though i perceive the milk allergy as a stronger initial force. The fact that he gave up meat so young supports your perceptionthat animal welfare was a motivator. I know he and i have discussed, so i'm likely misremembering to some degree.

[vvalkyri.livejournal.com]

I think we're working from different concepts, anyway. If someone gave up meat for health reasons and then later went along and gave up milk and eggs for animal reasons I'd see that as starting down the path for health reasons.

Conversely, lonebear stays away from milk products because of health issues* but he'll order his steak "rare enough that a good vet could save it."

I suppose I simply don't see giving up milk as a step toward vegetarianism in anywhere near the same way that giving up meat is. So if someone always had to avoid milk and then later stopped eating meat, I'd see the first step toward being a vegan as being the meat step, not the milk step.



* although he'll occasionally eat something and suffer calculated consequences

[ksatyr.livejournal.com]

Wow, I feel like such a star, being discussed and all!

vvalkyri is quite right. I never gave up milk products, instead I would say that I've never intentionally consumed them, just as I have not intentionally ingested strychnine, cyanide, arsenic, mercury and the like. For me avoiding dairy would not be a choice but a necessity, so in assessing my veganism, one must ignore such products.

As for the rest of my veganism, that started from a very early age by rejecting baby foods containing meat (and my parents didn't want to force the issue) making me an early vegetarian on taste grounds. Later on I was persuaded to eat meat until I figured out what it was, at which time (around age 9?) I would be somewhat vegetarian again, this time for more ethical grounds. From then on I slowly rejected more and more of what I consider to be the cruelty towards and exploitation of animals, who have no voice to protest with.

I would say I was a true vegan once I got to university at around age 18 or 19, avoiding not only food products but clothing and such.