VEGANS: What do you think of vegetarians?!
(I'm going vegan though, so I don't mind as much now :3)
So, VEGANS: what do you think of vegetarians? Is it nice that they are doing *something* for animals, or are they just wanna-be's?
And for any vegetarians that have clicked..
VEGETARIANS: Do you have any interesting stories about being treated rudely, or very nicely, by vegans?
BA goes to the person with the most well-reasoned response, regardless of answer.
Answers: I've felt some animosity from vegans, as if vegetarians were "just as bad as omnivores".
(I'm going vegan though, so I don't mind as much now :3)
So, VEGANS: what do you think of vegetarians? Is it nice that they are doing *something* for animals, or are they just wanna-be's?
And for any vegetarians that have clicked..
VEGETARIANS: Do you have any interesting stories about being treated rudely, or very nicely, by vegans?
BA goes to the person with the most well-reasoned response, regardless of answer.
You've felt animosity from vegan people?
Any person that fails to treat people with respect just because of what they eat needs some sense beat right into their thick skull.
I'm vegan and I know for a fact that these people who can't appreciate others for their personalities bring deep shame to the rest of us. Then again, I can honestly say that I don't think that people such as this have any business calling themselves vegan. If they want to help the animals, they can start by keeping their disgusting, snotty little mouths shut.
If they have to talk down to people, I can only assume that they are "vegan" only as an excuse to be condescending and make themselves feel superior to others.
Veganism is supposed to be about respect and concern for others. People happen to belong to a species of the animal kingdom whether someone likes the idea or not. We are the most advanced and most important species on the planet but all animals deserve to be free from unnecessary suffering. If a "vegan" person can't realize that, they should find a new label.
It depends on the vegetarian
If you're preachy and talk about how vegetarian you are, I find you annoying.
If you're a vegetarian for health reasons, or because of continence but not preachy, then I don't care.
If you're vegetarian, and doing it for animal rights, and you're wearing leather or suede, I don't understand you.
I honestly don't like people who talk about it, because it's just your food! If consumes the majority of your life (ie chef, protester, or involved in animal right movements) then it's a really big part of your life, it'd be difficult not to talk about it.
I think anyone who gives thought to what they do to animals and tries to help benefit the animals is a good person. I never preach because I am no angel myself. I ate meat for most of my life growing up, as that is a very big part of my cultural background. So I don't feel I have a right to judge one way or another.
I have a lot of respect for vegetarians. They save more than 100 animals a year and are doing so much more than the average person to help animals and the environment. I was vegetarian for 5 years before I went vegan. It's very rare to go from meat-eater to vegan; most people need to get used to being vegetarian first. I also understand that veganism can seem too extreme/difficult and being vegetarian is challenging enough for many people.
It just makes me kind of sad to see vegetarians who are doing it for ethical reasons, but they don't care about (or aren't aware of) the suffering that egg-laying hens and dairy cows are forced to endure. Egg-laying hens are so intensively confined that they can't even flap their wings, and they're slaughtered when they stop producing so many eggs. "Cage-free" and "free-range" hens are also commonly slaughtered after about 1 or 2 years. The male chicks are often ground up alive or suffocated in plastic bags on these farms.
It's said that the egg industry is much crueler than the beef industry - cows on feedlots can at least move around and they don't have wire cage floors constantly cutting into their feet. So I would hope that people who care about cows would also care about egg-laying hens, and try to eat as few eggs as possible.
Overall, I think very positively of vegetarians and don't treat them rudely or tell them they should be vegan. Anyone who's doing something to live more humanely is good in my book :)
I'm vegan I think being vegetarian is a good cause... every little bit counts, no animosity here =)
[edit]: I really didn't mean anything rude, I just mean that we should appreciate *every ones* contribution to the cause. I don't think we should be arguing amongst ourselves, or judging each other, we should be helping and supporting one another.
I'm vegan and I feel no animosity towards anyone for what they choose to eat, including meat eaters.
I would never use the term 'wannabe' in this context; I have only ever seen that term used on V&V by non-vegan trolls, including one who claims to be the only 'true vegan' on here and gives the most sanctimonious answers in an attempt to make vegans look like self-righteous idiots.
People do whatever they can and whatever feels right for them - anybody who has passed the stage of newly converted adolescent who looks down on someone for being less 'pure' and 'true' needs to grow up.
Hi,
I'm an ovo lacto vegetarian. There are some lovely vegans I know of, there are some rude ones. Sometimes I am told that ''milk is rape'' but most vegans I know are very nice people indeed.
I am planning on going vegan so it doesn't matter as much. I have some hostility towards me sometimes but not a lot. Like I said, most vegans *I know of* are supportive and like minded. :-)
Well, I think vegetarianism is a very good start. But that's all it is.
And I suppose I feel this way because I am an activist, I have rescued animals and been on the front lines copping abuse while trying to hand out leaflets etc in front of KFC and fur shops. I think most vegans never go as far as i did and join direct action or open rescue groups, and thus have less of a personal investment in what other people are doing to stop animal cruelty.
Interestingly I was vegetarian for 7 years before going vegan. I slowly cut out all the other products, but I could have gone vegan much sooner if I had support from vegans. So that is what I do today, I try and show vego's that if they drink milk or eat chocolate or free range eggs they are still supporting the slaughter industry. There are no retirement homes for worn out animals when they become unprofitable! Each and every one of them is killed.
This was what I had trouble accepting, and when I accepted it I was able to go vegan and never looked back. I think if there is ever animosity in delivering this message, it is less about being judgemental than it is about having poor communication skills.
edit: what vegans understand and that vegetarians don't seem to get is that by remaining vegetarian you are not doing ALL YOU CAN for animals. It doesn't matter how many hours per week you volunteer or how many letters you write to the newspapers, there is that extra bit more you can be doing. This is frustrating especially when people get upset when you point it out.
i am a vegan and i think vegetarians are lovely, the ones i know anyway!!!
i am a vegan and dont see why vegans would have a problem with vegetarians, although some do have this "holier than thou" attitude, i think thats sooooooooo wrong, people do what they feel happy with.
I'm sorry that you have encountered animosity, think that is pretty sad.
i would like to say as well that you get this attitude in all walks of life, there will always be people in this world that think they are better than you, i let them think what they like! :) x
I went vegan a few months after going vegetarian--but it took me a long time to go veg in the first place! So maybe I shouldn't say too much. However, I find it interesting that people go veg because of animal cruelty, but dairy and eggs are two of the cruelest foods.
It also depends on how much dairy and eggs they consume. If a vegetarian eats lots of dairy and eggs under the mistaken impression he needs protein, that's a problem. If a vegetarian eats foods that contain dairy and/or eggs (like so many veggie burgers do), but don't buy milk or eggs themselves, that's another.
I can hardly look down on people for eating eggs, dairy or honey since animals are killed every-time I eat vegetables that have been plowed via tractor or plow. Animals are killed from harvesting cotton that I wear. Microorganisms are killed when I walk on grass. I say to all vegetarians " Keep your head up". None of us are perfect.
My mother and sister are both vegetarians, which I claim to be a "vegan who can't commit", obviously I only say this in the privacy of my own home. I really only consider it to be a stepping-stone though: egg and milk industries are just as bad (if not considered worse).
I respect anyone whose trying to make a difference...
I don't have any rude stories, mainly because 100% of the people I know are NOT vegetarians nor vegans. I personally cannot be a vegan (tried) because I honestly need the dairy from cheese/milk and protein from eggs. When I tried being a vegan, I ended up almost in the hospital.
im a vegan and i have no grudges against any vegetarians. although i am a vegan only to have a new lifestlye change (still feel good that no animals are being hurt for my meals). i still think abusing/killing animals is bad!!
I'm personally fine with being vegetarian or vegan. Both help animals in some way as you said.
I was vegetarian for 7 years and I was just too young (8-15) to do the whole vegan thing. I had thought about it but, in my bodies best interest I decided that it would be best that I just be vegetarian until I was 16 because most of my growing would be done by then.
As I'm approaching my 16th birthday I've been reading up on being vegan more and how bad it was for animals and like the pus in the milk and stuff and I now think that I should have been vegan before regardless of my growth and whatnot.
So, I have been vegan for a few weeks and everytime I talk to someone (mostly vegetarians because meat eaters could care less about pus in milk) and we get on the topic of vegetarian/vegan I say about how most people wouldn't think that milk hurts the cows and eggs are chicken abortions and stuff but it actually is true and the animals do suffer even when they aren't being murdered.
I wouldn't think less of a person because they can only be vegetarian and can't take the next step to being vegan. It's their own choice and I'm not gonna hinder them about it, I figure if they are meant to be vegan they will and atleast not as many animals are being murdered to feed them.
But, I do have a story from before I went full-on vegan. I go to this art class and they were giving out treats and this girl was like "I'm a vegan, I won't eat that. My body is too precious and I'm too good for all you freaks that eat animals and their products..."
I was like "Do you even care about the animals and their lives or do you just do it for yourself?"
Her answer was that she went to a private school and all her friends were cutting out animal products to get thinner and that she could care less about what happened to the animals, she just wanted to be thinner...
I had an odd urge to stuff cheese down her throat...haha now I screwed up your diet...
Shawneen<3
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=...
I'm a veggie, and while I have not received any direct anoimosity, i do feel i am looked down on sometimes.
Just read some of the answers you received..."every little bit counts", I've also seen things like "vegan is the next step", "if you are a real veggie then being vegan isn't difficult"
Its as if veggies are not doing as much as they could, or they've failed by not taking the final step.
some people probably don't even know they are doing it.
So, i do beleive with those answers there is an underlying belief that those people think they are better than me. I won't begin to explain what i do for animals, or promoting vegetarianism, but i don't care for people thinking they are better than me because they are vegan.
I don't look down on meat-eaters, why the hell should i feel I'm on the receiving end of "Arrh, not quite good enough - must try harder" ?
Not all vegans, don't get me wrong, but there are plenty of example of the phrasing i quote above in this forum.
EDIT:
"I wouldn't think less of a person because they can only be vegetarian and can't take the next step to being vegan"
I challange ANYONE to tell me that not insulting....and the person doesn't even know it......words like "ONLY" and CANT" and "NEXT STEP" put me EXACTLY in my place BELOW vegans.
"Grey M" also sums up much of whats wrong with some vegans attitudes. Thanks for presenting such an example. So, veggies don't do all they can eh ? What about you, do you do ALL you can ? NO, YOU DONT. Unless you devote your life to Jainism you cannot claim you do all you can.
Why are you using a computer, the person who conveyed it to you was a meat-eater .AARRHHHH you supported thier meat-eating by paying the delivery charge.
Or did i just set the standard too high for your perfect i'm doing-more-than-you-because-you're-only-... lifestyle ?
How can you say YOU are doing everything ???
You don't. You do all you can based on YOUR perception of what "all" means. Just like most vegetarians do.
Your attitude does a lot of damage.
You talk about giving leaflets out like you are some hero. I won't bother discussing who does more, you would loose hands down. Why should it matter anyway
Who the hell are you to pass jugement on me ?
You speak in such derogatory terms.
silly judgemental type. Vegans need to jump on these people to stop the sterotype proving itself.
Grey M is also wrong when they say "Each and every one of them is killed. ". You haven't visited our place, obviously.
I also see "Grey M" would be prepared to give up thier veganism for $10 million dollars. So now we're getting to the thruth eh ? You're morals can be bought. In what way is that "doing all you can" ?
I'm pleased i know of "lo_mcg", if i didn't, I'd begin to think the sterotypes were true.