Vegetarian Information

B

bakert

Cathlete
I can't believe how many vegetarians and vegans there are on this forum :) I've been vegetarian (nearly vegan) for over a year and mostly vegan for about 4 months. I have a couple questions. I say "mostly vegan" because I'm still not sure if I can consider myself a vegan if I eat vegan but wear leather shoes, carry a leather bag, etc? Are there any good vegetarian/vegan forums out there that are friendly? In my brief search I see that things get heated very quickly on this topic. Ugghh.... Not for me at all. Also, what magazines or reading material do you find yourself consistently perusing?

Take care,
Tracey
 
I hope someone answers your post. There are a lot of informative veggie's here. I agree with you though, . . . about some veggie's that take the whole wearing leather stuff and meat thing very seriously. I ate veggie for a week and was amazed as to how much energy I had and how my uh hum, . . internal plumbing was so well, . . not smelly and well flowing, . .sorry I know that is gross but it is so true! I mean if anyone is ever constipated, . . go vegan it works! Honestly more power to ya if you are a veggie,. . .I just can't for the life of me stick to it full time. I love my leather boots, and my uggs. I also love my seafood (sushi) and my meat and eggs.
 
I recently became vegetarian.I had problems with constipation throughout this pregnancy. Going meatless helped so much that I plan to stay vegetarian. I feel so much better.
 
OK, so I'm a total, full-steam ahead crazy vegan, but I am also tired of the perpetual conflicts that seem to arise between vegans and omnis. It seems counterproductive to me. I try to be a good "vegan ambassador" and so please ask as many questions as you like and don't worry about offending me! And please know that everything I say is intended to be helpful and non-aggressive.

I know many vegans who continue to wear "pre-gan" leather shoes, belts, and bags - I mean, if you already have it, it would be disrespectful to throw it away and have the animal's life go for nothing, right? I also know vegans who will buy second-hand leather, like from a consignment shop or clothing exchange.

I have found that most forums of any description get pretty hostile when veganism comes up. I was on a forum dedicated to Vibram Fivefingers the other day, and I responded to another vegan who expressed disappointment that Vibram decided to make many new styles out of kangaroo leather. I responded that I agreed, and hoped for more vegan-friendly styles. Then, a whole bunch of omni folks pretty much went berserk and said things like, "This is so stupid, I have to go take out my aggression on a 20-oz. sirloin." I won't be revisiting that forum.

Vegan Freaks is OK, but pretty anti-omnivore, and you have to share your vegan story in order to gain admittance. This is good, because it keeps vegan-hating omnivores off the forums, however, the forums are pretty political and a little slow. The book Vegan Freak is great, however.

Anyway, I haven't really found a lot of vegan havens online. I like VegNews and Vegetarian Times for recipes, news, and such. If you're concerned about sports-oriented nutrition, I really like Brendan Brazier's Thrive Diet book and many of the related products.

In terms of other resources...allow me to introduce several of my favorite vegan blogs!

The Post Punk Kitchen
Vegan Yum Yum
http://vegandad.blogspot.com/
Fat Free Vegan
Urban Vegan

These are mostly about cooking, and there are some terrific recipes out there.

Shoes have been a weakness of mine forever, and sometimes I feel heartbroken when a pair of shoes I really love have some teeny little leather detail that render them non-vegan. HOWEVER.

Mooshoes
Alternative Outfitters
Vegan Chic

And I just fell so madly in love with these vegan Keens, I could die.

It's really challenging at first to try and be totally 100% vegan. In fact, it's just hard, especially if you're vegan for ethical reasons and are making a good faith effort to avoid animal products to the utmost extent reasonable. But, it gets easier, and as it gets more mainstream, there are more and more resources & options available! :)
 
I have recently became a vegan for health reasons and really haven't found it to be too difficult to follow at all. I am a cancer survivor and know that cutting out all meat and dairy is a lot healthier and I plan to do all I can to prevent a recurrence.
I don't have any advice, just wanted to share my story.
 
I went veggie about a year and a half ago and I can't tell you how much I don't miss animal protein. I do still eat eggs and dairy, but interestingly enough, I've seemingly cut way back on that, too. Not even by design - it just kind of happened. Oops - I do occassionally eat some fish, but only based on the Seafood Watch List. I LOVE it!!! I do still buy leather bags and shoes (but no coats or furniture and would not have leather seats in my car). My feeling is if the animals are being slaughtered for their meat, at least using the leather makes there be less waste. I use Origins skin care products exclusively and try to be very conscientious of what cosmetics I buy (Everyday Minerals, etc.) I subscribe to Vegetarian Times and to Eating Well (EW is not an exclusively veg magazine, but focuses very heavily on eco-awareness, has a lot a veggie-based recipes and the ones with animal protein are EASILY modified by swapping out for tofu or something). What I've come to realize is that in our modern society, it's very difficult to be "perfect" on this front, but I try to stay as aware as possible, and do what I can and that works for me. As you've stated, however, some people can get pretty militant about it. Good luck!!
 
I'm vegetarian so I can't really comment on vegan lifestyle choices but for cooking I have some suggestions...

- Alternative Vegan - cookbook and podcast. The author is indian and offers up great recipes and cooking tips for eating vegan without any faux foods. No tofu, veggie burgers, etc. His recipes are delicious and easy.

- I really like vegetarian times, sometimes they will do vegan or raw recipes but generally they are vegetarian. It's easy to modify though.

- The Hippy Gourmet book is a great 'starter' cookbook for vegetarians and fish eaters. I like the simple recipes.

- Raw - I may be in the minority but I really like the Carol Alt books. She's NOT vegan, she eats raw dairy and meat, but most of her recipes are vegan and simple and tasty.

Please just be mindeful of the nutrition you are getting, take your Bvitamin supplements and listen to your body. I have tried vegan and raw in the past and overtime, my body just didn't have the strength and endurance I was used to. Personally I think it is hard to be a vegan athlete - it's completely possible - but not the easiest thing to do (IMO).
 
I'm nice to vegans when they cook for me :p

FYI--Check out your local library for vegan/vegetarian resources. Library Journal has mentioned the release a of a number of really good titles and since most librarians read LJ they may very well be purchasing such titles for their library's collections.
 
bakert said:
I can't believe how many vegetarians and vegans there are on this forum :) I've been vegetarian (nearly vegan) for over a year and mostly vegan for about 4 months. I have a couple questions. I say "mostly vegan" because I'm still not sure if I can consider myself a vegan if I eat vegan but wear leather shoes, carry a leather bag, etc? Are there any good vegetarian/vegan forums out there that are friendly? In my brief search I see that things get heated very quickly on this topic. Ugghh.... Not for me at all. Also, what magazines or reading material do you find yourself consistently perusing?

Take care,
Tracey
Click to expand...

Hi, Tracey!
I went vegetarian over 30 years ago (fall of 1976), vegan about 15 years ago, and mostly raw last March.

I was 'mostly vegan" after my first few months as a vegetarian, and the tradition to full-on vegan came later.

I decided to give up leather, wool and other animal-based clothing after attending an AR conference and finding the reasoning of one of the speakers very compelling (I'd justified continuing to wear leather up to that point by thinking "the animal is killed anyway," but I couldn't justify it anymore).
I still kept some leather shoes I had that were wearable, but not in good enough shape for someone else to use, and wore them until they were literally falling apart.

I gave other pairs to Goodwill.

I gave some wool sweaters I'd made to my stepmother, and gradually either got rid of other animal-based clothing or used it up.

Afreet gave you lots of good info for sources.

For reading, I pretty much read whatever I can get my hands on, but "VegNews" is a great magazine, IMO. They used to offer a free trial copy, but I'm not sure if they still do ( www.vegnews.com ). Some people like Vegetarian Times, and while I've subscribed off and on since 1976 (when it was a black-and-white newsletter-type magazine with a construction-paper-like cover), I find they have gone from being a great overall mag for vegetarians, to a vegetarian recipe magazine trying to target a wider audience, and therefore more careful about offending non-vegetarians and less apt to have articles on much of anything but food.

I think "Becoming Vegan" by Brenda Davis and Vesanto Melina (and their new "Becoming Raw"), "Vegan Freak", and "Thrive" are great resources for the vegan wanting information, motivation and resources.

For shoes, I have several pairs of vegan Earth shoes that I love, but their more recent styles of vegan shoes seem cheaply made and not as attractive. I need some new shoes, and I'm having problems finding vegan styles I like (I want shoes shaped like feet, like Earth, Birkenstocks---sandals only, in the summer, their closed-toed shoes are horrendous, IMO--Crocs, Teva's. I can't/won't wear shoes with pointy toes, which are a lot of what some of the vegan stores sell).

Otherwise, places like Payless or other shoe stores have some vegan options.

My favorite online vegan shopping site is www.veganessentials.com . I've also shopped at www.veganstore.com .

I used to visit www.veganbodybuilding.com , but found some people there to be a bit off the deep end (a lot of hatred almost for non-vegans, and too much focus on the little details and not on the big picture). It also added a "relationships/vegan dating" sction that became more of an 'adults-only' section, with people posting naked pictures of themselves, and the tone of this section bled into some of the other threads as well. Also some rather aggressive types that I did not want to deal with. It seems like all the people I felt the most comfortable with and looked forward to chatting with there seemed to post less often or disappear, perhaps for some of the same reasons I eventually left.
 
Afreet said:
.I was on a forum dedicated to Vibram Fivefingers the other day, and I responded to another vegan who expressed disappointment that Vibram decided to make many new styles out of kangaroo leather. I responded that I agreed, and hoped for more vegan-friendly styles. Then, a whole bunch of omni folks pretty much went berserk and said things like, "This is so stupid, I have to go take out my aggression on a 20-oz. sirloin."
Click to expand...
Kangaroo leather? Just when I was thinking about buying some Vibrams. :(

Yeah, I love that 'intellectual' response that some omni's have to what they evidently think is a personal attack against them...go out and eat a chunk of meat.:confused:
 
Ha! Excellent. This forum is already 3000% more fun than the stupid Vibram forum.

I think I'll take out my aggression on that forum by going out and...not killing anything.
 
Oh - a couple of great cookbooks are The Flexitarian Menu (I think) and Fresh Food Fast, both by Peter Berley. He's a vegetarian chef (used to the the Executive Chef at a veg restaurant in NY) and the recipes in the books are amazing. The Flex one offers menus that feature both vegetarian and meat entrees. He has veg and non-veg in his family, so figured out how to prepare one meal that can accommodate all tastes. It's brilliant if you're ever in that situation. In Fresh Food Fast is a Sweet Potato (or Butternut Squash) w/Greens soup that is OUT OF THIS WORLD good. Probably the best soup I've ever had. He also gives a lot of information on veg/veganism, on different protein sources, food prep, etc.
 
Great information. Thanks everyone! I take it, I can't call myself a vegan if I still purchase leather, is that right? Is there a word for someone who eats vegan but still has and/or wears leather? I have to admit that I do have a lot of leather (car, couch, shoes, etc.), but will do my best not to purchase it anymore. Somehow I've always justified it in my mind, but really in the back of my mind knew/know it's wrong. Ignorance was bliss! The more I learn the more I (almost) wish I didn't know.

I mostly eat raw too and find that my body does so much better with raw/vegan (been doing the 80/10/10 diet recently). I went gluten free 10 years ago and have found that giving up other types of food has been easy compared to that or maybe it's been practice makes perfect :)

As a new vegan/vegetarian I find myself wanting to share the word, not preach or impose, just share (an overzealous newby, oh joy :). Even more importantly (to me) I want to help better the treatment of animals and I think not eating them is a good start, but know that there's so much more that can be done. For all of you animal lovers out there, vegan, vegetarian or not, what activities do you do that makes a difference?

Off to the online library, Amazon and loading up my favorite bookmarks file!!

Tracey
 
In terms of meaningful action beyond eschewing eating or using animals, there are lots of things you can do.

At work, I always volunteer to bring food to potlucks and parties. It's always vegan, of course, but I don't make a big deal out of it. I share recipes when asked, which actually happens pretty often (especially with cupcakes). I loan out vegan cookbooks and bring in vegetarian magazines to share. I don't volunteer a lot of information at work (I don't want to vegangelize - it's a good way to get nobody to ever talk to you again, ever) - just to be available as a resource for people who might be curious.

Farm Sanctuary always has lots of good petitions/campaigns/action ideas. They also sell (inexpensive) flyers, vegetarian cooking guides and stuff that you can hand out, if you're interested. I like that they focus on the positive. That seems really effective.
 
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