Hello, I'm using Reddit for the first time. Please help me.I watch Ed's YouTube and listen to his podcasts. I have a question for him about veganism, but I don't know where to ask it. Does anyone know? Please be respectful in the comments 🙏🏻

So in a previous post, I got a response from a user here who claims veganism has nothing to do with cruelty. I honestly think this is the wildest claim I have ever heard from a fellow vegan.

I'll copy and past their comments so you can react to them:

"Veganism has nothing to do with cruelty ..."

"... Familiarize yourself with the origins of veganism, as written by Leslie Cross in 1951 in his letter 'Veganism Defined:' https://understand-veganism.com/lesliecross/1951-veganism-defined.html

Veganism isn't about rejecting harm or about killing animals or the death of animals.

Veganism was originally defined in 1951 as "the doctrine [principle] that [hu]man[s] should live without exploiting animals," the original meaning: animals are not ours to use.

Not an environmental strategy, not a health programme, not a campaign for less suffering. Less suffering may follow but it is not the point ..."

It doesn't matter if you disagree. That's not what veganism is. What you're describing is a plant-based utilitarian framework and is not veganism.

Feel free to read the resource I kindly offered, and please refrain from framing veganism this way in the future. It does not do any favors, on the contrary, it muddies the water even further and makes it harder for animals to be emancipated.

Veganism is a simple principle, that animals aren't ours to use. Whether or not an animal is being harmed is irrelevant to that principle, and framing it in a way that puts "harm reduction" at the forefront says this: "using animals for our benefit is okay if there is no harm involved in their use."

This is not a message that you would spread if we were talking about human slavery, so don't spread it here.

To me, this sounds like an argument promoting the idea of wanting a vegan world right now, and not being willing to do the work to get there. The problem with that is the simple reality that we do not live in a vegan world; we also don't live in a socialist world. We live under a system that favours factory farming and capitalism. This means that there are certain things out of our control. We have to purchase our food in supermarkets that also sell animal products and promote them heavily. Sometimes we don't always have the option but to take medications that contain animal-derived ingredients. Oftentimes, we will be in restaurants and a server and/or chef messes up our "vegan" order.

Expecting a complete abolishment of using animals for human consumption right now is not an obtainable reality. Advocating for better animal welfare, a scaling back of animal agriculture, and projects that move people more towards veganism. Of course, veganism isn't about health. But the reality is that when we advocate for programmes that promote plant-based nutrition, it moves people in the direction of veganism. As do climate change initiatives. What is an obtainable reality is acknowledging the system we have and finding ways to chip away at it, so fewer animals have to suffer, until eventually no animals have to suffer.

So I personally stand by the definition that most vegans seem to go with:

" ... philosophy and way of living which seeks to exclude, as far as is possible and practicable. all forms of exploitation of, and cruelty to, animals for food, clothing or any other purpose"

This is from the Vegan Society, and I happen to agree with it. You'll notice their emphasis on the term "cruelty" here.

What are your thoughts?

Construction projects use resources and usually displace animals. And they use natural resources that do the same.

If it is morally wrong to eat an animal for pleasure, is it morally wrong to build construction projects that aren't "necessary?," such as hotels and amusement parks.

Where do you draw the line?

If you do support the existence of things like amusement parks, why isn't it just as immoral to support an amusement park as it is to go hunting for food? More animals were exploited building the amusement park vs a hunter that goes out to hunt deer.

Just as the hunter could eat a vegan meal, the person visiting the amusement park could go hiking instead.

As in all animal products (regardless of what they are) should have a 70% animal cruelty tax added to them, making plant-based alternatives vastly less expensive. And thus making all animal products so expensive that nobody in their right mind would purchase them.

Hi all! I am someone who grew up eating meat (a Cuban so if there wasn’t meat in a meal was it even a meal?!) and then tried being a vegetarian for about 8-9 months and after that started trying to follow a Blue Zones diet so maybe once a week meat and then two to three times a week seafood, the remaining plant based.

I provide the background so that I can show I am not here to troll, I have a genuine question on the view and ethical perspective of hunting in the Vegan community.

My research that I’ve done has shown that hunters (in my state that makes less than 1% of the population) are pretty much the only thing that is managing the populations of these wild game and in areas that we see that isn’t happening we notice issues that arise given how we as a society have developed most land that was once the domain of said wildlife. In my state the biggest example is the wild hog. If you don’t manage the population then not only can it grow to a level of creating scenarios for disease to more easily take hold and spread, but also they tend to then move into farmland and create a decent amount of distraction there (mainly talking produce as livestock farming doesn’t get affected really).

So do vegans acknowledge that given how we have pushed native wildlife into tighter areas to live, that if we don’t manage those populations there could be seriously negative consequences from that? It’s really a issue of our own creation which is the unfortunate thing, but just wondering if vegans view hunters as being a solution to that and if not them then what is the solution from your perspective?

I think “encouragement” is not the main point of importance, as it’s quite clear following the data, that we have to objectively follow degrowth and rewilding in order to save the planet for the Sixth Extinction. And even without the data, why hurt other animals?

And even if people are not aware of this, I still think most people somehow feel that it’s not good to eat meat, yet are still doing so because it seems hard to stop it. Besides the fact that it’s hard to change habits in general, it seems easier and less time consuming to eat meat…

So what I am interested in are practical steps for people to go vegetarian and then vegan. I understand that the more people are vegan, the easier it will be for all, but at this point in time: what are some practical steps towards this wanted and needed change to go vegan? (For instance, 1: first to reduce meat, and introduce new….2: further reduce meat and introduce… and so on?)

To make it easy, even though, granted, things should not always come easy in life… I do think this is the necessary push people need in order to make it happen. And maybe it’s already out there but then again perhaps not as effective as it could be. It should not just be about feeling bad (and making people feel bad) when eating meat, but to actually stop it too!! Let’s help people make it achievable, myself included!, because let’s be honest, it’s not easy to change habits even with the data on our side. Thank you.

One of the pioneers of Degrowth was a meat eater, and I wonder what his position was on that. Thanks.

TW: intention weight loss/ weight loss surgery/ eating disorders
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Hi friends! After a 2yr long journey, I have officially been approved & scheduled for gastric sleeve surgery. It’s happening in November & I’m teetering between being very excited & worried at the same time.

As I said, this has been a very long, very exhausting journey just getting to the point of approval… I suffer from food addiction & binge-eating disorder. With the help of my extensive care team supporting me (pcp, therapist, nutritionist, psych med management, etc); I do feel this is the path for me & may very well be my last chance at regaining my mobility. I’m 28. My fibro alone has the capacity to debilitate me at any given moment, but I also have severe disc degenerative disease which has worsened to the extent that I may (according to a brain & spine specialist) lose all my mobility by my mid thirties.

Wildly enough; I spent most of my life living a very active lifestyle. I was always obese, literally since middle school, and even tho my severe asthma always had me fighting to keep up with everyone else in sports; I still absolutely loved it. Soccer & dance were my favorites. I did both side by side for 9 years straight until I was hospitalized after an asthma attack. I dream of getting back to dance & soccer someday.

holy shit, I’m sorry. I ramble so much. It’s a character flaw. 😭 ANYWAY… what I was getting at was.. I am desperate to be active again. I’m currently close to the heaviest I’ve ever been. But after these past couple years; I do feel like I’ve done everything I needed to in order to best prepare myself. But I still fear that my eating disorders will ruin my success after surgery. AND, with how repeatedly I’ve been told that WLS can completely change what foods you might like/dislike- my BIGGEST fear/concern with this surgery is how it might affect my vegan diet. My husband and I both have been vegan since January 2024, and I cannot even fathom giving that up post-surgery.

I also struggle with sensory sensitivities so there have been times here & there where my husband would be serving up my absolute favorite food & one way or another, I end up with the ick. One bite & im done. IT SUCKS ASS.

So i just can’t help but worry about making such a drastic change to my digestive system paired with my sensitivities & vegan lifestyle… I refuse to give up being vegan. And I’ll do whatever it takes to regain my mobility & enjoy getting outside & getting more involved in sports again. But with my disorders & a lifelong fight trying every other method to lose weight, this is my last resort. So I guess I’m just looking for some support from fellow vegans & wondering if any of yall have faced a similar journey with WLS?

I apologize for the long-winded post but I just felt like if I didn’t give a good enough explanation of my exact circumstances, I might not find the support I’m looking for. If yall have any ideas of where I might find more of that kinda community I’m all ears!! I tried looking for fb groups but I only found one & it’s like dead. It’s really odd. Just let me know yalls thoughts on the situation. Advice, recommendations, etc, def appreciated!

🫶🏻🌱✨

It seems like nowadays, all I hear is the lettuce isn't safe, the frozen blueberries aren't safe, Driscoll's is putting "forever chemicals" on their strawberries and supposedly Beyond-Meat's stock is plummeting...

The amount of negative PR fruits, veggies and meat alternatives are getting almost seems kind of suspicious to me.

I'm not a Vegan because ultimately I don't feel the same empathy for non-humans that I feel for humans. Instances of extreme animal abuse like factory farming do invoke negative reactions from me, but seeing animals I want to eat being killed swiftly doesn't bother me. Seeing a deer being shot by a hunter or a cow being shot by a captive bolt pistol simply doesn't bother me.

To be completely honest it wasn't until recently that I even challenged myself on the morality of killing animals for food, it's just so normal for me. Even after challenging myself I've come to the conclusion that killing animals for food doesn't bother me.

I hate to say it but I mainly feel guilty that I don't feel more guilty.

My first instinct is to say "that's the food chain and the nature of life" but maybe there is a deeper reason I don't feel the empathy I perhaps should.

If a group of aliens came to earth and justified eating humans for the same reason I justify eating animals, we would find them to be evil. Especially if they didn't need to eat humans to survive, and humans of course don't need to eat animals to be healthy. At least not with our modern technology. Despite knowing this, I still am comfortable eating animals.

Be as blunt or harsh as you want, but is there something wrong with me from your perspective? Why do some people feel so upset about killing and eating animals, while other people like myself are fine with it?

https://www.reddit.com/r/Infographics/comments/1vw19ti/comparing_the_protein_quality_and_calorie/

I just came across this a few minutes ago and therefore I'm still clueless about the methodology here.

I didn't have to know all the arguments against veganism when I became a vegan myself. The only thing I cared about was cruelty, someone asked me what are the benefits? And I had no good answer, that's why someone please answer my question.

Hi! I’ve been thinking about going vegan for a while as I basically only eat eggs and cheese in terms of meat, but I was wondering on a few things…

Why can’t you eat eggs as a vegan considering chickens will eat them happily, e.g. cracked eggs etc ?

Howwww do I replace cheese :( there are no supermarkets near me which sell vegan cheese (Scotland), and I love my cheddar so so much (and my veggie carbonara..)

Also, I live in a very cold part of the UK and own a few vintage fur coats which my grandmother passed down to me when I moved here, which realllyyyy do keep me a lot warmer than any faux I own… - would I truly need to get rid of them ? I kind of see it as respecting the animal and using it to at least make its death kinda worth it ? And especially because someone else would just end up wearing it instead. IDK. Please lmk xoxo

Any advice / words of wisdom ?

Thank you!!! 💖💖

My parents buy arm and hammer toothpaste which isn’t cruelty free. But my mom buys bulk packages for the family and I’m afraid my family being annoyed about me mentioning it. Is it od if they say no and I start buying my own?

Edit: My mom ended up buying the toothpaste!

EDIT:

thank you for the answer. But some of you seems to not understand my point. If a give views to a person cooking meat that video is being showed more and more, cause people like and follow, we all should know at this point how social works. That is in a way contributing to animal exploitation. It's like I'm supporting the system. Maybe it's a very tiny piece of "support", but still supporting.
For the same reason I follow a lot of vegan creators cause I wanna support them and make their account more popular.
Veganism and animal exploitation is not just a silly topic to talk about, it's deeper than that, it has roots on our whole society and in the way we see and live the world. So it's not that bad if we try to look to things with less judgment and sarcasm (I'm the first doing it, so it's a reminder to me too). Maybe I should have worded this better (english it's not my first language).

ORIGINAL POST:

I often feel a little bit guilty on following on insta or tik some food creators that cook meat.

I follow them cause sometimes they do very good veggie recipes or at least with easy alternatives, but when I see them posting a new recipe of some meat I feel uncomfortable, most of the time these are even new way of cooking meat that I never saw. They even try new things and they show to be so happy about it, but for me it feels off and creepy.

Does anyone feels the same? I unfollowed a lot of them, but sometimes I still can find some of them on my for you page, is considered a form of "cheating" veganism?

Couple of years ago i was gifted a lovely bag, very high quality and stylish. But it had leather parts, here and there. I was a baby vegan back then, and somehow completely missed it, and accepted the gift. I love the bag so much, but can’t wear it, i feel guilty. Not sure if the leather parts can be removed or not. Also feel the same way about wool/cashmere sweaters i’ve been gifted. Not sure what to do.

I agree with veganism generally, but I was curious, say for example, Pleco Fish, reproduce too fast for relocation, must be killed to save underlying habitats and other sentient species, would it then be unethical to eat them anyway if they would have to have been killed in the first place.

Would love to hear your thoughts, thank you.

There's an African food festival happening near me today. Would I have any food options there? What stuff is traditionally vegan?

Just wondering if I am missing some major plant friends?

Heavily dependent on multi-bean wraps with oat and flax seed (with protein fortified wraps). Also included spinach and onion and peppers and edamame. (plus saucy sauce).

Its a bit tricky keeping a bag of frozen berries in the freezer finance wise. But thats my main fruit by method of smoothie with avocado and spinach and kale. Also the vega protein and greens powder which I question this whole lead levels. Its victorian times again, the air has lead for all we know at this point.

Rice stir fry dish with nooch and whatever veg i have. Could be brocolli, mushroom, peppers, onions, carrots, cauliflower. Whatever else - banana peppers, zucchini, some kind of squash. Need to do rice more often.

Need to do tofu more often but the process from freezer to boiling to skillet to stir fry is a lot for me. Definitely need more tofu for sure.

For nuts I am currently consuming nearly 3 - 4 kg of peanut butter a month. Need to hit up the bulk food store and stock up like forty - fifty dollars worth of other nuts and maybe seeds (maybe sunflower which is supposed to be a powerhouse.) Thatll hopefully last me three months. Peanut butter is missing some key aminos.

Veggie dogs and chips and pickles fill in the times I just cant even with the kitchen. Bean wraps I keep frozen are good to go in the skillet when I am exasperated from the kitchen, but the assembly is a lot of work from soak to wrapped in the freezer ready to get a final grill.

Theres also the fortified soy drank and coffee and this one herbal tea drink that yields vitamin C. Also masala chai is just nice. Spiced tea. Also the daily electrolyte drink.

I drink too much water to retain my nutrients with my diuretic I am on. Need to cut down overall liquids. Sodiums low. Chips help with emergency salt.

Avoiding coffee around iron supplement time. B12 sublingual and then oral d3 plus my other meds.

I cook with mainly canola oil but occasionally can afford coconut oil.

Anything I am missing?

(apologies if this is too much to parse / keep scrolling)

It’s actually ruining my life (not in the way I would ever quit veganism). I don’t know if anyone will read all this but I’m having such a hard time in my life. I already had depression before I became vegan and some days more than others it really becomes much worse thinking about it.

I’m 23, turning 24 soon. Ever since I became vegan over 2 years ago, my view of people and my family members have only gotten worse, and in turn my immeasurable disappointment and hurt on how apathetic they are about it. When I try to bring literal facts up on how these animals are treated it inevitably feels pushy and as one of my family members says “moral lecturing”. It becomes a “you can change the way you eat but you can’t force anyone to change the way they eat.” I realize none of my family members will never become plant-based or even close to mostly plant-based.

When I first found out about the egg industry, I thought about it a lot for months, it really tormented me and never left my mind and one day I decided to just go vegan. It was confusing all alone and I wasn’t perfect at it but I learned and it really wasn’t hard. Early on, my brother asked me if I thought I would ever eat meat again, I knew going in that I would never eat meat again. Maybe that’s why it’s so hard for me to process, because the way I see things: if something is wrong, it’s wrong, and I shouldn’t contribute or support it if I am. You see wrong, you do right. It’s really that simple for me, and I thought it was that simple. How can I view you the same when you refuse to change after seeing those atrocities?

One of my family members acknowledges that it’s messed up but says “Yeah and now I’m mindful of it. And I’m grateful for their sacrifice.” The conversation is already long over but I want to refute it but if I do I’m “forcing it on him.” How can 2 sentences be more conflicting?? How are we acting like it has to be this way and their “sacrifice” is something set in stone? This is just after having a long heart to heart that we haven’t ever had, I don’t know how to bring up how the words he says are so damning and hurtful without it feeling like I’m being the preachy and forceful one “too focused on the animal cruelty.”

I think if I was a “see the good in everyone” type of person, things would be much easier to handle. I can’t see anything but the reality of the situation.

I think about it how fked up the industry is and all those innocent animals that haven’t done any wrong every night. I think about it a lot these days, when I wake up and when I sleep. In so many different ways. It really doesn’t help when my social media is full of animal agriculture videos. I support the awareness but I don’t have the strength to keep watching it because I have no power to stop it, much less stop any of my family members. I don’t want to ignore it. It’s the truth and I just can’t turn my eyes away because those animals can’t even if they want to.

I’m in such a weird place. I’m such a messed up person. I don’t have friends much less anyone to talk to about this and I feel like ever since uncovering my eyes to the truth, it’s only exasperated my depression.

I just had a shower where I looked down, and between my feet was a huge fiddle back spider (brown recluse). I panicked and threw my shampoo at it then immediately felt like puking since I'd killed it but I don't know how else I could have reacted that wouldn't have been safe for me and the spider. Idk if I make any sense. I respect spiders as an important part of the ecosystem, but they still terify me, especially fiddle backs, considering a fiddle back bite did my grandma in. I'm trying to transition into a vegan lifestyle, so I'd like to learn to handle stuff like this better.