Nov 2nd is Annakut which celebrates cereals and grains and milk and fruit and dairy and all types of nourishment for all living beings.

The goddess of nutrition blesses you on Annakut so it’s a great day to become a veggie.

I watched the show Fire Country this week, and a restaurant was destroyed. Two of the main female characters were upset that it had been purchased and would become a vegan restaurant. One even said "soulless vegans". I am lacto-ovo, but that comment was unnecessary and prejudicial. Needless to say, I won't watch this soap opera again. Am I the only one offended?

Usually, I am very cautious. I still live with my parents, and I’ve been vegetarian since I was 13. Every time my parents buy a dessert, I ask them if there is gelatine. Usually there isn’t, but I ALWAYS check the label anyway; I’ve learned not to trust anybody when they assume it is suitable for vegetarians without checking.

A few nights ago, my dad made the mistake of assuming something was vegetarian but when I checked it had beef gelatine. I didn’t eat it beforehand, so that wasn’t the problem and we all got on with our evenings. But then today I was in the shop and decided to check another item that I had assumed I could have, but never properly checked.

My mum would buy it for us every few months as a treat, and the first time she did I asked if it was vegetarian and she said yes. For some reason, this was the item I never checked, but after my dad didn’t check a few days ago, and it was a similar product, I decided to make sure.

The ingredients list was in Spanish, so I had to use translate on my phone, but it had gelatine.

I’m so angry at myself for not checking, even though I’m usually so careful. A lot of the time when I ask them if something is vegetarian they think I overreact since it usually is and there are few exceptions.

I just needed to get this out there. I’m so sad! Vegetarianism has been such a big part of my life for YEARS now, and although it is just a blip, I have now learned that I need to be more vigilant.

i know most vegans don't eat honey, but i recently met a vegetarian who didn't eat honey because it can result in the death of bees? i respect it but i feel like honey is pretty similar to milk in regards to how it's harvested. many dairy farms are brutal and result in death all the time, but he still uses dairy products and doesn't see it as the same thing with bees. what are y'all's thoughts? i'm definitely interested in a good discussion on this.

Title says it all. Having any sort of feelings towards someone who can do those things to animals is crazy. It makes the voice in my head say “you must not think it’s that bad” and makes me feel like a fraud honestly. But I HATE IT! I’m extremely passionate about the treatment of animals. Has anyone else experienced this, and how did you deal with the literal crisis that this induces because you start questioning your own authenticity!!! Hopefully I don’t sound too crazy.

I recently started a vegetarian diet a month ago and i felt clean, focused, energetic, and my mood is very stable and positive. I just recently tried a fish taco a day ago and what I noticed before eating it was a strong concern for animal life and animal cruelty which I had not experienced prior to changing my eating habits. I sadly ate anyways and felt very guilty and a undesirable lust for meat that I was mentally turned off too. I am now making a decision to go vegetarian for the rest of my life, and soon possibly to go vegan.

Today at school when I was sitting my friends eating lunch, the topic of me being vegetarian was naturally brought up in the conversation. ~ For some background information, I have been vegetarian my entire life and so has my family. I don't think eating animals is humane and the way they treat them in factories is horrifying and cruel. I don't really enforce my beliefs on other people, because I know they've been raised in different households with different beliefs. ~

When this topic was brought up, my friend jacob said "being vegetarian is stupid, it doesn't even make a difference if that's what you're trying to do. The animals are already dead you're just being wasteful," this deeply infuriated me but I decided to just stay quiet, because I didn't know what to say. Similar remarks were shared between my other friends at that table. Jack then asked me, "how do you even get protein? You are latterly going to be skinny" This was kind of funny to me because I am much bulkier and muscular than him. I just shrugged because again, I didn't really know how to explain it.

I know a conversation like this is likely to come up again, and I want to know how to explain vegetarianism to other my friends to help them understand my diet choices. Do any of you fellow vegetarians have any advice?

vegan for years > eating meat for years > vegetarian for years > eating meat for years > vegetarianish for the past 2 years. basically, I've seen the videos, I hate that I eat chicken occasionally when my roommate makes it right in front of some beautiful & sweet parakeets we have, originally I was going to only eat meat occasionally if it was out of the house, but I just find myself slipping back so often. it's just so easy. the other day at the store, found a whole thing of chicken that was on sale for $1. $1! i made two meals out of it.

I'll go force myself to watch dominion or just look at cute pictures of animals, spend time with my cats or birds & try really hard to go back to vegeterian. i'd say I'm about 80% vegetarian atm. but I want to be 100%, or at least have very strict rules, like only when I eat out occasionally, etc. but I just keep going back. i think it's because my roommate eats meat, and will buy steaks or beef or chicken, once in a while fish. and it just smells so good. then I rationalize it, etc., then watch the videos again, feel bad for 2 weeks, then go eat a burger when I get a free coupon in the mail.

i just want to stay veggie or have very strict rules, but I keep slipping up. how do I stop this?

Hi all,

Just wanted to get some views on FPC rennet.

For those who don't know FPC rennet is a rennet where originally some cells were taken from inside a calf's stomach and using genetic modification put inside some bacteria, which then reproduces rennet identical to the one in calf stomachs.

Would you all consider this vegetarian? How would we be able to tell which cheese has this as apparently they are allowed to label cheese with this as vegetarian.

I personally think it should not be allowed to be called vegetarian and have refrained from continuing to eat cheese until I know what type of rennet is used.

Below is a more detailed definition from https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.vrg.org/blog/2012/08/21/microbial-rennets-and-fermentation-produced-chymosin-fpc-how-vegetarian-are-they/

the technique in which genetic material (ribonucleic acid, or RNA) coding for chymosin is removed from an animal source and inserted via plasmids into microbial DNA (bacteria E. coli K-12) in a process known as gene splicing (a type of recombinant DNA technology). Through fermentation the microbes possessing the bovine genetic material produce bovine chymosin which is later isolated and purified

Hello!

My name is Kristi Nielson and I’m a research student at Lancaster University. I am posting here to invite eligible participants to be involved in a study I’m conducting on orthorexia nervosa (ON) or obsessive healthy eating. Orthorexia is defined here as an unhealthy obsession with healthy eating, to the point where it negatively impacted someone's life (e.g., emotionally, physically, socially, etc.). Specifically, I am interested in the lived experience of ON among individuals who identify as men that live in the U.S. The purpose of my research is to explore what men believe led to their experience with orthorexia, as well as what they think currently maintains it.

You’re eligible if:

· You identify with orthorexia nervosa or obsessive healthy eating, in which this phenomenon has negatively impacted your life (e.g., physically, emotionally, socially)

· You identify as a man

· You are > 18 years old

· You reside in the U.S.

· You are able to speak English

What is being asked of you? If you meet the above criteria and want to participate, you will be asked to partake in an online interview with me for approximately 60 minutes.

Additionally, if you know anyone who may be interested in taking part in this study, please feel free to pass along my email (k.nielson@lancaster.ac.uk).

For more information, please contact me directly at k.nielson@lancaster.ac.uk. Please DO NOT reply directly to this forum post.

Thank you!

Kristi

I bought a beautiful, soft, second hand cardigan without checking the label - it is 30% angora, and made in China, so 100% chance it’s making involved the suffering of rabbits. The question is what to do with the murder cardigan - throw it out? Give it back to charity so it’s not wasted? It’s a beautiful cardigan but is giving me the ick way too much to wear it. But I know I have given leather shoes/ belts that belonged to family to charity before so maybe it’s no different?

EDIT: The poultrymeat requirements are here: Annex V of Commission Regulation (EC) No 543/2008

Although this regulation was supposed to specify implementation of Council Regulation (EC) No 1234/2007, which is now repealed and replaced, they are definitely still the correct current standards. This is because The Poultrymeat (England) Regulations 2011 (which lays out implementation of EU regulations in the UK) directly states (in Schedule 2) that breaching Commission Regulation (EC) No 543/2008 is an offence.

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Original post:

There must be a publicly available official document laying out the meaning of "free-range" for various food products (since the whole purpose of the labelling is to inform consumers) but I just have no clue where to find it.

The only thing I was able to find was an overview of the poultry meat standards, but even that document was clearly thrown together pretty fast cos it's got logical errors in it.

Thanks so much.

I'm a sucker for 90 Day Fiancé, a vegetarian, and a backyard chicken coop owner, and I think three times now there's been a scene in 90DF where an American is morally outraged at the fact that in less developed countries, the chicken you eat is also the chicken you see running around. Such gems from chicken-eating Americans as:

• "Let the chicken live!"
• ("Don't you eat chicken?") "That's different, I won't take any part in this!"
• "If you kill that chicken I'm going to get really violent!"
• (In chicken shop in Ecuador) "Smells like fermented rotting death... gross!"
• "Aren't there any packaged chickens?"
• "It's completely wrong in every aspect."
• "This is not okay!"
• (As chicken seller kills chicken) "No! Please! Wait!"

And I think the point the show is trying to make is that Americans are spoiled compared to the rest of the world when it comes to the less comfortable aspects of their food supply. But here's another idea: maybe if the thought of killing a chicken hits you on a visceral level, where you have a fierce moral instinct to protect the chicken, maybe you should just stop eating them.

Hello all!

Almost six years ago now I became a pescatarian and then about four and a half years ago I switched to full vegetarian (so only vegetables, milk products and eggs). I stopped eating meat since I just don't want to eat animals. To put it lightly - I don't find the thought appealing at all, especially after so many years. I also try to be ethical- I don't wear leather or silk, I try to buy generally ethical products where possible, not tested on animals etc.

Today I learned about the concept of rennet which I honestly did not know was a thing. In my language this is called something like "cheeser", like, the word is entirely related to cheese so I thought it was something made out of cheese. How do lacto-ovo vegetarians handle this? Do you eat cheeses that may contain rennet? I don't eat a lot of protein due to how a lot of the plant-based proteins are handled by my body so I really count on cheese to get protein. I am not sure how I can stop eating it. Any advice? Thank you!

The evolution of animal-based dietary structure has contributed to the increase of healthcare expenditures in China | Humanities and Social Sciences Communications (nature.com)

Key line from the abstract:

The consumption of plant-based foods is significant correlated with lower health expenditures, and animal-based foods show a significant impact on increase of health expenditures. 

As a lacto-ovo vegetarian, I wonder if I am in any way impacting the welfare of cows/chickens or countering the environmental cost of eating beef. Of course the best thing would be to go vegan... but until then I'm curious.

Me; It was 5 years ago, i was into vegan ideas like animal liberation, and i don't like the taste of meat, is so disgusting, the transition to an vegetarian life style was easy for me. I'm not into milk, the taste is bad, and it gives me acne, however i eat eggs, the only animal protein that i like.

Hi all, I've dabbled in vegetarianism in the past and we eat quite a few veggie meals as a family but about a week and a half ago I decided to fully switch for a mixture of moral/ethical, environmental and health reasons really.

I'm in the UK and married with two kids aged 7 and 9. The 7 year old isn't a big fan of most meats, I think because of texture, but none of them are vegetarian by choice but they are happy to eat vegetarian foods.

Would love to know your advice and top tips for someone who is newly starting out as a vegetarian and especially around top meals that are family friendly for younger children.

Hello everybody. Just wanted to ask for some opinions&experiences. I’ve been vegetarian for the bigger part of my life, more than 15 years. Mostly started because of animals and then later found out about benefits for the environment. The thing is that I do love fashion and it brings quite a lot of joy into my life. During the years I’ve tried to not to wear animal products (leather, wool, etc), I’ve tried to buy only second hand, and then there were some times when I bought clothing made from animals. The more I think about it, the more I am torn. I do love good quality items that last and I think that sometimes clothing made from animal products may be better for the environment in the long run. On the other hand, I get a lot of guilt and I don’t feel right when wearing and especially when buying such items and promoting their further produce. For now, I am trying to buy only second hand items, at least they are getting a second life and do not endup in the landfill. But every now and then I still buy some clothing made from wool or leather. My rule is to get maximum one item per season, but I do not always succeed. I do live in a country that gets quite cold and it is not that easy to get away without such clothing pieces. In addition, I do not have the funds to invest in good quality vegan options as they are usually quite expensive. But I just cant shake off the feeling that I am still supporting (and to some extent, I really am) produce that could be avoidable.

I've been mostly plant based eating for 3+ years now. My mother and 2 brothers put pressure on me, but in different ways.

The physically largest brother gets angry and argues. He does a periodic carnivore diet / keto. He's lost 60 lbs twice. He also believes in a lot of conspiracy theories.

The youngest (I'm the oldest) has been doing some version of keto cycling and lost 60 lbs as well. He has been diagnosed with type II diabetes for 2 years now. He just sent me a Facebook post of about 8 small paragraphs on the benefits of eating meat, and that reservations about meat are just propaganda.

I don't bring up the topic first, but the youngest just opened the door for me to send him a good link in response.

Do you know of a short YouTube vid or 7 small easy paragraphs that hit mainly on the health front?

I come from a cowboy/rodeo family. Animal welfare and environmental issues would be a waste of opportunity to show. I need exact health issues focus!

I know the vegan docs on YouTube, Mic the Vegan, and Cyruss Khambatta. I'm not finding anything fitting enough yet.

I like Dr. Milton Mills' anatomy arguments too, but they won't work with my brother.

I'm looking for something that targets saturated fat, diabetes, heme iron, and colon cancer.

I've always been on the leaner side, and I don't share any of their broader world views anymore. So, they write off my opinions rather quickly, but my youngest brother is a little less dismissive of me.

Is tofu bad? I read a lot of mixed things on it. I’m new to being vegetarian so I want to get my protein in order and I know tofu has decent amount

I've been at it for a few years now, and recently started to wonder - what impact am I actually making by being a vegetarian?

I've searched for this information before but came up mostly empty-handed on high quality, factual data. That being said I'm wondering if anyone can point me to some good reads on this topic.

Any dating advice for 27M? I don’t want to date meat eaters anymore. Not sure of where to start… Quit meat a few years ago and recently committed to being a vegetarian.

I don't even know how I'd deal with it if it happened to me, how was it for you?

Was wondering if anyone has a problem with it or if you find it imoral