I tried being vegan, but it’s basically impossible in Eastern Europe. I settled for just being a vegetarian trying to reduce my cheese & milk consumption and made my peace with that.
Veganism, as it is defined, is an ethical framework that seeks to, where practicable and possible, eliminate all forms of exploitation and harm to animals, directly or indirectly, that we can control. We tend to be specific on terms so that our movement doesn’t get bogged down, so forgive me for sounding rude or dismissive as that is not my intention.
That being said, what is available to you? Perhaps I could help you out if you’d like advice. I currently use some products that would be harder to find outside of the United States, but when I first decided to be vegan I didn’t have the same access and relied on much more simple ingredients
Edit: idk how to dm mods, but let me know if that breaks rule 2
I guess by that definition I’d be an aspiring vegan :))
The issue isn’t access to raw ingredients, when we have the time my gf and I do cook vegan food (we made a vegan butter “chicken” just a few days ago). The issue is when we go to a restaurant or order takeaway due to work obligations and being super busy, there are no vegan options and normally 1 vegetarian option laden with cheese.
So the issue that vegans like myself would have with that is that we don’t agree that convenience is more important than an animals life. Veganism is very binary due to the definition. If you’re a star wars fan, think yoda: “do or do not, there is no try”. The fact that its an ethical framework means that as strong men, women, and nonbinary adults we hold ourselves to what we think is moral and right. A vegan, at a work dinner where there are no vegan options, just doesn’t eat that meal and is hungry. Super inconvenienced and annoyed, but hungry. I personally believe that a lot of the things that seem hard about veganism go away with 2 things: understanding the why, and experience. As far as understanding the why, I would recommend this: https://www.dominionmovement.com/watch
Edit: this movie is graphic. If you aren’t in a good mental place, wait till later. It is important for people to see what they pay for that’s not a block of cheese that they buy from the store
I am definitely a hard-liner when it comes to meat. I do find it harder to be such a hard-liner with other animal products, even though I’m aware of the conditions in dairy factory farms. I do agree with you, I’m just saying it’s difficult.
Respectfully, I’m new to lemmy so I dont know how strict the mods are here, but I think that you want to continue this discussion. We should move this conversation to direct messaging or to another community of your choice, due to the rules of this sub. Happy to continue talking though
This particular community is a vegan only one, no carnists allowed, but we could definitely have a /c/askavegan community for those interested or ot the fence.
It is difficult, don’t get down on yourself. I think I had the typical vegan journey: carnist > veggie (with mistakes and setbacks) > vegan (with mistakes and setbacks) > vegan
And now I see animal products the same way you see meat: it’s just not food. It can be difficult to get there, but once you do it won’t be “the takeaway doesn’t have vegan options so I’ll have the veggie,” it’ll be “the takeaway doesn’t do any edible food”
I’ve been vegan for a few years in East Asia where, believe or not, is a horrible place to be vegan (not to confuse it with south East Asia where there is a vegetarian tradition).
More than 90% of the restaurants and processed/packaged food contains animals. It is almost impossible for me to eat outside unless I specifically go to a vegan restaurant but they are only a few in the country.
What I won’t do is to bow to the society or to the brands that keep abusing animals. If I can’t find vegan snacks or a restaurant, so be it. I will cook my own food and find alternative ways.
Even vegan brands are starting to appear here, so I hope the same will happen in your country. I’m pretty sure of it since it appears to be a global tendency.
I tried being vegan, but it’s basically impossible in Eastern Europe. I settled for just being a vegetarian trying to reduce my cheese & milk consumption and made my peace with that.
Veganism, as it is defined, is an ethical framework that seeks to, where practicable and possible, eliminate all forms of exploitation and harm to animals, directly or indirectly, that we can control. We tend to be specific on terms so that our movement doesn’t get bogged down, so forgive me for sounding rude or dismissive as that is not my intention.
That being said, what is available to you? Perhaps I could help you out if you’d like advice. I currently use some products that would be harder to find outside of the United States, but when I first decided to be vegan I didn’t have the same access and relied on much more simple ingredients
Edit: idk how to dm mods, but let me know if that breaks rule 2
I guess by that definition I’d be an aspiring vegan :))
The issue isn’t access to raw ingredients, when we have the time my gf and I do cook vegan food (we made a vegan butter “chicken” just a few days ago). The issue is when we go to a restaurant or order takeaway due to work obligations and being super busy, there are no vegan options and normally 1 vegetarian option laden with cheese.
So the issue that vegans like myself would have with that is that we don’t agree that convenience is more important than an animals life. Veganism is very binary due to the definition. If you’re a star wars fan, think yoda: “do or do not, there is no try”. The fact that its an ethical framework means that as strong men, women, and nonbinary adults we hold ourselves to what we think is moral and right. A vegan, at a work dinner where there are no vegan options, just doesn’t eat that meal and is hungry. Super inconvenienced and annoyed, but hungry. I personally believe that a lot of the things that seem hard about veganism go away with 2 things: understanding the why, and experience. As far as understanding the why, I would recommend this: https://www.dominionmovement.com/watch
Edit: this movie is graphic. If you aren’t in a good mental place, wait till later. It is important for people to see what they pay for that’s not a block of cheese that they buy from the store
I am definitely a hard-liner when it comes to meat. I do find it harder to be such a hard-liner with other animal products, even though I’m aware of the conditions in dairy factory farms. I do agree with you, I’m just saying it’s difficult.
Respectfully, I’m new to lemmy so I dont know how strict the mods are here, but I think that you want to continue this discussion. We should move this conversation to direct messaging or to another community of your choice, due to the rules of this sub. Happy to continue talking though
This particular community is a vegan only one, no carnists allowed, but we could definitely have a /c/askavegan community for those interested or ot the fence.
It is difficult, don’t get down on yourself. I think I had the typical vegan journey: carnist > veggie (with mistakes and setbacks) > vegan (with mistakes and setbacks) > vegan
And now I see animal products the same way you see meat: it’s just not food. It can be difficult to get there, but once you do it won’t be “the takeaway doesn’t have vegan options so I’ll have the veggie,” it’ll be “the takeaway doesn’t do any edible food”
I’ve been vegan for a few years in East Asia where, believe or not, is a horrible place to be vegan (not to confuse it with south East Asia where there is a vegetarian tradition).
More than 90% of the restaurants and processed/packaged food contains animals. It is almost impossible for me to eat outside unless I specifically go to a vegan restaurant but they are only a few in the country.
What I won’t do is to bow to the society or to the brands that keep abusing animals. If I can’t find vegan snacks or a restaurant, so be it. I will cook my own food and find alternative ways.
Even vegan brands are starting to appear here, so I hope the same will happen in your country. I’m pretty sure of it since it appears to be a global tendency.