For those who call themselves vegan or vegetarian... why the label?

[RosieGeller]

When you reply with such a label a lot of people are being rude and negative, why in fact, it's noone business, either I eat grass or human flesh.
I eat what I am comfortable with, not looking into other's plates. That's what I say whn being asked. Not using game of words of vegetarian/vegan/plant-based , if a person is inclined to be a moron of this style of life, even if you say I eat spirits of fruits, you would still be a dork for them)

[TheGreenQueen]

But at the same time, you can't blame people for objecting to others killing feeling beings just because they taste good and attempting to educate people who mistakenly think "nutrition" is a steadfast component of that.

I'm only a pescetarian, (and I occasionally eat meat off of others' plates when it would go to waste otherwise) but I can certainly understand why vegans are so heartbroken and angry.

And to coelacanth: vegetable food can certainly be ethical in the hands of local, small-scale, organic, and/or permaculture, etc.

You can't make the argument that because industrial farming is bad specifically, it doesn't matter whether you eat meat or vegetables. If you want to add that extra awareness to it, by all means do so. The Jains and fruititarians (attempting to respectively farm gently and to eat only food that does not even harm or kill plants) are more hardcore even than vegans.

I don't feel bad about eating meat. I did used to, but not anymore. I am numb to it all. It is so in your face, and 'normal' to eat meat, it requires a concentrated effort to feel offended by it IMO.

I am on a vegetarian transition at the minute, but really it is for my health, and perhaps it is a political stance. I have read animal rights books in my youth, so I can't claim ignorance.

But yeah I don't feel bad eating meat in the sense of 'the poor animal',. I don't feel that emotion.

If I do feel bad, it is because I am not sticking to what I said I would do.

I find vegans are very good at guilt tripping. Sometimes I think they need a wake up call, because the world I see is rampant meat eating world. It is hard to live in a vegan bubble 24/7 especially if you want to mix in society.

[Debrah]

Burnt fruit, vegans aren't 'guilt tripping' anyone for the sake of proving superiority or because they like to fight. Most of us have spent enough time looking at the research and videos that you mention pig or cow or calf and a specific image of horrific suffering comes into their mind. And we 'feel' that pain, that fear that the animals experience. In my case, my temperature goes up, my heart starts pounding, my blood pressure rises, it is a physical experience to us to remember what is done to them. We speak up for them, so that maybe, just maybe someone else will care enough to love them and not participate in the violence and cruelty.

The suffering is ........ well there are no words that can really describe it. And you are right, it is emotionally hard to live as a vegan, because every moment of every day, we are confronted by it because 'your lifestyle' (when you are eating meat), is bludgeoning our senses.

Think of it like this: is there one horrible thing that you just can't stand, that makes you so angry and so horrified.....now imagine yourself dropped into a world where that awful thing is acceptable and everyone does it openly and defends it. How would you feel?

Hi Debrah.

You know perhaps we were designed to be vegan, or perhaps that is the destiny of the future of the human race.

Because certainly, it does make a lot of sense, in terms of nutrition, health, the environment and not killing animals.

Yes it makes a lot of sense.

Its just that where I live - everybody eats and sells meat. Well not totally true, there is a Hindu community, with veggie restaurants.

I think we have got certain things wrong in society - sure we need to a lot less meat, and also the way we view death.

Death is just a transformation - it is not the terrible thing that we need distraction from all the time.

So yeah that thing you mentioned - is our attitude towards death. And that totally stinks. I think it is why so many people get obsessed with the material at the expense of being nice to each other.

But yeah meat eating. My current view of my diet is that it will be 90% vegetarian, with occasional meat and fish. But yeah my views do change.

Yes I don't like the animal suffering. I have watched Earthlings, it is in my DVD library.

If you are a vegan, well kudos to you, it is one of the best things a person can do.