this post was submitted on 14 Jun 2023
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got nothing against vegans it's just when they try to force it into others
Very few will force it on others, though. Anyway, I find it hilarious how people can get riled up about the idea of a person not eating meat or any animal products. I’ve seen it often that they take it personally for some reason and will “compensate by eating extra bacon/steak/chicken”. It’s bonkers.
People take it personally because deep down everyone knows it is wrong to keep something as cruel as the meat and dairy industry alive, plus the huge environmental impacts on multiple fronts. So they get super defensive instead of confronting or accepting the fact that they're doing the wrong thing for selfish reasons.
Yeah when I was a vegetarian kid a decade and a bit ago I was relatively quiet about it because I got sick of meat-eaters throwing bacon at me or trying to "gotcha" me with the classic desert island meme.
Eh, I don't care what you eat. But I find very offensive, naive, and just plain wrong the idea that it's impossible to sustainably raise animals for meat, eggs, dairy, etc as many vegans will try to insist.
Does it cost more? Yes. Can we raise as many as we do today using conventional farming techniques? No. Will/should we all cut back on our meat, dairy, etc? Yes. But, then again being more mindful of what we all eat is going to be required regardless, if we're going to manage to feed everyone.
Claiming that something is on its whole sustainable is rather loosely defined (i.e what level of impact is considered sustainable and on what metrics), so let's look a little closer. What many are saying there is that process is still going to inherently be much more inefficient compared to growing plants directly for human consumption
It turns out to be the case that the worst-case production of any plants-based production comes out ahead compared to best-case production of meat, dairy, etc. on virtually all environmental metrics
https://ourworldindata.org/less-meat-or-sustainable-meat
https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/14/8/1614/htm
Even true of synthetic fertilizer usage compared to the best case of animal manure
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0921344922006528
In terms of biodiversity
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/aug/16/most-damaging-farm-products-organic-pasture-fed-beef-lamb
If we compare more typical production rather than best to worst, the differences are even more apparent
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25374332/
Because I see quite a lot of misinformation in this area, I created a doc of sources where I put relevant quotes as I look into things. It's now 28 pages. You'll probably see more walls of text from me on that front :)
Actually, do you have a link to those 28 pages? I'd be interested in reading through it all.
It's not anywhere online, but I can DM you a copy of the file if you'd like
That would be great.
Sent you a DM
Awesome, thanks! I only have a few resources when these sorts of discussions come up and it's always nice to have fuel for the fire.
It's funny: the forum I help moderate has a strong contingent of zero-carb/carnivores, and their experience is the same, only in reverse. They get shamed for not eating plants. I guess the moral is that people will criticize us, no matter what we do.
Carnivores should be shamed for their incredibly stupid diet.
I use arch btw
I use arch btw
Same energy as "I don't hate the gays I just wish they'd stop shoving it in my face"
Like you force your lifestyle on animals, by exploiting and killing them?
As a vegan myself, I completely agree! I won't tell others what to eat and they shouldn't tell me what to eat. If I were to ever get "preachy" it's purely about reducing impact on the factors mentioned in the meme and by no means forced... One less meal a week with meat in? Go you! Locally sourcing meat? Hell yeah, less environmental impact!
For the bit about local, it's worth noting here that the difference is substantially less than one might expect. Transport is a surprisingly small portion of emissions and environmental impact
https://ourworldindata.org/food-choice-vs-eating-local
I always thought the party of sourcing from local wasn't transport but supporting your local economy and small producers, keeping the money within your city and raising buying power for its citizens.
What do you mean by "forcing" veganism onto others?
Eat your vegetables or I will make you eat them! /s vegan btw
Yeah, they're always outside the Steakhouse picketing. Running at me constantly with a fork full of green vegetables.
THIS IS A REAL PROBLEM THAT I CONSTANTLY HAVE IN REAL LIFE.
This is the sarcasm we deserve.
I've known plenty of vegans and not once have I seen them "try to force it into others"... Outside of internet rage baiting crazies.
..Now the religious on the other hand, I have first hand experience with.
The worst force a vegan ever deployed against me was… a disapproving face and some statement of disagreement. I guess some people can‘t take even the slightest disagreement in their life.
You joke, but there have been cases of steakhouses and butcher shops having troubles with protestors. It's not an everyday thing, but we are talking about a small, crazy portion of an already fringe group.
So crazy to protest ppl profiting off the rape and murder of thousands of sentient beings
.....that is a profoundly stupid way to look at it, you cannot exist without hurting something or someone, your mere existence causes pain to some people, and they'd much rather you stop existing, are you going to oblige them too? To define pain and suffering as unacceptable in all forms is to deny reality.
Nice ableism. No one is forcing you to support the rape and murder of sentient beings so you can put their corpses in your mouth. You can choose not to do it, don't pretend your hands are tied
No, we can't, we're omnivores, while you can survive on plant-based sources of protein, in the long term, it causes problems. Getting the right nutrients is difficult and expensive, even in the short-term, meaning that you have to be profoundly privileged to do it.
And you didn't answer my question, what about all the other suffering you support? People who suffer so that you can be comfortable, everyone from the avocado farmers and factory workers to the bugs/animals that get poisoned by various pesticides? How is their pain ok, while the cows' pain is unacceptable? Do you understand that you can't exist without causing some pain and discomfort, somewhere to something?? The only reason you have a problem with eating meat is because that is right in front of you.
Not the original commenter, but wanted to add some rebuttal to a few of those claims
In terms of health
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27886704/
In terms of costs
https://www.ox.ac.uk/news/2021-11-11-sustainable-eating-cheaper-and-healthier-oxford-study
In terms of issues with crop production
Those end up being reduced due to the lesser need to grow crops. Is it perfect, no, but does it end up substantially ahead, yes
So for instance terms of pesticides, the usage still ends up lower due to a lesser need to grow feed crops
(emphasis mine)
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25374332/
More broadly
https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/14/8/1614/htm
This is because
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2211912416300013
There are people, whose whole job, and primary source of income is being vegan and talking about being vegan, and many of those people complain about the health problems they have, despite of all the effort they've put into it. So no.
So murder of things is fine, then? You we'ren't complaining about the amount of meat people were eating , you were complaining that people eat meat at all.
And again, you didn't answer the most important part, what about the human pain and suffering your lifestyle causes?
omnivore tho
bugs die tho
expensive tho
Bingo card is looking good.
I mean, yes, you're hypocrites, I'm glad you agree with me. So long acknowledge it, and don't bother me, I don't care what you do.
I'm so glad you care so much about the suffering of bugs! Heartwarming. Maybe one day you'll actually care about the suffering of cows, pigs and chickens too.
You don't want to comment on the extremely well-sourced post above this one? Strange! BTW, if you're so worried about the welfare of avocado farmers, maybe you should also be worried about the welfare of slaughterhouse workers, many of whom develop PTSD from killing the animals needed for your le steak and bacon.
I acknowledge the suffering of bugs, the same way I acknowledge the suffering of animals, as the necessary thing that it is. I don't pretend one is more important then the other just because it's cute.
I did, people have gotten sick being vegan, people whose job it was to be vegan(vegan youtubers), so to sit there and pretend that it's healthy is a conversation ender.
Nobody is forcing veganism onto others lmao. You see a lot of vegans going around putting a gun to someone's head demanding they drop the eggs they're holding in the store? Most vegans won't even tell you they are vegan when it's not relevant because it's too exhausting when a person turns out to be a 'veganism bad lel' debate bro, so we'd rather avoid the chance.
Stop forcing your views onto innocent animals first