<p>What a horribly wrong statistic I believed about Japan having no cancer. </p>
<p>The discipline these different diets demand is somewhat amazing imo.</p>
<p>bclintonk, thanks for sharing your experience with your D. She certainly sounds like a purposeful and disciplined young lady. It’s interesting that her thought regarding animal cruelty went beyond the physical aspect to include the mental component as well. Never did occurred to me to think of it in that way.</p>
<p>My wife and I went through the same thought process that bclintonk’s daughter did. My wife briefly went lacto-ovo but could not sustain it. I never tried. But for quite a few years now, I carefully examine the products that we buy and I only buy…</p>
<p>Grass fed pastured beef
Pastured pork and chicken
Organic and truly free range eggs</p>
<p>Grass fed beef is readily available now. Pastured pork and chicken is more difficult so I buy only from local producers at the farmer’s market in the summer and they deliver in the winter.</p>
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<p>I don’t and that’s something I don’t even hear brought up much among vegans. Random things that some vegans do worry about that might seem extreme:
-Sugar that uses bone char in the bleaching process
-Beer and wine that use some kond of fish by-product for filtration
-Cereal fortified with animal derived vitamin D. Many cereal brands don’t actually say which form of D they use, so it’s unclear whether the cereal is really vegan or not
-Glycerin in food or make-up/body products. It can be animal or vegetable sourced but labels don’t need to specify which one.
-Lanolin and beeswax in makeup/body products</p>
<p>And then of course there’s the whole issue of leather, silk and wool in clothing. Or what the glue in your pleather shoes is made out of.</p>
<p>I avoid those things when I can, but I also think realistically there’s only so much I can do, especially since I live on a very tight budget. I’m not going to get rid of clothes. I have a hard enough time buying shoes that fit (DD width and flat feet) so I generally try not to buy leather but I really don’t worry about it beyond that.</p>
<p>I became vegetarian when I was 11 because I really didn’t want to eat animals personally. It wasn’t an animal-activism thing, the idea just started squicking me out.</p>
<p>I became vegan because I realized that factory-farmed dairy and eggs really aren’t any better. And I’ve come into the realization that milk really isn’t that good for us. Eating another species’ breastmilk as an adult? A lot of people do develop lactose intolerances later in life. I’m a little bit less clear on eggs because unlike dairy (cows have to be forcibly inseminated and separated from their young to keep producing milk), healthy chickens will continue to lay eggs, and they’re not something that they need. I might eat eggs if I had a really good source, but I’m not very trustful. I read recently that even many certified free range farms debeak, for example, and that’s not something I want to support. But my family used to have backyard chickens and if I had pet chickens, I’d have no issues with eating the eggs.</p>
<p>These are all my personal decisions. I don’t actually think that the whole world should stop eating meat. I do think that factory farming and the way animal agriculture is in this country right now is seriously messed up and smaller, local options are always better. Probably a better product, too. It’s one of those things where it’s all about what I personally feel comfortable with. My food-buying ethics are also tied to a lot more than animals -vs-non, though – I try to buy local when I can and buy fair trade coffee and and try to avoid companies with notorious sweat shop practices. I don’t want to be all about not exploiting animals while putting my dollar votes into exploiting people.</p>
<p>After I found out how silk was produced, I refuse to buy anything silk. Truly horrifying.</p>
<p>This is after a year, but I’d like to correct @greenwitch: it’s Jain, not Jainist.</p>
<p>And you got the reason for that wrong. If harvesting would cause the death of the plant, we probably wouldn’t eat any plants at all. We believe that the amount of life–the death of microorganisms and small bugs that live in the ground–that is destroyed from harvesting those plants (carrots, onions, garlic) is not worth eating it. And most modern Jains, especially those who live in the United States (although certainly not all of them) eat them unless there are certain festivals going on.</p>
<p>It’s actually somewhat surprising how many people get things about Jainism wrong. My history textbook from four years ago had a page on Jainism, and other than the basic principle, they got everything wrong. Every. Single. Thing.</p>
<p>So the bugs and microorganisms that live on the leaves and fruit are ok to destroy? ;)</p>
<p>Old thread…</p>
<p>Well, we are trying to minimize damage. It’s… complicated. It has to do with the number of senses each living organism has (there’s a hierarchy) and it’s just the fact that far more microorganisms live in the ground. It would be impossible to live without harming another organism; but we do try.</p>
<p>I’ll become a vegetarian as soon as all the other animals stop eating each other. As it is, they’re not setting a very good example.</p>
<p>I absolutely LOVE vegetables and see no need to consume animal products with every meal. But I have no intention of ever becoming a vegetarian, much less a vegan.</p>
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<p>My daughter made me a pizza with a cauliflower crust. I couldn’t believe how good it was. I also make “pizzas” out of a big roasted portobello mushroom, pizza sauce (no added sugar of course), sliced green pepper or onions and mozzarella cheese placed under the broiler. </p>
<p>That said, traditional crust pizza is to die for. Sigh.</p>
<p>Just realized this is indeed an old thread. I posted to it originally using almost the exact words I used this morning. Ha ha, at least I’m consistent if nothing else.</p>
<p>I do have a cookbook called *The Gradual Vegetarian *. Don’t know if it’s still in print, but it might be helpful for someone wanting to transition. I liked it just because it had good recipes.</p>