There is a man who I had a brief, pleasant conversation about cycling a couple days ago with on the local train and I thought at the time "He looks like the image of health" "Looks vegan but no way" insanely good skin but in a natural way. Kept those thoughts to myself.

Today we get on the train again at the same time and I said "I wish I looked as refreshed as you." I am unusually tired and only got 3 hours because my neighbor's dog was barking at 02:00. He said "It's all about the diet" and I said "My diet is really good, just had a sleepless night" he asked "What kind of food do you eat" and I said "vegan got a kale quinoa chickpea salad in my bag for later" he told me he was vegan for 23 years shook my hand. Great little conversation, we both home brew kombucha, have organic gardens, guy offered to buy some microgreens off of me.

As I was about to get off the train the other black woman to my left said "I was listening to your conversation and I'm also vegan" with a smile and she pulled out her lentil soup and tofu yellow curry that looked so good out of her bag. We had a collective little three person fist bump.

Never got to be around other black vegans in normal life outside of specific restaurants, my aunt and her now husband, and specific vegan meetups it was so nice and unexpected.

Going into the rest of my day in a good mood despite being tired. 💚

Credit: Danny Ishay (animal rights activist)

Support vegan artist & activist: Praxis_BGZ

I got into veganism a couple months ago when I was 18. It wasn’t perfect as I was still finding my footing but now, freshly 19, and I can proudly say that for the last 2 months I have been strictly vegan and it is the best thing I’ve ever decided to do!! It’s just so soul purifying. I’ve learned how to cook and it’s been my new favourite hobby — and let me just say that my cooking is AMAZING!!

Up until I went into veganism, I would order out for basically almost every meal. It was expensive but I always thought cooking was too much work for me and that I’d need to order out for the rest of my life (wtf). My main concern going into veganism was that I wouldn’t be able to eat out as much anymore (if at all, actually) because of no vegan friendly restaraunts besides some Indian restaraunts nearby. So I knew I’d have to start cooking for myself and I expected to hate it. But now, I have made so many delicious dishes by myself starting from almost zero cooking sense. It was a bit daunting at first. I thought I wouldn’t be able to recreate my favourite dishes but then when I did, and the flavours were even better, I started gaining confidence in my new skills.

My friends and mom all absolutely love my food!! It’s especially fun recreating non-vegan dishes and making them EVEN BETTER vegan! And it’s so wonderful knowing not a single non-human person was abused just to be on my plate.

My relationship with food has completely changed! I viewed food as just a tasty plate of objects to consume mindlessly. But now, I am active in the process of making food and am always mindful of where the ingredients for my food come from. Food is genuinely of meaning to me now.

I have formed a completely new and different connection and perception of animals. They are equals to me. Whose life is just as valuable as mine. It’s so different seeing wild cows knowing I do not pay for their torture anymore.

And can I just say I FRICKING LOVE TOFU SO MUCH!!! It’s by far my favourite food now. It’s sooo versatile and wholesome and clean and lovely ughhhh. You can do so much with it. I’m making chocolate tofu mousse right now haha. And making fried tofu chips as a snack AHHHH SOOOO GOOOD!!!! Scrambled tofu is my favourite part of my daily breakfast. There’s no hostility here in east Asia towards tofu so this isn’t anything unusual since I’ve seen in the west tofu is looked down upon which is so funny to me because it’s literally just… tofu?? Who looks down on something so random when it’s extremely healthy

I just wanted to share how happy I am. I love being vegan! This feeling can simply never be properly articulated.

Lifelong meat eater here. I dated a vegan awhile ago and I’ve come to realize my ex was pretty much right about everything. I always respected veganism and liked eating vegan food but never had any intention of going vegan for myself.

When we were together there was almost always a tension surrounding our eating habits. I was fully supportive of the vegan lifestyle for my ex and would eat with them but would also eat meat as well. We would have conversations around the meat industry and how unethical it is. I would mostly agree with their points but also didn’t really care that much and would continue to eat my food. For awhile we tried to avoid the topic but overtime it became too difficult to ignore. Our dietary differences were certainly a factor in the breakup but it was also due to lack of communication and other things.

Since we broke up I’ve basically thought about my ex everyday, despite having dated several other people since then. Honestly, they’re the only person I’ve ever loved and I still miss them a lot. (It doesn’t help that they are objectively gorgeous and 100% my type :/ ) My ex often pops into my head whenever I eat meat, and at first I attributed this only to not being over them but I realized it was more than that. I now kinda feel guilty when I eat meat and have continued having conversations with one of my friends who is in the process of going vegan. I can see how evil the meat industry is and linked with capitalism, health disparities, and other social injustices I care about.

The problem is, I don’t really know where to go from here… Truthfully, I still don’t necessarily desire to be vegan. It seems extremely daunting and kind of lonely as all my family and the vast majority of my friends eat meat and aren’t very welcoming of vegans. It also would be such a massive change for me as someone who eats meat atleast twice a day. I’d appreciate any advice or thoughts on what to do next.

you go to a restaurant and see they have vegan options , cool. Then you look and all it is is cauliflower tacos or cauliflower “wings”. Bro you are taking the blandest vegetable in existence and trying to make it the main ingredient. At least if you used broccoli or some other vegetable it has sweetness and flavor.

Then when people think of vegan food they think were eating cauliflower. No matter how you bread it or batter it and fry it its still bland. Let cauliflower be the side ingredient that it is and have seitan as a vegan option ffs. People act like vegan food is bland but all they know is unmarinated unseasoned tofu and cauliflower abominations

Hey just looking for some advice on this situation. Basically my life is mega hectic and busy so I normally do an online grocery shop. Every other delivery my order has items that have been replaced with non vegan products. And on some occasions it doesn't say its been substituted on my receipt. I always get the refund when I contact them which is great, but I can't help but feel it's being done maliciously.

For example:

- I ordered vegan veggie burgers and was give a pack of chicken breasts​​

- I ordered vegan ice cream and was given dairy ice cream

- I ordered tofu and was given steak

- I ordered a lentil soup and was given ham and sweetcorn soup

- I ordered falafel sandwiches and was given chicken wraps.

I know I'm not losing money as I get a refund, but I kinda feel targeted. I have called them to explain this and they just apologise which is great but it keeps happening. Also I know I can just change to a different supermarket but I feel like I shouldn't have to and that this is just completely wrong. ​​​​​

*UPDATE* I thought I should just add some more details. I will gladly name and shame the supermarket. It's Sainsbury's. I have ordered online and originally had the substitution on as I didn't realise how it worked (was new to online grocery shopping) when substitutions like the above were delivered obviously I didn't accept them and got a refund for them. I then changed it so if the items were out of stock I would have it removed from my order instead. However, on some orders, I would still receive what felt like deliberate non vegan items. ​​This particular Sainsbury's is also on deliveroo, so I have also ordered via this platform for top up shops and when I've selected no substitutions, I have been delivered again non vegan items. I can understand that some could have been just genuine human error. The examples I mentioned are just some of about 15 different occasions. I have been keeping a log of all these incidents with my order number, photos, dates ect. ​and plan on taking it further. I think for me it's more about ensuring situations like this are taken seriously by supermarkets and that awareness of veganism is understood better rather than receiving a voucher. ​​

This one made me cry.

Reacting to Mic The Vegan's video on The Great Carnivore Crash.

Anyone else bothered by others making this comment?

i notice myself getting frustrated when i hear this, because it implies that my plant-based behaviour isn’t a choice. It implies that I’m following some sort of “rule” against my own desire. It ignores the fact that each time I decide not to eat an animal product, I am making a choice.

A secondary question: what are the emotions and motivations when people say this? I’m curious to hear the perspective of someone who used to or currently makes these kind of comments.

I wanted to share this warning after unfortunately falling victim to a deceptive seller myself. I ordered what was explicitly advertised as a "faux fur" tail keychain on Amazon, only to find out upon arrival that it is 100% real animal fur.

As a vegan, I am completely devastated, but I want to use this experience to make sure nobody else makes the same mistake.

Many of these listings use identical stock photos. A major red flag to look out for is the specific gold hardware or grommets attached directly to the base of the tail (as shown in the image). These mass-produced items are often sourced from real fur industries where real fur is tragically cheaper to utilize than high-quality synthetics.

If you want a tail accessory, please strictly buy certified synthetic alternatives, make your own out of yarn, or only purchase them second-hand. Please check your labels, report these fraudulent sellers to Amazon if you encounter them, and stay vigilant!

I'm surprised by how good vegan food can be. I've been vegetarian for around 10ish years, recently went vegan (around 1 month ago). i had a vegan donut for the first time the other day.. it was better than normal donuts! also had some vegan sea salt chocolate caramel candies from whole foods, and wow! they replaced the milk with coconut cream. it was better than genuine milk chocolate!!

I guess im just kind of surprised. I feel like I can REALLY do this now.

I'm a 23 F and I'm a lesbian... I have been a vegetarian since last 3 years... And now I'm convinced that vegetarism is not enough, even dairy is practicing cruelty. I have reduced my dairy consumption and mostly I don't chose dairy containing products... So I wanna connect with vegans... Not necessarily I just want queer vegans, I also want to make vegan friends because I don't have any... However I want to connect with queer vegans too... My heart aches seeing people eating animals and i have not even a single friend who understands this...

Before i start i wana say what happended to wang wang and her puppies was horrible nothing changes that but im not trying to compare but the cat torture in china feels ignored and worse methods have been done just cruel and sick things and i know this seems really bad to say but wang wang got off easy compared to the torture done to cats maybe this is awful to say i just feel a bit upset for the thousands of victims that have not gotten the same outrage. A point i wana make a stray kitten was taken from her mother and people feared the worst but when they found the kitten had been drowned people felt relief. Why? Because drowning may be awful but it is nothing compared to what is done in the cat torture networks. Newborn kittens cooked alive on pans nobody has the same outrage it feels like. im glad the wang wang case is bringing in more attention but pls show the same outrage for those cats who went through inhumane torture maybe ive seen so many graphic images and footage that now seeing a dog being burned alive doesnt make me feel as much as my old self would have felt even tho my morals stay the same but final message GIVE THE SAME OUTRAGE AND REMEMBER THE VICTIMS OF THE CAT TORTURE NETWORK!!!!

Our 6 month old daughter, Aurora, is in the Baby of the Year contest! We’re raising her with compassion for all animals, and if she wins, we plan to donate the $25,000 prize to an animal charity that rescues calves from the dairy industry (till the cows come home).
If her little story resonates with you, we’d be so grateful for your vote 🐮💚

I cant be the only one who notices this i feel like im going insane bro 🫩

i love watching fish to relax yk? My family wont shut up about eating them, i feed the free range chicken flock we have to control pests, they live in a large area and are NOT meant for food, "oh they look tasty!", my neighbours have pet cows, i talk about how cute they are "oh these look ready to eat!" 🫩

I express my love for neocaradina shrimp and my aunt talks about how they are too small to eat 🫩🫩

Oh my GOD is that the damage done to society? That no one can appreciate the existence of an animal and just talks about eating them? How is this normal? Even if you eat meat how isnt it socially considered plain rude and creepy to talk about killing an animal when someone expresses love for them? Media, industry, market, all fucking led to people losing the capability of seeing any animal to ever exist as anything more than food and i hate it.

Edit: The title is supposed to say “tastes” not tasted lol

Me 18F and my sister 14F are born on the same day 4 years apart. Our birthday is in a month. I’ve been vegan for a month now (I was vegetarian before going vegan) and my sister still eats animals. Before going vegan I baked a lot so obviously now I’ve switched to vegan baking. My bakes taste exactly the same as before, you honestly can’t tell that they’re vegan. I will make my own vegan birthday cake for my birthday and I offered for my sister that I make hers too (she wanted a separate cake). Here the drama begins.

She says “no, I want a normal cake baked by mom.” We go back and forth, my argument being “why wouldn’t you choose a vegan cake when it tastes the exact same and me and my mom are perfectly capable of making it taste amazing without involving animal cruelty.”

Her argument “it’s my special day and I want to be able to choose my own cake”. It’s only one day of the year, after that we can go back to eating your vegan stuff. I’m already eating so much more vegan things because of you so why can’t my birthday be an exception?”

I totally understand that. It’s just, why wouldn’t she want to choose a cruelty free alternative to a delicious cake when she can??? I just cannot wrap my head around it. She loves my vegan bakes. She eats them all the time. I don’t want my birthday to be shared with a cake made with eggs and dairy. It made me quite sad that I couldn’t change her mind. At her age I was vegetarian already.

I’m not sure I want to celebrate my birthday with non-vegan food items. That’s important to me, like how having a cake made with suffering animals is important to her I guess🙄. I might just do a separate birthday thing.

Thanks for listening guys.

Updatee: we talked it over and she saw how sad I was over it and we might do a vegan cake anyways. I told her it’s her decision I won’t force anything on her and she told me she doesn’t want me to be sad and she dint know it would make me so upset. So we are not mad at each other and we’ll figure it out.

TLDR; sister doesn’t want vegan birthday cake when I am a very good baker and my vegan cakes taste exactly the same as non vegan ones.

Anyone have any experience with having a Vegan Wedding? Or any Vegan Caterers looking for work? I am looking for a Vegan Caterer in Los Angeles for my wedding in November. There is a lot of amazing vegan food here of course, but the trouble I am having is finding something in my budget. Also some of the smaller businesses that I know of don't usually cater to large groups all at the same time. I am expecting around 100 people. Also Since I am forcing a bunch of meat eaters to eat Vegan for the night I want to make sure it is crowd pleaser food and nothing too out there. Any suggestions would be amazing!

I haven’t got much to say except that veganism just makes me feel SO good!! I feel so much healthier — I get in wayyyy more veggies and fibre, I had stomach issues before going vegan that have pretty much completely gone away! I love baking and trying new recipes and experimenting with new foods and cooking it’s just so much fun and I know that I never feel guilty about anything that I eat, it’s such an amazing feeling knowing my actions align with my morals and I’m not exploiting animals for my food!! Genuinely would recommend to absolutely everyone I feel like my diet and relationship with food has improved so much <3

I was just trying to buy new shoes when I found out that adidas DOES NOT LET YOU LOOK UP VEGAN! I searched some random bs after to show you how dumb this is. Also don’t come at me for not clicking something I assure you I’ve tried everythin.

Hello guys. So I heard a lot of people saying that going vegan was the best choice and I would very much like to. But! I'm so rooted to milk products and eggs. I dont like to cook and I always eat very simple things. Do you have any advice? Was it also for someone at first to let go of milk products?

I wrote this article for Current Affairs about a Canadian program in which factory-farm owners and cattle-industry executives serve as mentors to early-career climate scientists, including government researchers.

The argument is not that these scientists falsify their findings. It is that industry mentorship shapes the research agenda: Questions about making beef production more efficient receive funding and professional support, while the most important question—whether we should raise fewer cattle—is excluded.

If interested, please give it a read.

https://www.currentaffairs.org/news/how-the-beef-industry-captures-climate-science

Hello vegan friends,

I don't usually post here but I don't really have any vegan friends that would understand what I'm feeling so I wanted to vent and get support from the community <3.

I was at a friend's house this weekend and had an interesting conversation around consciousness, life, existentialism etc, to which I eventually brought up animal consciousness (my bad I guess...).

My friend felt that animals are not conscious because they don't question their own existence. And if they're not conscious (by that definition), then exploiting them the way that we do is completely justified.

While I appreciate my friend for being honest with me, I'm really struggling with that perspective. I don't really know why that matters in the context of suffering -- you don't need to question your own existence if you are able to suffer (and oh do animals suffer so...). How can someone really think there aren't any red flags with this thought-pattern whatsoever? How can my friend who is one of the kindest people I know, who puts everyone ahead of his own self, always helping as much as he can, etc. truly feel this way?

In most cases, the non-vegans I've chatted with have acknowledged that the way we treat and exploit animals suck, and we should do better to minimize their harm, but this outright justification and rationalization is something I find really horrifying. It makes me think of supremacy and ego -- that we measure life in terms of what we humans perceive to be what's most valuable, based on our own species' experience -- and that anything that doesn't line up with that is lesser than/not worthy of moral consideration.

Please don't tell me I need to axe my friend, that's now why I came here and not something I want to do.

If anyone also has any advice on how to handle conversations like this, or help me overcome this horrible feeling I'm feeling, I'd be most appreciative.

Thanks everyone here for caring, knowing that people out there care makes me feel a bit better already.