about vegan and vegetarian. why be a vegan?

Question

what is wrong with drinking milk or cheese or whatever. what does it do to the cow?
why be a vegan instead of just vegetarian?
help?

Answer 1

A cow only makes milk to feed its baby. Human beings keep cows pregnant and reproducing often in order to keep getting milk out of them. We separate cow and calf very early so that we get the maximum amount of milk from the cow. When the cow doesn't make as much milk as she used to, farmers send it off to the slaughterhouse.

Vegans don't drink milk because we don't think it's right to keep cows suffering in factory farming just for a drink. The milk and meat industries are dove-tailed, so if you're avoiding meat but drinking milk, you're still supporting the animals-as-merchandise philosophy.

The main thing for me is, why should any creature suffer for me to eat OR drink? I can drink plant-based drinks and eat plant-based foods and have far less guilt on my mind and far less bad stuff in my diet. I end up healthier and more at peace. Why WOULDN'T you want to be vegan ;-)??

Most people would answer that with "cheese" or "chocolate milk" or "ice cream"... those are mostly answers of habit; you get used to eating a certain way and it's hard to change it. If you're interested, though, there are vegan replacements for nearly every food you currently enjoy, and once you make the switch, you may feel a lot better about yourself as a person!

See the VegSource Web site for more details.

Answer 2

I would dispute that cows milk is unnatural. Yes, the cow did not intend us to drink it's milk, but neither did it intend us to eat it's meat and, whether or not you agree with the practise, meat is not unnatural.
Now, it is indisputable that human's are intended to drink milk, albeit human milk, but there isn't much difference nutritionally. They do contain less of some nutrients and more of others, but that makes little difference. While human milk is tailored for human babies, cow's milk contains exactly the same nutrients, albeit some in slightly different levels. While humans milk is definately better for babies than cow's there are no nutritional of health problems with cow's milk as it is so similar to human's milk, much more similar than it is to formula milks.
What's more there is evidence that some races, namely Northern European (note that doesn't mean just, or all, people living in Europe now) have adaptations giving increased tolerance to milk at a later age (often people lose the ability to process it properly after childhood). This change is almost certainly relating to the consumption of cow's milk, not human's, as people never drank human milk into adulthood, and demonstrates that cow's milk is a perfectly natural part of a human diet.
I also disagree with soy formulas, especially for children, as there is so much evidence it is unhealthy. http://www.soyonlineservice.co.nz/
Just google 'soy health problems' and you'll find so much more information.

As for the ethics of milk, I think PETA do a lot of scaremongering and propaganda, and I'd take everything they say with a pinch of salt (or, preferably, treat it as a lie until shown otherwise by researching it). I don't think the cow's are generally inhumanly treated or suffer very much, although they can get inflamed udders.

Basically I think veganism is a waste of time, for all the reasons I disagree with vegetarianism and more.

Answer 3

This used to be simply requested the previous day. Maybe the are being located in supermarkets. Hmmm. Look on the constituents. If it appears like a ordinary egg in a shell that demands to be cracked it's not vegan. Doesn't subject what the chickens have been fed. I've heard of a manufacturer making false vegan fried eggs. It used to be inconceivable to discover any knowledge on the net so I do not suppose it's real.

Answer 4

Your still supporting the use of animals and contributing to factory farms unless you buy organic.Plus your shampoo,toothpaste,hair gel or whatever can still contain animal by-products.Vegetarians still wear leather,suede,and other animal materials which further support the use of animals.Also being vegan has helped me make alot more healthy choices when I'm eating.Normal store bought milk has hormones,and regular cheese contains an enzyme that they had to get from an animals stomach.If you really love animals then you should be vegan,if you just don't like meat then you should be vegetarian.

Answer 5

many/most cows are treated very, very poorly and are put in terrible conditions so they can pump more milk. the vegans i know do not want to be a part of that particular suffering. even if the animal doesn't die, it's still not humane. some vegans i know also like to know they do not have to rely or depend on an animal's life in any way to feel comfortable, so it's not always an issue of animal's rights.

Answer 6

Well when I was a vegetarian, the next step just seemed veganisim. It wasnt because of any particular reason I switched, I was just wanting to become more HARDCORE about it really. I guess I wanted everyone to know how hardcore of a vegetarian I was, and so I told every vegetarian I was vegan to be in a deeper level than they.
Then when I started hanging out with vegans and all my vegetarian friends switched to veganism too, I changed to live raw foods and only ate live raw foods. Then when everyone switched to raw live I started eating only cardboard, (but no one followed me there).
Now all I eat is organic recycled natural colored foodgrade inkprinted corrugated boxes with the lids removed. Also it has to have the letter J and the number 56 printed somewhere on it.

Answer 7

depends what your preference is. I'm a vegetarian. Simply because I cannot digest meat. I can't eat fish either. I will not be a vegan because I can't live without chocolate!

A lot of people decide to be Vegans based on health. Others may do it because of moral reasons.

Alicia Silverstone is a vegan and she looks great! You have to be careful and make sure you substitute your nutrients though.

Answer 8

I don't think it is natural for my body to have cows milk. It is even worse than meat I think. It is much healthier for me not to eat and it is also very cruel to the cows to be bread solely for milk.http://www.vegansociety.com/html/animals/exploitation/cows/dairy_cow.php
Chickens are also really badly treated. Take a look at this http://www.vegansociety.com/html/animals/exploitation/hens.php

That is why I'm a vegan and not just a vegetarian. Hope it helps.

Answer 9

Both are good for you, each fruit/vegetable has different vitamins. And so as more variety, as better. Vegetables have generally less sugar than fruits.

Answer 10

People will go out of their way to be different and feel good about "making a change". But they don't realize that they are only lying to themselves. Some organisms are born, other organisms die. This cycle goes on and on and on. Predation has been around ever since this world began. That's just how it works. If you don't eat the cow, someone else will. It will die eventually anyway.

Why let the cow go to waste, when you can do something with it?