I am vegan, and no one understands me, not even my best friend who I have bean best friends with for 14 years!
2007-07-14 20:52:06 · 12 answers · asked by Lynnette D 1 in Food & Drink ➔ Vegetarian & Vegan
It has more to do with attitude I think. If you go quietly about your lifestyle choice then I agree with one of the participants here, you "get better results".
There will always be those who "don't understand", but the fact that someone has been you friend for 14 years certainly says something about your friendship. I don't understand everything about my friends ... and I don't have to . . . I just accept them as they are.
I think you may be pushing the "fanatical vegan" envelope if you are "craving" for people to "understand me". So just back off, maintain quietly the lifestyle you have chosen for yourself, and move on. Don't get into the "crazies" that we have on the V&V forum ... Veganism is a lifestyle choice .... not a religion. It is for some .. not for everbybody.
2007-07-14 23:06:07 · answer #1 · answered by ? 1 · 4⤊ 2⤋
If you have had a best friend for 14 years aparently he/she does understand you.
We do not have to "understand" everything about our friends--we just have to accept those things we do not understand. Apparently your friend is willing to accept your choice to be a vegan since you have been friends for 14 years.
Hopefully you will not ruin that friendship by forcing your views on her/him or others. That will not only ruin 14 years of friendship but will put you with the "crazies" you find on this forum.
On the other hand, your friend may grow apart from you as you become more isolated from the "mainstream" people and tend to isolate with the more fundamentalist or extreme vegan as you find on this V&V forum. On the whole, IMO, they are neither a very intelligent nor emtionallly healthy group.
I have a feeling this may be the case for you. I hope that your friendship lasts. Lasting friendships are more difficult to find than the "perfect" diet or ethical choice.
2007-07-15 12:11:31 · answer #2 · answered by Meg 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
When I talk about it with my bloody meat loving boyfriend who wouldn't give up meat for nothing - I just focus on the health benefits of being a vegan and the downsides of eating meat. He agrees with me and can see the logic behind such a diet. But he's not there yet. We still get along pretty good. He can see that it is improving my mental and physical health already. Only been vegan for a month.
Most non-vegans don't care about the animals and are not impressed with the data showing how abused these animals are. They figure they are going to die any way - so who cares? Well, they would care if they thought of the atrocities imposed on these animals being done to their own cat or dog.
2007-07-15 04:41:51 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 0⤋
i think the obvious answer here is perhaps, ignorance. A lot of people see it as a lifestyle they know little about and often its viewed as "deprivation" rather than a life choice. There could also be a feeling of them feeling a little inferior, you have given up so many things for a cause you believe deeply in, they are weak because they eat animals and dont think twice, people attack what they dont understand,
and before anyone jumps on me for my answer, i'm not a vegetarian or a vegan, but respect those who are
2007-07-15 03:57:48 · answer #4 · answered by ♠ Merlin ♠ 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
I dont think that its that they dont accept you. I think its more something that is foreign to most people. Being a vegan is a very specialized thing and so many people are clueless what it is and how it even works or why people do it.
I had a best friend growing up that asked me if it was alright for her to eat a hamburger in front of me. Ugh!
2007-07-15 03:57:37 · answer #5 · answered by Nae 5 · 3⤊ 0⤋
I understand. Have you read the China Study? It is a great book about why to become a vegan. I think we live in a society that loves meat and that is why they don't understand, because they love meat.
2007-07-15 03:59:12 · answer #6 · answered by KMP 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
As far as having a vegan friend, its hard to cater to a vegan, like at a party. Its hard enough to think of a dish to make for a vegetarian, let alone a vegan. You can't go out to eat in general, cause there might not be any vegan restaurants in your area. Im from california, so its not a problem for me.
People might automatically think that you won't like them because they arent vegan...as if they think you'll look down on them for being an omnivore.
Here's just a random tale...My friends sister is a vegan, but I found a pakage of tofu shaped like a lobster. I asked my if that was kinda against their beliefs, that the person was thinking of eating a lobster even though it wasn't one. Its like a person who says they arent pedophiles, but have a blow-up doll modeled after a little kid.
2007-07-15 04:44:52 · answer #7 · answered by cpc26ca 1 · 1⤊ 4⤋
i have to agree that most people dont understand it,however I have lived most of my life around vegans and vegetarins,and honestly some of the v-ppl can be judgemental and look down on the "meat eaters",and it turns ppl off,so they dont want to understand it. Often when we live our life quietly we get more results.
http://www.lowcostgourmetfood.com/
2007-07-15 04:48:57 · answer #8 · answered by Dawn W 2 · 2⤊ 0⤋
It`s hard for some people to accept what they don`t understand and they will make fun of what they don`t understand. They might be not aware of hurting you though so you have to take a stand and talk about it to them. Hopefully that will make them understand you better and be able to accept that part of your life.
2007-07-15 04:03:14 · answer #9 · answered by Cdn.girl 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
this is a meat & potatoe country the cowboys helped to establish that. They didnt care if it takes 48 hours to digest verses 24 hours for fish & chicken & turkey & veggies.
$ does this because they got so much $ to raise the animals
2007-07-15 04:01:06 · answer #10 · answered by gold_iam 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋