Veganize Me!?

Question

I am a total animal lover.
I really want to vegaterain, but this isn't possible at my house (look at my other questions). When ever we go out to eat, I order a vegetarian dish. I never buy or wear leather,fur, sheepskin or whool. I use products from the Body Shop (they don't test on animals). I never go to (don't support) circuses, marine parks or rodeos. Whenever possible, I inform people about cruelty.

Until I move out (which will be a while) I am forced to eat meat and other animal products. When I actually move out I am going to become a vegatarian, probably a vegan, but until then, what else can I do?

Sorry, spelled wool wrong.

Thanks for the advice but what else can I do?

Answer 1

I understand the whoole father situation, because my dad doesn't support me either.

But it doesn't matter what he thinks, since he cant literally force you to do anything that you dont want to.

Just live life how you want to and ignore him, let him know that his reactions are unacceptable and that you are old enough to make your own decisions.

Answer 2

Well, you could ask your parents to buy you analogues and cook them while they cook their animal products. You could start off vegetarian to get them used to that and go vegan as soon as it's practical, which may be when you move out.

Boca burgers, Gardenburgers and Amy's burgers are fairly inexpensive and take only a few minutes to cook up on a grill. At my local Whole Foods, their store brand tofu is 99 cents for a one-pound package. Trader Joe's also has fairly inexpensive tofu. Buy a bunch, drain it, freeze it, and keep it in the freezer (see my profile for tips). If you can get frozen veggies, get those and cook those up.

As for vegan makeup and bath products, Urban Decay and Hard Candy have vegan items in their lines (check out the website for a handy-dandy guide you can print). Lush (www.lush.com) is a wonderful (although expensive) company that has a strong policy against animal testing and most of their items are vegan.

Check out www.vegweb.com for recipes and resources.

Answer 3

the first thing you might want to know is that the Body Shop is as you mentioned against cruelty to animals, but they are owned by L'Oreal cosmetics which does perform animal testing and uses animal derived products- so when you buy from the Body Shop you are ultimately supporting a company that does test on animals. I would recommend you switch to Clarin's cosmetics (found at major department stores), they are cruelty-free, or google the compassionate shopping guide to find out more about what products are cruelty free.

as others have mentioned, your parents shouldn't be able to force you to eat meat. i understand that they are your parents and have some sense of authority over your actions, but, it seems as though you are old enough for them to start accepting your decisions. what i had to do when i made the switch to veggie is go with my mom to the store and pick out meat alternatives for me to eat. if she is unwilling to buy them for you, perhaps you can buy your own and cook for yourself. frozen amy's dinners, gardenburger products, tofurkey products, and morning star are all delicious and very easy to prepare.

if your parents aren't willing to provide meat-free alternatives, you can always choose to eat more of the side dishes instead of the meat. load up your potato and salad, eat pasta without the meat (since you are aiming for vegetarian, not vegan at this point, it is super easy to make olive oil, butter, and garlic sauces for pasta if your parents prepare only meat sauces). make a sandwich at dinner, or eat cereal. i'm sure if you maybe did some research into vegan/vegetarian recipes online you could figure out some simple and easy ways to get creative about cutting out meat without being an inconvenience to your parents. you just have to make the commitment to do it!

i wish you the best of luck, and one last piece of advice that worked for me when i finally made the switch from vegetarian to vegan:

remember that when you give up the foods you are comfortable with and enjoy, you are always making less of a sacrifice than the animal that suffers and dies for you to have temporary good taste that you crap out anyway.

weird, i know- but it's so true.

Answer 4

Let me just wave my magic wand.

Like you've been told many times before, NO ONE can force you to eat parts of dead animals, not even your parents.

It may be hard to eat a vegan diet if you can't cook your own food but if you don't want to eat meat, there should be no reason for you to do so.

Answer 5

Sorry I can't really be bothered to read through your question history but I would be very suprised if someone was forcing you to eat meat... do your family force feed you? Personally if my family only cooked meat then I would cook for myself. If my family didn't let me cook then I still wouldn't eat meat... no one can force me to do anything and it would seriously p*ss me off if someone tried. If someone didn't let me eat vegetarian food then I would go hungry... not only because I don't want to eat meat but just to stand up to someone who was forcing me to do something. I don't know your situation and appreciate you'll be different to me but maybe you could try printing up information about veg nutrition and talk to your family maturely about it. Don't nag them, just try and and ask for 10 minutes of their time, sit them down and have a discussion about it without turning it into an argument. Tell them of the health benefits rather than the ethical reasoning because chances are they won't agree with that side of it and you may alienate yourself further. Good luck!

Answer 6

I know how you feel :)
But it was possible for me.
My family drinks their milk and eats their meat, I just tell my parents about *Boca, and *Morningstar, *Yves, brands of fake meat, and Silk soymilk.
And they buy it for me.
Tell your parents you WANT to be Vegan/Vegetarian, and make them understand its NOT a phase.
Talk to them. Be determined and tell them that you don't like the idea of animals being killed for your food.

~Amber

Answer 7

talk to your family about your concerns of animals and tell them to buy you some vegetablees and fruits instead of meat and meat, i want to go vegetarian too but meat tastes so good its kinda hard...

Answer 8

donate to animals for supporting PETA etc...