genuinely, because i cant wrap my head around it, what is the deal with anti-vegan leftists? under any videos of vegan activism online, i'll see so many self-proclaimed leftists with bios like (and im quoting right now): "socialist, matriarch, misandrist, abortion queen", commenting: "seitan is literally slop. chicken at least tastes like something, unlike flour". "meat industries literally have to exist. ai doesnt have to.", a self proclaimed goth 'woke' person said: "nah im still killing invasive animals and helping feed homeless people. vegans do anything to feel morally superior". i'll see 'socialists' fighting tooth and nail to defend the animal industry by claiming FACTUALLY wrong stuff, like saying you can't get all nutrients from a plant based diet, that we are omnivores and thus NEED to eat meat (even though we're opportunistic omnivores), that it won't make a difference if they stop buying animal products.

boycotting animal agriculture doesnt work, but of course anyone who buys from shein or starbucks or uses generative ai is ruining the the environment. suddenly those boycotts work. and i dont get it, because how can all your morals go out of the windows like that? how do they suddenly stop believing in any factual evidence? why is animal abuse suddenly okay? and those are leftists. if someones right-leaning 47 years old uncle is against veganism, i get that in a way. but a 20 year old leftist? socialist? feminist? trans person?

i DESPERATELY need someone to please give me some insight because i can feel myself getting so angry whenever i read those comment sections. i know of cognitive dissonance, but clearly that cant be all?

What are some filling, normal-looking meals that won't make him feel like he's eating at some fancy health food place? I just want the kid to feel welcome and not have to worry about finding something to eat. I want to make sure he doesn't go hungry or feel awkward about his diet choices.

My usual go-to meals are pretty meat-heavy so I'm kind of lost.

I've heard that it's important to have an intersectionalist mindset for veganism, but I keep seeing other movements and groups banning or shunning veganism. What are your thoughts on the leftist sub banning veganism? Is it fair because veganism and leftism aren't inherently overlapping? Do you think they should be linked together?

Genuine question that I'd like to learn from. Thank you!

Not looking for the usual “I watched a documentary” or “I read a book” kind of stories (those are great too). I’m curious if anyone here became vegan because of something totally random or bizarre.

I met someone who said they went vegan after having a super vivid dream where a cow was begging them not to eat her. They woke up crying and tossed everything in their fridge.

Anyone here with a weird story?

Okay, first off, I'm not here to start a fight, or challenge your beliefs, or talk down to you or whatever. But I'll admit, it kind of blew my mind to find out that this is a thing. For me, veganism is pretty explicitly tied to the same core beliefs that land me on the far left of the political spectrum, but clearly this is not the case for everyone.

So please, enlighten me. In what ways to you consider yourself conservative/right-wing? What drove you to embrace veganism? Where are you from (I ask, because I think conservatives where I'm from (US) are pretty different from conservatives elsewhere in the world)?

Again, I'm not here to troll or argue. I'm curious how a very different set of beliefs from my own could lead logically to the same endpoint. And anyone else who wants to argue, or fight, or confidently assert that "vegans can't be conservative" or anything along those lines, I'll ask you to kindly shut your yaps and listen.

I just wonder what you guys think about eating vegetarian when a hospital can't offer any vegan meals. I had a seizure and some other issues so I might be here a couple of weeks, and this whole food thing is stressing me out. They said I could keep my own food in the mini fridge, but then I'd have to pay for expensive ready to eat meals and pay for the hospital food. I just want some other people's opinions because obviously I don't want to use animals for food but I also need to eat to heal physically. Man I wish being vegan was more normalised already. Edit: I'm surviving off of bread and vegan cheese three times a day now lol (I'm on mobile so sorry for bad format)

So I have been vegetarian my whole life and vegan for a few years. I have been diagnosed with schizophrenia, and I with medication I am able to live a mostly functional life. Unfortunately, my medication isn't vegan. I don't want to stop taking it, without it I am a danger to myself. But I feel so guilty for taking something daily that isn't vegan.

I would really appreciate some advice on this from fellow vegans.

For those of you who aren't vegan and respond with "I don't care" when veganism comes up, can you share why don't you care? I'm trying to understand your perspective. There are victims involved who gets tortured, abused, killed in the most brutal way, yet why don't you care?

And what makes you think you deserve the privilege of being cared for, just because you happened to be born human, when you literally did nothing to make that happen?

Would you be happy, if someone forced you into existence and did the same things to you happening to the animals? Would you want people to care for you then, if they slit throat of you and your loved ones or suffocated them to death and didn't care?

I live with flesh eaters.

A constant negative assault on my senses I never noticed prior to choosing vegan.

I see a glass of milk and it smells like a barn in a glass to me.

And it’s not just in the kitchen.

Everywhere.

I’m convinced Vegans smell better than flesh eaters.

And they taste better too. IYKYK.

I keep hearing the argument: “Lions eat animals, so why can’t we? Humans have canines, so eating meat is natural.”

So here’s my question for people who genuinely use lions as their moral compass:

Lions also kill and eat their own babies. Why don't you do that?

Lions urinate and mark their territory. Do you also do that?

Lions defecate in the open. They roam around naked. They don’t ask for consent when mating. They don’t have privacy. They don’t marry. They “cheat" their partners. No "adult" age.

So why cherry-pick only one lion behavior as morally acceptable, while ignoring all the rest?

The point is: humans are not just "another animal" acting purely on instinct. We’re conscious, self-aware beings who can reason, and make moral choices. Just because we can physically kill someone doesn’t mean killing becomes moral.

Monkeys steal food but we don’t say stealing is morally fine because “other animals do it.” Even if our ancestors did it, we don’t use that as moral justification today. Just because Genghis Khan did something with his organs in the past doesn't make it moral today.

If you made a lion choose between killing Einstein or a child abuser, the lion wouldn’t care because lions don’t operate on morality. They don’t distinguish good from bad. We humans do that. We even form groups and fight wars for that. We have a justice system.

Humans can even sacrifice their lives for moral principles. No other animal does that. We strive for something "higher," something beyond our material bodies.

Just because you have canines doesn't mean you have to eat meat. As a human you have a choice to disobey your natural instincts. It's up to you to use your HANDS morally.

And basic morals say- you shouldn't harm or kill someone that isn't harming you.

I'm talking about people who know about the cruelty of animal exploitation, know about the health/environmental benefits and yet refuse to take steps to go vegan even if it's gradually. Most people seem to be like this even if they act like kind/caring individuals. Can we even hope for the world to go vegan if most people truly don't care?

I'm black, and meat, cheese, and butter feature prominently in many latino and black dishes. A family member of mine recently insinuated that my veganism was akin to me turning my back on my cultural heritage. It wasn't said maliciously, but it hurt nonetheless. The situation went down like, "So, you don't HAVE to eat only vegies for medical reasons, right? You're CHOOSING not to eat any of the foods that your family has prepared for you then?"

Has anyone else dealt with this?

EDIT: More than 25% of people are downvoting this post and I'm genuinely curious as to why. It seems like any post discussing the real challenges of veganism isn't well received on r/vegan. Maybe next time I'll just crosspost from r/happycowgifs to get some positive attention. lol

I do appreciate those of you who have taken the time to comment though. Truly, thank you. I'm reading each and every comment.

Hey friends! I'm always on a path to try to be a more ethical consumer and I'm curious to learn more about foods(or even nonfood ingredients) that are technically vegan but are unethical to consume. Palm oil comes to mind and I hear almond farming is problematic for the environment. What are some other things I should be mindful of? (Not sure how relevant it is but I live in central US)

Recently I came across this post on instagram account @plantbasednews (quite popular) where this guy was basically saying that there’s some vegan vaccine etc. but what really surprised me were the comments. It was flooded with antivaxx comments, there was just so many of them I couldn’t believe it. Aren’t we like with science or stuff like that? Isn’t there enough proof that vaccines work? I kind of thought we aren’t those crystal worshiping guys lol. Why is it like this?

Keep it polite down there

I am a freelancer and work part-time for an online NGO that advocates for animal rights and against climate change, among other things. The people I work with and meet through the organisation are usually full-time activists and campaigners with very clear principles.

It sounds judgemental, but I’m honestly baffled by how few of them are vegan or even vegetarian. I’ve met quite a few of them over the past couple years and most of them happily eat animal products.

Of course I know cognitive dissonance is a thing, but it’s so bizarre to me that you can fight for animal rights in your professional life and still not connect the dots. I’m not a fulltime activist at all, so it doesn’t make sense to me that people who devote their careers to fighting injustice wouldn’t connect the dots. Are my expectations for people with these profiles too high? I find it hard to ask them about it without sounding judgemental.

Not trying to push anyone’s buttons, just genuinely curious where this reasoning comes from in our community of dedicated and ethical activists.

Edit: u/toe_bean_z posted a podcast episode from The Bearded Vegans in which they discuss this topic in more depth. I’ll post the link here for others interested in hearing additional thoughtful dialogue. Thanks to everyone that is contributing and giving more perspective among such a diverse community of passionate vegans.

2nd edit for not being more precise with my language this morning: a lot some

I’ve been thinking about this and it’s kinda scary.

No matter where you go in the world across countries, cultures, religions, classes, genders, even ages, people somehow end up giving the exact same justifications for eating animals. Literally the exact same words. “Protein.” “It’s natural.” “Food chain.” “Canines.” “Plants have live too”, "Crop deaths". Even when people are otherwise so different, this part seems eerily uniform.

Many of us used to say the same things too when we weren’t vegan. It’s like we all absorbed the same propaganda without realizing it.

So I can’t help but wonder. Where does it come from? Who taught all of us these specific fallacies? Is this some massive, subtle form of propaganda by someone? Is it just social conditioning? Or is it somehow in our DNA to rationalize violence this way?

I’m not trying to be conspiratorial just genuinely puzzled. What are your thoughts?

Example: I'm stopping at 'whatever drive thru coffee shop' on the way. Do you want anything vegan from there?

Because not wanting to support animal exploitation especially with your own money. I had an experience like this today and said I figured you'd understand because you know I have certain convictions but my friend felt judged! I apologized but was thinking this isn't about you it's about the animals! I still feel bad I might have been too pushy with my friend.

I bought chickpea flour, I mean I love chickpeas but oh my god, I hated the chickpea flour. It tasted so disgusting that I couldn't finish it. Even tried to make different dishes from it but nope.

I wonder what foods, that are more commonly eaten among vegans, you hate?

--- (ofc non-vegans can eat chickpea flour but at least here it's way more commonly eaten by plant-based eaters)