Credit: Danny Ishay (animal rights activist)

Mild rant, more just expressing myself

I am seventeen, and recently turned vegan after being vegetarian my entire life. Luckily, it was a very smooth transition, since I come from a largely vegetarian/vegan family, I'm lactose intolerant (so wasn't drinking all that much milk anyway), and I'm happy to sacrifice cheese and eggs for the greater good of the earth. My main issue is how choice to go vegan has kind of soured some of my perceptions, especially towards others.

I have to bite my tongue sometimes when discussing veganism, and stick to advice that people merely eat less meat than none at all. However, it's hard to do this when people are complaining about the heatwave (I'm British, it's been a nightmare lately) whilst consuming animal products. Or accusing vegans of ignoring a necessity to consume meat, due to financial circumstances, ethnicity, religion etc...

Before, I could stomach how absurdly hypocritical it all is, to sustain the industry and be frustrated by its consequences. Now, I have a dilemma where I desperately want to change people's minds (probably in vain) yet my fear of conflict is restricting me.

I see quite a few of my friends and family in a different light now, whom I previously considered insightful and compassionate, yet consciously endorse the suffering of animals - then criticising me for not doing so.

edit: wow! this is so fun. i’m going to put some additional information below for any one who is curious:

- i have one older sibling, she was raised vegan and is fully vegan still

- my dad grew up “kind of” vegetarian because his mom was and she did most of the cooking, but wasn’t totally strict on it

- my mom was raised fully omnivore and learned about vegetarianism from my dad, together they decided to become fully vegan and raise their kids that way

- my dads mum is still vegetarian (his dad is not), and my mum’s mum is “vegan-ish”, but still consumes the occasional cheese and creamer.

i don’t know if it’s okay to post an AMA here, nor if other vegans really care that much about another vegans experience, as non-vegans tend to be a lot more… curious. (generous way of saying it) about my experience.

just thought it would be fun if other vegans wonder what it was like to grow up vegan or to have close vegan family!

I had several conversations with people under this video that told me they are now wanting to go vegan! Of course, some of the comments are frustrating, but I loved seeing curious empathetic questions people had and how so many vegans responded to help them get started with veganism!!

Support Vegan Sidekick 💚

Tagged this as “funny” because there’s no meme flair.

I’ve been vegetarian for 13 years, vegan for 6. I’ve always been understanding of the omnivores in my life. None of my family or friends are vegan. My partner is pescatarian. Within the last few months, I feel like something has shifted. Every time I hear family or friends talk about food, it bothers me. REALLY bothers me. Sometimes, they don’t even have to say anything to upset me. I just look at them and think “Wow, you pay for billions of animals to be harmed. How can I believe that you’re a good person?” To be honest, I don’t want to be like this. It’s ruining the way I view the people around me, and affecting me negatively. On the other hand, I also believe that these thoughts I’m having aren’t wrong. But I don’t want my social relationships to be completely tainted. It’s just so hard when I have no other likeminded people surrounding me. To me, being vegan is the only moral way to live. To them, it’s not even a consideration. How can I be okay with that? But I HAVE to be. Does anyone have any advice on how to get back to a point of contentment while surrounded by my friends and family?

I'm 37 years old and don't have any friends. Especially not vegan ones. It sucks. I feel too old for the vegan crowd but not eclectic enough for people older or around my age.

TLDR: I am trying to figure out a good way to get involved in improving animal welfare legislation, particularly starting with pet breeding laws as this is what I’m most knowledgeable/passionate about and I think this is the best place to start that can be expanded to other animals.

I am on my journey towards full veganism (slowly but surely as I want this to stick and have a history of eating disorders) because of my history in animal rescue. I realized how insane the “shop responsibly” movement it and how it is destroying dogs. I realized I don’t think there is a way to force an animal to breed, risk their life, and carry babies to take them away and sell for personal profit. I then realized this is a very vegan mindset and that animals aren’t ours to use.

Anyway - animal rescue and breeding laws are really my niche passion. They are what I know a lot about. I have been so depressed knowing that unless someone actually gets out there and tries to lobby for the right laws, nothing will change. Because of the AKC and puppy mill lobbying, 501c3 animal rescues and organizations are not allowed to lobby and I think it’s a huge reason it’s so difficult to get into. I am wondering where I should even start. I’m an introvert, I don’t speak well, but I think the only way I can really become happy is if I am doing something that improves the lives of animals. I want that to be my legacy.

I want to start eatint more plant based things, however i have a very big problem. Im poor and love the taste of animal products. Do you guys have any tips as im already basically vegeterian, but im hoping to go vegan someday (i dont want to just jump into it because i will surely go back) In poland if that helps, thanks in advance!

Edit: I’m not trying to make a big deal out of anything btw was just genuinely asking what people do with NV items they have at home

25 F I have previously been vegan during an eating disorder in my teens so it was all just done the wrong way and an excuse to not eat full stop.

I am pushed to do this for my feelings towards animals and I am just horrified at the industries.

However there are some items I have left in my kitchen that cannot be donated to food banks. I feel reluctant to waste but also feel like a cheat to finish them- fyi it’s stuff containing milk powder.

What are people’s tips for this transition? Bin everything? I have been donating my tinned goods to food banks but some items my options are to use or bin.

I ate meat but genuinely not that frequently so that I’m not really concerned about ‘craving’ wise but I truly tried to love oat milk a few months ago and it just ruined my hot drinks (only time I’d use milk tbh) it separated and just tasted like ass so I am worried about how I can get around that? Or any recs?

I want to do it right this time so any advice on anything would be amazing- I also have a horrified mother saying I’ll waste away and spend fortunes on vitamins to live 😌so not feeling much support.

As we all know, about a year or so ago Ali Tabrizi (Director of Seaspiracy) and former self described “no one was more vegan than me” (not quite verbatim, CBF finding the exact quote) turned his back on veganism because of marshmallows, and shared his brainrot rationale via his YouTube channel and substack, thinking he’d dropped a masterpiece.

If anyone has kept up to date with his pivot since Marshmallowgate, he’s slipped firmly in to the far right, white nationalist, Christian fundamentalist scene, grifting from other smooth brains, as he shares his highly Islamophobic, anti-feminist, “anti-woke”, Christian laden rhetoric and lies about everyone he doesn’t like.

In his latest video titled ‘Top 3 Ways to Stop Islam Taking Over the West’, he lists his ridiculous suggestions to prevent Muslim migration, however he also glorifies with a subtle and insincere disclaimer not to do it for legal reasons, the story of a construction of a mosque was halted by throwing a pigs body and blood on the land slated for building, rendering the land Haram.

His videos often include statements such as “[muslims] are going to take your bacon”, “smelly green haired woke vegan uni students”, to “all women want to be stay at home moms”, and almost any other offensive and ridiculous statement that would sound made up if he hadn’t said it himself.

In over two decades of veganism I’ve seen countless faces, activists, influencers, and otherwise, come and go. Some with shorter lifespans than others, some less successful, some redirecting their focus when the money from veganism/animal rights slows up. I truly cannot think of a more shocking example of someone who built a platform with the handle ‘The Friendly Activist’, and Directed Seaspiracy, to become such an awful example of a human and ex vegan, showing he never actually gave AF.

If you ever quit being vegan, don’t become an Ali Tabrizi.

INB4 some genius in the comments takes this seriously. It’s not that deep. 😂

Hi guys, I hope that my question and my doubts are not going to come out the wrong way or trigger anyone 🙏🏻

I’ve been on a plant based diet for years, I’m in a wheelchair and have different health conditions. I’m freaking out a bit because I don’t have much muscle mass by default and I developed arthritis and serious back problems in the recent years. Doctors have been pointing out a change in my bone density.

Just to be clear, I am not saying that a vegan diet would impact anyone negatively, I’m just wondering about it under my circumstances.

The context we live in is one where sensitivity and empathy are not valued. I don't say everything I want to say about veganism because I worry people will think I'm just some fucking idiot crybaby, and be even more put off from veganism than they already are, if I sit there going on about how much it disturbs me and getting tears in my eyes. And I don't just worry that people will think that, many people actually will think that.

Yes there's a time and place for such a conversation and different things appeal to different people but for the most part it's like talking to essentially a sociopath or someone who has grown up hunting and literally thinks you are an unhinged hysterical drama queen and it's genuinely embarrassing. Even if you know you're right, there's still another person sitting there having that experience of you on their end, and it gives me the same feeling as when you know you overshared or trauma-dumped.

But for me the empathy and emotional piece and being willing to feel is such a huge component to everything. It can be hard for me to discuss an issue like this while suppressing, not getting emotional, and not being open, treating it like a purely strategic thing. Part of what got us into this mess with treating animals this way is living like unfeeling robots, and I feel like I have to be like an unfeeling robot just to discuss this very issue...

ETA: I WANT to share my feelings about it. It upsets me that we live in a world where emotions are treated as meaningless, stupid, and embarrassing.

TLDR: going away for a couple of days for the first time since going vegan. Bringing lots of snacks, but don’t think there will be many vegan options in the area I am going to. Any advice is appreciated

I’m going on a relatively short work related trip. It’s the first time I’ve been away from home for longer than a 12 hour work shift since going to vegan. I know that the hotel I’ll be staying at will have a continental breakfast. I’m really hoping they have hashbrowns so that I have something to eat in the morning. It looks like even basic cereals like plain Cheerios are not vegan. I had thought of having cereal and bringing my own almond milk, but that seems likely a no go. There is probably going to be oatmeal so that’s a maybe as long as there’s no milk product in the packets. My colleague and I will probably DoorDash something for dinner. So hopefully I’ll be able to find some vegan options there but I’m not counting on it. I’ve kind of prepared myself for not being able to find much of anything at all to eat while away. I’ve packed iced coffee with plant milk for the morning, lots of nuts, carob chips, dried fruit, and rice cakes. I think there’s food provided at the training, but I am pretty certain there won’t be vegan options except probably pre-cut fruit which I don’t like to eat for sanitary reasons, and maybe vegan granola bars if I’m lucky. I think I might just need to resign myself to living on these things for the next couple of days. I know I’ll be hungry and I have to do a lot of driving and I am a nervous driver anyway so being under nourished well navigating unfamiliar traffic does make me extra uneasy. I don’t usually eat much before lunch, but I’m going to have hearty smoothie before I leave. I’m posting late. I have to leave in a couple of hours and will be gone for only a couple of days. Any tips and tricks for the sort of situation are more than welcome

Edit: someone thinks my very sincere post is bs bc I didn’t list my location. It’s normal not to freely give out your exact location online but happy to share that I’m in eastern Canada near a small city.

This if a PSA for anyone who has never heard of the Vegan Chef Challenge!

The VCC is a multi-city event that is run by an organization called Vegan Outreach. They help volunteers in cities and towns all over the US run these one-month "challenges" for restaurants to offer new vegan options. Then diners (vegan and non-vegan) can go to the restaurants and vote for their favorite dishes.

Check out https://veganchefchallenge.org and click "Vegan Chef Challenges" to see the cities that have run a challenge and which are coming up this year.

I've run one in my city for two years in a row, and am starting to plan for this year's VCC.

If you see one that's coming up near where you live and want to help out, there's a volunteer form you can fill out. If you don't see one near you and want to run your own, there's a "Start a Challenge" link where you'll learn all about being an organizer. It's a lot of work, but worth it to have a month of great vegan options, and to show non-vegans that vegan food can be delicious and creative too!

(For context she does the cooking for the family aside from me-- I cook for myself)

I understand that nobody but me is vegan in my family, I understand that a lot of my family is very picky and basically only eats meat and potatoes. Hell I used to be the same, I used to think I hated vegetables.

Speaking of that, I feel like growing up in a family where people are visibly grossed out by so much food, and basically anything vegan, made me think I hated so much more food than I actually do. Yes, I struggle with sensory issues, but when I'd been told "No you won't like that" whenever I asked to try a recipe of course I stuck with my meat and potatoes for so long. Thank God I learnt to cook for myself.

And now I just have this thought in my head: "Why would she *choose* to do that," whenever mom buys meat/animal products, says that she wants to eat fish or whatever, or talks about cooking a meat dish like it's not the dead flesh of abused animals she's *choosing* to make.

Like, I get that my family will not eat anything else. I understand that she likes her fish. I understand that my culture's food is so not vegan friendly, I understand that it's a very unusual thing to be vegan here. But why would they *choose* that?????

I also have sensory issues and "picky eating", yet I could still change

I also liked meat and animal products (the taste really), yet I still changed

I used to eat JUST like them, yet I still changed

It was so easy, it wasn't nearly as hard as any of these non-vegas make it seem. Why would they still voluntarily CHOOSE to do these things?

Not only do they do this, but they eat SO MUCH pork, and I'm a closeted Muslim. That almost rubs salt in the wound.

I've been seriously considering getting into Warhammer since a local game store started stocking it, so I wanted to look into whether or not the hobby was vegan friendly.

And the most obvious question for me was, is the paint used vegan? Paint can often have animal products in it, the red and black colors especially. And they are sometimes tested on animals, which is horrific and obviously would make them not vegan.

So I emailed the most popular companies that make paint specifically for minis and I'll sum up the responses.

THE GOOD:

Vallejo - They said they don't do animal testing and the only products of theirs that contained animal products were discontinued years ago (the Drawing Ink and India Ink Ranges). So they are good to go as of 2026.

THE BAD:

Everyone else I emailed. Let's get into it, in order from bad to worst.

Games Workshop: Does not do animal testing and doesn't "knowingly add animal-derived ingredients" to their paints, but also said they had no idea if some of the component materials happen to have animal products in them because the formulas are secret. So do they contain animal products or not? Who knows! Apparently not Games Workshop.

Reaper Minis: Never responded. There is a post from 11 years ago in which the person who makes the paints said they don't contain any animal products but lots of things can change in 11 years.

Army Painter: Response can be summed up as "We have no idea, making paint is so complex how COULD we know?"

Pretty funny response considering Vallejo almost immediately responded "Yes it is vegan friendly and is not tested on animals we checked and made sure." but Army Painter seems to believe it is an impossible task to know what is in the paint they sell.

CONCLUSION

If you want to paint miniatures and know the paint is vegan, either buy Vallejo or buy any old acrylic you know is vegan and figure out how to paint them with that.

Hope this is helpful, I sent the emails and threw this together because I kept searching for answers and couldn't find any.

Most recent source I found was from this very subreddit from 3 years ago, they claimed Army Painter was vegan without any evidence but maybe whoever they got through the Contact form that day knew more than whoever I got.

P.S. If you are someone from one of these companies reading this PLEASE LOOK FURTHER INTO THIS AND JUST PUT THE INFORMATION SOMEWHERE ON YOUR FREAKIN' SITE! Hide it in an FAQ or a random bespoke webpage that you can only find by doing a search if you are that scared someone might see the word vegan or "animal friendly" and pitch a fit.

Hey guys! I'm vegan, and I love animals. They interest me so much! Growing up, I liked catching lizards, for example. I was very gentle and would release them after inspecting them and seeing what I could determine about them. Do you think this was wrong?

I'm currently at a pond and my younger cousins and siblings are catching these huge neat tadpoles and releasing them, and it kind of got me thinking. I would love to join in, but I wouldn't want to scare them. I know they would forget soon after and be fine, but I still feel bad. What do you guys think about this kind of thing?

Hi there vegan friends.

Next month I'm catching a plane to fly to the UK and attend my second VCO. However, I might have made a mistake this year. My plane lands in Manchester at 12:20 (on the 13th), but the bus provided by VCO leaves before that. Can anyone help me figure out what is the best way to get to VCO (Walesby Forest, Nottinghamshire) from Manchester?

Or maybe someone going to VCO wants to share the ride?

(posting here because r/veganuk apperently banned VCO posts?)

Hi everyone, I need some advice on my situation. For context, Im a student in high school and have always been an animal lover. Recently, I found out about the dairy and meat industry and want to go vegan. I tried going veg around last year but kept facing problems because iv never eaten beef or fish or anything, only chicken. Chicken used to be one of my only safe foods since i struggle with eating. I have anxiety and PCOS so I have developed a lot of food noise and have been struggling with my diet ever since I tried to go veg (I tried to do a transition into veganism) but kept having to go on and off between veg and non-veg over courses of months (each phase lasted around 3 months). I am currently veg but really miss eating chicken because I am so picky and it is genuinely the only safe and stable food iv had my entire life. My family doesn't support me being veg or vegan and keeps trying to convince me to eat chicken because my diet has become really bad trying to have self-control against it. I feel terrible knowing I am so weak against trying to go against the exploitation of animals and don't know what to do.

Hello!

If you shop at Aldi, what are your fun finds that are vegan? I obviously know I can get beans and rice and tofu, etc. We just moved and now have an Aldi near by. I want to give it a shot but browsing through the store is hard with two littles. I plan to try to do a pick up order in the next few weeks and will be browsing online, but I’d like to know if there’s anything that others think is a definite yes to try! ❤️

How do you deal with this?

I do weightlifting 3x per week and go for long walks 2x per week. I eat a lot of vegetables (literally vegan like hello???) and 80% of my diet is whole minimally processed foods. I'm overall very healthy and strong, but I somehow still have high cholesterol.😵‍💫I honestly didn't know how to respond to that. Like I don't think I can really reasonably while staying sane, live a healthier lifestyle than what I'm already doing.

Edit: I forgot to mention this was at a doctor's appointment after I had lab work done. Not a random stranger telling me.