A Query.

Im vegetarian, and id LOVE to go vegan. But at the moment im trying to just be able to focus on not eating meat. Ive never been a huge dairy person, i consume more milk than any other dairy.. and im planning to try soy milk to steer away from it.. id like to quit dairy, and then move to vegan- one step at a time. cos im still at home, and not working at the moment- cos im a bum. and i can't afford to do big shops on my own, and my mum wont buy vegan food- she buys stuff for me that's not meat, but it's for everyone really. and she wont bother with vegan things so until i start working it'll be to hard for me to cut all animal products out. i hate that, and it's not just an excuse, but it's really difficult.. most vegans will say it's easy, but they also have been vegan for ages and know their regular buys..

you have a whole community of people here to help you out, use us. we know our regular buys and we can all help you so you know them too . goodluck, please use us.

You're lucky my girlfriend didn't post this thread. She is a bit more stern with her opinion on the topic. Hahahaha.

I think in some cases a vegetarian diet could be worse than an omni one, depending on how much meat they initially ate, and how much dairy they eat now. In the past few years of being vegetarian I knew that eating dairy was not right, though I did not realise the extent of cruelty involved. I made the switch to soy milk, only ate backyard chicken eggs but I still did eat cheese. I only found out about the bobby calves last year, so I think that a lot of vegetarians just aren't aware of the extent of cruelty involved in the dairy and egg industries, or think living a vegan lifestyle will be too difficult. This was my excuse for a while, though in all honestly eating vegan isn't much harder than being vegetarian. In fact I am actually enjoying cooking and eating vegan more than my old vegetarian meals  

For people who become vegetarian of vegan due to cruelty towards animals, I think it is more than just changing their diet. It is also about avoiding animal products such as leather, products tested on animals and becoming more aware of human impact on the environment.

I completely agree with this. It was horrible when I first went Vegetarian (I was 11) and then again went I Vegan (age 13) with my parents, friends and even random people who I didn't know constantly berating me and telling me I was going to die (you need meat/milk/eggs or you'll die! What a load of sh!t).
"Where there's a will, there's a way" - It may not always be easy, but that doesn't mean it's not right.

^
There are no excuses. Full stop. If you have a belief that animal cruelty is wrong in any shape or form and you want to do something about it, then do it. No half assed attempts and excuses like "Oh I dont have the money" or "I live at home so I can't"
Seriously? Veganism is and can be so much cheaper considering it is all natural things you are consuming anyway. & Secondly, whether you live at home or not, it's YOU that chooses what you put in your mouth & what you choose to be apart of.
I went straight vegan, despite my families wishes, despite my love for the TASTE of chicken, cheese and chocolate, despite how much SOME vegan friendly alternatives may cost, despite what society wants me to believe and what is 'socially acceptable'.
Vegetarians are taking the easy way out and really doing more harm than good (as Mitch mentioned to open up this post about the dairy industry doing more harm than the meat industry)
Being vegan is about choosing what's better for animals, the environment and for ourselves OVER taste. However, it appears that being vegetarian only exists because of some stupid hesitation to let go of such tastes. All I hear about is people saying they'd go vegan if they didn't love cheese too much. Since when was taste more of importance than the welfare of the animals we share this planet with, the environment and our own health?

Vegan or nothing, pussies.

I dunno if being rude is totally neceserry.. I understand where your coming from. But with me, saying it's "cheap" to buy vegan food isn't at all helping. Because my weekly income is $0 because my mums income is too high for me to get any sort of benifets.. So i have... NO, money.. Not just little money.. None.. I live off what my mum gets at the moment.. And it's not because i can't let go of tastes, btw. I just think it's totally not needed to be rude- at all. Fair enough wanting to make your point, MANY people here think EXACTLY the same- but they don't choose to be so rude about it.

I didn't know that by eating dairy I was killing baby millions of baby cows each year. I think if a lot of vegetarians knew that they were supporting the veal industry, and also the extent of the emotional and physical drama they are causing cows then they would think twice. It is just that it is all swept under the rug.

Since learning the truth I dropped dairy faster then you can say cheeeeese. Don't miss it at all (coming from an absolute cheese addict). I think it is something a lot of people appreciate learning about though. I have been sharing what I know about dairy on facebook, and it has gotten a LOT of interest.

Sorry to come across to you as rude, but i'm sick of people saying one thing and doing another.
If you want to live a cruelty free lifestyle there is no stopping you no matter what.
As I said it is YOU that chooses what you put into your mouth. I understand the money side of things, so if your mum does buy your food then why not stick to the fruits, veggies, pastas, rices etc that she may bring home?
Unless every item your mum brings home has dairy or meat in it, then there's no real excuse as to what you consume.

Everyone, this is Shez. Hahahaha.