Any Vegans Around?

[Cheddarnut]

I've been vegan around 6 years, off and on vegetarian my whole life. I made the decision to commit to a plant based diet for ethical reasons after seeing some PETA propaganda videos that really hit home. I often wonder if I'm in the wrong community here, as so many of the members drop mention of hunting with such insouciance that I think I must have the wrong address. It feels a little overwhelming sometimes hanging out in a place that caters in part to a lifestyle I completely eschew, and it would be nice to know there were others around. Nonplused if not, I'm not unfamiliar with being in the wrong place and it wouldn't surprise me. Just putting it out there.

[TomAiello]

I was a vegan for about two years (health reasons--not ethical reasons). I added fish back in after realizing that I was actually hurting my general health and energy levels with pure veganism.

On an ethical level, I have a much bigger issue with factory farming than with hunting. I see hunting as a much more natural interaction with the animals, and I've never met a hunter who wasted meat or treated an animal with intentional cruelty (I guess you can argue about whether killing an animal at all is cruel or not). Hunters tend to have very strong ethical standards about such things. Bad shot placement (causing undue suffering to the animal or wasting meat) is generally frowned on (and looked down on) in hunting communities.

When I was a kid, my parents had a friend who would only eat meat from wild game that he personally hunted and killed. And he didn't own any firearms. It was all bow hunting and spearfishing (free diving only--no tanks). I'd say that he had a more ethical relationship with his food consumption than most of the modern "Oreo" vegans I know.

[TomAiello]

While we're talking about vegans, this is the funniest vegan themed video ever:

https://youtu.be/z0O_VYcsIk8

[James Y]

I've been vegan around 6 years, off and on vegetarian my whole life. I made the decision to commit to a plant based diet for ethical reasons after seeing some PETA propaganda videos that really hit home. I often wonder if I'm in the wrong community here, as so many of the members drop mention of hunting with such insouciance that I think I must have the wrong address. It feels a little overwhelming sometimes hanging out in a place that caters in part to a lifestyle I completely eschew, and it would be nice to know there were others around. Nonplused if not, I'm not unfamiliar with being in the wrong place and it wouldn't surprise me. Just putting it out there.

I’m not a vegan, but I completely gave up eating beef and pork in 1995, because I decided to swear off of them (even though I loved eating them). Nothing to do with ethical reasons. I haven’t eaten beef or pork since. My reasoning is, if I’ve sworn off off something, I have to stick to it; otherwise, my word means nothing.

I still eat poultry and some seafood. But I eat more fruits and vegetables (and some grains and nuts) than meat. There are some plant-based foods I CANNOT eat; anything with wheat and gluten in it. In 2011, I discovered that I have a gluten sensitivity that affects my health. So I must actively avoid anything with gluten in it. I know a couple of people whose gluten sensitivity is much worse; they have celiac disease and could die from ingesting even a small amount. Not everything about a purely plant-based diet is healthy.

I had a friend who was vegan, because he believed everything animal-based was bad. But he was always getting sick and injured easily, he was lethargic a lot, and his overall health wasn’t all that great. I’m not saying that all vegans are like that, but he and some other people certainly are.

Not everybody has to share the same lifestyle and diet choices to share a knife interest in common and get along on a forum. There are a lot of people on these forums whose interests, lifestyles, beliefs and opinions differ greatly from mine, and it doesn’t make any difference to me. I used to love going fishing and cleaned my own catch, but I’ve never hunted. If someone’s a hunter, that’s fine with me. I have hobbies, interests and beliefs that I’m sure few if any around here share with me. Again, that’s fine with me. We may not share everything in common or think the same, but we may share something else in common, like an interest in and appreciation of good knives, specifically Spyderco knives.

Jim

[ChrisinHove]

I know a few vegans and a fair few vegetarians, and I will happily concur to their sensibilities when dining with them, even if I don’t expect the same of them but I prefer the nose-to-tail meat eating of ethically raised livestock, happily (mostly) eating less quantity of better quality, and also the offal products which many people spurn.

[bearfacedkiller]

I am definitely one who posts hunting pics and I do sometimes pause before doing so out of concern for others. In the end I believe it is a natural and healthy activity. I support someone’s decision to be vegan and have vegan friends. I hope that vegans equally support my desire to live what I see as a natural life. Unfortunately that has not always been my experience.

When I harvest animals I am filled with emotions. I feel gratitude for the opportunity. I feel a connection to something much bigger than myself. I feel reverence for the game I harvested. I feel a sense of accomplishment. Most hunters aren’t “killers”. Most hunters love the game they pursue and deeply respect them and strive to be as humane as possible.

Where I live the state is trying to get more people to hunt. It is losing popularity and because we have removed most of their natural predators we bear the burden of population control. If we don’t harvest enough deer each year the winter starvation rate can be very high. Higher than the number of deer hunters would have harvested if they had met the target set by the division of wildlife. From that perspective, not hunting is more cruel than hunting.

Coyotes don’t lose any sleep over eating meat and neither do I. We are the only animal that feels that guilt. It’s a human emotion and one could argue that it is not part of the natural order of things. That said, I respect your compassion.

I do agree about industrialized farming and find it abhorrent. I have watched too many documentaries about it and it was after I watched one on chicken farming that I started raising my own. I have tried being vegetarian but didn’t stick it out. I tried only eating wild game as well but couldn’t sustain that either.

I am very picky about the meat I eat and it is for both ethical reasons and health reasons. I eat meat I raise myself, I eat wild game, I eat meat friends raise themselves and I buy meat from small local farmers who raise animals ethically.

I doubt you are alone being vegan. You definitely aren’t alone in being appalled by factory farms. Knives are a broad hobby and many of us come into it from different angles. For me it is a love of the outdoors and a love of cooking. There are many people on here who I don’t share hobbies with. More specifically, there are many on here who I do not share ideologies with. We do all have a love of knives and that is why we are here. I don’t think Spyderco caters to the hunting crowd but it does fall under the umbrella of knife usage. Every Hunter must own a knife. Spyderco also covers the use of knives for self defense which I have zero interest in. Those discussions don’t interest me so I just pass over them. If you encounter a discussion that bothers you then just hit the back button. You don’t have to listen.

So no, I don’t think you are in the wrong place. This is a super diverse place with people from all over the world with different backgrounds and different cultures. I personally enjoy your sense of humor and think it would be a loss if you weren’t here.

[RustyIron]

While we're talking about vegans, this is the funniest vegan themed video ever:

Dude! That cracked me up. That guy does some great videos.

To answer the original question, I've chosen to be an omnivore, eating mostly vegetables and some amount of dead animals. I'm really picky about meat, though, as most is disgusting. If we're invited to dinner at someone's house, and I know their philosophy is different than my own, we'll bring a giant salad. If bringing something green isn't practical, I'll gorge myself on salad at home before going over. When traveling to strange and foreign lands, such as the Midwest, where all the food is brown, I'll always pack a bunch of Clif Bars in my carry-on bag. You can survive on Clif Bars almost indefinitely.

One trip was particularly challenging. The local cuisine consisted of lumpy stuff in gelatinous brown liquid. Everywhere I went, the menu consisted of brown goo. Green was not a color that those people ate. There was NO WAY I'd take a single bite of that glop. Fortunately, it takes a long time to die of starvation, so I knew I'd survive. The next day, however, I found some Amish girls selling rhubarb bread! It was GREAT, and it got me through that day. The next day I found the ladies again, and bought a loaf of zucchini bread. I'll be forever grateful to the Amish girls for saving my life. They rocked.

What's disconcerting is American culture, where many men derive their sense of manliness by how much meat they consume. It's a pervasive attitude that is foist upon us by commercials and marketing manipulators, and gobbled up by the ravenous masses.

So Cheddar, I understand where you're coming from. Personally, I might not want to go to dinner with Militant Carnivores, but I can tolerate them in small doses for short periods of time.

[James Y]

I’m an “outsider” in my own family, let alone among anyone else. At family get-togethers, I cannot eat most of what’s there. I have to bring a lot of my own food. My brother and his wife also accommodate me with certain dishes. Otherwise, no one else in my family has a gluten sensitivity, and none have given up beef or pork, and I don’t require them to. Nobody in our family is either militantly pro-meat or pro-vegetarian, it’s that nobody else shares my unique dietary needs to avoid certain foods. I also cannot eat anything with chocolate in it for desserts, because chocolate gives me severe headaches. Even the heavy smell of chocolate bothers me. But someone always brings or makes chocolate desserts. That’s all fine with me, I simply don’t partake.

Jim

[The Meat man]

Most people are not vegan. I certainly am not, and never will be. But that's no reason you can't enjoy the Forum, or feel at home here. After all it's about knives, not diets.

[Senfkarte]

Not vegan or vegetarian, at least not anymore. I was a vegetarian many years ago, but it did not last.
But I reduced the amount of meat I eat, over the last years. And often there are days I do not eat any meat. Sometimes it so happens, that there are consecutive meatless days. That meat, that I still eat, is of better quality, at least accordingly to the labels.

[TkoK83Spy]

I love bbq waaaaaaaaayyyyy too much

We have a few vegan/vegetarian friends. It does make choosing a place for dinner a bit interesting.

[MacLaren]

Me.....not hardly....
Ain't got anything against it, but it definitely ain't me.

[Mad Mac]

I'm a trans-vegan. (Oh come on, that's funny.)

Lately I've been on the carnivore diet. Seriously. It's a thing.
To achieve nirvana requires one to subsist on grass fed beef and water.
Not there yet. I cheat a lot.

Lost 25 pounds so far. Now instead of being obese, I'm merely overweight.
Really simplifies my grocery shopping and meal preparation.
And I'm not hungry.

But I do have powerful cravings for old favorites.
For example my breakfast staple all my life, cereal with milk and banana.
Ice cream and cookies. I don't miss vegetables or bread but I miss fruit.

As a rancher, rest assured I take good care of my livestock.
That includes having a rifle in my pickup
to administer the saddest duty a cattleman has to face,
a coup de grace for a downed cow, pardon my insouciance.

I trap or shoot feral swine as humanely as possible, eating some and giving away the rest.
Coyotes leave me conflicted, noble predators with beautiful eyes.
But once one kills a calf or tries to kill my faithful dog, it becomes much easier.
Coyote tacos are supposed to be pretty good, but I have not tried one yet.

When I forage for wild Yaupon tea, I use my Spyderco knife.
And that, my friend, is an ethical, plant-based beverage we can share.
Welcome to the community. Cheers.

[austrian_spyder_fan]

While we're talking about vegans, this is the funniest vegan themed video ever:

https://youtu.be/z0O_VYcsIk8

He Tom,

this is very funny!

ASF

[TomAiello]

One of my vegan friends showed it to me (back when I was vegan). It's definitely hilarious.

[The Mastiff]

I've been vegan around 6 years, off and on vegetarian my whole life. I made the decision to commit to a plant based diet for ethical reasons after seeing some PETA propaganda videos that really hit home. I often wonder if I'm in the wrong community here, as so many of the members drop mention of hunting with such insouciance that I think I must have the wrong address. It feels a little overwhelming sometimes hanging out in a place that caters in part to a lifestyle I completely eschew, and it would be nice to know there were others around. Nonplused if not, I'm not unfamiliar with being in the wrong place and it wouldn't surprise me. Just putting it out there.

You are an old timer Cheddarnut. I had no idea that sort of thing would bother you. Do our lifestyles or opinions on hunting really bother you so much?

Joe

[Bolster]

Born vegetarian, vegetarian for decades until recently, added a small amount of turkey to the mix to get a protein bump. I've tried vegan briefly but couldn't master it, went back to +dairy and +eggs. No ethical reasons; diet/health/habit/lifestyle reasons only.

Bought a steak once on a dare from a friend, got one bite in, and I was done with it. When you aren't accustomed to meat, it has no attraction. Friend devoured it for me.

I've no reason to hunt or fish, since I don't eat but turkey maybe once a week, but have no problems with anyone else hunting. Like I said, it's not an ethical thing for me. Not a fan of PETA due to their deceptive and manipulative advertising.

Have been known to sneak up on carrots, potatoes, tomatoes, peppers, and corn in the garden, and murder them with a knife.

I think it's wise for vegetarians/vegans to take a B12 supplement.

I don't think you're in the "wrong place." Stick around, enjoy the knife talk. If you like knives, you like knives; they are versatile tools with many uses.

[Cheddarnut]

Ok, I love you guys. Thank you for the insights, especially from those of you involved directly with hunting. It is specifically factory farming that set me off (again through a biased lense) I tend to generalize to my detriment, so to lump hunting into the factory farming camp is unfair, and indicative of my reactionary Karenesque tendencies that require vigilance to not allow to run as rampant as the wild coyotes that have been aforementioned. I am probably vegan because it pairs well with a certain victimized persona that has chased me from childhood traumas and bullying. Vegans tend to virtue signal, which is just passive aggressive justice bullying, so i will check myself as i consider the excellent perspectives offered so far. As usual for this forum, the responses are courteous and well aimed and a reminder that this is in fact a place i feel comfortable as long as i don’t stick my foot in my mouth too often. Foot is considered meat, after all

[Cheddarnut]

I've been vegan around 6 years, off and on vegetarian my whole life. I made the decision to commit to a plant based diet for ethical reasons after seeing some PETA propaganda videos that really hit home. I often wonder if I'm in the wrong community here, as so many of the members drop mention of hunting with such insouciance that I think I must have the wrong address. It feels a little overwhelming sometimes hanging out in a place that caters in part to a lifestyle I completely eschew, and it would be nice to know there were others around. Nonplused if not, I'm not unfamiliar with being in the wrong place and it wouldn't surprise me. Just putting it out there.

You are an old timer Cheddarnut. I had no idea that sort of thing would bother you. Do our lifestyles or opinions on hunting really bother you so much?

Joe

I would say no, Joe, in fact your opinion is the reason I have a cruwear military resting comfortably in the collection

[Cheddarnut]

While we're talking about vegans, this is the funniest vegan themed video ever:

Dude! That cracked me up. That guy does some great videos.

To answer the original question, I've chosen to be an omnivore, eating mostly vegetables and some amount of dead animals. I'm really picky about meat, though, as most is disgusting. If we're invited to dinner at someone's house, and I know their philosophy is different than my own, we'll bring a giant salad. If bringing something green isn't practical, I'll gorge myself on salad at home before going over. When traveling to strange and foreign lands, such as the Midwest, where all the food is brown, I'll always pack a bunch of Clif Bars in my carry-on bag. You can survive on Clif Bars almost indefinitely.

One trip was particularly challenging. The local cuisine consisted of lumpy stuff in gelatinous brown liquid. Everywhere I went, the menu consisted of brown goo. Green was not a color that those people ate. There was NO WAY I'd take a single bite of that glop. Fortunately, it takes a long time to die of starvation, so I knew I'd survive. The next day, however, I found some Amish girls selling rhubarb bread! It was GREAT, and it got me through that day. The next day I found the ladies again, and bought a loaf of zucchini bread. I'll be forever grateful to the Amish girls for saving my life. They rocked.

What's disconcerting is American culture, where many men derive their sense of manliness by how much meat they consume. It's a pervasive attitude that is foist upon us by commercials and marketing manipulators, and gobbled up by the ravenous masses.

So Cheddar, I understand where you're coming from. Personally, I might not want to go to dinner with Militant Carnivores, but I can tolerate them in small doses for short periods of time.

Was the bread pre sliced?