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Why take part in Veganuary? Well, why not?
There are so many reasons people decide to try vegan.

For most, a love of animals is the catalyst. Some people want to feel better about themselves and the impact they make on the world. Others would like to set themselves a challenge, and many combine Veganuary with their ‘New Year’s Resolutions’ and see trying vegan as the healthiest start to the year. Whatever your reason, we’re here to support you.

So try vegan for a month and discover a whole new world of taste and flavour. We guarantee that, by the end of the month, you’ll feel fantastic!

https://veganuary.com/

Try it for a month. There really is no downside.

No. I'm not that high on animal rights that I want to give up eating meat, and going vegan for the environment, while commendable, is treating a symptom, not the disease.

None for me. I already have a chest freezer full of meats.
We raise chickens, goats, rabbits and pigs so no chance I'll ever do the vegan thing. Not unless it's forced on me due to economics.
I have no problem with people choosing to give up meat or anything else for what ever reason they decide on.

I'm getting a sense of deja vu...

I also feel this thread will go mostly the same way.

No idea what you mean QAR...

How do we know onions don't scream in agony in a plant language we cannot comprehend when you cut them into tiny bits?

Actually, we kinda do..

I'd try it, but... I like my amino acids too much.

 Azreal13 wrote:
Actually, we kinda do..

Which ironically makes meat more humane if thats true. Processed animals get rendered senseless before they are killed and they're definitely dead by the time we're eating them, and so incapable of continuing to feel pain. Most plants are consumed while still very much alive.

Anyway, humans are carnivores too. If its evil to eat animals, than every single carnivore is also evil. At least humans have the decency to kill the animals we eat quickly with a minimal amount of suffering, even in meat packing plants animals are stunned to minimize pain. As opposed to things like Wolves who tear their prey apart and will even begin eating it before its completely dead. Just watch any old National Geographic wildlife special, getting eaten by lions or wolves is about the worst way to go. The thousands of chickens, cows, pigs, etc... who humans eat every day are relatively lucky as far as the animal kingdom is concerned. They don't live the stressful live of having to scrounge for food while constantly jumping at every shadow, only to have their life end with their throat crushed by some predator's jaws/get mauled or even worse die of starvation/disease.

Farm raised animals are safe, given all the food they need, and a quick and painless death. Compared to a wild animal, that is heavenly.

 Excommunicatus wrote:

Why take part in Veganuary? Well, why not?
There are so many reasons people decide to try vegan.

For most, a love of animals is the catalyst. Some people want to feel better about themselves and the impact they make on the world. Others would like to set themselves a challenge, and many combine Veganuary with their ‘New Year’s Resolutions’ and see trying vegan as the healthiest start to the year. Whatever your reason, we’re here to support you.

So try vegan for a month and discover a whole new world of taste and flavour. We guarantee that, by the end of the month, you’ll feel fantastic!

https://veganuary.com/

Try it for a month. There really is no downside.

Sorry, in Texas that is illegal.

We’ve flirted with the idea. At least, we try to minimize the amount of meat we eat. Usually.

Anyway, is there some secret to preparing Jackfruit? We’ve tried it a couple of times, but the amount of time and effort it takes to prepare one is staggering compared to the lackluster end result. It definitely failed to live up to the hype. I’d love to have a vegan alternative to meat that is tasty or convenient, and jackfruit is neither.

Nope.

And even if I was sympathetic to the cause...the name is so absolutely gak, it doesn't deserve any success.

One month. Nothing to lose.

Bacon isn't a character trait.

 Excommunicatus wrote:
One month. Nothing to lose.

Except a diet that will cost you extra each month, and makes picking a restaurant with friends and family that much more onerous and complicated...
And for people cooking for family, its great make the effort and then someone just refuses to eat because reasons. (And that can go either way, with a vegan cooking for people who expect food they enjoy, or a vegan flipping their plate because they've been tainted with 'meat juice.') Great fun for everyone else who just wants to get on with the meal.

Bacon isn't a character trait.

It isn't a strawman either.
You made your pitch. You don't need to keep proselytizing.

BobtheInquisitor wrote:We’ve flirted with the idea. At least, we try to minimize the amount of meat we eat. Usually.

Anyway, is there some secret to preparing Jackfruit? We’ve tried it a couple of times, but the amount of time and effort it takes to prepare one is staggering compared to the lackluster end result. It definitely failed to live up to the hype. I’d love to have a vegan alternative to meat that is tasty or convenient, and jackfruit is neither.

I've only ever used the canned jackfruit in brine, you just have to rinse it and cut the core out.

Banana blossoms and kelp flakes make for a crazy convincing fish substitute.

Voss wrote:
Except a diet that will cost you extra each month, and makes picking a restaurant with friends and family that much more onerous and complicated...

False.

My grocery bill is less than $150 a month. I am 6'4. My weight is stable.

Vegan options are everywhere.

Voss wrote:
You made your pitch. You don't need to keep proselytizing.

You're not my supervisor.

Oh, so it is going the same way as last year? Good oh!

 Azreal13 wrote:
Oh, so it is going the same way as last year? Good oh!

Lets not hey? Surely this can discussed calmly and politely and not like last time.

Thanks for the tip. I’ll have to see if those are available at my local Ralph’s. Is the processed jackfruit the meat kind or the bubblegum kind, ripe or unripe?

Would you be so kind as to describe some of the easier and/or cheaper vegan meals one can make with fairly common ingredients? I’d like to give some a try.

I never knew jackfruit existed prior to this thread.

I'm interested in trying it now, along with a pawpaw.

As someone who has a very limited diet for medical reasons, I don't get why people voluntarily restrict what they eat for non-medical reasons.
Saying that, I understood a friend who was vegetarian because she didn't like the taste or texture of meat and used it as a useful label to ensure she got food she'd like. I respect the vegans who make a life choice and stick with it, are happy to inform people about it, don't look down on others for not following it, and don't try to involve people who aren't already considering it. I don't understand vegans who don't carry it into the rest of their life. If I've learnt anything from people I've known who are vegan, it's that there is SO MUCH more to veganism than just not eating animal products. It's a lifestyle choice; it's not a fad diet for a month.

The main thing that annoys me (about any fashion diet - which getting people who aren't into veganism to do it for a month ultimately is) is that there are so many 'alternative' diets that means my medical needs aren't taken seriously when I say I can't eat something. It means I've had problems in the past with people thinking foods I avoid because my body's reaction would send me to A&E is a choice, means I'm being awkward for the sake of it, or following a fad. I've had instances of being given things I can't eat because it was thought I was 'just being picky'. It's so fun when people don't cater to my needs because they think I'm just on a diet or don't want animals to be sad and I end up throwing up, with abdominal cramps, or being covered in hives and struggling to breathe.
It's so awkward any time I try to eat out, as I have to look up menus and contact venues beforehand to ensure they can cater to me, and I feel awful for making them do extra work, then worry they're going to include things anyway/spit in it for being awkward. I avoid eating out whenever I can. I stopped letting friends and family cook for me a while ago, because of finding some cooked one thing for me and something different for themselves/other guests. I boggle that people intentionally choose this because it's a thing of embarrassment, anxiety, and stress for me.

 BobtheInquisitor wrote:
Thanks for the tip. I’ll have to see if those are available at my local Ralph’s. Is the processed jackfruit the meat kind or the bubblegum kind, ripe or unripe?

Would you be so kind as to describe some of the easier and/or cheaper vegan meals one can make with fairly common ingredients? I’d like to give some a try.

My go-to is dried beans. Get yourself a pressure cooker and rehydrate beans. You can make burgers, curry, chili, pasta, wraps, salads...

Here's a link to 25 "budget" recipes from Auntie Beeb.

EDIT - You want young green jackfruit, in brine.

A recent tactic used by the Vegan community is that it is "good for the environment". It's not.
Something that is, are so-called "old growth forests".
Just a quick search shows that the most Vegan country in the world, India, only has 15,000 acres. By comparison, the Adirondack Mountains in New York have over 150,000 acres. New York has a large Dairy industry.
Vegetable and fruit farming require similar growing conditions to Forests.
Here in the U.S., beef cattle are raised in places that are not suited for other types of farming.
IF other countries went full Vegetarian/vegan, the required additional growing land will not come from the ranchers. It will come from the forests.
Additionally, Humans are omnivores. They evolved (or were created) to absorb calories from a fairly large variety of sources. Humans can glean their caloric requirements from more sources than even pigs, who have the most varied diet among animals.

As for the OP, I find a Vegan diet to be way too carb heavy for me. Not that I mind carbs, but to get the nutrients I personally require, and on my Doctor's recommendations, I cannot survive on the strict Vegan diet.

 helgrenze wrote:
A recent tactic used by the Vegan community is that it is "good for the environment". It's not.
Something that is, are so-called "old growth forests".
Just a quick search shows that the most Vegan country in the world, India, only has 15,000 acres. By comparison, the Adirondack Mountains in New York have over 150,000 acres. New York has a large Dairy industry.
Vegetable and fruit farming require similar growing conditions to Forests.
Here in the U.S., beef cattle are raised in places that are not suited for other types of farming.
IF other countries went full Vegetarian/vegan, the required additional growing land will not come from the ranchers. It will come from the forests.
Additionally, Humans are omnivores. They evolved (or were created) to absorb calories from a fairly large variety of sources. Humans can glean their caloric requirements from more sources than even pigs, who have the most varied diet among animals.

As for the OP, I find a Vegan diet to be way too carb heavy for me. Not that I mind carbs, but to get the nutrients I personally require, and on my Doctor's recommendations, I cannot survive on the strict Vegan diet.

Absolute twaddle.

The Earth already produces more than enough food for the population.

https://medium.com/@jeremyerdman/we-produce-enough-food-to-feed-10-billion-people-so-why-does-hunger-still-exist-8086d2657539

Plant ag. uses less land and less resources to produce more food than animal ag..

"Based on these numbers, the report concludes that “plant-based agriculture grows 512% more pounds of food than animal-based agriculture on 69% of the mass of land that animal-based agriculture uses.”

https://faunalytics.org/farming-animals-vs-farming-plants-comparison/

Less land will be needed, not more.

Twaddle.

You're ignoring the fact that not all land is the same. Most grazing land is utterly useless for anything other than grazing due to either poor soil or the vertical nature of the terrain. You could never run a combine up the 20-30 degree slopes that makes up a huge chunk of the land that grass fed cattle are raised on in CA for example.

You're also ignoring that not all food is the same. Even a small amount of meat is vital for proper nutrition because of the readily available protein and amino acids that you simply cannot get from plants in an efficient manner.

You are correct in that we have plenty of arable land and can produce more food than the world needs. This doesn't help your point though, since it clearly means we have the breathing room for more resource intensive food like meat.

Coolbeans.

You obviously haven't read either of the things linked and you're repeating myths that have roundly and solidly debunked, but you wanna yell about ignoring things.

Read the links provided. Who knows what you might learn by trying it out for a month?

I'm Chinese, so stuff like Char Siu, Roast Pork and meat in general is so ingrained into our food culture that going vegan would effectively be like rejecting my identity. We eat everything, even dogs (though I personally don't)! Also, the food cycle exists for a reason and I don't see a moral reason for not eating meat, as long as its done somewhat responsibly. Just like it would be weird to impose an all meat diet for everyoen, I feel like going vegan has too many drawbacks to consider it a viable option for myself.

 Excommunicatus wrote:
Coolbeans.

You obviously haven't read either of the things linked and you're repeating myths that have roundly and solidly debunked, but you wanna yell about ignoring things.

Read the links provided. Who knows what you might learn by trying it out for a month?

Neither of the not-at-all-biased articles off those links addresses grey templar's and helgrenze's point.
And the point isn't which of the two uses more land, but what type of land is needed.
Case in point, the accelerated destruction of rainforest in for example Brasil to grow soy for the increase in demand due to veganism and health fads in the West.

 Excommunicatus wrote:
One month. Nothing to lose.

Bacon isn't a character trait.

But it does contain all 21 amino acids required by humans so... Winner!

There's a lot to lose actually.

One month is a significant amount of time and eating vegan correctly means adopting a diet that must be very balanced. Proteines are absolutely needed for out body and just eating vegatbles and fruits for a month isn't healty at all.

If anyone wants to try vegan for a longer period than a couple of days please contact a nutritionist.

Be also careful on those sponsored vegan products you can buy at supermarkets, most of them are quite the opposite of healthy food.

Like, why do people feel so attacked by someone suggesting "hey, try out this thing if you want?", like, surely we can all agree that the current industrial consumption/production of meat is unhealthy and ecologically damaging, and that cutting back is probably not an awful idea?

This whole thread is a bit of a sad dog-pilling on someone who has made an otherwise inoffensive suggestion that might interest some people, and it's really only going to get worse from here on out by the looks of things.

All of you people ranting about "types of land" are trying to justify cattle farming in climates that are (nearly entirely) exclusively american, where yes, cattle farming does kind of make sense...

...provided you ignore farming insects for the same nutrition? WAAAAAY more space-efficient, and much better for the environment. Additionally, why does everyone advocating for that tired "oh, but vegan diets require land to grow crops too, so nerr-nerr, you're just as bad as us" try to gloss over how livestock also requires a VERY substantial amount of land in order to grow feed?

Nutritional science has progressed to the point that industrial farming as it exists today is sustained by our demand for readily-available, cheap meat. It usually comes to us processed to bejesus, and is sold (and taxed, might I add) by people who are really mostly only concerned with bottom lines and profit margins. There certainly are ways to more ethically consume meat, with a reduced environmental impact, but I can nearly guarantee that none of your local supermarkets sell it. Because again, money.
In a well-developed country, there's really only 1 reason to be eating traditional meat products that are a result of industrial farming.

"Because I like it and it tastes good, and it's convenient."

This isn't really a very compelling argument. But like, it's your argument. It's also mine, before I get accused of being a vegan-totallitarian pinko limpwrist communist soyboy whatever.

Excommunicatus has obviously started this thread with some pretty benevolent intentions. Some people might want to try being vegan for the typical environmental/animal-rights reasons. Or they might want to try changing up their diet as part of a health kick, to try new styles of cooking, or to get some experience of a dietary fad that has gained traction over the last few years, and maybe get a broader opinion of it, beyond, I dunno, say, ranting at strangers on a message board for little plastic spacemen?

Y'all need to chill.