Any other vegetarian/vegan folks here?

Featheryfriend

Featheryfriend

Junior Guinea Pig
Joined
Aug 27, 2019
Messages
372
Reaction score
1,098
Points
555
Location
Arizona, USA
Just curious what kind of overlap there is between being a guinea pig person and being vegetarian or vegan. I was a vegetarian for 10+ years and have been vegan for I think almost 2 years now. (I developed an allergy to eggs and to dairy, so that made the decision to go full vegan pretty straightforward.)

I think having naturally vegan companion animals like guinea pigs is pretty neat. It's kinda fun sharing salads with them. 😇

Any other plant people out there?
 
I have been vegan since I was born (my entire family is), and it is really awesome to make salads for them that I would happily eat (and do sometimes). My fridge is full of veggies, which makes me look super healthy, even though most of them are the piggies 😅.
So cool that there's more vegetarian/vegan people in the guinea pig community 😃
 
My Piggies said:
I have been vegan since I was born (my entire family is), and it is really awesome to make salads for them that I would happily eat (and do sometimes). My fridge is full of veggies, which makes me look super healthy, even though most of them are the piggies 😅.
So cool that there's more vegetarian/vegan people in the guinea pig community 😃
Click to expand...
Hehe, when I'm shopping I'm self-conscious of how many veggies I'm buying, I wonder if people really think I'm going to personally eat like five heads of lettuce and a dozen bell peppers. 😂
 
My husband and I became vegetarians five years ago, but we've been vegan for about four of those years now. It's one of the best decisions we've ever made. 😊 While eating out is still a massive struggle, the vegan market is really starting to boom in Germany and there are more and more vegan products in the grocery store every day, which is really great! I also think it's super fun to have little veggie loving companions in our piggies. Not to mention, I think I'd have some trouble preparing and feeding meat to any pet which would require it, but my favorite pets are herbivores anyway, so it works out! 😁
 
Wowee that's a lot of people! 😁 Wasn't expecting that.

It is easier than ever these days, it seems there are new vegan products on the shelf every time I visit the store. I have heard that eating out can be hard in many parts of Europe compared to here in an urban part of the States. Here there is a vegan or vegetarian restaurant on every other corner which is cool!

Does anyone else get a little freaked out by those newer fake meat products that have the texture of actual meat? I'm like... this is okay but I'd feel more comfortable with straight up tofu. 🤣
 
Featheryfriend said:
Wowee that's a lot of people! 😁 Wasn't expecting that.

It is easier than ever these days, it seems there are new vegan products on the shelf every time I visit the store. I have heard that eating out can be hard in many parts of Europe compared to here in an urban part of the States. Here there is a vegan or vegetarian restaurant on every other corner which is cool!

Does anyone else get a little freaked out by those newer fake meat products that have the texture of actual meat? I'm like... this is okay but I'd feel more comfortable with straight up tofu. 🤣
Click to expand...

OMG I could not with the "raw meat" veggie burgers that bleed. It grossed me out so much 😆 My husband and I didn't think it tasted that great and I always prefer a vegetable burger over a fake meat burger, partly because I was never a big fan of the taste of meat to begin with. Some of the fake meat products here do taste pretty good (some more realistic than others) and my husband enjoys them a lot, but the pseudo raw ground beef burger that bleeds beet juice was too much for both of us! It was too realistic.


The more I think about it though, the bleeding gimmick feels more like it is aimed towards meat eaters who want to try vegan food. I can see its purpose in that it might make the switch easier if you really love meat and the raw animal meat/blood aspect doesn't bother you.
 
h.h.lovecraft said:
OMG I could not with the "raw meat" veggie burgers that bleed. It grossed me out so much 😆 My husband and I didn't think it tasted that great and I always prefer a vegetable burger over a fake meat burger, partly because I was never a big fan of the taste of meat to begin with. Some of the fake meat products here do taste pretty good (some more realistic than others) and my husband enjoys them a lot, but the pseudo raw ground beef burger that bleeds beet juice was too much for both of us! It was too realistic.


The more I think about it though, the bleeding gimmick feels more like it is aimed towards meat eaters who want to try vegan food. I can see its purpose in that it might make the switch easier if you really love meat and the raw animal meat/blood aspect doesn't bother you.
Click to expand...
Ooof yeah no I cannot handle the bleeding ones either. They smell too much like meat as well. Obviously I am not the intended market for those. 🤢
 
Sweet Potato said:
I'm a pescatarian and I'm trying to make some swaps to reduce dairy but my life would be incomplete without cheese and chocolate
Click to expand...
That's great, Sweet Potato! 😊 Cutting back on animal products makes a real difference. There is no need to be a purist about it, I say - every bit helps the environment and the animals. And probably your health too!

There are lots of excellent vegan chocolates, but the good vegan cheese is still rather expensive I'm afraid. I only buy it as a treat.
 
Featheryfriend said:
That's great, Sweet Potato! 😊 Cutting back on animal products makes a real difference. There is no need to be a purist about it, I say - every bit helps the environment and the animals. And probably your health too!

There are lots of excellent vegan chocolates, but the good vegan cheese is still rather expensive I'm afraid. I only buy it as a treat.
Click to expand...
Vegan chocolate isn't that bad but it's more expensive and I really do love Cadbury dairy milk. I know a few dairy farms some that have great welfare standards that I'd be happy to have milk from and others that have horrendous standards but you never know where the milk you're drinking comes from and that's what worries me it's not as bad for the environment as people make out especially in the UK where it's nearly always quite local.
 
Sweet Potato said:
Vegan chocolate isn't that bad but it's more expensive and I really do love Cadbury dairy milk. I know a few dairy farms some that have great welfare standards that I'd be happy to have milk from and others that have horrendous standards but you never know where the milk you're drinking comes from and that's what worries me it's not as bad for the environment as people make out especially in the UK where it's nearly always quite local.
Click to expand...
I have heard things are rather different there and that you can often get local milk from smaller farmers with better welfare standards. Here it's pretty universally godawful sadly.
 
Featheryfriend said:
I have heard things are rather different there and that you can often get local milk from smaller farmers with better welfare standards. Here it's pretty universally godawful sadly.
Click to expand...
Yeah we're very lucky in the UK farming standards are generally very high. I get my eggs from a small local farm but milk it's generally harder to get from farm shops as it has to be sent off to be pasteurised. I still can't bring myself to eat meat though, it doesn't matter if it's lived a good life it doesn't have to die for me.
 
I've been veggie since I was a child, early 80s, but when my son was born I decided to give him some meat and I sometimes eat free range chicken if I've made it for him. I watched the film "About A Boy" where the boy secretly goes to McDonald's behind the back of his veggie mother who was causing him a lot of stress, and decided to let my son make his own mind up on the basis of that film! I switched to almond milk during lockdown, and would like to reduce dairy more.
 
I'm a vegetarian... I haven't eaten red meat since childhood and cut out chicken about 16 years ago. I'm not vegan, I haven't found a good enough substitute for cheese (though I'm lactose intolerant and consume dairy pretty minimally because of that!) Out of my family members, my husband and two of my kids eat meat and the third child is also a vegetarian.
 
Featheryfriend said:
Hehe, when I'm shopping I'm self-conscious of how many veggies I'm buying, I wonder if people really think I'm going to personally eat like five heads of lettuce and a dozen bell peppers. 😂
Click to expand...
I wouldn’t worry, I have seen people while in the supermarket with ENTIRE CARTS of Milk, or a cart that’s just full of potatoe. When I see that I jus assume they are some sort of small café or snack bar owner that’s had some supply issues and restocking.
 
Black piggies said:
I've been veggie since I was a child, early 80s, but when my son was born I decided to give him some meat and I sometimes eat free range chicken if I've made it for him. I watched the film "About A Boy" where the boy secretly goes to McDonald's behind the back of his veggie mother who was causing him a lot of stress, and decided to let my son make his own mind up on the basis of that film! I switched to almond milk during lockdown, and would like to reduce dairy more.
Click to expand...
I think it's always best to let children make their own decisions. I chose to go pescatarian when I was 10 (14 years ago) my dad still thinks it's just a phase and I'll grow out of it.
 
I’ve been a pescatarian since the early 80s for moral reasons.
Animal welfare in the UK has improved no end since then but I don’t want to go back to eating meat.
My husband is a meat eater so occasionally I cook him free range meat, also if we’re entertaining as it’s not fair to impose my choices on others.

When I first went non meat eating the only choice for vegetarians was often a dire vegetable lasagna and it was take it or leave it. I cannot stand veggie lasagna now.
It’s the main reason I reverted to eating fish - it gave me more choice .

My husband is lactose intolerant so our dairy input is low anyway.
Things have changed
 
I'm not a vegetarian :coat: but I do enjoy vegetarian meals on occasion and am always happy to find new veggie recipes that are tasty and easy to cook. My OH and I are trying to reduce the amount of meat we eat, mostly for health reasons, I try to buy quality not quantity, higher welfare and as local as possible to reduce food miles.
My household couldn't go veggie as the only veg my autistic 16 year old eats are carrots, spuds, red pepper and tomato ketchup ... I like things needing milk too much to be vegan.
Although it's said being veggie is better for the environment- cow farts etc! - surely there are quite a lot of food miles in things like beans and pulses which are in a lot of veggie recipes, and in the veg such as green beans, broccoli, tomatoes etc which we buy in the winter when they are out of season here?
 
Qualcast&Flymo said:
Although it's said being veggie is better for the environment- cow farts etc! - surely there are quite a lot of food miles in things like beans and pulses which are in a lot of veggie recipes, and in the veg such as green beans, broccoli, tomatoes etc which we buy in the winter when they are out of season here?
Click to expand...

That's great you try to go quality over quantity!

From my best understanding (I have a little bit of a biology/ecology education) because of how much energy is lost through the food chain (for example, when feeding cows plant matter and then eating the cows, instead of eating the plant matter directly) there really aren't many plant foods with an ecological footprint even approaching that of animal products. Even if you ship an avocado all the way around the world, it's likely got a fraction of the environmental impact per calorie that a comparable piece of steak would have.

Things get more complicated when you throw in grass fed and different farming practices. The gap narrows quite a bit when you compare the environmentally best steak to the environmentally worst avocados. And of course being mindful of food miles is always a good idea. But generally if you're looking to reduce your ecological footprint, replacing animal protein with beans or tofu is a very safe bet.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top