I found attempts to follow a vegetarian or vegan diet dramatically reduced my quality of life. Especially veganism was almost unbearable. I couldn’t even have a slice of pizza or an ice cream cone! given my experience unless I was 100% convinced I was absolutely obligated to become a vegetarian/vegan I would not do so.
I do however donate 10% of my pre-tax income to developing nations. Which works out to a very large (imo) percentage of my take home pay. I also find this rather unpleasant and distressing but arguments on lesswrong convinced me I was basically obligated to do it. And losing 10% of my pre-tax income is far less painful then giving up meat and vastly less painful than giving up meat + dairy.
It is interesting people have such different internal reactions.
For what it’s worth, I’ve found being vegetarian almost no effort at all. Being vegan is a noticeable inconvenience, especially cutting out the last bits of dairy (and that shows up in your examples, which are both about dairy).
I’m sorry that your stint with veganism was so unpleasant. There are ways to make it more pleasant though—I regularly eat vegetarian pizza without the cheese, which is a lot more tasty than I imagined it would be before I tried it. Also, vegan ice cream is definitely a thing (both sorbets and soy ice cream fit the bill), although it’s probably not sold at ice cream places.
I think the reason that veganism is so easy for me to do is because I substitute tasty non-vegan foods, so it doesn’t feel like deprivation. For instance, if I want a warm hearty meal, I’ll have dahl instead of a steak, or if I feel junk-food-snacky, I’ll get oreos or skittles rather than non-vegan foods.
I found attempts to follow a vegetarian or vegan diet dramatically reduced my quality of life. Especially veganism was almost unbearable. I couldn’t even have a slice of pizza or an ice cream cone! given my experience unless I was 100% convinced I was absolutely obligated to become a vegetarian/vegan I would not do so.
I do however donate 10% of my pre-tax income to developing nations. Which works out to a very large (imo) percentage of my take home pay. I also find this rather unpleasant and distressing but arguments on lesswrong convinced me I was basically obligated to do it. And losing 10% of my pre-tax income is far less painful then giving up meat and vastly less painful than giving up meat + dairy.
It is interesting people have such different internal reactions.
For what it’s worth, I’ve found being vegetarian almost no effort at all. Being vegan is a noticeable inconvenience, especially cutting out the last bits of dairy (and that shows up in your examples, which are both about dairy).
I’m sorry that your stint with veganism was so unpleasant. There are ways to make it more pleasant though—I regularly eat vegetarian pizza without the cheese, which is a lot more tasty than I imagined it would be before I tried it. Also, vegan ice cream is definitely a thing (both sorbets and soy ice cream fit the bill), although it’s probably not sold at ice cream places.
I think the reason that veganism is so easy for me to do is because I substitute tasty non-vegan foods, so it doesn’t feel like deprivation. For instance, if I want a warm hearty meal, I’ll have dahl instead of a steak, or if I feel junk-food-snacky, I’ll get oreos or skittles rather than non-vegan foods.
Slippery slope, plain and simple. http://xkcd.com/1332/
Reducing mean consumption does not imply never eating ice cream.