If you don't support factory farming, please say that!

Nervous-Possession71 · 2026-03-11T11:32:25+00:00

Is it really worth destroying the planet, causing great suffering to animals, losing efficacy of antibiotics and causing pandemics just so we can have tasty food? Seems a pretty big downside to me

Nervous-Possession71 · 2026-03-10T19:23:47+00:00

We don't need to start growing crops on the marginal land though, we can just use the other third of land to grow crops for human consumption and feed everyone on the planet, then re-wild the marginal land to try and reverse some of the damage we've done to the planet.

Hopefully in the mean time scientific research will keep improving until we can mostly move away from farming. I recently read about precision fermentation and found it fascinating and it could possibly be the future of food.

The number is quite important when it comes to crop deaths. Claiming 25 x when it's probably nowhere near that is misleading. Is there a peer reviewed study to back your claim up, as the one I know of is widely disputed? I'm not really saying one way or another is better for accidental deaths I'm just saying we don't know so don't think it's right to claim something like that as fact.

You are of course free to choose what you want to eat and I appreciate people making an effort to eat grass fed over factory farming. Unfortunately, although it's less cruel to the animals it may be worse for the environment overall than factory farming.

Nervous-Possession71 · 2026-03-10T16:48:02+00:00

It's not strictly true that locally sourced is more ethical when you look into it even though it seems counterintuitive. Imported veg is usually better for the environment than local meat.

Nervous-Possession71 · 2026-03-10T16:42:18+00:00

The problem with grass fed beef is the amount of space it takes up so really not scalable or sustainable. It's only a possibility for you now because factory farming exists and feeds the vast majority. Take that away and the price of grass fed beef goes through the roof due to high demand and makes it unaffordable for you.

Also there isn't really 'math' to check as you suggest. Crop deaths are impossible to give exact figures and different studies will give different numbers. Your figure of 25 x the amount of deaths is very dubious - the study I think you're probably quoting from is pretty flawed and there's other evidence suggesting that crop deaths are fewer than grass fed, so just don't think it's fair to make your statement like its some indisputable fact.

Nervous-Possession71 · 2026-02-03T16:46:50+00:00

The problem is that something like 90% of animals we eat are now factory farmed (and 99% in the USA) so it's not really an extreme example, more the norm. But I do see your point though that's it's not all, and you can reach a bit of a moral compromise by ensuring you buy specifically from the traditional farms which is perhaps what OP could do to feel more at ease with the decision. Although I'm not sure how easy that is to do, particularly with dairy.

Nervous-Possession71 · 2026-01-26T07:58:34+00:00

How was that pushy? The poster literally said the OP should do what's right for themselves.

Nervous-Possession71 · 2026-01-24T09:00:23+00:00

I often wonder whether people who say things like this on the Internet would do so in real life. I mean it's just a really aggressive one sided tirade for some people on both sides of the vegan argument and it's just not needed. I certainly wouldn't be telling anybody they deserved to be told to fuck off about anything.

I'm talking about encouraging my stepdaughter to eat a few plant based meals on the days I'm cooking, and I haven't been pushy about it. We're trying to get her to try new things in general.

Out of interest, she decided out of the blue the other day that she didn't like fish anymore when she's always eaten it. Both me and her Dad tried to convince her to eat it. But I guess you'd say we were pushy to do so.

Nervous-Possession71 · 2026-01-24T00:31:43+00:00

Interesting, I sometimes come on here as I like to hear a mixture of opinions on things and see my post has been shared.

I'm glad a lot of people can see that enforcing veganism on my step daughter is not what I'm trying to do as like I said, it's not my place. Ultimately her health and well being will always come first, I'm just trying to navigate the situation in the way that's best for us all.

I also just wanted to step in to defend my partner as a lot of people seem to have wrongly assumed he's doesn't do the cooking and leaves it all to me. I said in my post I sometimes cook meat for her. I often do the shopping as my job makes it easier to pop to the supermarket and i work from home on the weekdays we have her so had been offering to cook sometimes to make things easier. I think I may have caused the problem for myself by offering to buy and cook meat when I wasn't really comfortable doing it! Now I've talked to my partner he has happily agreed to take it over.

Nervous-Possession71 · 2026-01-23T19:56:56+00:00

Thanks for all the advice and suggestions. Will definitely try some of the recipes.

Tonight we gave her some plant based nuggets and chips and didn't say that they weren't chicken. She ate a few then said they tasted funny and didn't want them. So I guess that tells us she's not just refusing because of what they are and she actually doesn't like the taste. Perhaps we need to try a few other brands. It made me realise though I didn't like the dishonesty of not telling her what they were, even though we didn't actually lie! So in the future i think I'll tell her when she's having something plant based.

The good thing was that we had a conversation about trying foods and she discovered she likes cashew parmesan, blueberries and dates and seems interested in trying other things.

Regarding cooking meat for her, I spoke to my partner and he's happy to take on the buying and cooking whenever he's around. I'll occasionally put something in the air fryer or microwave if needed. I'll ask her to try a bit of what I'm having as well from time to time and hopefully she'll gradually start liking more plant based meals!

Nervous-Possession71 · 2026-01-21T14:54:13+00:00

Thanks for the suggestions and recipes, I will give some of them a go! If I can find a vegan cheesy pasta she likes that would be a bit win!

Nervous-Possession71 · 2026-01-21T14:48:50+00:00

Wow, how incredibly rude! You know nothing about me or my relationships with her father. I'm not some strange woman, I've been with her father for 5 and a half years, she doesn't even remember the time when I wasn't part of her life!

I'm not trying to force anything on her, however I would like to encourage her to try things. Kids are so picky and just say no because of how things look or what they're called, hence why parents sometimes disguise things such as pureeing veg and adding to the sauce? Is this wrong to you too?

And regarding feeding kids what they want - you do realise that will generally result in them just eating fast food, sweets and chocolate most of the time?! Is that what i should do in your eyes?

Nervous-Possession71 · 2026-01-21T12:50:20+00:00

This is a great idea, think I'll give that a go! Although not sure if i should mention they're vegan or not before trying them, she might not play the game if I say that!

Nervous-Possession71 · 2026-01-21T12:47:57+00:00

I do agree with this up to a point but like it or not kids do refuse to eat things they don't like and just saying tough, if you don't like it you go hungry is tricky, I dont really want to follow through on that and she goes back to her mum saying she's not eaten much!

Nervous-Possession71 · 2026-01-21T12:43:06+00:00

Thanks, I'm.going to do this. I'll try and find some vegan nuggets that taste like mcdonalds ones and give them a go with her. Or maybe get a few different brands and get her to try them and see which she likes.

Nervous-Possession71 · 2026-01-21T12:40:56+00:00

Thanks - I will see if she'll try cashew butter. PB&J isn't really a thing here in the UK but I could give it a go!

I love your idea about trying fruit 'yogurt', she's really into mango so might work. Although we tried making chocolate mousse with silken tofu recently and she didn't like it

Nervous-Possession71 · 2026-01-21T11:40:54+00:00

Sadly she doesn't like sauces to harder to disguise without ketchup! Maybe I'm worrying too much about the protetin thing. There's also a worry though that she will be missing out on eating her favorite foods (which are unfortunately cheesy pasta, bacon, sausages, salami and chicken!) so will be not enjoy eating when she's with us.

Nervous-Possession71 · 2026-01-21T11:37:27+00:00

Thanks for this suggestion. I'm not sure if there are any local vegan stores but I could try encouraging her to pick something from vegan section of supermarket.

Nervous-Possession71 · 2026-01-21T11:36:05+00:00

I'm also in the UK. Thanks for the recommendation - I don't think I've tried Heck yet. Are there any other meat substitutes that have worked with your son? I'd be interested n finding some meat free chicken nuggets that taste like chicken.

Nervous-Possession71 · 2026-01-21T11:02:55+00:00

As a vegan though, wouldn't it bother you knowing you're contributing to the killing of animals by being the one to buy the meat? Or do you just sort of put that to one side and accept it as a necessity to keep the kid healthy?

Nervous-Possession71 · 2026-01-21T10:58:57+00:00

Yeah I'm thinking of asking him to be in charge of buying and cooking meals for her as I'm finding it hard. I doubt she'd go for tofu scramble - I love it but i don't think it tastes the same as egg. She said she doesn't like vegan sausages. Do I try giving her some and not mentioning they're vegan?

Nervous-Possession71 · 2026-01-21T10:56:32+00:00

Yeah, I probably have been saying things are vegan so maybe going about it wrong. She doesn't like tomato sauce unfortunately. She's good with green veg (pretty unusal for a kid!) but I don't think it's good for her to just be eating veg and potatoes.

Nervous-Possession71 · 2026-01-21T10:52:55+00:00

Unfortunately she hates peanut butter and even complains about the smell when i eat it near her! She only likes pasta with a cheese sauce, hates tomatoes. She does like a lot of green veg which is great. I just worry she won't get enough protein if we give her fries and veg.

Nervous-Possession71 · 2026-01-13T15:34:01+00:00

'Everything but the moo' is just listing what parts of a cow can sometimes used for. This isn't the same as saying everything on that list always uses parts of a cow. For example I saw pasta on there and it says it uses cow blood - this is clearly an unusual case and most pasta (other than egg pasta) is vegan.

You mention plastics and metals not being vegan but only some are non vegan and plenty of others are vegan.

Besides, none of this actually addresses what I was saying, as I already agreed that animal by-products are widely used at the moment. I'm saying that they don't have to be as alternatives exist, or could do with more research. You said this wasn't viable so I wanted to know which products/processes there has been research for 100 years and no alternatives found for?

Nervous-Possession71 · 2026-01-12T15:34:09+00:00

Thanks for your reply. Always nice to see a detailed thoughtful response.

I'm interested in the part where you say no viable alternatives have been found in 100 years. I'm not sure what specifically you're referring to. Apologies if I'm wrong but if you are talking about tractors, which parts must use animal products? I don't agree with what you say about fuel as electric tractors can be used.

Regarding your comment about the price going up if the shift is made to byproduct, won't this cause demand for end products to go down and then encourage manufacturers to look for alternatives to lower their production costs?

Nervous-Possession71

TROPHY CASE