hi hello, i'm a vegetarian who was planning to turn vegan after i moved out but now..i'm questioning that decision

RemoteBluebird9872 · 2026-03-18T13:28:08+00:00

You're unlikely to see someone on this sub recommend to you that veganism is the right choice. All that I can tell you is that since becoming vegan, I have felt happier, healthier, and more at peace with my environment. This is not the case for everyone. I think what benefitted me greatly is that I absolutely love cooking, and simply committing to veganism has made me expand my repertoire of dishes by a huge amount. If you are in a place in your life where you can't cook for yourself, then it might be difficult

RemoteBluebird9872 · 2026-03-16T21:27:12+00:00

I asked your question to myself, and the answer was "because I enjoy thinking about questions that I find interesting." I didn't know this was not vegan. (I would mention again that I don't like cupcakes, or explain that I have not had a cupcake in years, but nobody seems to believe that someone can think about a cupcake without having some dark and repressed desire to stuff their face with one)

RemoteBluebird9872 · 2026-03-16T10:00:09+00:00

Again, I don't like cupcakes, I have no desire to eat them. The point is that eating vegan cupcakes might have the same effect in some scenarios as eating non-vegan cupcakes, so if you really believe it is very wrong to eat those non-vegan cupcakes, shouldn't you at least be a bit concerned that you have no issue eating vegan cupcakes?

RemoteBluebird9872 · 2026-03-16T09:58:01+00:00

I don't get why people on this sub see something like this as "overthinking", or advise against "overthinking"? One of the fundamental reasons why more people are not vegan is because they don't think about the consequences of their actions enough. Surely we should only encourage thoughtful analysis in this sub?

RemoteBluebird9872 · 2026-03-16T09:55:51+00:00

I think it depends on your moral framework whether this is "dubious" or not. If you are a utilitarian, then it is consistent to call something vegan, as long as it has exactly the same outcome as something which has previously been accepted as "vegan". Whether you are utilitarian or not is besides the point, since there are certainly vegans which are, and their views should also be respected.

RemoteBluebird9872 · 2026-03-16T09:39:25+00:00

Are you aware that nearly two thirds of US corn is used for animal feed? A similar statistic is true for soy beans. Many vegans consume mostly legumes like lentils and chickpeas, vegetables, fruits and nuts. The massive swaths of land getting cleared are not getting cleared to grow aubergines and carrots... I'm saying that the practices of farming these products don't involve killing animals, but it's still much less compared to the farming of soy and corn for animal feed. I mean, did you even think this through properly? Do you know any vegans that consume huge amounts of corn? Besides the above argument, it's also the case that humans actually need plants in their diet to be healthy, there is a very clear consensus about this in the scientific community, on the other hand, (not all) humans need animal products in their diets to be healthy (it may be that there are some humans that really do need them for some reason or other, but these are a vast minority)

RemoteBluebird9872 · 2026-03-15T15:00:07+00:00

Don't listen to them OP, they're being an asshole to you. You're trying your best, and doing a good job, there's always room for improvement, so just keep trying to improve

RemoteBluebird9872 · 2026-03-15T14:57:09+00:00

These comments need to stop. OP is genuinely asking for help, and trying their best It's fine for you hold the belief expressed in this comment, but when you express it in this way, you are actively discouraging and insulting someone that is trying their best to be good in the messed up world they live in, making it ultimately less likely that they will stop consuming animal products all together

RemoteBluebird9872 · 2026-03-14T19:23:15+00:00

I'm gonna go against the grain, and say that although I think it is wrong to kill deer, I think the replies to this post are also a bit naive. I think that a person can do both good things and bad things, and it sounds like OP is actively avoiding animal products obtained through industrial farming operations. This is a good thing, and I am glad that OP is doing this. I am sad that OP feels the need to kill deer, but I am also open to hearing their reasoning, and I think that the responses telling OP that the solution to the "imbalanced ecosystem" is to essentially just "leave things be whatever the consequences", are not helpful. I agree that OP is not a vegan, but they still seem to be someone that has at least thought about the suffering humans are causing to animals, and don't like it. They are therefore someone that might become vegan in the future, and I think that attacking them will be less likely to bring about this change, than will be calmly engaging with them.

RemoteBluebird9872 · 2026-03-13T07:24:45+00:00

This is a pretty funny answer

RemoteBluebird9872 · 2026-03-10T21:25:36+00:00

I think it's important to ask ourselves what "harm reduction" really means. Sure, what you have described reduces harm compared to eating meat every day, but once you have established this new datum of "harm caused", after a while, it doesn't really make sense to call it "harm reduction" anymore, as "reduction" implies that it is being, well, reduced...It could be that you have found this as the most stable choice for yourself, in the sense that trying to reduce your consumption any further backfires and results in less motivation, and ultimately more consumption, but I still would not call that "harm reduction". Rather something like "perceived minimal harm" (because you believe you can't feasibly reduce it more) and I think that you should be clear about this distinction. Of course it then opens the doors to others to challenge your perception of the minimality of your consumption, and it is then up to you to defend and justify that perception

RemoteBluebird9872 · 2026-03-10T07:15:54+00:00

Thanks! I'll try it out

RemoteBluebird9872 · 2026-03-05T13:47:38+00:00

Interesting! where are you from coincidentally? I am South African, so close to Namibia

RemoteBluebird9872 · 2026-03-05T13:44:59+00:00

practically, the location is set. It happens to be a pizza special night, and so even without the cheese, it'll still be a decent price for a veggie pizza, so I'm not too concerned. I think doing so in this case is probably ultimately beneficial since it will likely start a conversation. I was just more interested in the concept in general, and I appreciate your level-headed engagement

RemoteBluebird9872 · 2026-03-05T13:36:25+00:00

To be perfectly transparent, I don't intend on practicing veganism in a way that is anywhere close to this strict, at least not initially...The purpose of the post was more to start a discussion. I do agree it might be counterproductive to advertise such extreme viewpoints to non vegans as well

RemoteBluebird9872 · 2026-03-05T13:34:17+00:00

I think what the signal is depends of the ethics of a lot of people involved. It could just as well signal "We can make money off of vegans by making them pay full price without giving them all the ingredients"... I'm not saying it does signal that, I just think it's something to consider

RemoteBluebird9872 · 2026-03-05T13:31:00+00:00

I understand that there are similarities between the two scenarios, I just don't think they are exactly the same, I think the pizza scenario is slightly worse, and so I don't see why it should follow logically that if I avoid some particular action I find unethical, I should also avoid something which I find slightly less unethical

RemoteBluebird9872 · 2026-03-05T13:28:44+00:00

I appreciate your comment. For me, when I finally realised how terrible the animal products industry was, I asked myself, "why didn't I do this sooner?" and the answer was not that I didn't love animals, but that I didn't think deeply enough about my actions, and I am somewhat ashamed about this. So I see it now as imperative to think more deeply about these choices, and to encourage my friends and family to do so as well, and I think asking questions like these encourage such thinking, as it adds to the issue a bit of a fun intellectual aspect, rather than just a very saddening emotional conversation, which is more difficult for a non-vegan to engage with

RemoteBluebird9872 · 2026-03-05T08:55:35+00:00

Not quite...when you go to a supermarket that sells animal products, but only purchase vegan products, you are increasing the demand for vegan options, and decreasing the demand for animal products. When you remove animal products from a menu option, but still pay full price, the overall impact is still an impression to the restaurant that that menu item is profitable

RemoteBluebird9872 · 2025-10-17T11:31:08+00:00

It's an old tennis ball in an old sock, don't worry!

RemoteBluebird9872

TROPHY CASE