For the past year I've been dropping off groceries at a local food pantry whenever I have some extra money.

My usual donation was dried lentils, rice, chickpeas, beans, that sort of thing. Cheap, nutritious, shelf-stable, completely vegan. Seemed like the most sensible way to help.

A couple of weeks ago I asked one of the volunteers what they were running low on.

She mentioned several things, including ready-to-eat meals and canned food with pull tabs. I asked whether they needed more dried beans because I could buy a pretty large bag for not much money.

She said they absolutely have clients who use dried beans, but they also serve people living in temporary accommodation, people who only have a microwave, and people who don't have consistent access to a kitchen.

Which seems incredibly obvious now that somebody has said it to me.

I'd been choosing food based on what I would want if my grocery budget disappeared. But in that imaginary situation, I still had my kitchen, my stove, my spice rack, my cooking oil, and enough free time to soak beans.

Somebody else might be trying to make dinner in a motel room with a kettle.

It also occurred to me that a bag of dried lentils and a jar of peanut butter aren't interchangeable just because both contain protein. One requires equipment and preparation. The other can be eaten immediately.

I've started asking what the pantry actually needs rather than just buying my own staples in bulk. Sometimes that's canned beans, sometimes peanut butter, sometimes something entirely different.

I'm not saying dried legumes are bad donations. They're great for people who can use them. I just hadn't considered how many assumptions I was making about the person on the receiving end.

One thing I appreciate about vegan food is how many affordable, accessible options already exist without needing expensive specialty products.

I want to get better at making sure the food I donate is accessible in practice, not just affordable on paper.

For anyone who's volunteered at a food pantry or needed one yourself, are there other things well-meaning donors tend to overlook?

Mine wasn't dramatic. I was vegetarian and I'd had veganism on my mind for a long while. My excuse at the time: it was difficult to find vegan options when I went out with family, so I would usually cave and order whatever was most convenient.

One morning I was out to breakfast with my grandmother and she asked if we would split a stack of buttermilk pancakes as usual.

I said... No, thanks. I think I'll order avocado toast.

Of course, that wasn't the first vegan meal I'd ever eaten. But in that moment something just... clicked. How the narrative that veganism takes an immense amount of effort, or willpower, or social ostracization is quite overdramatized. How the majority of what we eat is built on routine and habit rather than actual necessity, and it only takes a brief moment to break away from it. How easy it is to just say no.

Somehow, while eating that piece of toast, I just knew I would never eat another animal product again. And I was right.

I decided to be vegetarian when i was 15, and after afew years I have decided to the dismay of my family to go fully vegan at 17! Im super proud of myself, considering there was a time i had pepperoni pizza and ham sandwiches everyday, and thought that "i could never go vegan". I have even managed to convert my family to only using oat milk now, after a long fight with my dad. (I have also managed to get them onto my vegan curry, but I personally take that as a win for my cooking skills!) I was just wondering if anyone had any suggestions for switches from butter, especially on sandwiches. Im a little bit picky and don't have too much money currently but It is a big part of my old diet so if anyone has any sandwich suggestions, or just for spreads that i could put on a savoury sandwich I would really appreciate it! Thank you!

I'm having almost an identity crisis. Once you really face the cruelty of the meat and dairy industry, once you stop turning away and really LOOK, and it hits you. It really, really hits you.

I feel so awful for ever eating meat. I feel so awful period. I can't believe all the animals that are born, suffer, and die horrendously because people like me just didn't care enough to stop supporting it.

I'm heartbroken. I know all of you are too. I'm not even looking for sympathy here I'm just consumed by guilt and sadness.

It's like once you open this door, there is no shutting it, and the pain of the animals now lives in your heart forever.

I will carry that, no problem, no burden. They deserve that at the very least. It's not a wonder people ignore it though. What a monstrous world we live in, what a monstrous species we are.

Hi!

I'm a 26 year old vegan woman living in a mid-sized Eastern US city. I'd love to find a romantic partner at some point.

I'm only interested in dating monoamorous vegan women (who are looking to date women) and I don't have much of an interest in long-distance at all, so I feel like my dating pool is very small.

I've been single for a couple of years.

I tried dating a couple of carnists, but I accepted I just cannot. I had a fun few dates with a woman I met on Veggly, but she told me she didn't feel romantic chemistry with me.

How do I find sapphic vegan singles in my area?

Which apps have y'all had success with? I'm interested in hearing from more than just queer women!

Thanks!

You don't want to ruffle feathers.

The hen doesn't want to be pecked to death on a feces covered floor at a cage free farm.

You don't want to cause a scene at dinner.

The mother cow didn't want to be r**ed and have her child stolen from her and killed on the first day for veal.

You don't want to jeopardize a relationship.

The pig didn't want to go into a gas chamber filled with co2 that acidifies their mouth eyes and lungs.

You're worried that you'll end up alone.

The sheep is worried about having their throat cut open.

You're scared people will call you a pushy militant vegan.

The turkey is scared of being hung upside down and having it's head cut off.

You don't want to experience the socially awkward situations.

The cow wanted to avoid walking down a blood stained cattle chute feeling the raw fear from the horrible death that they know is coming. They smell the blood, they experience the fear, they feel alone and helpless while being prodded to continue marching to the nightmare at the end of it.

Every 24 hours 230-240 million cows/sheep/pigs/turkeys/chickens experience the cruelest most violent death that you could ever imagine..

But atleast you get to fit in with the people causing all of this. Atleast you get to bask in the every day comforts while ignoring the urgency of this dystopian hell that humans have created.

Does it feel nice to normalize and trivialize the violence that's happening?

Do you feel like just being vegan is good enough? If a burning building with people inside it needed you, would you feel good slowly walking and pouring a single cup of water onto it? Does it feel good to send the message that this is all perfectly fine and I won't try to stop the ones responsible for this?

Every hour that you spend being a passive non confrontational pick me vegan hundreds of millions of land animals and billions of sea creatures pay the price for your casual activism.

I know we all want to play the "I'll just be a good example and people will eventually follow my lead game", but during the abolishing of slavery simply not owning slaves wasn't enough to end it. Nor was simply not being a n*zi during ww2.

It's good that you're vegan, but how far does that seem to reach when meat consumption per capita has risen 300-500% in the past 50 years?

The animals are scared, injured, tormented, hopeless, and beaten down so much by what we've done to them, and for some reason everyone seems fine ignoring the urgency of their plight..

Please wake up, and help these poor souls find the justice that they deserve.

Please stop being a Pick Me Vegan.

I need to make it for my kitchen job. I have a really excellent recipe but it uses cashews and msg and I’m not allowed to use those. I have never been convinced whatsoever that potatoes+carrots make a good sauce. I just can’t wrap my head around it, but I will try it if you swear on your mother’s life that it’s good.

A brand called Healthier Comforts are producing a vegan egg white product that are “real eggs”. It looks like it follows the same science as lab grown meat. It says the real eggs are fermented without animal inputs. Selfishly I’m extremely excited to start making deserts with this products. I’m not sure why, but I feel trepidations. I think I’ve been vegan so long the idea of eating eggs is off putting, but this product IS vegan.
Does anyone have a moral and ethical reason this product shouldn’t be adopted by vegans? Any other opinions? Thanks for contributing.

I went vegan after watching Dominion, and I made a YouTube video about the topic a few months ago which I posted here. One of my brothers and one of my friends watched it. My girlfriend doesn't want to but I've still talked to her about some of the arguments and the footage I've seen. Her first reaction was to make excuses like 'animals do it too' and 'I just feel like we are meant to be omnivores'. Turns out another one of my friends had already seen footage of chickens being hung up and having their throats slit, but continues to eat meat. While drunk, my other brother asked why I'm vegan, I explained that it involves killing, torture, rape and separation of families. He literally said 'who gives a shit about animals?'. My mum makes the excuse that plants also don't want to be eaten, tomatoes 'scream' and that we're all just part of one big consciousness that is sharing energy or whatever.

I don't want to start any arguments with anyone, so if we're having a conversation about it and I bring up a point that they can't refute, so they change the subject, I don't push it, but in my head, I can't help but feel like I'm surrounded by psychopathic idiots who make these illogical excuses to continue putting other beings through torture when they have an easy choice not to, because they simply don't care about anyone other than themselves and people/pets that they know personally.

It just feels so isolating. I can't even talk to anyone in my life about this because, well, it applies to them too. And if I happened to be born as a different species, there's a good chance they literally wouldn't care at all if I were fed into a meat grinder while conscious. So maybe they're nice to me, but it's only because I'm a member of a species that has arbitrarily been deemed worthy of compassion, so why should I even care what they think?

Any thoughts or advice would be great, thanks guys!

After years of acting fine at massive family Thanksgiving dinners full of carcass and also the disrespect of no one even touching the dishes I bring, I don’t even want to attend anymore. I’ll spend hours making pumpkin cookies, glazed carrots, other holiday favorites… and people just won’t touch them if they find out I made them and they’re vegan. Years ago, when people would eat my dishes (without knowing who made them) they would be hits and I would leave the event with empty dishes. But as years go by and my veganism becomes more common knowledge, more and more family members just won’t even touch my dishes anymore. It happens at other holidays too now, Easter, Fourth of July, birthdays.. It’s just really hurtful and difficult to not feel down when I think about it.

things randomly showing up. I know bad things happen but I dont need to see tortured kittens pictures on petition posts that pop up on instagram, etc.

ive been crying for a few days bc of a specific one. i just feel like im guilty for living my life when this stuff is happening. i dont know how to emotionally regulate myself when I’m overflowing with grief. i have a therapist but its not really helping too much. i cant deal with it. everytime i close my eyes i see the picture. i deleted my instagram app. it also sucks bc I want to sign the petitions to help but I DONT WANT TO SEe it

Personally I am fucking upppp some overnight oats, burgers/fries/shakes from this local NY chain, Ethiopian food (can’t pronounce any of the names right but it’s lowkey my favorite food of all time), chipotle sofritas burritos, falafel. the OWYN and Koia shakes are so fantastic, most of the dairy protein shakes I used to drink I struggled to get down.

Unfortunately certain kinds of vegetables, meat substitutes and fake cheeses make me want to throw up. It’s a texture thing :/ BKs impossible whopper tasted great but made me feel very not good afterwards. Like I think I’m happy with my diet 80% of the way it is, I don’t really have a desperate need for fake meats or cheese. But… it’s time for me to eat more vegetables like fuck I’m an adult 😭

I've been vegan for almost 6 months now and now the site of meat makes me sick.

I don't know if anyone else there feels this way but, today, my roommate was making some type of meat dish and had the meat sitting in a bowl with marinade on it and i felt nauseous. Basically as if it were human parts. Later she made some other food for me to eat and put it in the same bowl (after it had been washed obviously) and I felt sick.

I need to get my own dishes and sponges, etc. Anyone else feel this way? And any other tips from any vegans living with a meat eater?

I’d love to maybe go on a small solo travel trip this summer before college and I’d love to hear the most vegan friendly cities! I’ll be staying in Europe but nothing to say I won’t spread my wings. I’ve only been to Amsterdam and London since going vegan but both have been so so so amazing, I think of Saint Jean everyday. Ideally I’d love more affordable cities since yk broke student but again maybe someday I’ll somehow get insanely wealthy from zoology lol.

I've been vegan for a while now, especially for ethical reasons. Yesterday, I saw a video on Instagram of an influencer killing a fish to feed a disabled crab in the wild. The crab had lost its legs and was found on the grass. Everyone in the comments cheered the influencer for being so empathetic and saving the crab's life. Unfortunately, I didn't see it that way. I know crabs eat fish in the wild, given that they can really hunt, but a human interfering in between two wild and freee beings didn't make sense to me. I also know that even tigers and other wild animals are fed meat in zoos and conservation parks. My question is: are we, as humans, deciding who gets to live? Why is the life of a fish more important than that of a crab? How do other vegans see this act?

i finally found a shop selling lions mane mushrooms and want to try lions mane steaks.

the issue is i workout a lot and try to get 30g protein/meal and the mushroom will only give me ~3g. most traditional steak sides are usually just carbs or veg as with meat steaks the protein is usually coming from the steak itself.

https://sweetpotatosoul.com/lions-mane-steaks/#wprm-recipe-container-24326. this is the recipe i plan to try. if anyone has ideas for a side dish with protein i would really appreciate it.

Read the Entire Study here: The Effects Of Digital Advocacy: What A Single Exposure To Digital Animal Advocacy Can (And Can’t) Do: https://faunalytics.org/the-effects-of-digital-advocacy/

I never liked cooking. And ofc everyone hates seeing something being dirty or have possible infections, but I haven't stepped over this stage yet.

I definitely will have to cook (I've only discovered that I want to go vegan, I'm not yet 18 and live with my parents. I bet there will also be some problems about buying stuff, not about money, but going out separately. Because I have no clue how to find out if something is a good vegetable or not).

My mom most definitely will ask me to cook my own stuff (which is valid. If she wouldn't force me to continue eating meat of course). A lot of people dislike spending time on stuff they don't like and I may sound like a child, but I don't even like going out with my friends if we're not doing something really useful or/and interesting for us. I also had some troubles with understanding the physical world around me and my body (for example: dislike washing my hair, don't understand whether I have to clean my ears, not notice those things in my eyes), so I guess it's going to be a problem too. I need the whole instruction and of course mom wouldn't give it to me. Another point is that my mom works in the kitchen and I wouldn't be able to go there and cook without her cooking something else or judging eyes. Often she would ask me something and if I did it wrong (though even if I asked how she'd refuse to say) she'd just go "I'll do it myself", so I'm also afraid I wouldn't learn (and one of the reasons why my brain can kinda give up on things). I don't have any friends that live close to try with them or any vegan friends in my country.

I've already tried to learn cooking and I had an opportunity, but it'd be like five times a year? So basically nothing. And I would forget it really quickly. Even if I did write it down idk where it's now. Ik that we have internet for that, but following all instructions doesn't equal knowing how to cook.

I heard that doing a lot of stuff at the weekends for later helps (and the possibility to make it fun). I'm asking for some recipes and maybe some sites with basic cooking and choosing food information. And ofc how to make cooking more interesting (I'd love to do it with friends, but no luck here. Probably make new ones, but my city is kinda small, so I barely found decent ones). Any other useful sites or documents are welcome (such as types of food to universally use).

Hi everyone, I’m a new vegan of around a month. Before veganism i used to eat chilli con carne every day at dinner and so when making the switch i swapped out beef mince for a soy protein alternative. Unfortunately I have cavities on both sides of my mouth each on back teeth that have temporary fillings in. One is cracked but the other has been through root treatment and so i want to avoid damaging the filling with the treatment until i can get a cap so i’ve been eating on the cracked side which has been causing me pain when eating the plant based mince. So I’m looking for an alternative with a similar amount of protein that lowkey doesn’t have to be chewed.
I do have a peanut and tree nut allergy so excluding anything with nuts, any recommendations will be greatly appreciated.

I have recently became interested in veganism, and while I am approaching the lifestyle change gradually, I am exploring new recipes and, of course, ingredients. I was already familiar with tofu and tempeh, and I recently came across Mycelium based products. Which ones have you tried? Do you like them? Do you actively include them in your weekly meal planning or it’s more of an “every now and then” solution?

I recently switched to complete veganism I have tried being vegetarian but I have never completely gone vegan. My concern is that restricting food groups especially in a household which is not vegan feels like going on a path of eating disorder (I hv also cut out sugar from my diet). And that made me cut down to only two meals a day. Also rn majority of my food is tofu based coz I do need protein as I workout and there's only so much i can cook with tofu. I generally also feel more weak now and I have started taking vitamin b12 tablets as a supplement. Except for the judgement from everyone around me for my own choice what else are the real downsides of completely going vegan?

( I live in a country where veganism isn't very common but vegetarianism is much more common and there are a lot of overlaps in dishes)

Hi,

I’ve been vegan for over 30 years, for the animals, for health, to raise awareness and so on. I currently have no animal-derived products in my house outside technology parts we all need nowadays. I shop sustainably, grow my own food and am always cautious when buying anything from food over clothing to beauty products and household goods. It’s my lifestyle and I would never purchase anything animal intentionally.

Here’s my dilemma: I inherited a cello, a viola and violin that are quite old and valuable. I love the sound and look of them but know there are a lot of animal components used to build them such as u, horsehair for the bows, glue and more. I would love to play them but it feels wrong and unethical and I feel guilty for even touching them.

Here’s my options:
1. sell them all together (which feels wrong given the connection with the gifter)
2. replace the animal derived parts with synthetics/carbon fiber (not great for environment)
3. buy a mostly vegan cello and donate the other instruments
4. or scratch the whole idea of playing the cello and gift the existing instruments to schools

I am torn, I love them but am conflicted using them. Thoughts? Open to more suggestions

What's up, guys. I've got a question for my vegan engineers. I'm going to school for engineering (still haven't decided between civil or electrical), and although my question is pretty broad, I was wondering if there were any fields in engineering that take into consideration the lives of other species? I feel like so much of engineering just works to improve the lives of humans, but I don't want to help build/design things that may make our lives easier at the cost of destroying the lives of others. The work doesn't have to directly involve working with animals or their ecosystems, but any type of small indirect impact would be great.

Hi all,

I’ve been vegan now for a few months and figuring out how to navigate everything so hope this question is ok to ask.

In terms of cosmetics, how do people navigate this field? Do you buy vegan products from cruelty free brands or only brands that are vegan? I’m swayed to the latter but interested to hear others thoughts.

Thanks in advance - incredibly grateful for the wonderful community and the support given ❤️