I like being vegan, when I can. But as I'm working through a lot of issues relating to my eating behaviours, I've accepted that I need to cut myself some slack and not feel the need to be perfect 100% of the time. But I think the intention is important, as is the effort.
When not possible to remain vegan, I always make sure that my choices are cruelty free. If I'm going to eat eggs, I eat organic free range eggs from farms where I've seen the chickens running around, I've seen where they sleep and I've seen them being fed. I've spoken the farmers and learned their policy about how they care for their animals and what happens to them when they stop producing eggs. Or if I'm going to have milk products, I always choose organic produce, from free range cows who produce a LOW volume of milk because they are not fed hormones, and whom are milked by hand. It's hard to find milk like this in my area, so I generally don't have it a lot. But at least it means that I very rarely get to drink milk.
If I come across any products that aren't vegan, but I don't know what they contain to make them not vegan, I always make sure I e-mail/phone the manufacturer to find out what ingredients aren't vegan. I also check to see how they source their milk and egg products/ingredients.
I think I understand what you mean about being against human suffering too and vegan not really encompassing that. If I'm explaining my dietary choices to someone I always say 'mostly organic, mostly vegan, mostly fair trade and more important CRUELTY FREE'. If someone really wants to know, they'll wait for a proper answer and won't expect a one word answer like vegan/vegetarian/omnivore. And if they don't really want to know, then I just don't answer.
I always try to find ethical sources for clothing, but I don't seem to be having much luck recently. I wish these things were more widespread, atm it seems to be so expensive and that really must put people off. For those that have the money to make the choice it's fine, but for people with very limited income on a very tight budget like me, fair trade/organic/vegan/ethical food and clothing etc needs to become more widely available, or people will just continue to not opt for it.
I double-check things with manufacturers sometimes, but sometimes I'm too busy/lazy. Thank you for the inspiration.
As to the clothes issue, yeah, it's a tough one. I've not bought any clothes in ages (or shoes in years) because of this. I decided a few months ago that I'll just buy stuff from cruelty-free places (probably expensive) & charity shops (& other second-hand places - probably cheap). Hopefully this approach will sort of balance things out economically, whilst also not contributing to the demand for unethically produced clothing.
Seems like you're doing exactly what I advocate - trying your best & making a big contribution on the stuff that you've identified as most important, without letting it drive you crazy.
I like being vegan, when I can. But as I'm working through a lot of issues relating to my eating behaviours, I've accepted that I need to cut myself some slack and not feel the need to be perfect 100% of the time. But I think the intention is important, as is the effort.
When not possible to remain vegan, I always make sure that my choices are cruelty free. If I'm going to eat eggs, I eat organic free range eggs from farms where I've seen the chickens running around, I've seen where they sleep and I've seen them being fed. I've spoken the farmers and learned their policy about how they care for their animals and what happens to them when they stop producing eggs. Or if I'm going to have milk products, I always choose organic produce, from free range cows who produce a LOW volume of milk because they are not fed hormones, and whom are milked by hand. It's hard to find milk like this in my area, so I generally don't have it a lot. But at least it means that I very rarely get to drink milk.
If I come across any products that aren't vegan, but I don't know what they contain to make them not vegan, I always make sure I e-mail/phone the manufacturer to find out what ingredients aren't vegan. I also check to see how they source their milk and egg products/ingredients.
I think I understand what you mean about being against human suffering too and vegan not really encompassing that. If I'm explaining my dietary choices to someone I always say 'mostly organic, mostly vegan, mostly fair trade and more important CRUELTY FREE'. If someone really wants to know, they'll wait for a proper answer and won't expect a one word answer like vegan/vegetarian/omnivore. And if they don't really want to know, then I just don't answer.
I always try to find ethical sources for clothing, but I don't seem to be having much luck recently. I wish these things were more widespread, atm it seems to be so expensive and that really must put people off. For those that have the money to make the choice it's fine, but for people with very limited income on a very tight budget like me, fair trade/organic/vegan/ethical food and clothing etc needs to become more widely available, or people will just continue to not opt for it.
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I double-check things with manufacturers sometimes, but sometimes I'm too busy/lazy. Thank you for the inspiration.
As to the clothes issue, yeah, it's a tough one. I've not bought any clothes in ages (or shoes in years) because of this. I decided a few months ago that I'll just buy stuff from cruelty-free places (probably expensive) & charity shops (& other second-hand places - probably cheap). Hopefully this approach will sort of balance things out economically, whilst also not contributing to the demand for unethically produced clothing.
Seems like you're doing exactly what I advocate - trying your best & making a big contribution on the stuff that you've identified as most important, without letting it drive you crazy.
Go you!
Kx
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