dreading Thanksgiving?

[journey]

I've stolen the name of the thread from the Halloween thread, but Thanksgiving is coming - seems like it's always an issue for vegans...

Of course I appreciate being able to get together with my family, but I really don't like Thanksgiving - its all about killing turkeys (I've made friends with various domestic pet turkeys over the years and they're really such gentle creatures - it makes me really sad to think of them being killed, and the thoughtlessness of those who have them killed for this holiday).

And it's also a twisted account of pilgrims and native americans that really didn't happen the way we've all been taught, but now has become the Xmas shopping overconsumption kickoff. Sorry, I don't mean that to sound so negative, but...

The other issue is I always have to figure out if there's going to be anything for me to eat, while everyone else has more than they could want.

We're going to a restaurant this year, I called and asked all kinds of questions about their menu, they were very nice about it and I was excited because there were several selections for me, but now they're having a totally different buffet menu which is not nearly as good for vegans.

So we might go somewhere else (their menu is not even posted on the website), and all this in front of family who I am trying to show that veganism is not a problem, not difficult to find things to eat, and I just don't feel like being put on the spot in front of omni family and inlaws.

Sigh....maybe it'll work out better than I anticiapte. Anyone else have similar worries about the day?

[Angelwing]

Thanksgiving has long passed! You US guys are way behind. ;)

My thanksgiving was great. I made vegetarian gravy and brought it over to my mom's where we made mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, corn and made stuffing in a pot. Not terribly healthy but delicious nonetheless. My mom likes eating vegetarian so it usually goes over fairly well. My sister is a whole other story, though.

[butterflytat20]

i dont know what i'm going to do for thanksgiving either. usually i just eat all the sides and skip the turkey.
this year i want to make pumpkin stuffing

[cookingVeg]

I love thanksgiving. I'm from Canada, so it's passed for me, too, but I hosted a Thanksgiving meal where we had a squash tart, cranberry sauce, homemade bread, scalloped potatoes and celeriac, mashed sweet potatoes, and cheezecake. It was awesome!

[codemonkey]

I'm not dreading it even though I've been volunteered to cook the turkey (although I'm icked out about touching it.) I'm making all of the sides and desserts vegan though.

[Maya]

I'm undecided about what I'm going to do, I think I might buy a tofurky just to show my family that there are other options,and I'm going to try to make the sides vegan.:yes:

[greensgood]

And it's also a twisted account of pilgrims and native americans that really didn't happen the way we've all been taught, but now has become the Xmas shopping overconsumption kickoff. Sorry, I don't mean that to sound so negative, but...



this is exactly the same reason why i boycott thanksgiving! its totally stupid to celebrate ruining this beautiful land and destroying the lives of thousands of native peoples. i agree the whole pilgrim thing candy coats the horrible things that settlers did to native peoples, are we thankful for the plague and the rape of so many native women?
i know this is not typical, but i am also not thankful for being an American im often embarrassed, we are destroying the Earth and responsible for killing hundreds of people everyday (air raids, bombs, war...), no thanks!

the past few years i have not spent with my family (everyone thinks i have an ED b/c i don't eat their food, they have tried to sneak meat into so many "veggie" dishes, im over it), instead i bake some pies for my neighbors, and serve dinner at a community center. it is so much more fulfilling and i actually look forward to it.

[beanstalk]

i might be lucky in that i'm having surgery next week and might be in too much pain to go lol.

i dont know how veg people can cook a turkey. i have never cooked poultry! its always grossed me out since it looks like a dead animal. i would gladly do it if they didnt mind me burying it lol.

interestingly enough my brother is having a vegan potluck so i'll go there instead if someone picks me up. my mom is totally into traditional thankgiving where meat is even cooked w/ the veggies.

[SuicideBlonde]

I hate the holiday. Last year was great because I was seeing a veggie boy and went to his family's house. It has been years since I had to deal with my family because they usually go out of town this year they are staying.

[elevenelevenxo]

My boyfriend's family are avid hunters.....the weekend before Thanksgiving it's tradition for them to go to some property they have in West Virginia and go deer hunting. :( So lucky me, along with struggling to find anything to eat and listening to asinine "jokes" about me not eating meat, I get to hear about the 8 point buck they shot and all the gory details. :( :(

Then my family....they're more used to me not eating meat, but still, I deal with the idiocy.

I usually pick at the sides that are veg-friendly, but then I deal with questions like, "that's all you're eating?" and all that crap....

Blah, I'm such a Grinch. I hate the holidays.

Oh yeah, and whoever said the thing about the story of Thanksgiving being completely skewed is dead on and I applaud you!!!

[journey]

Yeah, I want to try a Tofurky - I can't really get out of the family thing (it's the only convenient time to get together with them), but maybe I'll make a Tofurkey for just me and my vegetarian hubby after the holiday. I think some of them come with sides, which we never have leftovers of when we go to a restaurant and he really misses that.

I'd love to do some turkey activist thing, volunteer at a turkey shelter or something, but haven't really worked out what I could do. I also don't know what I could do to protest the skewed message of the holiday, as far as exploiting Native peoples, holiday shopping consumerism focus, etc. (most people think I'm just being really difficult when I express objection to the holiday even on those grounds, let alone what happens to turkeys and pigs).

I think most of my family knows I'm not going to eat the turkey, ham, etc (and why) and don't push it on me/aggravate me about it so much any more, but they just can't deal with the milk, butter, eggs, cheese thing, which ends up in soooo many of their side dishes that would be otherwise delicious (so disappointing to see a beautiful dish I could eat with big pats of butter, cheese etc on top). They don't agree with me not eating meat but don't hassle me much about it anymore. But seems like they think I'm just being totally difficult and unreasonable with the dairy and eggs.

Fortunately hunting season in the family's state is the week after Thanksgiving, so I only have to hear of the plans rather than what they've caught.

I guess Canadians go through all this stuff too, just earlier?

[ashlend]

Truth: I've never liked Thanksgiving and I dislike it even more now. I was never into the whole traditional Thanksgiving meal and it's even less fun when all you can eat is the side dishes.

HOWEVER, this year I am spending Thanksgiving in Disney World with my husband's family. We'll be there for almost a week. So I'm looking forward to the trip as a whole, that one meal notwithstanding. :)

[elevenelevenxo]

Fortunately hunting season in the family's state is the week after Thanksgiving, so I only have to hear of the plans rather than what they've caught.

Blah.....it's not even Thanksgiving yet and I've already had to endure two or three family visits with graphic discussions of deer hunting.....stomach churning. :( :help:

[Chi_GreenTea]

I so dread this holiday... now what to do???

[Chi_GreenTea]

Yeah, I want to try a Tofurky - I can't really get out of the family thing (it's the only convenient time to get together with them), but maybe I'll make a Tofurkey for just me and my vegetarian hubby after the holiday. I think some of them come with sides, which we never have leftovers of when we go to a restaurant and he really misses that.

I'd love to do some turkey activist thing, volunteer at a turkey shelter or something, but haven't really worked out what I could do. I also don't know what I could do to protest the skewed message of the holiday, as far as exploiting Native peoples, holiday shopping consumerism focus, etc. (most people think I'm just being really difficult when I express objection to the holiday even on those grounds, let alone what happens to turkeys and pigs).

I think most of my family knows I'm not going to eat the turkey, ham, etc (and why) and don't push it on me/aggravate me about it so much any more, but they just can't deal with the milk, butter, eggs, cheese thing, which ends up in soooo many of their side dishes that would be otherwise delicious (so disappointing to see a beautiful dish I could eat with big pats of butter, cheese etc on top). They don't agree with me not eating meat but don't hassle me much about it anymore. But seems like they think I'm just being totally difficult and unreasonable with the dairy and eggs.

Fortunately hunting season in the family's state is the week after Thanksgiving, so I only have to hear of the plans rather than what they've caught.

I guess Canadians go through all this stuff too, just earlier?

YEP we do... though i'm celebrating both times!

[Fromper]

I actually have no idea what I'm doing for Thanksgiving this year. I no longer have any family living in the area, and I'm not traveling to visit them like I did last year.

There's a veg*n meetup group that does a pot luck Thanksgiving every year that I could go to. I've only been to one of their events before, and I was feeling a little sick at the time, so I wasn't very sociable and didn't make any friends. This might be a good chance to try again with that group.

--Fromper
:juggle:

[PTree15]

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday, not so much for the food, but because it's the one day where my entire family can get together. We're all over the place for Christmas, but for Thanksgiving, everyone manages to attend, and it's always a great time. This is my first Thanksgiving following a vegan diet, so I'm planning on making my own gravy and side dishes so that I will have plenty to eat. It won't be unusual to bring a dish or three because everyone brings something. My family is huge and they love to eat :D.

I'm jonesin' for gingerbread, so I'm going to make that and probably chocolate chip cookies. My mom keeps thinking that "this vegan thing" is causing to me to "miss out" on things, and I keep trying to tell her how much better I feel mentally and physically by eating vegan. Plus, discovering vegan baking has made any feeling of "missing out" disappear.

[sleepydvdr]

Thanksgiving has long passed! You US guys are way behind. ;)

My thanksgiving was great. I made vegetarian gravy and brought it over to my mom's where we made mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, corn and made stuffing in a pot. Not terribly healthy but delicious nonetheless. My mom likes eating vegetarian so it usually goes over fairly well. My sister is a whole other story, though.

Other countries celebrate Thanksgiving? I thought it would only be a US holiday. You know, the whole Pilgrims/Indian thing. Why would any other country celebrate it?

I loved the holiday when I was a kid, but now everything about it is appalling. Starting with the settlers stabbing the native Americans in the back down to the free dead turkeys given away at grocery stores (buy groceries from some stores for 8 weeks straight and present receipts). The only shining light is getting two days off from work.

[slicknickns]

My boyfriend's family are avid hunters.....the weekend before Thanksgiving it's tradition for them to go to some property they have in West Virginia and go deer hunting. :( So lucky me, along with struggling to find anything to eat and listening to asinine "jokes" about me not eating meat, I get to hear about the 8 point buck they shot and all the gory details. :( :(




As terrible as that sounds to you, never forget that a man with his rifle is far, far better than any industry or corporation with it's attorney's.


Nothing builds a connection between man and Earth like hunting for food.

[greensgood]

Nothing builds a connection between man and Earth like hunting for food.

Are you serious? i can think of tons of better ways "man" connects to the Earth that do NOT involve killing or violence...hunting is always wrong, it is murder and teaches "man" nothing more than a false sense of power over nature.
go to the beach, watch squirrels in the park, see birds fishing at lake, pet a cat, watch a hawk....much better, less bloody ways "man" connects to the Earth IMO.

[LibraChic107]

I am dreading the food situation this thanksgiving, but I always try to make due with whatever the situation brings.

[slicknickns]

Are you serious? i can think of tons of better ways "man" connects to the Earth that do NOT involve killing or violence...hunting is always wrong, it is murder and teaches "man" nothing more than a false sense of power over nature.
go to the beach, watch squirrels in the park, see birds fishing at lake, pet a cat, watch a hawk....much better, less bloody ways "man" connects to the Earth IMO.

Have you ever hiked for miles in wilderness? Camped in the middle of nowhere? There's nothing like navigating terrain guided by your head, but with a deep thought of food and hunger. True, the modern hunter is not entirely relying upon his kill to sustain him, but it does build his affinity and connection to the Earth.

What is your view of hunting? Most importantly, Hunters? I may be a total-vegetarian who tries to embrace veganism, but i grew up revering guns and hunting. There is a huge difference between collecting your food in a natural and primal sense rather than relying upon a store or a company to put food in your stomach.

You may be a vegetarian or vegan, but what about the foods you buy to sustain you. Do you look at the labels for the parent company? Would you discontinue eating something, if it was made and marketed by a company that had horrendous animal/environmental record; even if the product was vegan?

[greensgood]

What is your view of hunting? Most importantly, Hunters? I may be a total-vegetarian who tries to embrace veganism, but i grew up revering guns and hunting. There is a huge difference between collecting your food in a natural and primal sense rather than relying upon a store or a company to put food in your stomach.

You may be a vegetarian or vegan, but what about the foods you buy to sustain you. Do you look at the labels for the parent company? Would you discontinue eating something, if it was made and marketed by a company that had horrendous animal/environmental record; even if the product was vegan?

my view of hunters is negative. most hunting is done for "sport", it is a bloodsport, and one of the worse things man does to animals and the Earth. animals are endangered and exstinct because of hunters. it is wrong to kill any animal, especially for sport. it is also sick how hunters display their kill and take pride in ending another beings life. we know that we don't need meat to be healthy, even if hunting is for food, it is unnecessary.

i am very aware of the companies that make the products i buy and food i eat. for example, i do not buy silk products because they are owned by Dean and i refuse to contribute to the hugest dairy company in the US. i also do not buy and rarely consume soy products because of the methods most soy is grown and the detriment it causes on the Earth, as well as the companies that grow it. i will not shop at a market if they don't treat the workers fair (wal-mart). i don't buy products tested on animals or from companies that test on animals.

[SuicideBlonde]

I invited my roommate to my Thanksgiving dinner. She will hopefully help me deal with the fam. I have to remember also to ask about what is in everything.

[slicknickns]

my view of hunters is negative. most hunting is done for "sport", it is a bloodsport, and one of the worse things man does to animals and the Earth. animals are endangered and instinct because of hunters. it is wrong to kill any animal, especially for sport. it is also sick how hunters display their kill and take pride in ending another beings life. we know that we don't need meat to be healthy, even if hunting is for food, it is unnecessary.


Sport? Why kill a large animal and leave it for dead, or just use the carcass for dead? I've never heard of such a thing.

"....instinct because of hunters." What the hell does that mean? Wait, do you mean extinct? Can you tell me what animals have been driven to extinction or seriously endangered because of hunting in the western world? Don't forget who got rid of all the buffalo in the United States.

don't forget the journey of hunting; there's a story behind that dear on the wall.