I don't know why I remain a vegan.

Hi IndigoHeart!

This forum is for vegans AND vegetarians, so there's no reason to stay away from this site if you eat non-vegan products

First of all, I understand your situation. I'm also 16, and a vegetarian. I know just how difficult it can be to eat veg*n in social situations, and besides, my parents don't let me go vegan... It sucks, but keep fighting and I'm sure things will get better.

I don't know about UK AR laws specifically, but in most of the EU they don't live up to what I personally deem to be enough. Especially in the chicken/egg industry. I live in Sweden, a country where many politicians take pride in claiming that we have the strictest AR laws in the world (although Swedish AR organizations claim that's not true anymore). Yet every time I see pictures from Swedish meat industries, there is just so much suffering, tiny cages, antibiotics, painful slaughter methods, not enough litter, you name it. Besides, laws aren't always followed, meat is imported, et.c...

I hope you can find the motivation to continue being a veg*n! Have a great day

1. It's easier to be your own person when you leave your parents' house. High school sucks. A lot of the things you're describing--the social isolation, the stupid commentary from friends, the peer pressure... I remember that from high school and I wasn't even a vegetarian then. You're right, though, that when you don't live with omnivores it is easier. I think that's why so many people go vegetarian or vegan in college. You can start practicing now, even if you aren't 100% perfect all the time. If at first you don't succeed, try, try again!

2. The things they've told you are wrong. Animals suffer in the dairy, egg, and honey industries, where their bodies are exploited for profit. They are slaughtered when they are no longer economically productive. This is a fact of all animal agriculture, including small family farms, organic farms, etc... Cows are artificially inseminated every 400 days, and their calves are taken from them usually within hours of birth so their milk can instead go to humans. Male calves are then slaughtered for veal (or, apparently, shot if the price of beef is too low.) In breeding centers for egg-laying chickens, immediately after birth all the chicks are sexed. The male chicks will not grow up to make eggs, so they are "culled"--either gassed or ground to death.

3. Vegans can eat cake. Vegan cake is delicious. I have learned so many awesome skills going vegan, and now even my non-vegan friends like my food. Vegan food isn't even all healthy. Maybe you could try making cookies or cupcakes and sharing them with your friends.

4. There are lots of great hair products that don't contain animal products. Why do you want that one? Because of advertising? Because someone else has it? Are those really good reasons? Veganism is about being your own person, about rebelling against unjust social norms, about saying "no" to a corrupt system that abuses innocent creatures. It can be hard when everyone around you is still asleep. But why would you want to go back to sleep again? Wouldn't you rather be an informed, compassionate, free individual than a mindless follower?

The dairy industry openly acknowledges that, when a dairy cow's milk production declines, that cow is sent off to be slaughtered (even if that cow is still young). Please consider this quote from the Midwest Dairy Association:

"The life of a dairy cow varies from farm to farm and from cow to cow; some can live for as long as 20 years while others may have a much shorter life. Dairy farmers work hard to keep cows healthy for a long productive life. However, removing cows from the dairy herd is a common practice that allows farmers to bring in new, more productive cows, thus ensuring a steady supply of milk. Meat from cows that are no longer milking is a valuable source of safe and nutritious food."
Source: website of the Midwest Dairy Association: http://www.midwestdairy.com/0t164p176/dairy-cows/#faq7

In addition, remember that female mammals (including cows, humans, and others) only produce milk after they have given birth to a baby. Therefore, in order for a dairy cow to produce milk, it must give birth to a calf. In order for that dairy cow to continue to produce milk year after year, it must again be periodically impregnated and give birth to still more calves http://www.midwestdairy.com/0t164p176/dairy-cows/#faq6 . If these calves are male, they will be raised for killed for meat.

Dairy farmers don't intend to be cruel - rather, these practices help to maximize profitability. It is cruel nevertheless. The dairy industry directly supports the meat industry.

If you go to http://www.meetup.com (a free social gathering website), there's a good chance that you can find a vegetarian get-together group nearby. This is a great way to get together with fellow vegans face-to-face.

Hi

I'm 17 and also in the Uk, and I can resonate pretty well with some of your issues. I definitely get lonely being vegan too, as I'm the only one at my school. I totally get you with the food swap thing too, I feel really left out. My school also does loads of cake sales in the sixth form, and I feel really sad that I can't eat them, as thy always look so yummy (I have tried to make vegan cakes but although I liked them, my mum said they were disgusting when she found out they were vegan 😭 so that's kind of knocked my confidence).

My family also tell me that "cows don't get hurt when they're milked" and "chickens are happy as the eggs we buy are free range" and "if the conditions were really that bad, we would have heard about it", and sometimes it's really discouraging, it feels like the whole world is against veganism. Sigh...
What I do, and what I suggest you do, is write a list of 'reasons why I'm vegan'. I look over them every so often to keep my motivation up. Chocolate has really been tempting me recently, especially over Easter 😔. Here's my list, I hope it helps 😊
- whenever I eat non vegan I feel like crap. Mentally and physically. I always remind myself when there's temptation, how heavy and bloated I feel after consuming non vegan things.
-environment. Geography is one of my favourite subjects and I really care about the environment, and I know that veganism is great for the environment. Studying the climate change topic at school has really made me think about the effects of humans on the planet, and I know that consuming animal protein is a massive contributor to global warming, sadly
-baby chicks get ground up after birth just because they're male! It's gruesome, and I cannot justify anyway at all, even eating "free range eggs". I first became vegetarian because I didn't want to kill animals, but even though the hen actually laying the egg doesn't kill the hen, the industry still kills so many animals unnecessarily.
-baby cows get dragged away from their mothers soon after birth. The dairy industry is strongly connected to the veal industry, and as I never ate veal as a vegetarian, how can I eat dairy, knowing it still slaughters calves for veal?

I'd recommend earthlings, it's gruesome, but it's true and it will really give you some strong reasons for veganism.

I really hope this has been helpful, if not, there has been plenty of other great answers! Just remember that you are not alone, there are plenty of other vegan teenagers out there with similar issues to you, and you have to just stand true to your values. Don't worry about slipping up, everyone has moments of weaknesses!

Ohhh and I am so totally with you on the hot vegan boyfriend thing ��
Haha and you describe it perfectly.... "Eco warrior vegan fair trade organic cruelty free house"

Lots of my "veggie" friends are the same as yours... They eat turkey/chicken at Christmas "because it's traditional" (nut roast anyone??!) or they eat gelatine because they "like haribos too much" or eat a ham sandwich "because they can't live without it". So annoying!!

Love and support,
Rebecca x

OK OP, you're at an age when you're perhaps starting to spread your wings for the first time and you're forming idea's as to who you will be as an adult. You perhaps don't think this is true, or, you aren't consciously doing these things. Perhaps I could explain better by talking about myself a little, before we go any further I'd like to stress at this point that I honestly don't know if i'll be vegan next month nevermind next year etc so I'm not trying to pressure you into doing something that may be making you unhappy. That choice is yours to make.

Prior to my mid-teens I was sporty, outdoorsy, anti-smoking and not interested in the hassle of drinking underage. Further to this I was affraid of drugs and viewed them as utterly stupid.

My knees take 3 days to recover from football, I took ibuprofen to take the edge off it, I can't get a game because i'm not "fit" (this should say I was heavier than most with my level of fitness but no one really wanted to help me address this so they gave me excuses and other horse**** reasons). At this point I basically see no way of continuing sport and having lost something I loved, I now have a void to fill. My friends smoke, drink and smoke dope, some even dabble in other drugs as well. I believed at this point I had nothing really to lose from joining in.

Fast forward to 18-19 years old and I have massive depression, I wake disappointed and go to sleep begging for god to let me die in my sleep (this isn't a metaphor, this happened), I realize something is wrong and I have to address it but I can only get so far. Starving myself had shed the excess weight that I carried before and I found that I could play football better - unfortunately at this point team football and even with friends is a no go.

Fast forward to 23 the worst years are behind me and to most eyes I'm fine, inside I'm a mess that still feels like my head is in a blender, I make some very stupid decisions which I can only blame on brain damage because I knew better.

Fast forward to 28 and having ballooned to a record high weight and having spent several years trying to comfort eat myself to death,...... I come across video's about the vegan lifestyle from a health perspective with actual science backing it up. I've been looking for something and on a whim I go vegan for 6 months straight to see what it could do for me. Directly or indirectly the vegan diet has pushed me to giving up smoking, giving up drinking, I've lost 4 and a 1/2 stones in weight, I am no longer entirely sedentary and I am going for walks with a view to running/weights etc. I'm using the states services to help with my other issues as where before I was reluctant or scared to. I think about what I am putting into my body and taking out of it on a level I simply haven't before. I feel like I'm more like me again, like there is options going forward. My weight has always been an issue but the easiest it's ever been to deal with is while being vegan. I feel simply put- I can now address issues I have had having seen that I can change my diet radically and be a lot better for it.

So not quite the whole story in micro detail and I'm typing it as I think it, no editing,......my question is simply this - had I became vegan at your age could I have avoided the bad and been at a very different place by now?!

Animals, the environment, future medications/diseases, etc etc. are all big an important issues but with those aside being vegan from your age could lead you to a very different adult life than one which does not involve you being vegan, it means that should you decide to crack and go with the crowd for an easy life- you could well end up paying a truly massive personal price in doing so. If it's not something which is bad for you and it's something you want to do - I would say be who you want to be and stick with it?!?! You'll never know the life you avoid in doing so but if this is who you are, the other life might just be at great personal expense like mine.

If parts don't make sense then I'm sorry but I hope you get the gist of what I was trying to say - it's a potentially huge decision for yourself and you have to do what's right for you, I just figured you would get a lot of animal based reasons and perhaps the personal perspective might add a dimension to your determination?!