[eminthesr]

I just decided to become a vegetarian and I was just curious what you guys tell your friends/other people about why you chose vegetarianism (or veganism). I didn't think it was a big deal, but I told my cousin and she was like what? why? and she didn't believe me about the conditions of the animals. She's like that's only in a few farms!

So ya, how do you react to those people?

 

[Elijah]

Well, I do it for both reasons, animals and health.

I tell them that I am going to live to be 150 and walk on the moon. I believe everyone should also do it for health reasons and not eat processed vegan junk foods. That would give vegans a better name in general.

 

[GhostUser]

First of all, congrats for becoming vegetarian!

I told my friends that I'm a vegan out of compassion for the animals. If they ask me additional questions, I do my best to answer them and often refer them to www.goveg.com (because it's easy to remember and loaded with information!). If they don't believe me about the conditions of factory farms, like your friend, direct her to that website or even www.meetyourmeat.com. Another good site is www.factoryfarming.com - a site made by Farm Sanctuary. This has a lot of information that may help your cousin (and others) understand factory farming is more common and horrible than she thinks!

The important thing is to be friendly and informative. It takes practice, but before you know it you will be able to talk comfortably with your friends and family about vegetarianism with ease. At first, I was shy and didn't quite know the best way to share the information with them that they were asking for, but it gets easier. Do lots of research (I'm sure you have already!) and learn the stats - they will help you when people ask you questions.

Good luck, and again - congratulations for making the decision to go vegetarian!

 

[eminthesr]

Thanks so much : ]

I tried to show my mom the "meet your meat" video, but she said she knew it was sad and she didn't want to see it (but she still eats meat!)

I'm going to try and be more informational and friendly!! And I guess I'm just going to have to deal with the people who disagree with me..

 

[Elijah]

You will find alot of people will not watch that video. Maybe try the less graphic videos or some of John Robbins books.

You can also try some books like the China Study.

 

[GhostUser]

You're welcome.

Maybe she will come around and decide to watch it someday. Many people, including most of my relatives, choose to remain ignorant about animal suffering. The best we can do for them is be a positive voice for our diets!

Good luck with dealing with those who disagree - I am still learning.

 

[GhostUser]

Elijah: Are you a teen? Just to let you know, this is a teens-only section of VB.

 

[Elijah]

No I am not, sorry I did not realize that.

 

[Engelsman]

When i first told my friends i just said i hadn't eaten meat for a few weeks and wanted to see how well i could do. I didn't actually say i wanted to go veggie. Now though they know my reasons.

If anybody asks me why i did it now, i use a quote i saw on VB a while back which was something like "I consider myself a lover of living things and feel that it is hypocritical to eat them."

p.s I used 11 "I's" in this post

 

[GhostUser]

I say:

I do not eat dead bodies

I love animals

I choose not to support animal cruelty

Theres no reason to eat it, you can be just as healthy with out it

its healthier

its the best decision for me, animals, and the enviorment.

 

[GhostUser]

Quote:

Originally Posted by veggiejanie

First of all, congrats for becoming vegetarian!

I told my friends that I'm a vegan out of compassion for the animals. If they ask me additional questions, I do my best to answer them and often refer them to www.goveg.com (because it's easy to remember and loaded with information!). If they don't believe me about the conditions of factory farms, like your friend, direct her to that website or even www.meetyourmeat.com. Another good site is www.factoryfarming.com - a site made by Farm Sanctuary. This has a lot of information that may help your cousin (and others) understand factory farming is more common and horrible than she thinks!

The important thing is to be friendly and informative. It takes practice, but before you know it you will be able to talk comfortably with your friends and family about vegetarianism with ease. At first, I was shy and didn't quite know the best way to share the information with them that they were asking for, but it gets easier. Do lots of research (I'm sure you have already!) and learn the stats - they will help you when people ask you questions.

Good luck, and again - congratulations for making the decision to go vegetarian!

You took alot of what I was going to say

 

[Granola]

I'm kind of live-and-let-live, about everything. I told my friends I was going to try and become a vegetarian, and they were all really supportive. I got a few "Oh man, I could never do that." type of responses, but that's the closest I got to anything negative. Other than sticking to vegetarian foods when we grab something to eat, I don't bug them about it- and they don't bug me. So it's all good.

 

[nori_roll]

Most of the time if people ask me why I am vegetarian, I just laugh and say I don't like meat but I don't mind if they want to eat it. I'm not really a veg for animal rights reasons, and I don't want to preach to teens on health (probably the last people willing to listen!). Generally when people realize I'm just going to bring my own food and not make a big deal of things they leave it be but still remember not to offer me meat etc.

 

[dizzymisslizzy]

Whenever someone asks me why I'm vegan, I say "Because I hate vegetables."

I try to have a sense of humor about it, because surprisingly a lot of people think veg*n's are preachy hippies throwing red paint on people's coats. i agree with nori_roll, it's basically useless to lecture people, so i try to lead by example. eminthesr, you're right, it's really not a big deal, but i think a lot of people are automatically defensive. good luck!

 

[peachie]

i agree with nori roll and lizzy. i used to preach and make people realize that i have a point, one they should consider. but people just don't care. when i stopped lecturing is when i stopped getting nagged about it. it's best for vegans to have a live and let live approach, especially since a stereotype is that vegans are stuck up, or think we're better than everyone else.

 

[eminthesr]

Wow so I finally told all of my friends that I was a vegetarian, and it went over pretty well except for with one of my "friends." She started laughing and was like "omg I could NEVER live without my chicken." And then she goes on to say how her dad told her that all vegetarians are retarded, and that it's part of the food chain. And how if she ever went vegetarian her dad wouldn't talk to her.

Errr...and I didn't know what to say. I guess I was just kind of shocked that she pretty much called me retarded...not the reaction I was expecting.

 

[Scythe]

I said "I felt like it" and they laughed. They were quite used to me being spontaneous and strange by then, so it was no real shock.

 

[ChiKat]

Uhhh...I haven't told my friends

I have told them that I don't like meat, and the meat at the food court creeps me out (it really does...I swear that is not real chicken...)

I've been a vegetarian for 3 months now...and none of them seem to notice that I don't eat meat. I eat veggie dogs and Boca burgers at the food court though. I've always ordered Veggie Delite's at Subway though, and I've never gotten meat on my pizza, so it's not really that noticable.

 

[Keelin]

I don't distinctly remember any conversation with most of them? I remember we went out for lunch one day and I order a veg sandwich, and they looked at me very strangely and asked if I'd gone veg. I told them "obviously," and they dropped the matter, eheh. Later when we were travelling to Ottawa together they were all "kay, explain." But they were pretty cool about it, which was nice.

A few friends at the barn still don't get it, though. We had a Christmas dinner/potluck thing last week and everyone kept coming up to me and going "asad3FD(#)FJIDNOTURKEY??!!1" which I found terribly funny, ergh.

 

[Kelsey]

I don't bring it up, but if someone asks or mentions it I just say it's a personal choice. Because really I feel like the people who are cool get it already even if they don't want to make the same choice, and the people who don't get it won't no matter what you say.