Guest guest Posted March 14, 2003 Report Share Posted March 14, 2003 Hi Laura, Oops, sorry. When I said I was newish, I actually meant newish to this group and that I've never talked about food, recipes, etc. I've been a vegan for over three years now. How are you doing? It took me two years to finally be able to say I'm vegan so it was five years ago that I cut out eggs then milk and lastly (yipes) cheese. Cheese was the cruncher! It's amazing how just stepping outside conventional beliefs around food brings about such incredible and too often hostile reactions. I wasn't allowed to go veggie while I lived at my parents so we had an awful relationship around the kitchen table! Now they'll put up with it, we've wasted too many years arguing about my 'lifestyle'. I hope you find the support you need. You'll get it here and from me for sure!! I've been close to being sacked at work for not being a team player and buying the milk! But I brought up, very seriously, the equal opportunities act. I have been goaded by people about it and yes, like you, anytime I said I was tired or felt ill, sometimes people have said - ooh it's coz you're vegan! Whatever. My parents 50th wedding anniversary is in May and I've mentioned to my sister in law who's organisng the party that me and my boyfriend are vegans. She was cool and said it was a buffet with lots of salad and she wouldn't pre-butter any rolls. But I really sympathise with you about the wedding menu. Really brave to say you're vegan. At the end of the day you're doing the right thing. Change is difficult for people (you won't be so 'like them' anymore) and food is a touchy issue but people do eventually come round. Best wishes xx so i can shoot that one down ;)Have you, or anyone else, received any aggression as a result of your lifestyle?>I get veggies via organic box scheme and 'staples' at local shops to >avoid >putting more pennies into Tesco, Asda, etc. etc.I agree this is important. At the moment i'm kind of limited for a few reasons:1) we're renting at the moment but about to buy and move somewhere else so i don't want to get too settled where we are. I'm not sure if there are box schemes in the area but am planning on looking into it, especially in our new house.2) The local shops here that sell fruit and veg are pretty ropey! When we first moved here every saturday i went down to the village to buy fruit, veg etc but they used to go off so quickly, i mean a couple of days and they were always bruised. I complained but nothing changed so i gave up. Also our local shops are also chains, although not as big as ASDA like SPAR and one stop shop, they don't stock much apart from biscuits, milk and alcohol.3) money. I'm really really broke. Although i'm earning i have debts which do affect where i shop. ASDA is so cheap that for the moment it makes sense, but i'm hoping it won't be long before i'm in my new house, with some decent local shops, a box scheme and a garden!!!(nothing to do with food but i have been dreaming about a garden!)I'm paying more renting than a mortgage would cost so i'll be able to afford to support more worthwhile companies.As an aside, although i know i've gone on long enough, when i was a student in Coventry i lived in a really multicultural area. I could walk to my local shops and they would sell all kinds of amazing ingredients! There was a fruit and veg shop which sold "normal" things and stuff like mooli, plantain, they always had loads of mango and lime etc. I'd never get this type of stuff locally here.When i move i'll be moving into Wales a bit more so the only bad thing is gonna be getting more interesting ingredients, so for that i'll probably still use supermarkets _______________Use MSN Messenger to send music and pics to your friends http://messenger.msn.co.uk~~ info ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Please remember that the above is only the opinion of the author, there may be another side to the story you have not heard.---------------------------Was this message Off Topic? Did you know? Was it snipped?~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Guidelines: visit <site temporarily offline>Un: send a blank message to - Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 15, 2003 Report Share Posted March 15, 2003 >Saoirse Soya <saoirse_soya >Hi Laura, >Oops, sorry. When I said I was newish, I actually meant newish to this > >group and that I've never talked about food, recipes, etc. I've been >a >vegan for over three years now. Thats ok. Its nice to speak to people who have experienced making the change, telling family, trying to find food to cook etc. >It's amazing how just stepping outside conventional beliefs around >food >brings about such incredible and too often hostile reactions. I >wasn't >allowed to go veggie while I lived at my parents so we had an >awful >relationship around the kitchen table! Now they'll put up with >it, we've >wasted too many years arguing about my 'lifestyle'. I know exactly how you feel. I went veggie for a year when i was 13 but got ill because i wasn't eating right. Mainly because being 13 i had no spending power and my mum insisted on shoping in the then not very veggie friendly supermarkets and wouldn't go to a health food shop. I think she was waiting for me to fail so she could say told you so! After that i couldn't even mention wanting to go veggie again without huuge arguments so i gave up. Now i've been away from home for 4 years, i told her i was vegan and she didn't seem to mind. Wait til i go back home to visit though and i'll see what happens then! >I hope you find the support you need. You'll get it here and from me >for >sure!! Thank you. everyone in the group is so helpful. If it wasn't for the net i think i'd go mad! I know no vegans in " real life " . >But I really sympathise with you about the wedding menu. Really brave >to >say you're vegan. At the end of the day you're doing the right >thing. >Change is difficult for people (you won't be so 'like them' >anymore) and >food is a touchy issue but people do eventually come >round. I didn't feel very brave, just very scared! Its a shame when you feel scared about saying something that you know is right. I just make sure that i'm non confrontational about it so i don't alienate people from me. I think the change thing is right for my boyfriend's dad. Now, instead of being like one of them, i'm some weird freak or something. How shallow, just because of what i eat! Anyway, i only heard this from my boyfriends mum and she does get mixed up about things so i won't jump to conclusions and just see what he says when we meet. Peace, Laura _______________ Stay in touch with MSN Messenger http://messenger.msn.co.uk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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