So I'm realizing something...
After posting the chick factory thread and seeing the (predominantly) awesome replies, as well as links to other important vids, sites and articles, I got up this morning and couldn't buy anything non-vegan.
I've been vegan in the past, and I have been vegetarian since then. All in all, meat free since 2001. Wow, that's six years. Never the less, while I buy local, farm raised cruelty free milk and eggs, there's (duh) no way to know where restaurants and stores get their products from. Logic dictates they buy cheaply, not ethically.
I know, you guys are like, "wow, how dumb can this cutething chick get?"
It's to the point where the idea of buying animal products, even if I know where they're from and that the farms that produced them do not condone cruel practices. please don't flame me about how farms are cruel to begin with -- I respectfully disagree. I believe there is a cruel form of farming, but I've been on the traditionally farms, and chickens and cows who are raised on those farms, with plenty of room to run around and lots of grass to munch on are quite content with their lot in life -- those are the ones I buy from. They're local, and I can see the chickies and cows chilling out. Yeah, I pay a lot more money for products from these farms for a very good reason.
In any event, I'm seriously thinking of becoming strict vegan again. Absolutely no animal products when I'm buying food at a restaurant, and I really can't stomach the idea of buying eggs or dairy from the market anymore, despite the fact that I wouldn't and haven't supported factory farms.
Okay, but here's the point. All of that stuff was just lead up. Today, I'm at starbucks, and while I generally hate starbucks on principle, they have soy milk and vegan cookies and stuff.
Except their vegan cookies taste like crap. Super sweet, mushy crap. What the heck? If I'm paying $3 for a cookie, not only should it be vegan, but it should be the best cookie I've ever tasted.
That's my realization. Starbucks, no matter how vegan, still pretty much sucks. :(
Now I can speak from experience: The vegan chocolate moose from wholefoods is AWESOME!!!! :D
I really have to say that the primary reason I am not vegan now and stopped being vegan is the sheer lack of convenience. Even vegetarians can eat pretty much anywhere, but when you're vegan, your choices go down to almost zero. In our culture where we're always on the go, it takes serious determination and a bit of preparation in order to be a healthy and happy vegan.
It would be *so* great if restaurants didn't only offer vegan options, but really good vegan options. It wouldn't be an issue of "ew, I don't want to eat that, it taste like wet paste." It would be an issue of "man, why doesn't the animal product stuff taste this good?"
cutething - one thing I've found is that being vegan at a large, hotel, banquet is a grrreat way to convince people that veg food is better! I don't care what meat dish someone's making, if you make 300 of it, it will suck. Then they come set down a tasty little mushroom ravioli dish or grilled veggies wrapped in filo....it's SO easy to convince people to "eat vegan" once in a while...
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