Topic: demystifying vegetarianism, veganism, and plant-based consumption
hamfist !t5TYQ9eJPs started this discussion 11 years ago #40,749
The prospect of a meat/dairy-free or plant-based diet can be very overwhelming, considering how widespread the consumption of both products are in the world. However, whether it’s for ethical, health, or environmental concerns, the number of vegetarians/vegans grows every day. Let’s go over the basic terminology (definitions from http://www.merriam-webster.com/):• Vegetarian – a person who does not eat meat
• Vegan – a person who does not eat any food that comes from animals and who often also does not use animal products (such as leather)
• Processed food – food that has undergone “processing” for ease of edibility/mass production
• Whole food – food that has undergone minimal processing and contains no preservatives
The reasons for ditching animal products can vary. They can be ethical, allergy, health, or environmental reasons. Some object to the idea of killing for food, especially when society has advanced to a point where it’s relatively easy to replace animal products with substitutes. Vegan and vegetarian diets have been shown to reduce risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and certain cancers. Also, while not immediately obvious, the meat and dairy industries use up a lot of water. In fact, 90% of water managed by humans is used in growing food, and a lot of that goes toward raising animals.
You may have heard the terms “whole food” and “processed food” tossed around over the years. Whole foods are essentially plant-based and typically have one ingredient (the ingredients of beans are beans, corn is corn, whole grain bread is whole grain, etc.) while processed foods may have started as a plant but have since been tainted with preservatives sugars, dyes, or artificial additives (for example, potato chips, sugary fruit juices, and boxed mashed potatoes). Staying away from processed foods is actually rather easy. You can buy fresh fruits (frozen fruits are fine too, but always check the label if you’re unsure) as opposed to fruits canned in heavy syrup, shop at farmer’s markets, buy fresh vegetables, etc.
With the increasing vegetarian/vegan population, substitutes for meat, dairy, and other animal products have increased over the years. Here are some common animal products that can be substituted with plant-based ingredients:
• Meat – soy and tofu products as well as some vegetables such as mushrooms and eggplants
• Milk – luckily there are several different substitutes for milk, including soy milk, oat milk, nut milk, and rice milk
• Cheese – specialty vegan brands offer various vegan cheeses, and tofu can be used to replace ricotta and cottage cheese
• Eggs – like cheese, many specialty brands such as Ener-G offer egg substitutes
• Leather – “pleather” such as koskin and leatherette
• Honey – maple syrup, concentrated fruit syrups, molasses, etc.
A note for vegans: I cannot stress enough how important it is to check the ingredient labels for non-vegan ingredients. There are also products that surprisingly contain non-vegan ingredients such as hygiene products like shampoo (honey, dairy products, animal proteins), vitamins (gelatin), marshmallows (egg whites, gelatin), etc. When in doubt, check the label! There are also websites like Is It Vegan? (http://isitvegan.net/) that determine which products are or are not vegan-friendly. Armed with this knowledge, hopefully the world of animal-free dining has been clarified for you.
hamfist !t5TYQ9eJPs (OP) double-posted this 11 years ago, 1 minute later[^] [v] #542,660
i wrote this for someone
Anonymous B joined in and replied with this 11 years ago, 1 hour later, 1 hour after the original post[^] [v] #542,674
Anonymous C joined in and replied with this 11 years ago, 2 minutes later, 1 hour after the original post[^] [v] #542,675
Anonymous D joined in and replied with this 11 years ago, 14 minutes later, 1 hour after the original post[^] [v] #542,687
@OP
> • Meat – soy and tofu products as well as some vegetables such as mushrooms and eggplants
> • Milk – luckily there are several different substitutes for milk, including soy milk, oat milk, nut milk, and rice milk
> • Cheese – specialty vegan brands offer various vegan cheeses, and tofu can be used to replace ricotta and cottage cheese
> • Eggs – like cheese, many specialty brands such as Ener-G offer egg substitutes
> • Leather – “pleather” such as koskin and leatherette
> • Honey – maple syrup, concentrated fruit syrups, molasses, etc.
>
well first off all of those things fuckin suck dick compared to the real thing, second of all there is nothing wrong with consuming honey or harvesting it, you are actually doing the bees a favor and EVERYONE should take up beekeeping because it turns out shitloads of bees are dying and if the bees die then humanity dies, bottom line.
you're misinformed and frankly dumb as shit
> • Meat – soy and tofu products as well as some vegetables such as mushrooms and eggplants
> • Milk – luckily there are several different substitutes for milk, including soy milk, oat milk, nut milk, and rice milk
> • Cheese – specialty vegan brands offer various vegan cheeses, and tofu can be used to replace ricotta and cottage cheese
> • Eggs – like cheese, many specialty brands such as Ener-G offer egg substitutes
> • Leather – “pleather” such as koskin and leatherette
> • Honey – maple syrup, concentrated fruit syrups, molasses, etc.
>
well first off all of those things fuckin suck dick compared to the real thing, second of all there is nothing wrong with consuming honey or harvesting it, you are actually doing the bees a favor and EVERYONE should take up beekeeping because it turns out shitloads of bees are dying and if the bees die then humanity dies, bottom line.
you're misinformed and frankly dumb as shit
Anonymous C replied with this 11 years ago, 2 minutes later, 1 hour after the original post[^] [v] #542,691
@previous (D)
There is a kickstarter for an automatic honey harvester that doesn't disturb the bees. More people might just take it up
There is a kickstarter for an automatic honey harvester that doesn't disturb the bees. More people might just take it up
hamfist !t5TYQ9eJPs (OP) replied with this 11 years ago, 5 minutes later, 1 hour after the original post[^] [v] #542,692
Green joined in and replied with this 11 years ago, 1 minute later, 1 hour after the original post[^] [v] #542,693
Anonymous D replied with this 11 years ago, 5 minutes later, 1 hour after the original post[^] [v] #542,694
@542,691 (C)
> There is a kickstarter for an automatic honey harvester that doesn't disturb the bees. More people might just take it up
you know what else doesn't disturb bees? smoking them first, honeybees are docile as shit and are pretty calm in general- alot of people harvest honey bare handed as well, you have to stay calm around them because they are hypersensitive to pheromones humans give off when we feel anxiety or are stressed
> There is a kickstarter for an automatic honey harvester that doesn't disturb the bees. More people might just take it up
you know what else doesn't disturb bees? smoking them first, honeybees are docile as shit and are pretty calm in general- alot of people harvest honey bare handed as well, you have to stay calm around them because they are hypersensitive to pheromones humans give off when we feel anxiety or are stressed
Anonymous C replied with this 11 years ago, 26 minutes later, 2 hours after the original post[^] [v] #542,696
@previous (D)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryWC92NT2Eo this is a demo on a bench, but you dont have to remove it from the hive
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryWC92NT2Eo this is a demo on a bench, but you dont have to remove it from the hive
Anonymous D replied with this 11 years ago, 7 minutes later, 2 hours after the original post[^] [v] #542,697
@previous (C)
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryWC92NT2Eo this is a demo on a bench, but you dont have to remove it from the hive
seems cool but it will most likely be crazy expensive, there are some pre-made hives people in the uk use for urban beekeeping and it costs like 1500 usd or something nuts, and it is just essentially a big plastic tub with a lid.
im waiting until i change location in a few months to get back into it and will most likely just build my own hive. Keeping bees in the city though is cool as fuck though i wouldn't reccommend it if you dont have access to say- an apartment roof or a yard that at least has a privacy fence in addition to like being 20x20x20 or so, depends, i used to keep last year and the way my house is set up right now is that my yard sits on a hill which was even better because it was easy for my bees to get in and go and pollinate without any sort of confusion for them
beekeeping is a great hobby and hopefully more people take it up, its probably the biggest payoff with the least amount of work ive ever done and is super cheap to get started but then again i cant speak for other peoples personal opinions (which material is better than another for hive building etc)
another thing ive been thinking about is when i start a new hive maybe plant some high quality flowers as well not too far away, i know different flowers can provide different flavors for the honey but im not much of a greenthumb unless im growing weed which i do not reccommend growing at the same time as beekeeping (tons of wayward pollen will get on the plants and fuck everything up big time)
fuck wasps though, fuck em, they are good for absolutely nothing and can end up decimating your hives, the UK hive that i spoke about earlier has a wasp trap which is pretty cool but it is essentially just a smaller hole that wasps cant really get into or something, its been awhile since i checked them out and i dont remember the name of them either but you can find it easy
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryWC92NT2Eo this is a demo on a bench, but you dont have to remove it from the hive
seems cool but it will most likely be crazy expensive, there are some pre-made hives people in the uk use for urban beekeeping and it costs like 1500 usd or something nuts, and it is just essentially a big plastic tub with a lid.
im waiting until i change location in a few months to get back into it and will most likely just build my own hive. Keeping bees in the city though is cool as fuck though i wouldn't reccommend it if you dont have access to say- an apartment roof or a yard that at least has a privacy fence in addition to like being 20x20x20 or so, depends, i used to keep last year and the way my house is set up right now is that my yard sits on a hill which was even better because it was easy for my bees to get in and go and pollinate without any sort of confusion for them
beekeeping is a great hobby and hopefully more people take it up, its probably the biggest payoff with the least amount of work ive ever done and is super cheap to get started but then again i cant speak for other peoples personal opinions (which material is better than another for hive building etc)
another thing ive been thinking about is when i start a new hive maybe plant some high quality flowers as well not too far away, i know different flowers can provide different flavors for the honey but im not much of a greenthumb unless im growing weed which i do not reccommend growing at the same time as beekeeping (tons of wayward pollen will get on the plants and fuck everything up big time)
fuck wasps though, fuck em, they are good for absolutely nothing and can end up decimating your hives, the UK hive that i spoke about earlier has a wasp trap which is pretty cool but it is essentially just a smaller hole that wasps cant really get into or something, its been awhile since i checked them out and i dont remember the name of them either but you can find it easy
(Edited 1 minute later.)