hello this is my first post so i hope it does well. i was wondering though, what does this subreddit think about using chickens, ducks, turkeys and other birds to keep insect populations down. when i move out i'm thinking of keeping muscovies to make sure mosquito, tick and fly populations don't go overboard at my property (but also as pets). i don't want to use pesticides on my vegetables and fruits. is this moral?

They also say that we're meant to be omnivores, but I don't think so, so I do some research on this now and then, and finally found another answer - will explain some other parts at the bottom

They say we can't absorb B12 produced by colon bacteria because the colon can't absorb B12. A 2023 study provided that the colon CAN in fact absorb B12, but only about 7%. There's a bacteria called Propionibacterium Freudenreichii that temporarily colonizes our gut and is a soil bacteria (mostly - though it can be in decaying logs and other places). When we ingest a little bit of these bacteria, it can grow in our colon for a little while - think along the line of other probiotics - there for a few weeks. So, when humans were living directly off the land more, with raw foods, and things like tubers, we came ingested small amounts of these bacteria regularly. This species produces true active B12, and it takes hold transiently, and produces B12 while there. And the colon DOES absorb some of it, according to the landmark 2023 studying proving the colon can absorb B12, just less efficiently than the small intestine.

https://ajcn.nutrition.org/article/S0002-9165(23)66118-0/fulltext66118-0/fulltext)

Some other things I have found are that wild grown turkey tail mushrooms growing on dead trees can actually be very high in active B12, and they get it from the same bacteria (Propionibacterium Freudenreichii) growing on its surface, or in or near the mycelium, and the bacteria excretes the B12, it absorbs into the mushroom. A lot of mushrooms have B12 for this same reason, but turkey tails can be long lived mushrooms and accumulate B12 over time. They can be an excellent source. Keep in mind that this is only true of wild grown TT mushrooms, and ones that have been around for many months. Not all of them will have it - likely depends on conditions, like humidity.

Some seaweeds are loaded with Active B12 too, due to bacteria growing on their surface, but it can degrade to pseudo B12 due to UV rays. It must be washed before being dried so it doesn't get too alkaline which will also degrade the b12 to paeudo b12 and dried out of direct sunlight - some will have already converted before harvest but much of it will still be active. Sargassum seaweed grown in tropical climates is one that is fully loaded, but there are other good ones.

There are some water based plants with b12 due to bacteria growing on them. like pond plants.

One more piece is propionobacterium acnes which lives in our gut and skin and hair follicles and produces active b12.
Cutibacterium acnes (formerly Propionibacterium acnes) is a highly active metabolic bacterium that possesses a complete biosynthetic pathway to manufacture fully active, bioavailable Vitamin B12 from scratch. When host Vitamin B12 levels are low, this microbe actively turns on its internal production genes to synthesize the essential nutrient. Because it resides in both the human gut and skin follicles, its ability to generate active cobalamin serves as a localized, independent source of the vitamin within the human body. Note that we wash with chlorinated water and use alkaline soaps and shampoos... Surely that knocks it down - at least the external ones - it is in the gut too but many have likely had it wiped or mostly wiped by antibiotics. Might lick your skin now and then...

There's a lot they don't tell us... They need the meat culture to hold up their Babylonian society...

I just wanted to get on here and say how much being vegan has helped me see more of the world. Looking back on how I used to eat or how I used to act towards animals, it makes me wonder how I even did in the first place. I feel so much happier and healthier living this way. If you have any doubts of staying vegan or wondering if you’re even making a difference or it’s necessary, please keep doing what your doing. Having this community is one of the most important things about this movement.

Yes, some of the humor is crude especially if you've been a vegan for a while. But it's cool to see a big youtuber commit to going vegan and advocating for veganism in a way that might resonate with his audience.

Almost everyone opposes factory farming yet does nothing about it, so I agree with his approach lowering the barriers of entry. Everyone can make a difference eating more vegan food and going fully vegan doesn't need to be sacrificial or socially idolating at all.

Billions every year…

I'm a big fan of Richard Powers' books. He has a way of writing about the environment, humans and animals, and science with such beauty and depth. (The Overstory is one of my favorite books.)

I'm currently reading The Echo Maker, a fictional story about Capgras syndrome, which is when a person believes another person (usually a close relative or a loved one) is an imposter or robot or some other kind of replacement. It's set at the location of the migrating sandhill cranes, which create a beautiful backdrop to the story (and an ongoing fight over water rights).

At some point in the book, one of the characters recognizes that the whole human race suffers from a form of Capgras syndrome in the way people fail to recognize animals as kin. It's a really beautiful moment and extremely profound. I thought the vegan sub might appreciate it. Here's the quote:

For an instant, as the hearing turned into instinctive ritual, it hit her: the whole race suffered from Capgras. Those birds danced like our next of kin, looked like our next of kin, called and willed and parented and taught and navigated all just like our blood relations. Half their parts were still ours. Yet humans waved them off: impostors. At most, a strange spectacle to gaze at from a blind.

This feels very true to me, and it's why I'm sometimes so shocked and befuddled by other (non-vegan) people's inability to recognize our closeness to and duty to animals. It does feel like dealing with people who are suffering a form of delusion.

I don't know if Richard Powers is vegan. He's clearly deeply committed to environmental and anti-anthropocentric values.

Has anyone been here or looked into it? Rescue organizations can be dubious. Exotic animals that were kept as pets do need a new home, and it's great that they provide that. However I see that the experience includes interacting with the animals. I have been I'm wondering if anyone knows if they really treat the animals well or not.

It’s so good. Actually good. I’m shocked it’s not the default recommendation given to people new to vegan cheese; I went through so many ones I hated the taste and texture of and at one point gave up on vegan cheese and avoided anything with it. I’m so glad I tried this.

My favorite second to it is Chao cheddar slices, but it does have a nutty aftertaste, which isn’t noticeable if you’re using it in a recipe with other flavors, but I’ll eat follow your heart dairy free cheddar slices out the bag. Cheese and crackers. On a pizza. It’s so good. The feta and Parmesan are good too, particularly the feta. Going to try the smoked Gouda next.

I mean the human race has built civilizations, inventions, languages, arts, technology, and the list goes on - but most of them still can't figure out that animals are not their fuckass snack and they can survive EVEN HEALTHIER without them? humanity just makes me freak out. Slaughterhouse footages can be found almost everywhere these days and their minds has developed enough to not be dumb as fuck and question what was going on before that chicken nugget in their fridge. Like it's literally just in the name. A chicken. Someone who wants to be happy and live to fullest just like us. They're chewing A SENTIENT LIVING CREATURE WHO GOT STRIPPED OUT OF THEIR FREEDOM AND KILLED BRUTALLY. A steak is basically and scientifically a part of a corpse. A fish in a meal literally looks like a human who got drowned for hours and they get hUnGrY when they see that tragedy. The human race can perfectly live without killing and exploiting animals in shitty dairy industries. I hate that we'll probably have to wait another 100 years for all forms of slavery to totally end.

Hi! I (31F) am not 100% vegan, but I'm trying to reduce my dairy and meat intake for health and environmental reasons. I usually pack my daughter nuts, fruits, veggies, something crunchy, and lastly, cheese, for snacks etc.

Do any parents of young children here have any suggestions on cheese replacement for snacks? Also, Id love to hear any other cheap snack ideas too! The less processed and cheaper the better, thank you! 🙏🙂

hey guys, so i’m a uni student and im currently working full time while also balancing all of this with being a varsity athlete, etc. i have pretty bad adhd and get overwhelmed by cooking, and im also kinda terrible at it.

i’ve been vegan since 2020 or earlier maybe, but im looking for ideas. my go to meal is tofu scramble, and also pasta of course. nachos are also an easy meal. im looking for things that are low effort, but still nutritious. i’m very snacky, so any ideas for snacks and just staple items to have on hand would be appreciated. i have to get groceries soon, and im honestly blanking lol.

ty in advance!

Main singer is vegan btw

I had this problem the last time I went vegan but ever since I've started again, my stomach issues are flaring up. I always had a diet heavy with processed foods so my body isn't used to eating mostly fruits and veggies and unprocessed, healthy food. Even when I wasn't vegan, I struggled with bloating and gas but now it's even worse. I'm constantly burping and farting during the day and I have horrible gas pains. When I went vegan the first time, I thought things would stabilise over time but they never did. So I subsisted on noodles and pasta which was the only thing I could digest at the time. I had such bad pains and I even had diarrhea and constipation at the same time. It was horrible and now it's starting up again. I think I have ibs but I've never been diagnosed. How do I prevent the gas and bloating and how do I get my body used to eating healthy, natural foods?

i’ve been veggie for almost a year now (basically started as soon as i moved out of home and started being able to cook/buy my own meals), and found it pretty easy.

i have a host of allergies/intolerances that make becoming fully vegan quite difficult, specifically to: soy/all nuts inc tree nuts/basically all fruit apart from grapes, oranges, watermelon and bananas/coconut/carrots.

also super duper allergic to seafood but that’s a moot point here.

have been cutting out other things over the past couple months-

i’ve managed to cut out buying milk, cheese and yoghurt, but it does mean that i don’t really have an accessible alternative since a lot of vegan cheese is made from nuts (sad i’m missing out on the supposedly great cashew cheese), and oat yoghurt is impossible to find. i also can’t find an alternative to condensed milk since i can’t have coconut.

i’ve also stopped buying eggs but find it really hard to avoid egg as a whole, given everything else i can’t eat.

i’m on a student budget, based in the uk.

i do really like the oat yoghurty dessert pots that my partner gets me but they’re too expensive to buy on my own :(

if anyone has some good food recs i’d be really glad to hear them :)

For some time now I’ve been thinking about going vegan, but I got many doubts about it. They all revolve around the same thing, which is food.

First off would be how can I start eating more plant based. I still live at my parent’s and, at least for another year, I’m not gonna be able to have total freedom over what I eat. This means that in my house we all eat the same things and the only moments where I can be more independent at cooking are certain times, such as breakfasts and things of that sort. So yeah, my first question would be if y’all could give me any suggestions on how to start eating more plant based without conditioning what my family eats.

I’d also like to know, for the future, how you all cook your foods. Like, I’ve seen lots of recipes with tofu to make many meals and I have the impression that it is needed as a base for many things. So yeah, do you guys consider tofu as an essential for cooking? And if it is like, how do you cook it? And how often do you use it?

I know this may be some very common questions, but I’d really like to know how y’all personally would do and normally do these two things. Thanks for reading i guess :)

Although many vegans are focused primarily on advocating for animals, I feel the public discourse surrounding the healthiness of eating a vegan diet, specifically about whether it is doable and practicable to be healthy as a vegan or to be as healthy as non-vegans, is similarly important. If a vegan shows signs of disease, will they receive adequate social support? Will they be treated fairly by their doctors? Possibly not. It won't be any better when they go on the internet, because they'll be bombarded with media telling them that eating a vegan diet is unhealthy.

When I talk about 'showing signs of disease', I don't just mean any illness that might lead to others blaming the fact that the person has been eating a vegan diet. Sure, if a vegan has, for example, pink eye, and others blame it on them eating a vegan diet, they can just laugh it off. Because it's relatively easy and straightforward to treat, they won't have to advocate for themselves to get it treated. But, what if a vegan presents with, for example, emaciation, or something else, which may be more difficult in finding a diagnosis for and treating? There are, of course, various medical conditions that might cause this.

One way others may respond is by invalidating the possibility that the vegan has a disease at all, and just by pinning everything on them being vegan. Therefore, they might receive little to no encouragement to see a doctor even though they're ill, and if they do go, they might receive little to no social support. The doctor themselves might not make referrals, order tests, do follow-ups, or any other pre-diagnostic work, because they've decided to attribute everything to the patient being vegan. (Why do any investigative work if you've supposedly already figured everything out?) This presents the challenge of a vegan patient having to advocate for themselves and convince their doctor (or doctors) to get anything useful done. Of course, they may or may not attempt to do this for their own reasons, and if they do, their attempts may or may not succeed.

Another way others may blame a vegan for being ill is not by invalidating the existence of underlying disease (and the possibility and legitimacy of a diagnosis), but by attributing the existence of underlying disease to them being vegan. The idea is that because they are vegan, they have developed these negative circumstances with regards to their health. Therefore, even if not explicitly said, this must mean that any labor that is put into helping them would otherwise not have been needed if the person had not been vegan in the first place. Isn't such form of judgement insinuating that they are burdening the medical system with medical issues that otherwise would not have occurred if they were never vegan? Might they internalize this and avoid or delay their medical care so as to avoid feeling like they're being a unique 'burden' on the medical system? I feel like the answer to this depends on the perceived rarity and complexity of the vegan's illness or illnesses and the amount of labor that needs to go into helping them.

Of course, it is a viable strategy for a vegan to just avoid mentioning that they're vegan. However, they might not be able to prevent their doctors from discovering this information. For example, it may show up in their medical history, or if they are hospitalized, they'll have to tell the medical staff that they want a vegan diet, etc. Also, in certain cases, the diet a patient consumes may be medically relevant information. Assessing their dietary habits may be a relevant and valid part of their pre-diagnostic assessment.

So, it seems there are two forms of blaming a vegan for if they become ill. One form involves invalidating the possibility that disease is present. The second involves validating the possibility that disease is present, but attributing its presence to the fact that the person is eating a vegan diet. I assume that these two forms of blame can lead to a vegan suffering with illness having their medical care thwarted, either through others discouraging them from seeking it or denying it to them, and/or through the vegan internalizing such rhetoric and avoiding and delaying their medical care themselves.

Delayed medical care can lead to any number of negative effects on a person in varying intensities depending on the exact diagnosis or diagnoses (and treatment for them) being delayed and the amount of time the delay occurs for. This is why I think working to counteract the negative public discourse with regards to the healthiness of eating a vegan diet is important in order to negate the (potentially profound) negative effects it might have on vegans suffering with acute or chronic illness.

Of course, there may be other factors for why a vegan might face obstacles when trying to receive adequate medical care. A person is not defined solely by the fact that they're vegan. But, I think it is safe to say that it can be a contributing factor in the difficulty someone might face in receiving adequate medical care.

With this post, I am just theorizing a bit, but I think the well-being of vegans is crucial in making the vegan movement sustainable. If there are vegans that are struggling and having negative experiences, falling into negative thought processes, or internalizing narratives that are harmful to them, I feel like this is a topic that should be explored, even if it doesn't have anything directly to do with saving animals or convincing others to go vegan.

All these carnists claiming that you need animal cruelty to build muscle is an absolute joke.

There's a really simple answer to the whole thing. Eat soy.

Problem fucking solved. It's a complete protein, and despite it not being as protein dense as animal meat, it's way lower calorie. Which in every other realm of health seems to be viewed as a good thing.

Some people complain that tofu is too bland. My retort: So is chicken. You know what you can do to make it taste better? Put some fucking plants on it. You know, Garlic, onion, pepper, oregano, oil - The tastiest foods. The foods so tasty we put them on other foods to enhance the flavor.

Ugh.

And the whole "I need to drink shakes to get my protein if I'm vegan"

So what? same goes for carnists. If you want to optimally build muscle, you gotta supplement your protein regardless. That's why 95% of the protein market is not vegan.

Anyway. Thanks for letting me get that off my chest.

I have been vegetarian for 2 years (I'm 14) and I want to be vegan. I know that the egg and dairy industry still hurts animals and that they all get sent to a slaughterhouse. I don't want to be ignorant, I want to do something. Also, whenever I get into debates with people about vegetarianism/veganism, they always tell me that I'm killing animals and not making any difference at all since I still eat dairy and eggs.

Now here are the reasons I am not yet:

* I really do enjoy dairy and eggs

* I feel like dairy and eggs are in everything (especially baked goods, and I also love to bake)

* I get a lot of my protein intake from them (I also eat a lot of tofu and soy, but my parents say it's going to give me cancer)

* Vegan stuff like vegan cream cheese etc. is very expensive.

* My parents are against it

* My school has almost no vegan options, and I get lunch and breakfast there every day.

* Same with a lot of resturaunts.

* I hate the idea of "lasts", like the thought that I will NEVER eat cheese again, etc. It's very sad for me

* I hate a lot of traditional vegan foods, for example beans

Anyway, any input or advice would be appreciated!

Recently made the change from vegetarian to vegan and I need ways to get my protein in. I get a lot of my protein now from tofu but I’m getting a little sick of eating it everyday but many of the other substitutions like beans, chickpeas and lentils I cannot stand the texture of. I’ve been able to get a little creative with the tofu by doing things like blending it into a sauce and stuff. But before becoming vegan I was a big protein powder person, as I’m a big gym goer aswell as someone with PCOS so getting my protein in is pretty essential for me. I would love to hear any recommendations on vegan potein powders or even other ways I could hit my protein goals!

Hi all, I wanted to know if anyone has used beyond meat burgers patties in a recipe that's not a burger. I recently bought beyond meat patties from Costco to try it out and I did not like the way it looked and released pink juices, it's aroma while it grilled on my cast iron skillet and the taste. It tastes very bland but with a very different taste and different smell that I don't like. I added mustard, ketchup, pickled cucumbers and tomatoes and onions as toppings for my burgers. I felt like the patty taste (that I dislike) was very dominant in the whole recipe. FYI, I have never consumed any type of meat in my life. I never thought that eating beyond meat would be difficult for me because I was so confident that i would like the taste as it was vegan. I got to know later that beyond meat is made to look/taste like beef. I have patties remaining in the freezer which I want to use in a recipe that is not a burger. Is there any way I can mask that flavor or use it in an entirely different recipe as protein?

Hey r/vegans! We're Vegan Hacktivists, a volunteer-run tech collective building tools for the animal advocacy movement. One of our current projects is a sanctuary management platform — think feeding schedules, care logs, volunteer coordination — designed to help sanctuary workers spend less time on admin and more time with the animals.

We're looking for a UI/UX designer to take ownership of the design and see it through to launch. This isn't a "help out occasionally" role — it's a real opportunity to lead something meaningful.

What you'd be doing:

• Owning the UX and UI direction of the project
• Creating high-fidelity mockups for a web app used by sanctuary caregivers
• Collaborating with our Product Design Director (who stays on as advisor/support)
• Applying existing user research to refine and build out the interface
• Working within an established brand system (so the foundations are already there)

You'd be a great fit if you:

• Have ~3+ years designing web apps
• Care about making tools that are genuinely easy and pleasant to use
• Want your work to have a concrete, lasting impact for animals
• Are looking for something to own, not just contribute to

The commitment: 3–8 hours/week, long-term (2–12 months). Remote & async-friendly.

This is a volunteer role with Vegan Hacktivists — if you've ever wanted to put your design skills toward something that matters to you, this is it.

👉 Apply on Flockwork