Are other members of your family vegan?

[ronnie kray]

i am curious if anyone here has other vegans/vegetarians in their family? this leads to other questions. if yes, did you influence them, or did they influence you?

 

if no, do they give you a hard time, or are they supportive? and how did they react when you told them you were giving up meat?

 

as for me, i am the only one in my family. sometimes i feel like the only one in my whole town! but i know there are a few others. my family reacted mostly with concern. they were afraid i would get sick because i would not have enough vitamins or nutrients. but i have never had any sickness related to not eating any meat. my dad thought i was changing religions. after all these years, now they all tell me how it's such a great thing that i don't eat meat. but nobody else has given it a try. but my family has been mostly supportive. buy mostly, i mean they don't really encourage me, but they don't discourage me either. the rest of the town, that's another story.

[CollegeB]

Ronnie my family is the same way. My mom does tell me though when she has a meatless meal and says I would be proud, and I am. As for being the only vegan in town...My dentist knows Im a vegan and told me not to eat too much sugar. She said she has two other vegan clients and all they eat is junk food so their teeth are not the greatest.

 

I would bet some other vegan family members would be very supportive. I wish I knew how that was.

[robert]

Hey, both of you guys are from Texas, cool! It's great to find other members of the forum who live near you. I posted a ton of events to attend and I'll find some in Texas too

 

My older sister is Vegan, she influenced me back in 1995. My younger brother is a vegetarian. My other brother is a cattle farmer I know, strange eh? My father is not vegan but is quoted in Food Revolution more times than President Clinton, and perhaps Albert Einstein, I don't remember. (For those who have the book, his name is Peter Cheeke). My mother is not vegan either.

 

Like I said, my older sister influenced my decision to become vegan and I had an influence on my youngest brother Clarke to give up meat, so back in 1995 we were all vegan/vegetarian except my other brother Ryan, the farmer.

 

I grew up on a farm so we grew up on animal products, but luckily 3 out of 4 kids gave up meat and 2 out of 4 became complete VEGANS.

 

My parent's were not exactly excited when we first went veggie, but it has been a decade now (and longer for my sister) and now both of my parents talk about their Vegan Bodybuilding son all the time, they both even wear Vegan Bodybuilding & Fitness t-shirts on a rare occasion

 

Over the years I've been able to influence more people to go vegan than I can count, so that have been very rewarding over the past 10 years. I"m sure all of you (whether you know it or not) have had a very positive influence on others who have come into your life, even those you may have only met briefly, and I bet, a lot of animals were saved because of it.

 

Keep on riding the VEGAN Train!

[ronnie kray]

Hey, both of you guys are from Texas, cool! It's great to find other members of the forum who live near you.

 

i wouldn't exactly say he lives near me. i'd love to meet other like minded people. the thing is texas is a big state. collegeb is in denton and i live on the texas-mexico border. we are about 450 miles away! HAHA! but i would like to attend some events if possible.

 

I"m sure all of you (whether you know it or not) have had a very positive influence on others who have come into your life...

 

now that you mention it, one of my oldest friends is slowly going vegetarian. he recently told me he is buying more and more boca burgers and smart dogs. he told me he stopped eating pork after he went to a pig farm and saw how the way they treated the animals. totally grossed him out. he kept eating beef and chicken though. i mentioned to him, "what makes you think they treat the cows and chicken any better?" plus he is a big morrissey fan and in one of his dvd's, morrissey included the meet your meat video. it's after he saw that he told me he was slowly changing his habits.

 

and here is a neat story. my neice (she's was about 8 at the time) one day asked me how the doctors knew i was vegetarian. i was confused by what she meant. "you can't eat meat right?" i figured out she thought i was born vegetarian, like an affliction. i told her, "no sweetie, i can eat meat, i choose not to". my sister stepped in and explained to her that i don't want eat meat. my niece asked "why mommy". my sister said "well it's healthier not to eat meat. it's better for the environment, and it's better for the animals who won't be killed. plus you don't get fat!". my niece thought silently about that for a moment, then spoke up and said "well then mommy, why aren't we vegetarian?" talk about awkard silence. my sister didn't know what to say.

 

my neice has since told me she wants to be vegetarian. i help her out and share my food, but my sister still thinks it would be unhealthy for a child, so she still cooks her meat.

[CollegeB]

Hey Ronnie is bordertown near mexico? I've never heard of it, though I dont know of most of the places in TX.

[brendan]

My father is not vegan but is quoted in Food Revolution more times than President Clinton, and perhaps Albert Einstein, I don't remember. (For those who have the book, his name is Peter Cheeke).

 

Holy crap, dude. That's YOUR dad?! I don't have the book to refresh my memory, but I have read it before ... From what I remember, your dad provides insight into the animal-rights mentality for the 'other side,' no? Heh.

 

He's also quoted in the Vegan Outreach "Why Vegans":

 

"In my opinion, if most urban meat eaters were to visit an industrial broiler house, to see how the birds are raised, and could see the birds being “harvested” and then being “processed” in a poultry processing plant, they would not be impressed and some, perhaps many of them would swear off eating chicken and perhaps all meat."

- Peter Cheeke, PhD, Contemporary Issues in Animal Agriculture, 1999 textbook

 

I do like your dad's quotes, though, of what I can remeber. I found this one, too:

 

"Do we, as humans, having an ability to reason and to communicate abstract ideas verbally and in writing, and to form ethical and moral judgments using the accumulated knowledge of the ages, have the right to take the lives of other sentient organisms, particularly when we are not forced to do so by hunger or dietary need, but rather do so for the somewhat frivolous reason that we like the taste of meat? In essence, should we know better?"

- Peter Cheeke, Professor of Animal Agriculture, Contemporary Issues in Animal Agriculture, 1999

 

That's so weird/cool.

[robert]

Yeah, that is my dad

 

One of my favorite quotes, period, is the one you posted:

 

"Do we, as humans, having an ability to reason and to communicate abstract ideas verbally and in writing, and to form ethical and moral judgments using the accumulated knowledge of the ages, have the right to take the lives of other sentient organisms, particularly when we are not forced to do so by hunger or dietary need, but rather do so for the somewhat frivolous reason that we like the taste of meat? In essence, should we know better?"

- Peter Cheeke, Professor of Animal Agriculture, Contemporary Issues in Animal Agriculture, 1999

 

My dad writes textbooks and has published around 15 of them so far. He's a pretty cool guy, even went vegan for a while, but not currently.

 

I did a presentation for one of his classes at Oregon State University and the students enjoyed having me speak to them.

 

Cool, I'm glad you remembered those quotes, I'll tell him you saw his work.

 

Take care bro,

 

-Robert

[compassionategirl]

Hey Rob,

 

I am curious - why was your dad vegan for a while, and why did he change his mind? How does he feel about animal rights, etc etc.

 

The quote that Brendan quoted and the one that you said was your favourite - the question about "Should we know better" that he poses.

I am curious as to how he himself would answer that very question that he himself poses.

 

peace

[robert]

Hey Nat,

 

I can't answer for him, but he's a Professor in Animal Agriculture.......about as FAR from Vegan as you can get. But he writes about animal ethics and understands the vegan perspective. He just doesn't follow it himself, maybe lack of willpower, maybe because he grew up on a farm and has been eating meat his whole life and teaches animal science.

 

Or maybe because he's like 99% of the rest of the population and doesn't follow everything that he's ever said or written. There are a lot of non-vegans who think veganism is GREAT but they haven't made the switch yet.

 

He will be addressing some of these questions in a vegan movie coming out soon.

 

But he does have some great quotes that have been used in numerous publications. I also have them all listed in the Quotes section of the main www.veganbodybuilding.com website.

 

Oh, and I think we went "vegan" just to prove that he could do it, but then went back to his "regular" diet but still doesn't eat that much meat these days.

[compassionategirl]

Sorry if I sounded like I was "judging" - that wasnt my intention. I just find your whole family situation FASCINATING:

 

YOU have a dad that is a professor in animal agriculture, you have a brother that is a cattle rancher , and yet one daughter and two sons went the exact opposite route - vegan and animal rights. I bet that makes for some pretty intense and interesting conversations/debates at family gatherings . That is why i wanted to know about your dad.

 

HAve you ever talked to your dad about his opinion and animal rights and veganism? What about the cattle ranching brother? What does he say about your views? What does he think about Howard Lyman?

 

I know you cannot speak for them, but I assume that you have asked them these very questions at some point in the past. I would be very curious to know what their thoughts are. Have you influenced them at all into loving animals more? Do they ever check out this site? Any chance that your brother will follow the example of Howard Lyman

 

etc, etc. etc.

 

peace

[robert]

Hey Nat,

 

Yeah, I do come from a fairly interesting family, one of the strangest around, as far as the direction we've gone with our lives and the things we believe in. Most families, especially really religious families tend to believe in some of the same "basic" things. My family is not like that at all, we are as far from the same page as possible, in some cases.

 

I don't know exactly how certain family members feel about specific issues but I will ask around. My brother is pretty much as hardcore as it gets when it comes to farming, so he shoots animals, raising them for food production, etc. My lifestyle has no effect on him, he won't even try tofu, perhaps one or two vegetables gets in his stomach on occasion.

 

He does order vegan food if he knows I'm coming out to dinner and he's sensitive to that when we choose a place to go, or what we're going to eat. But he's not just anti-vegan, he's anti a lot of stuff. He's pretty much as redneck as it gets, kinda strange, not at all like myself, my sister, or my other brother.

 

My dad understands pretty much all aspects of veganism and animal agriculture, in fact he's a world expert on some of that stuff. So he knows it all, he just doesn't practice it, for probably the reasont that most of us are a "slave to our tastebuds".

 

No problem about the questions, I just don't have all the answers.

 

If you have some specific questions like some you asked about Howard Lyman, etc., let me know and I will e-mail my Dad and see if he wants to address some of them and then perhaps I can post his responses on here. It could be very interesting

 

Anyway, have a goodnight, I've got to do some push ups and sit ups and then head off to bed to wake up at 6AM again for my final work day of the week. My weekend is Mon and Tue

[ronnie kray]

Hey Ronnie is bordertown near mexico? I've never heard of it, though I dont know of most of the places in TX.

 

very near mexico, like a few blocks away, literally. the only thing that separates us is a bridge. i live in an area known as Los Dos Laredos. Nuevo Laredo, Mexico and Laredo, Texas are one city separated by a border. we travel back and forth all the time. though lately a local drug war has made that a bit dangerous. maybe you've heard of that. there is article about it in this month's Texas Monthly magazine.

Edited August 8, 2005 by ronnie kray

[CollegeB]

I watched something about that area maybe it was on the history channel. I think they had one sherrif to patrol the area and he talked about how he was outgunned by the drug smugglers. Say Ronnie have you have any interaction with the minuteman project? Can you determine if they have had an impact (pos, or neg) on the border?

[Renecarol25]

Hey Rob,

I'm with the WOW that's your dad group too. That must be really great that your dad is quoted so much in Animal Rights stuff.

Renee

[bighead]

My parents are both vegan. I convinced them pretty easily. But I do live in California.

[ronnie kray]

Say Ronnie have you have any interaction with the minuteman project? Can you determine if they have had an impact (pos, or neg) on the border?

 

i don't think they have shown up yet. though i think they are as largely seen as a racist vigilante group hiding behind patriotism. there is a story about the ex-head of the texas minutemen quitting because the group wasover run with racists. there is some concern over them being a little too trigger happy, after a report surfaced that the minutemen threatened to shoot unarmed protesters in california. and the whole thing seems scarily similiar to the klan border watch of the 80's. even those who don't think thay have any racist ties see them as outsiders that have no idea of what it is like to live and work on the border. how they expect to help out border partol agents who do this everyday is a mystery. regardless of if they are racist or not, i don't think they will have much impact on anything in this town. they will show up and leave, and we will hardly notice.

 

whoa, that was off topic wasn't it.

[CollegeB]

I know someone and her brother is a border guard. He says the minutemen are just messing things up. So i'm interested on anyones perspective on them.

[Tarz]

No - far from it unfortunately

[K-oz]

Wow, what a thread so far!

 

And Robert, you DO have an interesting family. I have yet to read the book, but I will look out for the name of your father.

 

To myself: my mother became vegan too. It is so awesome!

When I became vegetarian she took that for a reason to be vegetarian too, since she was thinking about that before, but my grandma is a very demanding person! And so we were two against one

 

I became vegan about a year later and I told her about it. I was not at home, I've been in the states during that time and so she became vegan more or less by herself. She wanted to know what her daughter is doing, and after talking to me and reading a little in the w w w she was convinced herself! SO COOL!

 

I always thought I am one of the most blessed persons, because I have never met any vegan whose perants were vegan, but to have both of them going the same path... great gift bighead!

[Crash]

No one else in my family is vegan or vegetarian.

 

Not to put you on the spot Rob, but is your cattle rancher brother compassionate to the cows and steers ?