10 Steps to Going Vegetarian and other tips

[Whit23ney]

Ah, well then, that makes sense. I will make sure to read all labels from now on. Thank You!
Didn't think of that.

[JarBax]

Very good point PM! When I was vegan, shopping took at least twice as long, because every packet of biscuits etc had to be gone through with a fine toothed comb. There was a time way back then when as a vegan, I couldn't eat cheese and onion crisps - but smokey bacon were fine! Bizarre! Actually, odd though it may sound, I sometimes have a bag of meat-flavoured (but veggie) crisps. If anyone suffers cravings - that may be a handy hint.

(Felt I should add that personally, eating meat is an ethical issue - so eating flavoured crisps isn't a problem for me.)

[Susan9608]

Watch out for things like ceasar salad dressing and potato chips. A lot of times, those products are advertised as "No Added Salt!" What happens is that instead of adding salt to a product, manufacturers use anchovy paste. Anchovies taste salty, so it's an easy substitute.

Also, look into what brand of sugar you use. A lot of sugar is processed with bone char. <shudder>

And of course, there's the gelatin issue ... marshmellows, gummy bears (I think) and a lot of candy have gelatin in it. Kosher gelatin still comes from animals. Agar is plant based.

[JarBax]

Susan - Just checked out my sugar packets - one golden granulated (use most often as unrefined) and granulated, both fairtrade. I imagine it might be the granulated white stuff that has been processed with bone char (dare I askwhat that is?) - but it doesn't tell me on the packet. (NO great surprise there! How do I find out if it's vegan?

[Susan9608]

Bone char is a kind of "natural carbon" made from the bones of cattle. These cattle usually come from Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, and Argentina. It is sold to traders in the Scotland, Egypt, and Brazil who them sell it back to the US sugar industry. (Don't worry - the Eurpoean Union and USDA heavily regulate bone char and only accept it from countries deemed BSE-free).

Basically, bone char is used as a decolorizing filter to give sugar cane its white appearance. It's a filter. Of course, there are other filters that could be used - granular carbon and an ion exchange - but for some reason, people still choose to use bone char.

It's not just white sugar that's filtered by bone char, so you want to watch out for that. Brown sugar is molasses added to white sugar, so companies that use bone char in the process of making white sugar often use it when making brown sugar as well. Powdered sugar (or confectioner's sugar) is just refined sugar with cornstarch, so again, when made by a company that uses bone char on regular sugar, they usually use it on their powdered sugar as well.

As far as brands go, you're not safer with a store brand. Stores by their products from multiple different refineries, so it's impossible to determine if their sugar was filtered with bone char or not. Beet sugar is never refined with bone char, so that's an option.

Here are some companies that do NOT use bone char:

[FONT=tahoma,arial] Monitor Sugar
2600 S. Euclid Ave.
Bay City, MI 48706
Tel.: 517-686-0161
Fax: 517-686-2959
Web: www.monitorsugar.com
Florida Crystals Corporation
P.O. Box 471
West Palm Beach, FL 33480
Tel.: 877-835-2828
Fax: 516-366-5200
Web: www.floridacrystals.com
Western Sugar
Western Sugar is a subsidiary of Tate & Lyle (formerly Domino sugar) which does use bone-char filters. However, Western Sugar makes only beet sugar, which does not use bone-char filters.
7555 E. Hampton Ave., Ste. 600
Denver, CO 80210
Tel.: 303-830-3939
Fax: 303-830-3941
Web: www.westernsugar.com



And here are some companies that DO use bone char:


[FONT=tahoma,arial]C&H Sugar Company
2300 Contra Costa Blvd., Ste. 600
Pleasant Hill, CA 94523
Tel.: 925-688-1731
Fax: 925-822-1061
E-Mail: consumer.affairs@chsugar.com
Web: www.chsugar.com
Savannah Foods
P.O. Box 335
Savannah, GA 31402
Tel.: 912-234-1261
Tate & Lyle North American Sugars Inc. (formerly Domino Sugar)
1100 Key Hwy. W.
Baltimore, MD 21230
Tel.: 1-800-638-1590
Fax: 410-783-8640
Imperial Sugar
P.O. Box 9
Sugarland, TX 77487
Tel.: 1-800-727-8427
Web: www.imperialsugar.com
Refined Sugars Inc.
1 Federal St.
Yonkers, NY 10702
Tel.: 914-963-2400
Fax: 914-963-1030
[/FONT]

[/FONT]

[JarBax]

Wow - that's all news to me!
First, I thought that cattle were considered sacred in countries where Hinduism is commonly practiced - ie. Asian countries including Pakistan and India, so cows are not (meant to be) killed. Secondly, I was completely unaware that Scotland traded in bone char. Next, I didn't realise that sugar was white - I thought that the muscovado and brown sugars were the least refined of the sugars, and with each refining, they got whiter. And didn't have a clue that brown sugar had molases added!

Tsk, just goes to show you that life's never as simple as it first may appear!

[bugginjulz24]

I have just gone vegan; physically I am feeling pretty good; I did it to clear myself emotionally of the fact that I was killing innocent animals and also for health reasons. Before going Vegan I had been vegetarian since April.
I eat a lot of fruit/vegetables. There are so many mor options for being vegetarian/vegan these days, not just eating tofu and granola. the brand Amy's makes lots of great stuff including soups and forzen meals that are GOOD! Also try Morningstar meat crumbles (taste and look like ground beef) in spaghetti or tacos; Also Boca brand. Many of these have a lot of protein and low fat so they are good for you. I have lost about 5 pounds since going vegan, with the help of excercise. I also try to drink at least a 100 oz water a day (no sodas). Also try Soymilks they are great too!!

[Buggie_00]

I can't give "thanks" yet, but if I could I would definitly put one up there. I want to go veg but because of my diabetis and pregnancy I have to make sure I don't mess with my intakes too much so as not to cause problems, I love the step stone idea and will definitly be trying that.

[attackofthebear]

My how-to is to just think of what you are really eating and do you even really know what you are eating in all those supposedly all beef hot-dogs?
I dont like the taste of tofu either so I just dont eat it.

I just got really disgusted by it after I started thinking about it and what I was really eating. I havent eaten meat since and its been almost 5 years. Now I dont even crave it. It took me a couple of days to get off of it and I felt really weak for a few days, but in the long run I know I wont ever regret it. I also agree 100% with Percy. If you are strict about your NO MEAT diet you MUST check labels. Just in case people dont know the differences between a vegan and a vegetarian I'll explain.
A vegan eats/drinks no dairy nor meat.
A vegetarian will eat/drink dairy but will eat no meat.
I have notice even adults get confused by not knowing the difference between vegans and vegetarians ,so I'm not taking a chance. Good luck on becoming vegetarians/vegans.

[cavy craze!]

Hi!
I am ... and cannot go vegan. One reason, are my parents. They won't accept the fact that I don't want to eat animals. They ask me the same question over and over. Would you ratherhave animals such as cows killed and eaten or simple killed for no reason because of over population? How am I supposed to fight back to that? Of course, I pick the first choice. A long while back, I tried becoming a vegatarian but my parents told me I wouldn't be getting proper nutrition. For example, I would rather eat chicken than tofu and hamburger than broccoli.
I find it very hard to go completely vegan. If anyone has any suggestions, please post.
Sylvia

[cavy craze!]

I just read attackofthebear's post. And I have to say I thought vegan and vegatarian is the same thing. Is it ok if I am a vegatarian and not vegan? I really don't want to give up dairy products. If I am a vegatarian, would it still be mean to the animals?

[smileyface cavy]

My steps to becoming vegetarian would be:

1. Stop eating red meat. This might be hard; you can do it gradually if it's easier for you.
2. After you get used to that, cut out other kinds of meat from your diet, including poultry.
3. Stop eating seafood, including fish, oyster, crab, shrimp, etc.
4. Lastly, you can try to stop eating products processed with bone char or that have gelatin in them, or find veg alternatives to these products.

Hope this helps.

[guineabeginner]

For me, it took two trys with my parents, and on the second one, they excepted it. The first time I tried was a year ago at Thanksgiving (can't remember what happened to make me want to be vegetarian then...hm) and my parents, just flat out didn't like it. I think I may have pulled it off for a week at the most, and then I got so sick of my aprents nagging me and giving me a hard time about it, that I started eating meat again. My second try, was about...I would say two months ago. I stopped eating meat, making excuses at each meal, then finally my mom asked me "Are you becoming a vegetarian?" and I told her I was. At first she complained, but after a few days I showed her it would not be a pain on her part. She has started to cook vegetarian meals, realizing, my decision can help her with her own health. She has excepted it now, and realized me decision isn't going to change. Really I'd say the biggest part of becoming vegetarian, is informing your family members about it, so they can be comfortable with your decision, other wise it is impossible. My mom would never let me go vegan though. I think I'll want to when I am living on my own, and buy my own food.

[TwoPiggieMama]

One thing that helps with parents is to convince them that you're not cutting meat out of your diet, but that you're just replacing meat with other nutritious things. As a vegetarian, you don't even have to eat fake meat. There are lots of plant sources of protein, like nuts and beans, that you can eat instead of meat or fake meat. You absolutely can have a healthy, fully nutritious diet as a vegetarian. It just takes a bit more planning to make sure you're getting all your vitamins and minerals than a regular diet would.

Someone posted above that their school district doesn't have any vegetarian options. Get together with other similar-minded friends and start writing lots of letters to your county's superintendent, your principal, and maybe even your county council about why having vegetarian options at schools would be a good idea. Back when I was in high school, we could get salads, but they cost twice as much as your regular, nasty and unhealthy school lunch. I came across the county's schools website the other day (where they list their weekly lunch menus) and now they include a large salad in the lunch menu, at no extra cost. Failing that, you can always pack your own lunch at home.

I'm not currently a vegetarian, but I've cut down a lot on eating meat. I really only eat chicken and seafood, and red meat is a rarity.

Jessica

[standuprookie]

This is a pretty neat website with a short how to.
TryVeg .com - A Guide to Vegetarian and Vegan Eating
I had been thinking about becoming a vegetarian for a while then, one day decided it was time and haven't eaten any meat since then.

[CBrewton5]

Originally Posted by cavy craze!

I just read attackofthebear's post. And I have to say I thought vegan and vegatarian is the same thing. Is it ok if I am a vegatarian and not vegan? I really don't want to give up dairy products. If I am a vegatarian, would it still be mean to the animals?

I'm kinda in the same boat, except I knew there's a differential between vegan and vegetarian, but I'm not sure exactly what it is. Is it just that vegans don't eat dairy either because it's milk from a cow and therefore an animal byproduct? I know you can get protein from meat substitutes like tofu, peanut butter etc. but where can you get the requirement for calcium if not through dairy products? My physical condition leaves me susceptible to osteoporosis prematurely, so I have to be really careful to make sure I get enough calcium in my diet.