What has worked best in your experience when you just want to answer the question and survive the interaction without it turning into an all-out war (but you also don't want to lie about what your reasoning for being vegan is just to comfort the other person and fit in, as this feels to me wrong/harmful and disrespectful to the animal movement to mischaracterize what its purpose is)?

I am still trialing this, and haven't experimented with all these responses to the question, but here is what I am thinking may carry the least likelihood of triggering an argument or defensive, hostile, mocking comments etc. And then for fun (as well as clarification of the kinds of responses I am avoiding for this purpose), we can also talk about what responses which we know are going to provoke people. Please list what your go-to answers to this question are, it can help a lot.

Least likely to cause an argument:

"All the reasons." / "Many reasons".

"It just felt right for me."/"It felt like the right thing to do." (Not sure I'm too happy about this one as far as watering down the movement, and its non-specificity, but it's ok - I tried it before [1st version] and person just looked at me strangely and didn't say anything, convo moved on.)

"For the animals."

"For the 'Big 3' reasons: the animals, the planet, and my personal health."

Somewhat likely to cause an argument:

"I couldn't find a good enough justification not to be."

"Because I love/respect animals/animals are cool individuals."

"I learned about the cruelty involved in using animals for food, clothing, etc."

"Because I'm a pacifist."/"Because I'm against violence/I believe in peace, love, respect, ahimsa, etc."

"Because I find what humans are doing to other animals cruel and unnecessary."

"I'm not into the animal industry, it seems rather extreme."

"Because it's the future."

"Because animals are sentient beings."

"Because I believe animals deserve rights e.g. to self-preservation, freedom, autonomy, the pursuit of happiness, etc."

Most likely to cause an argument (these are examples of the kinds of responses that I'm especially wanting to avoid in certain situations and searching for less-inflammatory/provocative, less-blunt alternatives for):

"Why wouldn't I be?"/"It's a moral obligation."

"Because animals didn't consent."

"Non-human animals are non-human persons." ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personhood#Non-human_animals )

"Non-human animals are someones, not somethings".

"Because animals are here with us, not for us."/"Because animals are ends in and of themselves, not means to our ends."/"Because the value of an animal is intrinsic, not extrinsic/instrumental"./"I realized we have no right to own and take advantage of another living (sentient) being for our own ends."

"I believe in justice and progress for all sentient beings and the liberation of marginalized groups of individuals."

"I'm ideologically opposed to the institution of systemic animal commodification/domination/objectification/exploitation."

"Because I'm against slavery/injustice/oppression/etc."

"For the same reason you're against eating dogs or humans, but extended consistently."/"For the same reason you're against dog-fighting."/"For the same reason I'm against racism".

"Because meat is murder and dairy is rape (Note: this refers to artificial insemination)".

"I don't like funding/contributing to/participating in holocausts/mass-murder/genocides/speciecides of other species."

"Because I'm not a savage."

"Because I'm not a speciesist".

"Why aren't you?"/"It's not about why I'm vegan. It's about why do you exploit & consume & use the lives and bodies of non-human animals?"

Joke answers (can be effective to soften the conversation and avoid talking about it seriously, but may belie the true intentions of veganism):

"I have a vendetta against plants and I'm on a mission to kill as many plants as possible... oh wait, I'm actually sparing more of them by being vegan than by supporting animal agriculture. That sucks."

"I asked an animal what their preference was and they told me they'd rather not be eaten or used for products."

"I'm avoiding being judged negatively by our descendants when we live in a vegan society."

"I'm part of the evil woke vegan agenda."

"I'm funded by Bill Gates."

Disclaimers:

I know many would say "There is only one reason to be vegan, because veganism is a justice stance about animals - it's not a diet and it's not about health, environment, or any other side-benefit of animal-free living." - Though I don't think it's necessarily a problem to acknowledge those other benefits in addition to focusing on animals. And yes, when I ask about how to answer the question of why one is vegan, I am referring to the definition of veganism that is an ethical philosophy for animals or animal rights, but there are actually a lot of different ways to answer this question truthfully, and you can come at it from many angles. For example, you don't need to list every reason, you can just state one, and it would still be true - as long as it's actually related to the animals from an ethical perspective (I don't want to promote misconceptions about what veganism is). And the particular way in which you describe it - including the exact wording you use - can certainly elicit different responses.

I am totally fine with people who are in social situations answering this question (Why they are vegan) in a way that WILL likely trigger an argument or resistance from the other person, if you're fine with doing that - and it can be a good opportunity for activism, advocacy, misinformation-correcting, etc.

Also, I understand that if stating the truth in a particular way causes an emotional response, defensiveness or counter-arguments, mean comments/mockery/ridicule/bullying, or makes the person become outraged/pearl-clutching and strawman you and accuse you of things you didn't actually say or mean, it's largely on them and isn't your fault. But as unreasonable as people can be, we have to work around them and coexist with them while living in society, and I still would like to be able to, in certain situations where I'm not in the mood for an argument/debate or tense/heated discussion (especially since I do care a lot about the topic), answer the question, which comes up a lot, in a peaceful and amicable manner that basically defuses/avoids the potential conflict and allows us to get on with the social interaction normally.

If it prompts further questioning or curiosity (even in an honest, good-faith manner), that still actually isn't the most ideal (unless I want to talk about it, or I think they're a reasonable person who will understand), since it can lead to opportunities for running into the same problems if the conversation continues and e.g. we reach a point of disagreement, but it doesn't necessarily have to and can in some cases be a rewarding dialogue or simply last for a few more lines and then segue into something else seamlessly.

I also know it's not possible to avoid upsetting/offending people 100% of the time, and some people will inevitably get triggered by your response to the question (whatever it is), or even from the get-go just from knowing you're vegan and taking the chance to express their opinions on the matter or their objection to veganism and justification for not being vegan, concern trolling, mean-spirited teasing, etc. But the goal of finding the "Golden Answer" to this question which I'm searching for, is to reduce the likelihood of negative responses as much as realistically possible, and yet without betraying my true values and beliefs about animals etc (and what veganism is about).

P.S. Since there isn't an AskAVegan server on Lemmy that I know of, and the vegan community here is pretty small and often gets non-vegans commenting in it, I'm just specifying I'd rather only vegans reply to this if that's okay.

A diet that is vegan consisting only of food from plants excludes all animal products. It focuses on fruits, vegetables, grains, nuts, and seeds, and can have all necessary nutrients when well-planned. All we need for healthy food that is enough for us is really all from plants, of course it does not exclude vitamin supplements, such can always help anyone.

My diet heavy with potato, celery, cabbage, squash, cucumber, and beans and peas is not having contribution to so much crop animal deaths that feed for the animals used for the meat and dairy demand is having, regardless of what some others claim about what is caused from veganism. Those ones are willingly blind to what there is from them.

Mind boggling.

It has good texture that resembles meat. Is it actually lab grown meat? Is it mushrooms? Is it some kind of vegetable gelatine glued mushroom vegetable mix? It's by far the closets thing yo meat. I love mushrooms though, its my new vegan growth stepping stone.

Context: I usually don't follow a recipe and just make things ad hoc with a generic set of (usually shelf-stable) ingredients I keep. I just mixed together the following:

• Quinoa
• Vegetable broth
• A Mediterranean seasoning mix I combined myself from like 20 herbs and spices
• A light drizzle of olive oil
• A handful of grape leaves
• About a spoonful of pomegranate molasses (never saw this ingredient before but found it on a good sale; shockingly versatile)
• About a spoonful of mango/peach jam (don't ask; I choose minor ingredients like a pregnant person)

It tastes good, but it's very homogenous flavor-wise, texture-wise, and nutrient-wise. Mainly I'm thinking of solid ingredients. Avocado? I had none on hand, but maybe next time. If I liked olives more, they'd go well with the grape leaves and Mediterranean spices to make it sort of Greek. I have a tomato, but I didn't add it; maybe I was wrong? Vegan feta exists, but I didn't like feta when I ate animal products. I bet falafel would work nicely, but I have no way to make them. The sweet ingredients already in the recipe don't make the dish taste "sweet"; they just add a bit of background flavor, and I don't want anything too sweet in it after those (except a squeeze of citrus juice which I didn't have on hand). I think white wine would be good, but I never drink, so a lot goes to waste if I use it for cooking. Lastly, I'm thinking I want the dish to be hot instead of chilled, but that's probably a stupid idea.

TL;DR: Having writer's block in finishing a potentially decent recipe; I feel like I want to go in a Greek direction, but I have little experience with making Greek food.

Animals are feeling sentient beings, there is worse effect to environments and the world with animal agriculture and there is much more water, land and resources used, and it isn't even better for our health. So we in our modern society do not need any of the things from animals. There is no good reason for people to not know about this, so all this should be communicated. People decide what to do themselves, and hopefully they will the right way.

Photo by Zdeněk Macháček on Unsplash

The global wildlife crisis has reached alarming proportions, with monitored wildlife populations plummeting worldwide over the past half-century. While the situation is dire across all continents, Latin America and the Caribbean stand out as the most severely affected region, experiencing a devastating 95% drop in wildlife populations since 1970. This staggering decline represents not just a local ecological catastrophe but a global biodiversity emergency with far-reaching implications for ecosystem stability, human livelihoods, and planetary health. The Scale of the Decline

The headline statistic is stark: monitored wildlife populations in Latin America and the Caribbean have declined by an average of 95% between 1970 and 2020. To put this in context, this means that for every 20 animals that existed in the region in 1970, only one remains today. This unprecedented collapse far exceeds the already concerning wildlife population declines in other regions: Africa has lost 76% of its wildlife populations, Asia-Pacific 60%, and the global average stands at 73%.

According to the WWF’s Living Planet Report 2024, these findings emerge from monitoring 5,495 animal species and 35,969 populations globally. The consistent downward trajectory across regions underscores the systemic nature of this crisis, but the exceptional severity in Latin America and the Caribbean highlights the particularly intense pressures facing this biodiversity-rich part of the world. Causes of Wildlife Decline Habitat Loss and Degradation

The primary driver of wildlife population collapse in Latin America and the Caribbean is habitat loss and degradation, particularly from agricultural expansion and rampant deforestation. The Amazon rainforest, which houses approximately 10% of the planet’s known biodiversity, has been especially hard hit, with vast areas converted to farmland and cattle ranching operations. Between 2000 and 2018, the Amazon lost approximately 513,016 square kilometers of forest — an area roughly the size of Spain. Overexploitation

Unsustainable hunting, fishing, and illegal wildlife trade constitute the second major threat to biodiversity in the region. Commercial fishing has depleted marine wildlife populations, while hunting — both for subsistence and commercial purposes — has decimated many terrestrial species. The illegal wildlife trade, estimated to be worth up to $23 billion annually worldwide, continues to target the region’s unique and valuable species. Climate Change

Climate change acts as a multiplier of existing threats and is noted as a particularly acute pressure in Latin America and the Caribbean. Rising temperatures, changing precipitation patterns, and increasing frequency of extreme weather events disrupt habitats, alter species ranges, and stress already vulnerable populations. The region’s rich but fragile ecosystems — from tropical forests to coral reefs — are especially susceptible to climate-induced changes.

The methane contribution is a serious issue, to really consider. We can't stop out own gas emission. But, as all the cattle use, which are bred that much for the demand, contribute a whole lot more to gas emissions contributing to the climate change, there are choices for us to not contribute as much.

https://plantbasednews.org/lifestyle/health/chicken-linked-to-elevated-cancer-risk/

After over a month of being silenced from speaking out against the cruelty of foie gras production, a court decision modified the restraining order against us, and we legally returned to protest at Gander and Ryegrass in Spokane. Even with the law on our side, staff from two businesses called the police on us. Watch what happens when we peacefully stand our ground and assert our rights.