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Recent Journal Entries

Jun 16, 2013 World Wide Vegan Events
Apr 4, 2013 How did you turn vegan? Tell us everything!
Feb 13, 2013 Arts for Animal Rights Contest
Mar 11, 2012 New folders for food photos submissions
Feb 3, 2012 Vegan recipes
Nov 26, 2011 Vegan Nutrition Needs
Jun 4, 2011 Officials' plan to exterminate county's wild pigs
Sep 30, 2010 Advices for new Veggies
Mar 17, 2010 What is veganism
Jul 22, 2009 Welcome + RULES

World Wide Vegan Events

by ~anya1916, 2 days, 21 hours ago
Journals / Personal

to make the club a bit more alive, I propose you something :
If you have any vegan event near your location, inform us by sending a note to the group and it will be published in the journal, other vegans of the group could be interested by it !

Lots of vegan events here : Vegans World Network
Google calendar : [link]

WORLD WIDE
Wedrose Acres Hoof Haul - August 3rd, on the Internet

^{more infos}

FRANCE
Manifestations Air France-KLM, contre le transport d'animaux de laboratoire - toute l'année à Paris, Toulouse, Bordeaux, Rennes, Lille...

^{plus d'infos}

Happenning anti-vivisection - 20 juillet, Amiens

^{plus d'infos}

Estivale de la Question Animale - du 2 au 11 août, Marlhes

^{Plus d'infos}

Pour la fermeture de l'élevage de Mézilles - 7 septembre, Auxerre

^{Plus d'infos}

Marche contre la Fourrure - 5 octobre, Paris

^{Plus d'infos}

Paris Vegan Day - 12 octobre, Paris

^{Plus d'infos}

ISRAEL
Weekly Vegan Demonstration

^{more infos}

USA
Events in Southern California look here

Outreach against testing on animals - June 18th, Chicago

^{more infos}

Green Festival - September 21-22th, Washington DC

^{more infos}

Green Festival - October 19-20th, Los Angeles

^{more infos}

Green Festival - November 9-10th, San Francisco

^{more infos}

48 Comments

How did you turn vegan? Tell us everything!

by ~anya1916, Apr 4, 2013, 12:30:33 PM
Journals / Personal

!ankieltaker sent me a note and gave me ideas to wake up the group a bit and give it maybe a real life!

~vegtomato is going to translate this journal into chinese to post into his website Vegtomato.
So, I'll create some new journal entries to make you, dear members, participate! Hope you'll like the subjects and be talkative

THANK YOU ALL for submitting your testimonials! It was a real pleasure to read your stories and I'm sure you were glad to read the stories of the others members as well

Of course, this journal is not closed, any new comer is welcome to post her/his story too

HOW DID YOU BECOME VEGAN?

All vegans love animals and respect them, that's a fact. But how did you turn vegan? Are maybe were you born in a vegan family?
How does it happen? How old were you? Was it hard for you to make the decision? How did react your family and friends?

Veganism is always a main subject of discussion with people. So, I'm sure you have plenty of stories to tell us, don't be shy.
Sometimes, we feel lonely because we think nobody understands how we see things. Sharing are stories will cheer us up, I think. We'll see how much we're alike, that we all go through the same things but maybe in different ways.

I'm waiting for your comments!

I was born in an omnivorous family.
We had a dog (my mom's) and later we had goldfish (my brothers' and mine). We also had birds.
I was told to love animals, that they were part of the family as we were ourselves.
For my 8th anniversary, I had a female guinea pig: the love of my life. And also the start of the infinite love I've had for guinea pigs ever since.
On rainy days, I took away from the path snails and slugs and worms to put them back in the grass. When we saw an injured birds or hedgehogs (even a bat, once), we tried to ill them. Sometimes they get better and were released but mostly, they died. We buried all of them in our garden.
We were against corrida, hunting and any sort of animal abuse... But every day, we had our share of dead flesh called "meat".
I grew up in a small town in the countryside, so, people don't like change and "new ideas". We only knew one vegetarian woman and we made laugh of her speaking about her diet.
Years went on...
Around 17, I tried for a very short time to be vegetarian, but it wasn't enough well thought and I supposed I didn't know at that time why exactly I was doing it. And the "vegetarian diet" wasn't good enough for me, I still felt like there was some injustice going on. So, after less than a month, I get back to meat, eating the food my mom cooked.
Then, when I entered university, I lived for the first time out of my parents' place, leaving all week in my student room with food to cook and... to buy. This is when it hit me.
I remember being in front of this meat in the store and that I thought "I can't buy this, I'm not giving my money for a murder".
So, I bought instead soya steaks and all other stuff like that. My roommates asked questions and accepted with no laugh my diet.
When I get back home, I told my parents I was becoming vegan (yet, as we had hens at this moment, I ate their eggs). My father answered me "As long as you keep yourself informed to be healthy, it's okay". And even though he was still omnivorous, during family diners (with aunts, uncles...) he supported me against them and told them about animals, the miserable conditions they live in.
At once, I quit meat, leather, wool, tested cosmetics.
Quitting meat wasn't hard at all for me. I stopped eggs when my hens died (mostly of illness, because rescued hens from egg farms are very fragile). Milk was very easy to forget because I was already drinking soya milk as I've never been able to digest cow milk. For cosmetics, I've always been against testing, but I didn't pay attention when buying my shampoo, though, I always refused to put make-up. When I found brands that were vegan, I started putting make-up on my face.
The hardest part was cheese. I'm french. I've always looooved cheese. I didn't buy any but it was very hard for me to say "no" when I was proposed some during a diner. For many years now, even if I'm missing the taste of it, I'm strong enough to resist the temptation
This year 2013 will celebrate my 10 years of being vegan.
Last year, my mom told me that my father and she were thinking of becoming vegetarian.

19 Comments

Arts for Animal Rights Contest

by ~shadowmagnet, Feb 13, 2013, 3:56:09 AM
Journals / Personal

Arts for Animal Rights Contest 2013

is running a contest for the second time!
Here is the journal entry for more information

-------------------------------------------------------------

Mascot Themed Contest

Our affiliate

is holding a contest!
Go take a look at their journal for more information!

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Vegan Sandwiches at Subway

Thought I'd put this in a blog entry. Hopefully, this does well, so they can bring it to ALL their stores.

[link]

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Welcome our new admin : ~shadowmagnet

Some weeks ago I asked for help in managing the group and here is our new admin!
Thank you very much, you'll be very helpful!

-------------------------------------------------------------

~michaellines5683's blog "the Vegan Beaver

Find out more

4 Comments

New folders for food photos submissions

by ~anya1916, Mar 11, 2012, 8:34:07 AM
Journals / Personal

New submission folders!
As there are a lot of food photos that have been added to the club gallery lately, I created new folders to order this more properly.
So from now on, you'll have to choose between the folders :
- "Slaty Food" (meals, vegetables, maybe breakfast if it's salt...)
- "Sweet Food" (deserts, fruits, breakfast...)
- "Drinks" (fruit juices, veg milks...)

Gallery-only animal/veggie related art is accepted
So, please, submit to the gallery only ANIMAL/VEGGIE ART RELATED!
Any other art will be deleted or rejected.
Submissions to the "featured folder" are closed. Select the right folder to submit your pic. If you are not sure where your art goes, just ask!

Gallery submissions
Did you know that you can submit to the club any of your animals art? Photos, drawings, stuff... It doesn't have to display a message for animals rights.
However, anthros and fan arts are not allowed.

What kind of activity / project / contest... would you like to see on the club ?

People are still joining the club, I try to keep it updated, but there's not much activity here... So I'd like to have your opinion and ideas.
What would interest you enough to make you participate to the club's life ?

Don't be shy, tell me everything !

22 Comments

Vegan recipes

by ~anya1916, Feb 3, 2012, 12:00:52 PM
Journals / Personal

Hungry ? Or in need of recipes ideas ?
There are so many ways to prepare delicious vegan meals ! You can find recipes to inspire the cook in you on the following websites :

If you know any website with nice recipes, let us know !

Choosing Raw
^{suggested by ~maausi}

VeggieBoards Recipe Forum
^{suggested by ~BinkyLove}

Vegan Recopes Search
^{suggested by ~BinkyLove}

Reddit - Vegan Recipes
^{suggested by ~BinkyLove}

Vegerator - reverse recipe finder
^{suggested by ~BinkyLove}

VegMichigan
^{suggested by ~okilubb}

Dandelion Roots
^{suggested by ~Asteracea}

Finding Vegan
^{suggested by ~Izrah420}

Peas and Crayons
^{suggested by ~Izrah420}

Sometimes I veg
^{suggested by ~Izrah420}

the Post Punk Kitchen
^{suggested by ~iLwA}

Dimitri the Greek raw vegan
^{suggested by ~Vegan33}

VeganWelt (german)
^{suggested by ~gescheitert}

Fancy saving the world
^{suggested by ~Dhadhajimbillybobjoe}

Tierrechtskochbuch (german)
^{suggested by *Toto-the-cat}

Rezeptefuchs (german)
^{suggested by *Toto-the-cat}

Adorateurs 2 seitan (french)
^{suggested by ~gael}

Video : make seitan (french)
^{suggested by ~gael}

Vegan Tastiers
^{suggested by ~esperali}

the Muddy Vegan
^{suggested by ~zombryn}

Vegan Etsy
^{suggested by *LadyStarrlight}

No meat zone
^{suggested by =KinoFou}

the kind life
^{suggested by ~itseebitsee}

VegWeb
^{suggested by ~zombryn}

Plaisir végétal (french)
^{suggested by ~anya1916}

Vegetarian & Vegan recipes
^{suggested by ~itseebitsee}

Vegans Fields (french)
^{suggested by ~anya1916}

52 Comments

More Journal Entries

Featured

Ham and Bacon by ~Friendermen

4 Comments

Fofura vegan by ~elix3

0 Comments

Got milk ? --- weird sketch by ~Trutze

8 Comments

The opposite of logic by *Galaxu

93 Comments

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Group Info

the vegan community for vegans and vegetarians artists ! Come share your vegan art for animals rights and against animal cruelty, share also the vegetarian events around the world.

Group
Founded 9 Years ago
Aug 25, 2003

Location
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Group Focus
Support & Cause

429 Members
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Comments

*Sniper0092 Apr 17, 2013 Hobbyist Traditional Artist

Hi...

~rieke-b Feb 21, 2013 Professional Traditional Artist

When people were conditioned to eat certain animal species and are convinced it was normal, natural and necessary, they’ll always find something to justify it. This invisible belief system or ideology is called carnism.

We were taught to love dogs, cats and other pets, but many people were trained to live with a “gap of consciousness” that makes them see meat as food, not as a piece of a dead animal. Carnism prevents people from seeing cattle, pigs, chickens or fish as living, breathing individuals with a mind and personality. This belief system is so widespread and entrenched in many cultures that it’s considered to be "the way things are" instead of being questioned.
Many people aren’t aware of the ghastly ecological and social consequences of meat consumption, but without awareness, we cannot make free choices.

Here you can read more about carnism (official website): [link]

=ElithianFox Apr 5, 2013 Hobbyist Digital Artist

Is it still carnism when you know those animals have feelings and stuff, but you deem it as necessary to eat them because that's how humans are built?

Because to me, a cow is considered the same as a dog or a cat. If it's not given a name, I don't mind its death (as it doesn't remember).
However, when they're given a name, people change their ideas drastically. (See the whole Kalfke Willy thing)

~rieke-b Apr 19, 2013 Professional Traditional Artist

It's certainly not necessary for people to eat meat, otherwise there wouldn't be so many healthy vegetarians and vegans.

If you really think you couldn't survive without meat, you surely have a carnistic state of mind.

Do animals really need a name to be respected by people? I don't think so. They don't need names in nature, anyway.

~anya1916 Mar 12, 2013 Hobbyist Digital Artist

Thank you for the link!
Most people want things to stay the way they were told they are. If they question those things, they feel like they've been raised with a lie and therefore, you're quite saying their family is a liar.

~rieke-b Mar 17, 2013 Professional Traditional Artist

People are liars when they know the truth, but tell a lie deliberately. When it comes to eating meat, the lack of awareness usually creates most of the problems because many people don't question the way they eat and therefore don't know about the consequences. They simply follow the lifestyle of their parents and grandparents and say that eating meat was an important part of their culture.
Every culture needs to be questioned from time to time, though, and can't be used for justifying carnism. Culture isn't something solid which never changes, after all.

*Ramones-Cupcake Jan 30, 2013 Hobbyist Traditional Artist

I am vegetarian but not vegan.
Do you guys find the vegan diet to be more healthy? That would be the only reason why I'd want to be vegan (no offense to anyone else or what their reasons are) but I'm trying to eat healthier and I like a lot of vegan food....

~anya1916 Mar 12, 2013 Hobbyist Digital Artist

The vegetarian diet is already a great way to feel and be healthier.
What can be reduce or stop is dairy products and it is very easy to replace them with vegetal alternatives.
About eggs, there's not much said about them of being "bad".

Do you know the "The China Study" by T. Colin Campbell? [link]
You should find lots of good hints to be healthy in it

*Ramones-Cupcake Mar 12, 2013 Hobbyist Traditional Artist

thanks! (: I will check out the link, I like the idea of cutting dairy out because of most things with dairy are high in fat or calories. Sadly, though I like ice cream, pizza, yogurt, cheese. But, maybe soy cheese is healthier...maybe I should do a 'trial' and see if I am able to do it. ^__^ so you're a vegan? was it difficult for you, if you don't mind me asking? Because I'd imagine you'd have to be very careful, and read the boxes of food and such to make sure it doesn't contain anything you can't have. It's not hard for me as a vegetarian, since all I have to avoid is meat products. (:

~LordBaconman Apr 26, 2013 General Artist

I know this is an old comment, but I just now saw this and thought I'd give you a little advice, if you were still considering going vegan. c:

In answer to your first question; yes, there are many health benefits to the vegan diet, but it's very important to know what you're doing ahead of time so that you're not deficient in any key vitamins. I would recommend doing plenty of research before you start (ie. making sure you know what a complete protein is, using only fortified milk alternatives so that you're not calcium deficient, etc). But as long as you do everything correctly, then yes, the vegan diet is very healthy indeed, and has even been condoned by numerous health experts as one of the best choices for optimum human health, in that it helps prevent things like heart disease and several different cancers. Plus, it's cholesterol-free.

And yes, you do have to be very careful about what you buy, which means having to read the labels very carefully and being extremely cautious about eating out/accepting food from others. But really, it's not all that hard to do once you get used to it; a bit of a pain at times, maybe, but certainly not difficult. (After all, you have a right to know what you're eating.

)

I totally hear you on the dairy thing; really, I don't think I've ever met a vegan who didn't think that they couldn't give up their dairy foods at first. But after going without it for a while, I soon found that it was honestly one of the easiest things I ever gave up; not even kidding. (Cheese just looks so greasy and disgusting now, I honestly don't miss it in the slightest. xD) And as ~anya1916 said, ice cream can easily be replaced with sorbet or vegan ice creams with soy/nut milk alternatives, and pizza can be good without the cheese, too.

A helpful way to approach the diet change is to not think of it as "giving up" every food you love, but rather exploring a broad range of new foods that are healthier and may even taste better. c: Also, it helps a lot to start out by having just one or two vegan days per week, and then gradually bumping it up to three or four, and so on until you feel comfortable with eating vegan meals every day (that helped me a lot when I first started). Most importantly, don't ever beat yourself up if you slip, especially during the first few months; just keep reassuring yourself that every vegan meal you eat is an improvement for your health and the environment, and some improvement is better than none at all. :3

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#vegans

Recent Journal Entries

World Wide Vegan Events

How did you turn vegan? Tell us everything!

Arts for Animal Rights Contest

New folders for food photos submissions

Vegan recipes

Featured

Group Info

Affiliates

Comments

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Style

#vegans

Recent Journal Entries

World Wide Vegan Events

How did you turn vegan? Tell us everything!

Arts for Animal Rights Contest

New folders for food photos submissions

Vegan recipes

Featured

Group Info

Affiliates

Deviants

Comments

Add Media

Style