#I'm being consumed by the need to buy more carnivorous plants fuck

[huginsmemory]

Recently started collecting carnivorous plants and we got some fruitflies and so I moved em all up into the kitchen. My new favourite activity is watching them catch the fruitflies, HIGHLY recommended. I get SUCH a kick out of it, go buy some sundews people.

[ramshacklefey]

Dear Person who Loves Hating on Veganism,

Not all vegans are white, USian, or wealthy. In fact, those demographics aren't remotely representative of people who practice veganism.

Most vegans aren't obnoxious fucking idiots, and we hate the idiots as much as you. They're just louder, and people see them because they're obnoxious fucking idiots who won't shut the fuck up.

We're very aware of the fact that the agribusiness industry exploits and abuses workers who are disproportionately immigrants and people of color. There's a big overlap between people who are vegan and people who try to buy local produce that we can confirm is made ethically. Unfortunately, this is expensive, and see above point about most vegans not being wealthy.

It's impossible to buy fucking anything these days without it being made by exploited workers. It is possible to avoid buying products that are produced by both worker exploitation and unimaginable cruelty to animals. Harm reduction.

Many of us also try to avoid buying stuff (Palm oil, quinoa, etc) that causes massive ecological harm.

Vegan "replacements" for animal products are not necessary for being vegan.

We know that eating eggs doesn't hurt chickens, that taking wool doesn't hurt sheep, and that eating dairy doesn't hurt the animals it comes from. Those of us who aren't idiots are fine with animal products that come from animals who are well-treated.

The animals that produce eggs, wool, and dairy for mass consumption live in conditions that would be illegal to keep a pet in.

Opinions vary on killing animals for meat if they're otherwise well-treated through their lives.

Eating vegan is straight up cheaper than not as long as you don't insist on buying luxury items to replace every single animal product in your diet.

Plant-based milk is only more expensive than dairy in the USA because of the extent to which the US government subsides the dairy industry.

The amount of meat that USians eat is fucking insane, unhealthy, and ecologically unsustainable. If we enacted laws that required farmers to give their animals the space and care needed for them to be remotely healthy and kept up the current rate of meat and dairy production, something like 70% of the available arable land in the country would be going to animal farming.

Cattle farming is the largest source of methane emissions on the planet. Methane is far more potent as a greenhouse gas than CO2. Reducing cattle farming would have a huge impact on global warming.

Humans are not carnivores. We aren't even omnivores, strictly speaking. We are primarily frugivores with a limited ability to digest animal products.

There is no nutritional benefit you get from animal products that is not available from plant-based food. Often, your body will obtain the nutrients more readily and efficiently from plants than from animal products.

The only exception to this I'm aware of is vitamin B12. This is because this vitamin doesn't come directly from plants, but from the soil they grow in, and most plants are washed too thoroughly and grown in unhealthy soil. Vitamin supplements can easily replace this.

There are innumerable health benefits to plant-based diets, even if you aren't fully vegan.

Most of us have pets. Most of us support caring, sustainable animal husbandry.

Whether or not you are vegan, you should, imo, be aware of the reality of how the animals you consume are treated. What you do with that information is your own business.

We would also like to launch PETA into the fucking sun.

Sincerely,

A Vegan Who Is Fucking Tired of This Bullshit.