That happened to my sister. She used to care for the pigs at our school; one day, without telling the students, they were sent away to slaughter. She came home, traumatised, and by the worst possible coincidence, my mother served pork that night. Mum told my sister she wasn't leaving the table until she'd eaten it, and finally conceded defeat at midnight. We're stubborn in my family.
Protein's awesome and heaps easier to get these days for vegos. So are alkalising foods (done my research there, too - in fact, meat is very acidic, so fruits and vegies - some of them - really help there).
Guys who are complaining about vegos 'soapboxing' - I don't think it's intentional - this thread pretty much did ask, and we were simply responding to people who were saying it's pointless. We think there's enough of a point to have changed our lives for it, so a response was necessary. I don't preach unless it's within context ie. someone asks why I'm vego, or brings up vegetarianism to knock it. I also hate shock tactics. I support free range (genuinely free-range), small holding, and heritage meats - I work in the industry and I think they're important. I try to encourage meat-eaters to at least try them, because I'm told they're a hundred times tastier and a better product ethically. Many farmers *do* care for their animals, but for the layperson who doesn't live in to country and personally know their producer, it's impossible to tell, and when you see stuff like the live export issues, you really have to wonder how much those farmers care. Australia is way behind the rest of the world in terms of how we treat pigs and chickens, too.
A great big tip of the hat from me to all the omnivores who've responded and source ethical meat, and the meat-lovers who've been civil. So many aren't (and make stupid remarks about lacking testicles, etc). You guys rock.
