I was wanting to register for the vegan freaks forum, but it’s by invite only. Can anyone hook me up?
ps I’ve been vegan (freegan style, so dumpstered/food co-op dairy and egg products, I’ve eaten*) for over a year 
And I’m definitely of the ethical/political variety.
*My freegan position also has a lot to do with the socio-economic class of my family. Being pure vegan is VERY difficult when you get much of your food from a food co-op, and only buy specialty vegan foods when they are on sale/reduced because you can’t afford them otherwise. I was vegetarian since I was 11, and found that easy, but had to give up an absolutist approach to veganism when I tried it at the ages of 9, 11, and 20 (last year).
never heard of this forum but i hope you get in!!! (she deserves it people, hook her up!)
me too! yeah: see, a fellow vegan is pulling for me to get in, folks
If you got in I would love it if you could pass the good fourtune my way! I am a little tired of the other fourms that are just chat sites with vegans not a site for vegans. Thanks!
no luck so far, noochie! if one of us manages getting in, let’s hook the other up
You wouldn’t be accepted to the site if you applied/were invited. You would find very quickly that “freegans” are frowned upon there. It is a site for abolitionist vegans, and consuming animal products, regardless of what they cost, is not vegan.
Specialty vegan products are not a prerequisite for being vegan. I know multiple vegans who have grocery budgets of $20 a week or less, and who eat rice, beans, and other whole foods. Being vegan is actually WAY cheaper than eating animal products if you cook and eat whole foods.
Anyway, not trying to be rude, but just wanted to let you know that the Vegan Freaks forum sounds like it’s not the site for you. Maybe veggieboards.com would be a good fit? I hung around that site for a while and liked it.
Hi Bracket, this is going to be rather angry, and I want you to know that the following anger is directed straight at you, but at the sentiment you expressed that is shared by many vegans.
Sorry, but that’s kind of bullshitty to me. Going by using animal products equals not vegan, I seriously doubt anyone is a “real” vegan. We accidentally consume animal products all the time. It’s hidden in our foods, clothing, toiletries, technology, etc. (eg http://www.spunk.org/texts/food/sp001610.txt)
I know specialty vegan isn’t prereq. I buy groceries only a couple times a month, maybe to a grand total of 30 (canadian), if that. I get most of my food from my local self-help food bank, with some freeganised foods (eg take leftover food home from an event that would get thrown out, dumpsterdiving). I often don`t have time to cook whole foods, and usually eat two meals a day and a snack a day. I am involved with a lot of things (eg gcc food coordinator, training, volunteering, activism, university, commuting from the city i live to university, etc)
I also believe in, to quote Consolidated, the “unity of oppression.” So I try to have the same standards for animal, human, and environmental oppressions and the consumption of the results. 90% of my clothing is second-hand (or third-hand), 90% of my books are used, my computer was a gift from my uncle and I’ve had it for 6 years, etc. How is it any more of a moral or ethical to use/eat non-fair trade vegan things? If it’s ok to eat produce from 1000s of kilometres away, how is it less ethical to eat dumpstered organic, local cheese? eg the environmental impacts of those berries (or whatever) not only harms the environment, but the animals withing that environment.
We all make concessions in our lives. The solution is not to denounce others for making different ones, but to recognise all of our concessions as such. I’m not justifying eating free vegetarian things, I’m saying it’s no less unethical or ethical than eating bananas. Strict adherence to one set of ethics to the exclusion or neglect of others isn’t ethical, it’s self-aggrandisement.
Forgot to also mention: the number of pro-porn vegans out there?!? WTF! Talk about hypocrisy.