Philosophical Vegan Forum

PrincessPeach wrote:did I get the correct seaweed to make sushi ? I've never had sushi before and I am excited to try vegan sushi if I got the right kind of seaweed to make it...!

It looks flexible from images. Take one out and try to roll it into a tube... pretend it's paper, you're seven, and you're playing pirates. If you can make an imaginary telescope out of it without it breaking, it can make sushi

You'll need some sticky rice - normal rice will fall apart too easily and won't make a strong sushi roll.

There's special sushi rice for that. Or...

http://www.wikihow.com/Make-Sushi-Rice

This talks a lot about your options for rice.

Once you have the rice, get the veggies you want ready, and cut them into strips, then assemble.

The process itself is the same for vegan and meat sushi, as far as assembling the ingredients goes. I bet you can find a youtube video on it. You can probably find one on how to make vegan sushi, so you don't have to stare at them cutting up fish pieces (ick).

You don't have to have a sushi mat for rolling it, but it helps quite a bit. If you want to make sushi often, I'd recommend getting one.

But... you should probably buy your nori online; it will be a lot cheaper than in the store in those small amounts (if you make a lot).

Make sure to have wasabi and tamari on hand, and some ginger
Enjoy!

And as a vegan, I also see it as a moral failing- when we are picky about food that is otherwise vegan and healthy, and refuse to eat it on grounds of personal preference,

I really think you are taking this way too seriously. We all have our own preferences in food. Do you honestly expect everyone to like everything just because its vegan, healthy and ethical? We aren't all machines and I wouldn't want to be in a world where we tried to be. If someone doesn't like something, I won't fault them on it.

TheVeganAtheist wrote:I really think you are taking this way too seriously.

I think you're taking it too lightly. The philosophy of not being able to "stand" certain foods for no particular reason is largely why so many people won't consider quitting eating meat. They have the notion that they just don't like vegan food, or that they can't get to like vegan food as much as they ever liked animal products, and that they would face a life of suffering and deprivation because of it.

I don't think we should be trying to reinforce this belief, or condone the notion that disliking certain things for no reason is an important part of a person's character that we should celebrate- rather than a character flaw or personal failing (as it is) that is to be overcome.

Like an addiction or a phobia, an irrational aversion is something to be conquered.

TheVeganAtheist wrote:We all have our own preferences in food. Do you honestly expect everyone to like everything just because its vegan, healthy and ethical?

I don't expect anything like that, and I don't expect the world to ever go vegan either, or expect that we will ever really be free of religious dogma.
It is, however, something to strive for- if not liking everything, at least overcoming the notion that it's OK or rational to distinctly dislike something for no reason.

I should hope at least all rational people can understand that tastes are inherently mutable, and just because they don't like something doesn't mean that they can't like it, or that they shouldn't work at liking it if there's any reason at all to do so.

TheVeganAtheist wrote:We aren't all machines and I wouldn't want to be in a world where we tried to be.

This has nothing to do with being machines, it has to do with ethics, and the messages we send to the world around us.

You'd really rather die than continue to live in a world where everybody liked all healthy vegan food?
Because that sounds great to me- we'd be rid of the irrational grip upon meat and other animal products that society holds, since there would be no hedonistic motivation for people to resist more ethical choices of food (liking them all the same).

TheVeganAtheist wrote:If someone doesn't like something, I won't fault them on it.

How about if a carnist just doesn't like any and all vegan food? How about if they only like meat and dairy?

Then they should never under any circumstances consider going vegan, right? Because it's an important part of their personality that they don't like vegan food, and they're perfect just the way they are?

That may seem like an exaggeration, but it's an understandable extension of the argument you're making.

It's something of a cousin to the appeal to nature fallacy- an appeal to personal nature fallacy. That because this is how somebody is, this is how somebody should be (because everybody is a snowflake, and perfect in whatever arbitrary and irrational preferences they have).

I take the opposite stance.

If there's any moral reason at all that you should have different preferences, then you should work at that, because your arbitrary tastes do not define who you are as a person deep down inside- your ethics do. And if you're unwilling to change for the better and improve yourself, that's an insidious character flaw, just waiting to manifest itself in some more severe way.

I'm not saying there's a moral prerogative to equally like every healthy vegan food, but there is a moral prerogative to at least tolerate or be indifferent to (at worst) all healthy vegan food that you might reasonably come into contact with. By no means is it morally justified to maintain the attitude that it's OK to randomly and for no good reason "not stand" some kind of otherwise healthy and ethical food, and doing so undermines veganism by making it seem like just another form of food obsession or superficial pickiness.

brimstoneSalad wrote:Maybe you can try just cooking it a tiny bit. Then a tiny bit more. Etc. until you can eat it cooked.

Good idea! I'll see if it works.

TheVeganAtheist wrote:
I really think you are taking this way too seriously. We all have our own preferences in food. Do you honestly expect everyone to like everything just because its vegan, healthy and ethical? We aren't all machines and I wouldn't want to be in a world where we tried to be. If someone doesn't like something, I won't fault them on it.

IMO

A fairly large group of people listen to your opinion and the way you do things can have a huge influence on other vegans/ curious vegans
If people that want to be vegan or are new at being vegan see that you don't like ginger, watercress and w.e else you put they may not ever try it for themselves... Why? Because you don't like it and they follow things you do and like the things you like and dislike as well. To advocate the disliking of vegans foods means you may have inadvertently started a following group that will dislike those items as well..

I don't get why people hold Bill Clinton's diet as a priority in their life but; they do! He had a vegan following when he was vegan, and now those vegans are turning into paleos because; some one said Bill Clinton is paleo, who really knows wtf he puts in his mouth and why people make his dietary choices a prevalent factor in their lives is beyond me.. But the point of the matter is they do!
Don't forget some people really listen and follow what you say closely, you have to always be on your toes with how you represent yourself.
I try to always reflect out positive things, it is hard but you have to find an appropriate time/place to vent!

PrincessPeach wrote:He had a vegan following when he was vegan, and now those vegans are turning into paleos because; some one said Bill Clinton is paleo

That sucks. This whole paleo-caze is beyond stupid; I hope it dies down, but I fear it won't, since it speaks very strongly to something idiots the world over hold to be valid: The appeal to nature fallacy.


Along that same line on food practices: Sometimes I eat some pretty boring and bland food, but when I know somebody might be watching what I'm eating, I try to dress it up a little bit.
And I'm pretty resistant to letting anybody try my food unless it's particularly good (that I spent more effort preparing it) since I don't want to give them the boring "I spent less than 30 seconds on this" version of quick on the go food I eat sometimes since they might think that's the best veganism has to offer.

Speaking of which, I have some cookies to bake.

PrincessPeach wrote: IMO

A fairly large group of people listen to your opinion and the way you do things can have a huge influence on other vegans/ curious vegans
If people that want to be vegan or are new at being vegan see that you don't like ginger, watercress and w.e else you put they may not ever try it for themselves... Why? Because you don't like it and they follow things you do and like the things you like and dislike as well. To advocate the disliking of vegans foods means you may have inadvertently started a following group that will dislike those items as well..

Before this thread came up, I've never mentioned it. Rather than having people get discouraged, I'd suspect that it would show that Im human and I like/dislike food items too. Ive tried vegan food that was bland or disgusting in the past, and a person happened to try something awful (and vegan) one time, they may think that all vegan food tastes bad. Its perfectly normal to have preferences, and I don't see what the big deal is. Id think it would scare more people off if you advocate that you have to like all vegan food.

TheVeganAtheist wrote:Before this thread came up, I've never mentioned it. Rather than having people get discouraged, I'd suspect that it would show that Im human and I like/dislike food items too. Ive tried vegan food that was bland or disgusting in the past, and a person happened to try something awful (and vegan) one time, they may think that all vegan food tastes bad. Its perfectly normal to have preferences, and I don't see what the big deal is. Id think it would scare more people off if you advocate that you have to like all vegan food.

I agree with you there. It almost would suggest that it isn't really nice food, but that you would have to learn to eat it. But the fact is that most people already eat most of the foods we eat. They just add meat, eggs and dairy to their meals (well, can be more complicated then that, but you get the idea, being vegan doesn't necessarily mean eating healthy whole food stuff and things like that) So it's literally impossible to completely dislike vegan food. So the hypothetical person of brimstoneSalad that only likes meat and dairy is not very realistic.

It might even be useful to be picky. Then people think: even such a picky person is capable of being vegan, then it wouldn't be hard for me either. I'm not claiming this is what in fact would happen, but I'm not sure about the contrary either.

You either hate licorice it or you love it it seems. I love it.

Honestly, the most disliked food for me is most vegetables. I can never get used to the taste of most vegetables, and they make me feel very unsatisfied and want to eat something else afterwards even if I'm full. I eat them because I have to, to fill the stomach, and for the fiber and nutrients. Sometimes they have a nice texture though, like cucumber, zucchini, and lettuce.
The way I see it, if people think that I'm a picky eater, I just show them what food does make me satisfied.

Anon0045 wrote:You either hate licorice it or you love it it seems. I love it.

Honestly, the most disliked food for me is most vegetables. I can never get used to the taste of most vegetables, and they make me feel very unsatisfied and want to eat something else afterwards even if I'm full. I eat them because I have to, to fill the stomach, and for the fiber and nutrients. Sometimes they have a nice texture though, like cucumber, zucchini, and lettuce.
The way I see it, if people think that I'm a picky eater, I just show them what food does make me satisfied.

id imagine that makes being vegan quite challenging. Im curious, what do you eat? Do you force yourself to eat things you dont like?