So i'm going to my fathers side of my family for a Christmas feast...any vegans here?

[AlexAmore]

They are all purebred Italians and they make a GIANT feast. I don't see them except on holidays and I'm a vegan so they probably aren't thinking about my diet. They know as much about veganism as they know about brain surgery (even when explained) and people always forget I'm a vegan even my more immediate relatives like my grandma and my dad (old people but it's been years and they still forget, but it's been getting better lately).

If you don't know what Italian families are like, well it goes like this: "Eat, eat, eat"...and if you don't, they put a gun to your head.

I don't want to insult them by not eating, and explaining veganism is gonna make them look at me like I'm a blasphemous heathen.

Oh well.

Any vegans on this board? Any advice?

[zmall88]

im somewhat of a vegetarian although i do pop the occasional piece of meat every now and then.

veganism is TUFFF.

no eggs or honey?

[B9vot3r]

i just cooked up my extra 'tofurkey' from thanksgiving. Im not vegan but vegetarian, and food reaction to dairy, so its next to impossible to get people to understand that i cant eat 99% of their food because theyve cooked it with butter.

conversation usually goes like this.

"No, mom, i dont eat meat."

"alright well how about i fry up some fish"

"fish IS meat too"

or like sometimes they think that if its ground up finely enough that it doesnt somehow any longer count as meat because its not in slab form.

it kindof makes me livid after i realize how absolutely close minded even my family is to a concept that should be easy enough to understand from the get-go.

[AlexAmore]

i just cooked up my extra 'tofurkey' from thanksgiving. Im not vegan but vegetarian, and food reaction to dairy, so its next to impossible to get people to understand that i cant eat 99% of their food because theyve cooked it with butter.

conversation usually goes like this.

"No, mom, i dont eat meat."

"alright well how about i fry up some fish"

"fish IS meat too"

or like sometimes they think that if its ground up finely enough that it doesnt somehow any longer count as meat because its not in slab form.

it kindof makes me livid after i realize how absolutely close minded even my family is to a concept that should be easy enough to understand from the get-go.

Ahhh yes, the fish conversation....it's a classic. I have had the exact situtations as you.

edit: Tofurky is awesome.

[AlexAmore]

im somewhat of a vegetarian although i do pop the occasional piece of meat every now and then.

veganism is TUFFF.

no eggs or honey?

It's not tough. Try this: Go to a vegan restaurant if there are any around or the next time you travel. Try as much food as possible, and go crazy with your selection instead of buying some generic salad. Then get desert after you're done with the main course. I'm sure you will love it.

I have my meat eating family try vegan ice cream, mayo, butter, cake, milk....ect and they cannot tell the difference or they like it better. On my mom's birthday my meat eating grandma for a surprise made a vegan cake. Everyone was amazed at how good it was and said it was better than normal cake...same thing happened at my birthday except we went out to a vegan restuarant.

[akalucas]

Parents and I are in the same boat because we are vegan and our relatives aren't, so when we go to eat to my relatives house it can be awkward sometimes. Part of the reason we are vegan is because of our religion ( seventh day adventist) and its hard to explain to our very Catholic relatives. What I do is really put a lot of food on my plate of the things that I can eat and just mention a couple of times how good it is. Usually its a lot more obvious when I only but a small amount of things on my plate and thats when they say EAT MORE while passing me a plate of chicken or pork. When the plate is full with other stuff they usually don't say anything.

[AlexAmore]

Parents and I are in the same boat because we are vegan and our relatives aren't, so when we go to eat to my relatives house it can be awkward sometimes. Part of the reason we are vegan is because of our religion ( seventh day adventist) and its hard to explain to our very Catholic relatives. What I do is really put a lot of food on my plate of the things that I can eat and just mention a couple of times how good it is. Usually its a lot more obvious when I only but a small amount of things on my plate and thats when they say EAT MORE while passing me a plate of chicken or pork. When the plate is full with other stuff they usually don't say anything.

Hey good idea! I'll try that...if there is any food I can eat. I'm glad your parents are vegans too, my mom is a vegan and it helps a lot.

It's interesting that you're a seventh day adventist. I thought the U.S. National Institutes of Health study the showed the average Adventist in California lives four to ten years longer than the average Californian was really interesting....Keep it up! :)