Hello Elgar, and hugs from another potty-mouth ;)

hello Elgar :)

Hi elgar! :)

Howdy do!!

hi, i'm a human (da) i have been vegetarian since i was 4, because i heard that chicken (the only meat i ate) was actually an animal, and i directly related it to my pets. also cause a year later my friend became a vegetarian (she's older than me) and i got her influence. trying vegan, always liked soy stuff, but i can't give up chocolate:) i have 5 rescue horses and lots of other recue pets. hi.

Hi Horse_lover,

Welcome to the forum.
I like chocolate too. Have you seen the Whitakers range at Big-W?

Hi Horse_lover,

A big welcome from me too. Congrats on trying to go vegan. Chocolate doesn't need to slow you down too much. If you like light (milk) chocolate there is Sweet William, which is widely available and Plamil, which is imported from the UK and a little harder to find but Fundamental Food Store has at least some of the Plamil range and if memory serves so does Mrs. Flannery's. If you like dark chocolate I know that Lindt dark chocolate is vegan as is Eskal dark chocolate and I know there are others. Check out these threads:
http://vegsoc.org.au/forum_messages.asp?Thread_ID=7127&Topic_ID=7
http://vegsoc.org.au/forum_messages.asp?Thread_ID=7124&Topic_ID=1

And for white chocolate:
http://vegsoc.org.au/forum_messages.asp?Thread_ID=7175&Topic_ID=13

Also there is a chocolate guide on the main part of the Society's website (along with other categories of food):
http://vegsoc.org.au/products.asp
http://vegsoc.org.au/products_category.asp?ProductCategory=Chocolate

Enjoy! :-)

greetings!
im a nu thread...
have been a vegetarian for 7 years. was vegan once for 2 years and am now edging my way back into the dairy free routine.
i wanna get back in to my passion for animal rights even if it means readying articles, posts, zines, even a good conversation.
i have no veggie friends anymore!

im ronrey

Hi Danica ,

Welcome to the forum.

There is a lifetime of reading on the Internet it can be very time consuiming finding the information that gives you clarity.  I hope you find everyone here helpful.

Hi there, Im new to the site, but after only a few days of reading the forum posts Im feeling a deeper commitment to the cause of ceasing the suffering of animals by abstinence of animal based products.

I have basically eaten meat all of my life, apart from 18 months in my teens in which I lived at home and tried to exist on the meat and 3 veg minus the meat. I had no idea about cooking or nutrition and I had never heard of soy or lentils, etc (we re going back to the 70s) so it is not surprising in hindsight that I didn't last the distance.

In September last year we went through a traumatic experience when our beautiful golden cocker spaniel Tiffy, aged 13 (the sister my boys never had) became very ill. We were all with her in the vet surgery to hear the news that there was probably nothing that could be done to save her. We had to make the ultimate decision to end her suffering and I held her as she was given the needle and died in my arms. My teenage boys, my husband and I cried the tears of those who have lost a family member. Later we had a wake to laugh and cry about our beautiful dog.
Much later in the day I realised that I hadn t eaten anything all day and feeling ravenous, I opened the fridge and grabbed the a BBQ chicken leg. I bit into it and looked at the gouge I'd made and saw the pink flesh and the bone and all I could think about was my darling dog, and that it was no different to eating her.
I spat out that chicken and I havent eaten meat since that day.

However, I must admit that I have continued to eat fish and seafood.

Im now seeing that fish suffer as well and so I will be facing the challenge of eliminating these creatures from my diet as well.

I look forward to the support of this community to support and educate me in this change of mindset and lifestyle.

Welcome Danica and Jan, wonderful to have you both join us on the forum.
I hope your seach and putting in place a Vegan/Vegetarian lifestyle is a rewarding and happy adventure.
There are many on this forum who can help you on your way and the Animals thank you.
Again welcome.
Cheers Kevin.

Hi all,
I've been reading the forum daily for about a month and thought it was high time I registered! I've been vegetarian for about 20 years, and recently made the switch to vegan in December last year. My partner is also vegan and my 11 year old daughter is vegan when she's with me and vegetarian when with her dad (sigh). I'm hoping to find some like minded people, as I'm finding that I don't so much enjoy going out with my friends and watching them tuck into hearty steaks! I'm a social worker, like to write the odd article for a few different publications and am a highly motivated maker of vegan cupcakes!!

Welcome 1handclapping, wonderful to see join in. The forum is a great place to meet like minded people and share old and new idea's.
That's great your family is all Vegan, makes life so much easier re meal times.
Again welcome and hope you enjoy each visit on line.
Cheers Kevin.

Hello 1handclapping and Jan and a big welcome to you both.  Well one way to meet people with much the same ideas as you is come along to our dinner at My Heart Garden on the 19th and as you're such an expert on the cupcakes, handclapping, we could really use your help with cup cakes or slices or burgers (or patties for our food stall at The Million Paws Walk at UQ on the 18th May.   How about it?  We need lots of food and lots of helpers.  If you think you might be able to help or would like to come to the dinner, please ring the office on 3300 9320.  Even though we are a mixed society we only do vegan food.  Hope you will give me a ring.

Hi again,
Just wanted to say a big thank you for all the great literature I received along with my new membership card. It was a HUGE package and we had lots of fun going through it. Also great news that the society will be stocking VeganPet!! My cat loves it, but the postage has been pretty pricey, so it will be fantastic to be able to collect it.
Thank you all for the warm welcome!

I am new!

Hello everyone
I have been vegetarian for years since I became animal rights activist
now I am a vegan

I am doing research full time at UQ
I'd love to know more people here...
my msn is in my profile
=)

Hi Jenia,

Welcome to the forum,  I am sure you will find many like minded people here.

welcome jenia, hope you enjoy each visit to the forum and catch up with a few fellow students.
Cheers Kevin.

Hi All,

I'm Belle and I thought I would join and meet some likeminded people! I have been vegan for about 7 years (since age 23).

I haven't lurked here previously so I may for a bit, just to get into the swing of things and not ask all those noobie questions that have previously been answered. he he he

Look forward to meeting you all :)

Hello Jenia and Belle and Welcome to you both.  Glad to hear you're both vegan.  We need as many people as possible to help fight the good fight, so stick around Belle - you'll learn (whatever might have to be learnt?) as you go.  We all did!  So hope to hear lots more from you.

Naw, decided not to bother with the lurking - just jumped straight in and made a couple of posts!

Thanks for the welcome :)

Gday Belle, glad to see you have come out from the woodwork and stopped lurking :-)

Wow, lots of emails here. It's going to take me forever to read everything in this forum in my lunch-hours!

Anyway... I'm Tracii. Mature but very YAH (as I think most veg*ns are) early fourties (how it horrifies me to see that in print) vegetarian (near-vegan a lot of the time) of 15 years. I live in Canberra, and don't know many veg*ns. I joined the Veg Soc - finally - last year in an attempt to meet more, but I don't see them often.

I'm into nature, singing, martial arts and sci-fi TV. In fact I'm a bit of a sci-fi geek. And proud of it :)

Never married cos I haven't found the right person and I live with my two feline babies to whom I've become very attached after the 12 years we've been together. I'd turn them vegan if I could. I've tried Veganpet but despite their initial enthusiasm they've gone off it. Fussy little beasts. Always happy to hear of other options.

I adore all animals of course (tho some less than others :)) and abhor having to kill anything so am always looking for pest deterents, rather than exterminators (even if they are environmentally safe).

What I've read here so far has been interesting, informative and inspiring and I look forward to getting through everything eventually.

I don't go around trying to convert people but am always happy to give people more info if they are interested - though I do get sick of the common questions and comments sometimes...

I think that's enough for now :)

Tracii

Welcome to the forum Tracii.  You're going to need longer lunch hours :)

Welcome Tracii to the forum and it's great to have you join in. Yes, plenty of reading material on line and if more is required the Society does have a lending library service for members.
Again welcome and hope to see you on line more often.
Cheers Kevin.