veganism: They always tell me that veganism is stupid and i try to support myself by telling them that I do it for my health, the environment, and the animals, and they reply with who cares about the environment and animals and that I lack protein and nutrients, and I can't stand to listen to them anymore. What can i do to get them to respect me? They even call me a grass eater.|||Just don't respond. It is your life, not theirs. They continue to harass you because you continue to argue back. If you ignore them, they will realize that you are not interested in their misinformed information.|||Them: "Who cares about animals/the environment?" You (looking at them like they are total morons): "Um, me. Duh." Them: "You aren't getting any protein/nutrients!" You (again looking at them like they are total morons): "You do realize that (whatever you're eating) has protein/nutrients, right?" If you get someone who has a vague idea of what they are talking about, you might have to deal with more specific questions. Be prepared. Them: "You aren't getting complete protein!" You: "Thanks for your concern. Which particular amino acid are you worried that I am lacking?" If they can't say anything, no worries. If they have an answer, know how to show that your bases are covered. Tryptophan is probably the most commonly-cited example. Them: "But you aren't getting non-heme iron!" You: "Yeah, I know. Iron is tough for everyone to absorb. Most people absorb about 15-35% of the heme iron that they consume, but for non-heme, it's only 2-25%. I take vitamin C to help absorb it, and try to get my calcium at a different meal so the two don't compete for absorption in my intestine. I also avoid tea, wine, and other foods with tannin when I'm having my iron-y food. Thanks for the concern!" Them: "You're a grass eater!" You: "Don't be silly. I'm not a ruminant. I only have one compartment to my stomach. Why would I eat grass? I couldn't digest it!" Basically, have an answer ready. Be sure that your answer actually addresses the question, and remain calm. It's far less fun to pick on someone who doesn't freak out. If you can make 'em laugh/tease back, so much the better.|||First of all, Respect yourself for your own beliefs. Apart from feeling uncomfortable when they give you a hard time, their opinions don't have any value or carry any weight with you unless you allow them too. Ask yourself does it really matter to you whether they approve, understand or respect your choice? If it really bothers you then ask yourself why it matters, the answer maybe how unconvincing you sound yourself in the arguments you put forward as your reasons. Good Luck, and remember not to bite back at their teasing 'cos you don't eat animals of any description !! ;))|||Who cares about the environment? Oh dear. If anyone told me that, I would tell them that they should be thankful some people care or else they'd be swimming in their own waste and no water would be clean to drink, no air safe to breathe. Good gourd, how can you hate the environment? Instead of retalliating, just ask them. Ask them why they feel that way. "Why don't you care about the environment? The only reason we have clean air and water is because of environmental scientists. Why do you hate clean air?" "What's the big deal that I'm vegan?" "You think plants don't have protein? Prove it. Look it up." "I don't make fun of you. I'm your friend/child/sibling, why are you being so very nasty to me for acting on my ethics? Why is that sooo bad?" Just some questions for you to ask them.|||Ive been ridiculed alot by my family for being vegan. Especially since my grandfather was a butcher and everyone in my family hunts. It used to hurt my feelings when they brought it up, but now when they do i just tell them they aren't worth arguing with. It doesn't matter what they think as long as your confident that you're doing right. And if its really bothering you that much just calmly as them to stop and let them know that it really aggrivates you.|||I had the same issue. I'm 20 now, but a few years ago, I had been thinking about becoming Vegetarian. So this past year, I was Vegetarian for 6 months before making the full transition. And during those 6 months, my family gave me torture, except my Mother. My Mother was the only person who really believed in my decisions. What everyone ate in the house, I made substitutions. I started to ignore my families comments and harsh words. And...they stopped as well. So my advice to you: Just ignore their words. Eventually, they'll stop. It's your life and decisions. Don't be surprised if you have to make your own meals.|||the same thing happens to me. the best thing you can do is not to react at all or just laugh it off! if you don't give them amunition, they'll get bored and stop bothering you. everyone gets picked on for something, its the way of the world. just ignore them and toughen up a smidge. really, its not worth it to fight back.|||Calmly explain to them that its your choice to be a vegan, just like its their choice to eat meat and stuff. It might just be friendly teasing, because they love you, but its obviously bothering you. Another option would be to just accept the teasing and laugh along|||Like immature children, they will stop if ignored. Don't respond to any of their ignorant attacks, and they'll eventually get bored and stop.|||Who cares what they think it's your life.|||ask them how their corpse tastes or talk about the rendering industry, how they grind up euthanized cats and dogs to make food for other pets and farm animals|||What can you do to get them to respect you? - Quit taking their bait. If they see they're getting no reaction, they'll get bored and move on to an easier prey. - Respect yourself. You can't expect to get respect from other people if you don't even get it from yourself. - Stay healthy. The best way to bring people around (to anything) is to be a good example. Maintain a healthy weight range while most of them are packing on the excess kilograms. Live a long life while they're all dying of heart disease and cancer in their 40s or 50s. As much as you can, prevent yourself from even catching colds and flus, as your "friends" (nice friends you have!) will claim you're sick because you're a vegan, ignoring the fact that omnivores catch colds just as easily (if not more so). - Research nutrition, diet and health. You can thereby make sure that you *are* getting enough nutrients. You can also argue better if you know what you're talking about. (For instance, you can find a lot more information to indicate that you're getting enough protein than they can find to indicate that you're not. But, then again, they're not going to look for any, as they obviously live by the principle that "ignorance is bliss".) It's an ongoing process, as there are always new studies being released and reported - so read the news regularly. Look for anything linking certain foods or diets to the level of risk of certain medical conditions. Keep a copy of anything interesting or useful, or bookmark the websites.