how many vegetarians wear leather?

Well I was at college in the library and this girl was saying she was vegetarian. She was on the computer next to me and I noticed she was looking at leather jackets on ebay. Then she bid!

How can she not eat a cow, but then wear leather? Do you think she's only vegetarian for self-reasons?

If she is vegetarian for health reasons, rather than concern for animal welfare, then leather wouldn't bother her.

Many vegetarians are concerned with animal welfare, and don't wear leather, but it's not surprising to see a vegetarian who is doing it only for health reasons.

Vegans, however, by most definitions do not wear leather. A person with a vegan diet who wears leather would be something I have never seen. Going so strictly in diet as to give up eggs, milk, and honey (I had a roommate who ate honey and said she was vegan, but this directly contradicts the dictionary definition) is very difficult. It's not something you'd see a lot purely for health reasons, so since it is more likely to be about animal welfare, vegans and leather are just not going to mix--you generally would see a vegan lifestyle, not just a vegan diet.

I've found it surprisingly common to meet vegetarians who do it just for health reasons, really. I can't relate, because I don't consider poultry or fish outright unhealthy, but I won't eat them due to my beliefs about animal welfare, and that makes leather right out. There are a lot of vegetarians who do it only as a health matter, though, and many people are surprised when I tell them I don't wear leather.

There are a variety of reasons to be vegetarian. I would bet that most are doing it for a very good "self-reason" - personal health.

When the vegetarian or carnivore decides that they have other reasons to be vege beyond personal health like animal abuse concerns, environment issues, etc, they become vegan.

It's the vegan that would never wear leather. Most vegetarians eat eggs and cheese (this is taken from a moderator post). Most wear leather. Many eat fish. There really are an astonishing variety of eating styles within the single title vegetarian and obviously your friend was not vegan.

The main difference is that a vegetarian eats in a specific style often begun for health and a vegan commits to a way of life that goes beyond food.

These are just my observations. I'm sure there are others that will be more helpful with their distinctions. Ayone else?

edited for a funny typo! LOL

When I was a vegeterian my shoes still had leather on them...I felt bad about it, but couldn't find/afford tennis shoes with no leather.

As others have already said, it could just be for health reasons.

Personally, I have not worn leather since I was old enough to make my own clothing decisions - like around late elementary school. I also refuse to wear fur, but that has never been a problem for me, because my parents don't do fur either.

I feel like it's sort of a phasing-out thing, I also stopped eating red meat in junior high school, and went fully vegetarian right after high school.

I'm a semi-vegetarian-semi-vegan.  I eat fish.... very occasionaly, but have no eggs or milk.  I started off for health reasons, but later found out how animals are treated in the slaughterhouses as well as environmental implications.

I feel horrible about it, but I do wear leather.  I cannot imagine my life with no decent shoes or having to wear pleather.  I can deny myself any kind of food, but to look tacky in a pair of pleather boots would be too much.  I wish there were more options!

I am not a full vegetarian anymore (I eat fish very occasionally). I eat free range eggs but I don't drink milk (due to the conditions of most dairy farms).

I would never wear leather. I may as well slaughter and eat a cow if I am going to wear its dead skin as clothing.

I understand having leather clothing left over from when you were an omnivore, luckily I never bought anything leather.

I'm a vegetarian and I must admit that I do use some leather products. I've gone through varying degrees of vegetarianism, from being a strict vegan to being vary lax. Despite my evolution, animal rights has always been main motivation. I can't say that I'm proud about wearing leather, but I do own leather shoes for work.

Ironically, it's my meat-eating co-workers that have given me the most flak about it. I'll get called hypocrite every now and then, which I fully admit I am, but I also think that way of thinking is an excuse to do nothing at all.

Everyone has varying degrees of comittment to whatever causes they support. Just becuase someone doesn't completely follow through to the logical ends of their causes shouldn't negate the positive changes a person does commit to.

Original Post by hgharmon:

I.........

Ironically, it's my meat-eating co-workers that have given me the most flak about it. I'll get called hypocrite every now and then, which I fully admit I am, but I also think that way of thinking is an excuse to do nothing at all.

Everyone has varying degrees of comittment to whatever causes they support. Just becuase someone doesn't completely follow through to the logical ends of their causes shouldn't negate the positive changes a person does commit to.

.............

I completely agree!!!!! I feel like I am doing some part, and I have made a positive change and I still am making the difference.

  hoshizora, while I'm personally all omnivore, I've known lots of people at different places on the vegan/vegetarian spectrum. Some vegans eat honey. Those I have known are vegan as a stand against poor treatment of animals. With that mind set, if the person knows the bees were kept and honey collected in an 'ethical' fashion, they may eat it. Some went as far to eat unfertilized eggs laid by free range chickens. Veganism is more of a lifestyle, and the ethics one follows tends to decide what they eat.

Original Post by minda_spk:

  hoshizora, while I'm personally all omnivore, I've known lots of people at different places on the vegan/vegetarian spectrum. Some vegans eat honey. Those I have known are vegan as a stand against poor treatment of animals. With that mind set, if the person knows the bees were kept and honey collected in an 'ethical' fashion, they may eat it. Some went as far to eat unfertilized eggs laid by free range chickens. Veganism is more of a lifestyle, and the ethics one follows tends to decide what they eat.

 I don't know much about bee keeping or collecting honey.  Can you explain how bees are treated unethically or how the honey is collected unethically?  Are you saying that they prod the little suckers into feasting on just one flower or that they kill the bees while collecting the honey?

I'm a vegetarian, and I buy only used leather products.  Sometimes leather shoes just work best for me, but I refuse to contribute to the leather/beef industry.  I don't really see the need for leather purses, belts, and other things that don't take as much abuse as shoes.  I figure that buying an occasional pair of leather shoes from Goodwill is just being part of the reuse cycle.  That might be why that girl at the library was looking on ebay instead of in stores.  

Honestly, I have no idea about what constitutes ethical bee treatment :)
Maybe not taking all the honey? It was just one of those "I'll eat honey from this place because... " I'm sure she mentioned why, but I wasn't paying attention X_x

I'm not an expert and don't know for sure, but it may have something to do with the fact the smoke they use to calm the beese so they can collect, and usually it has nicotine...... not certain but i think its the collection method .... also the leaving enough for the hive, or not using sugar water to feed the bees

Vegetarians don't eat meat... it's vegans that don't eat or use any animal products.  So, basically, wearing (or buying) a leather jacket doesn't constitute eating meat.

There are also a lot of people concerned with animal welfare that still wear leather, but theirs is old or used/recycled - i.e. not buying it new from a store and encouraging the leather industry.  Maybe that is why she was looking on ebay.  Who knows.  Does anyone really wear leather jackets anymore, anyway?  I thought that went out in the 90s.

I am a vegetarian, partially for health, partially for ethical, and partially for environmental reasons... I avoid leather, but there are some items I have (belts, shoes, purses) that contain leather.  Most of these I had before I went veg.  However, it is difficult to find fashionable items with absolutely no leather.  Have you ever looked for vegan shoes?  Hideous!!

It isn't too hard to find non-leather shoes in contemporary styles, but are items made of petroleum products, made from countries with rather poor labor standards really a better alternative (i.e. Payless)? I know there are alot of companies that produce non-leather, ethical clothing and accessories, but they're often not very cheap.

Sometimes you just have to pick and choose battles, especially if animal welfare is only one of a myriad issues to consider. Environment, labor standards, economics, all play a factor for me.

Well am a vegetarian (not vegan - i have dairy and eggs - in cakes ) too and I avoid leather as much as I can ... I buy those cheap fake leather shoes that I have to replace every 2 months or so .... my bag and purses are also made of fake leather... But yeah .. I do own a pair of expensive heels made of leather ((which by the way eats my feet !!! cant wear it for more than an hour without having boils all over - stupid karma !! )) ... 

Plus when I was younger leather shoes was part of my school uniform ... I think as everyone said before we can avoid it only to a certain extent and completely cutting them off is almost impossible 

If you google vegan shoes you will find many options, including some environmentally friendly ones. Here's a fun site to start with: http://www.mooshoes.com

There's all sorts of debate about honey in the vegan society.  I think it is based mostly on the collection method.

A hive makes honey to A) feed its young and B) survive the winter.  There's all diferent grades and types of honey.  For example, honey made from pollenating nut trees generally tastes bitter to people, so a beekeper will let the hive keep that honey for it's own use.  But alfalfa, clover, oranges, apples, most fruit plants, all make "sweet" honey.  So what the beekeeper will do when pollenating those types of plants is put a "fence" (which looks something like chickenwire) that is too small for the queen to pass through, blocking off a part of the hive.  Since the queen can't enter that part of the hive, no eggs are laid in it and thus there are no grubs eating it.  The beekeeper will then collect that honey and proccess it for sale.

Although there are no baby bee's in that section, there are "regular" worker bees.  Sometimes when the comb is removed these bees are crushed.  As a matter of fact, a part of processing the honey involves removing "impurities" such as bee body parts.

Wow, umm, can't say I have ever eaten a fertlized egg! lol ew!

I eat free range eggs... which are not fertilized! I don't eat chicks!