New to the board.

[the_love_rooster]

Hello everyone! I joined this board because I want to switch to a vegan diet. I have never eaten meat all that much and have really been a vegetarian for a while now but I want to take the next step and become a vegan.
I mainly want to do it because I am a huge animal lover and think it would be stupid of me to call myself one but eat animal products.
I also want to become a vegan for the health benefits. I heard that a lot of people were less tired and had more energy when they switched to a vegan diet. Not to mention the fact that a vegan diet is supposed to help prevent some cancers. The only thing that worries me is that my mom is on a tight budget and can't spend a lot of money on special vegan foods and stuff. Any suggestions for that?
Are there any websites that suggest some good vegan foods for when you go shopping?
Anyways nice to meet you all!
Blessed Be!
-Haley

[Fiona]

Welcome to the boards, Haley. I'm not a vegan teen (just a vegan oldie), but there's lots of information out there on going vegan - here are a couple of UK websites

http://www.vegansociety.com/html/
http://www.viva.org.uk

It might be worth looking in your library for vegan cookbooks with cheap and easy recipes. Meals such as casseroles made with beans and lentils, soups served with multi grain bread etc can be very nutritious and inexpensive.

I hope other people can recommend some US links/organisations. Good luck with the vegan diet!

Fiona

[annie7]

Originally posted by the_love_rooster
The only thing that worries me is that my mom is on a tight budget and can't spend a lot of money on special vegan foods and stuff.
Our grocery bill significantly reduced when we cut out meat/dairy items. I find eating vegan is cheaper unless you are talking about prepackaged processed food like fake chicken nuggets and the like. The only thing that was initially more expensive was soymilk, but not by much (compared to cow milk).

Most things are cheaper if you do it yourself, because a lot of the retail prices are mostly labor and packaging. For instance, veggie burgers. So easy to whip together (even some raw versions that are great) and much cheaper than store bought. I think they taste better, too.

Another example is beans (so many kinds for so many recipes!). You can spend almost a dollar for a can of beans or you can spend less than half that for a couple pounds of dry beans and soak them/cook them yourself. Stick them into ziploc bags and freeze them. A BIG return for a little money. You just have to be thoughtful about what you want to eat and what you want to spend on it.

[the_love_rooster]

Thanks for the information Fiona and Annie!

[PikkuMyy]

Also check out www.vegetarianteen.com and www.peta2.com

Both geared towards people of your age. I also second the suggestions that vegan food is cheaper as long as you don't buy too many fake meat products. If you do buy some, go for the less processed like TVP, tempeh, and seitan as opposed to "bacon" or "turkey". Then cook and season them yourself.

It can be easy to become a bagel and pasta vegan, as I did as a teen. Don't do that because you'll reek havoc on your teeth with all of the carbs turning into sugar, plus you'll not get enough nutrition and you'll get chubby. Make sure to balance your diet with things that take more time to prepare like veggies, grains and salads and if you are often on the go, make sure to get a nice vegan 1-a-day supplement that you can easily remember. I should have done that when I was a teen (I'm 26 now and vegan for 4 years after being veggie for a while.)