Vegetarian?

I have meat twice a day for lunch and dinner. Breakfast, if I have any, is usually meat-less. But I do eat a lot of meat, perhaps because I am an American. I was raised eating a lot of red meat, poultry, and fish. I'll probably try to eat healthier in a few years, though, because it's not that healthy.

What I have considered is that if I were to ever date a vegan or vegetarian, we'd have to make some serious compromises. If they are against hunting and fishing, it'd be darn near impossible to make it work. I'm all for "ethically" sourced meats, but I am a meat-eater nonetheless.

 

I'm a vegetarian. You might say I lean vegan. I've been trying to go vegan, but haven't been very successful. I eat no meat or fish of any kind, or any carcass derived products (like gelatin, or cochineal). In my efforts to reduce my impact on animals in other ways, I consume only free range eggs, and I have stopped drinking animal milks, in favour of soya, almond and hemp. I still eat cheese, unfortunately. I think I might be addicted

I became vegetarian 317 days, 49 minutes ago. In that time, I consumed chicken-filled gravy given to me by my mother once, after verifying it was not meat. (was not pleased). I have also eaten marshmallows twice, once without realising, and once in something made for me by a cousin. I did send instructions not to do it again though.

I do it for ethical reasons primarily: Humans are capable of moral thought and reasoning, and thus are responsible for avoiding causing suffering to sentient beings. We do not need animals to survive, we are in fact better off not eating them for reasons of health, and the animal farming industry is responsible for a good portion of the damage to our atmosphere. I believe in the right of humans to control their own lives, to determine their selves and their identities. I don't know exactly how much a non-human animal is able to comprehend, but I do know they feel pain, and thats enough for me.

Though it wasn't my primary goal, I've also become more healthy. I haven't been sick since I became veggie, and I have lost weight. I've also generally felt as if my body works better, but I couldn't really make a more specific claim on that front.

I actually found it surprisingly easy, which for someone who absolutely loved meat, was surprising. My family and friends were extremely surprised, and refused to believe I was being serious for a long time. Within a few days, though, I'd stopped wanting any meat, and have never really felt like eating it since.

I made a decision to become vegan by the end of 2013, and I intend to honor that.

 

I've been a vegetarian for 2.5 years, and a vegan for 1.5 years. Only for ethical reasons. My diet isn't really good by any means

 

I went with "vegetarian" although that is not 100% engraved on my dinner plate. That is just my day to day habit these days, and I can go months without going near meat.

My reasons are partly ethical--I don't want to support factory farms. Partly financial--meat is not cheap, particularly when sourced with any degree of ethics. (Admittedly for some there is no such thing as ethical meat, but to me there is a difference between a small, local, ethically minded farmer vs. Big Agriculture.) Also preparation is a huge pain sometimes, particularly dealing with germ/bacteria issues. Finally, I really don't have much taste for meat.

How long has this lasted? A good chunk of my life, actually, one way or another. The current phase is relatively recent, getting a start in the late 90s (although less restrictive then). But growing up it was not uncommon to have vegetarian meals a few times a week.

 

I eat meat, I practice taxidermy, and have a massive fascination with skulls. My body absolutely hates vegetarian diets and it just serves to make me ill.

 

I prefer to eat very little meat and prefer fish and vegetables so i'm a pescetarian which can be difficult sometimes since my whole family is basically carnivores.

 

Properly, a vegetarian diet should not include any carcass derived products, so you can just tell them gelatin made out of ground up cow bones. (PS, did you know british skittles have crushed insect in them? american ones don't.)

My main problem, other than cheese addictions, is Quorn. Damn quorn.

Yeah, I buy vegan margarine. I haven't had much of a problem with cheese. All my favourite cheeses are veggie, other than parmesan, but I found a sainsburys own brand replacement for that.

I don't think veganism should be associated with not wearing leather. After all, leather is carcass derived, so refusing to wear it should be a stance shared by all vegetarians. I don't wear any animal products. I know I could technically wear wool, but since I'd like to be vegan anyway, I see no reason to cause more harm than necessary.

 

AHHHH. The meat-eaters are barely in the majority. Everyone else is going against millions of years of evolutionary biology. They are going against nature. It's in the Bible, "Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. And as I gave you the green plants, I give you everything" (Genesis 9:3).

(If you don't see the irony and sarcasm, don't bother )

 

I don't just walk up to people and tell them about the terrible-ness of gelatin. But if anyone offers me a haribo or other gelatinous sweet, I say "sorry, no, I'm a vegetarian", and if they ask whats wrong with the sweet, they've bloody well asked to feel sick every time they think about their beloved haribos.

No, I don't see the harm either. Its not like they're eating animals. I just wish they didn't put egg in it. It would be so much easier to go vegan that way. I was thinking maybe I'd try going vegan minus quorn for a while.

Ah, yeah, I haven't been abroad recently. I can imagine that might be difficult.

Lol, my parents didn't take it well. My dad refused to cook anything, and my mother spent five months trying to force feed me fish. When that failed, she tried to make me take fish-derived omega 3 supplements.

Good luck with the rest of the coming out...

 

I try to not eat red meats, but sometimes on occasions I eat some.
For the most part I only eat chicken and some fish, meat wise.

 

..I think that if someone tried doing that to me, I'd end up laughing at them. Attempting to gross me out about food doesn't work. Then again, when I was in zoology, I'd make cracks about wanting to eat spaghetti after dissecting the round worms.

Ah. Good times.

But I'm just going to sit here and be the evil person since I raise meat goats.

 

Well, I don't think much of the obviously sarcastic biblical reference, but in response to the evolution thing:

1. What gives you the idea that meat is what evolution 'intended'? (The very idea of evolution intending anything is rather silly. Evolution doesn't have a consciousness.) Do you think that because an animal eats meat, that makes them omnivorous or carnivorous? Cause my cat's biscuits are mostly plant matter, but she ain't no herbivore. Our digestive systems are ill-designed to digest meat. In fact, some gets left inside and starts rotting. The intestines of carnivores and true omnivores are much shorter.

2. Fuck nature. Nature isn't a guide to morality.

 

I went vegetarian more than 15 years ago, first just slowly cutting down on meat consumption as a healthier (and cheaper) pathway, then moving toward a personal ethical choice to not consume animal products. I feel healthy, feel good about my personal choices, really love exploring all the veggie food options I have, and don't miss eating the things I once did long ago.

 

I have been a vegetarian since I was 5. No joke, just one day I didn't want to eat meat/fish anymore. I think it's cause I watched Animal Planet religiously.

 

If we were designed to eat a purely plant based diet, we'd have a multi-chambered stomach like ruminants, we'd also have specific gut bacteria designed to breakdown plant fiber. Ruminants will actually die if they don't have that bacteria. Why? By themselves, ruminants aren't capable of digesting the plat fiber and rely on the bacteria to do so, then the ruminants use the waste provided by the bacteria to survive. This is why if you have a cow or goat who's stomach pH gets too high/too low, they risk dying due to the bacteria dying.

Certainly, there's herbivores that have neither of these, such as horses. However, horses also must constantly eat in order to get the same amount of nutrition that ruminants get. That's part of the reason why it's common for them to get getting supplemented with grains/pelleted food. If you compare the feces between a horse and a cow, the cow is going to have efficiently digested the food compared to the horse which is going to have remains of it left over.

/random science fact for the day.

 

I don't like eating meat because I love animals, so I'm trying really hard to go on a vegetarian diet, but I think it's perfectly fine for people to eat meat if they want. It's just not something I want to do...