Why I Am A Vegetarian

reply to post by skalla


Skalla, thank you for being the most rational non-meat eater I have seen. If more where like you, I might actually take the group as a whole seriously. But when I get told off for breastfeeding my child instead of feeding soy formula "because it is animal product."

reply to post by calstorm


Never understood the vegan way of life. Guess it boils down to the person. I love meat. Bacon makes me drool like Homer Simpson. Love rare steak, but I dont eat out much I prefer my to eat my own. There is a big difference in free range hormone free than what you get in the store/restaurant. Right now there is a 7ft freezer downstairs filled to the rim with beef, deer, and fish. Funny thing is I don't understand the attachment to animals alot of people have. As much as I love my cats if I were hungry....little garlic and butter I suppose, never tried cat before.
Anyway to each there own. If you don't like it don't eat it and make sure and tell me if your coming over so I don't toss a side of beef on the grill for you. I have plenty of canned goods and fresh veggies to tide ya over lol.

Lots of judgement on both sides which makes civil discussion tough. Some folks on both sides get instantly defensive when it is just mentioned.

I have a friend who went vegetarian then vegan. He has deteriorated to the point where be looks like a stick figure and when I hug him it's like hugging a skeleton. He is not judgemental or butt-headed toward meat eaters at all. He insists he is healthy. I've heard several mutual friends say he needs to give it up and eat meat again. I'm not sure that's right, though. I think maybe he's just doing it wrong? Seems with anything, if you subtract something you must add something else. So just ditching animal products isn't enough and he needs to find a way to make up for whatever he's no longer getting. I just hope he can resolve it before it causes him problems. He's quite young so there's time for this lifestyle to evolve.

We went to breakfast and he got something that comes with turkey bacon (heinous stuff) and asked it to be left off. She said it's turkey, thinking that was the issue. He said, friendly, that he just doesn't eat meat so she gave him extra potatoes. She was fine with it, but I noticed a few nasty looks from some nearby diners. Seriously? They're so defensive or fearful of "different" that just hearing someone say "I don't eat meat" at another table is enough to set them bristling? I understand there are douchebags on both sides of the issue, but there's got to br some common ground. I get his feelings about animals and find myself re-examining my own role in all this from time to time. If people weren't so defensive and so quick to knock down their "opponent" to validate their own viewpoint there could be some good interactions. Wish people would respond instead of react. Or not do anything at all if it's not involving them. I especially hate when vegs get ridiculed for having feelings about animals. Empathy does not indicate a flaw in character or weakness. But it always seems to degenerate into one side trying to bully the other into compliance.

reply to post by calstorm


Cheers but as far as i'm concerned, "we" aint a group.. we just have the exclusion of meat from our diet as a common factor.

Mind you, i avoid vegetarians as they generally get on my ta-ta's. But then again, so do many other humans

ETA: the reaction you had to breastfeeding was nuts! Again, there are so many red-herrings in diet and ecology etc.... the idea that soya is so great is wacked out, great swathes of land given over to monoculture, no doubt with heaps of chemical fertilizer and pesticides and harvested by machine or an underclass with no other choice. That is as bad as factory farming if you ask me.

again, it's about sustainability and the wider implications on life and the wider environment.

But when I get told off for breastfeeding my child instead of feeding soy formula "because it is animal product."

reply to post by calstorm


Just got to say my jaw droped when i read that. This was said to you by a vegan that has no idea about veganism. Human milk for baby Humas, Cow milk for Calfs. So says vegans.

Interesting thread, and i've enjoyed reading people's opinions on this, many seem very either or.

I've found that the best way for me is to buy and cook vegetarian, but not totally commit myself to it. The only meat I buy now is dog and cat food, and for me and the fella it's now beans, lentils, mushrooms and cheeses. But when i'm over someone elses place and they cook meat, then i'll eat it. Or if someone sends a couple of steaks my way, i'll eat em.

This way I've discovered alot of new foods and ways of cooking vegetarian but meat isn't completely out. This way, after eating meat all my life i'm not suddenly shocking my body by depriving it of the foods it's used to processing, if that makes sense.

One of the main things that used to put me off going vegetarian was that I thought it was all about meat-lookalike foods (Linda McCartney sausage and that), but since cooking vegetarian i've found that I love black eyed bean curries and lentil loaf based on their own merit and not because i'm trying to mimic chicken and so drawing up the comparison and being let down.

Something i've learnt over time is that our bodies often get used to extracting certain nutrients from foods and this causes us to crave them when we need em, by eating other foods that provide similar sustenance it's possible to trick the body into craving these other foods instead.

This all works well for me as I spend less on food shopping, don't fund the meat industry but don't completely abstain, obviously i'm lucky enough to be invited round for steaks though