I was wondering if any of you guys were vegetarians. I tried it before, but the “mock meat” products are disgusting…does anyone here not eat those things? And if so, what do you eat? I’ve always wanted to gve vegetarianism a try for diet purposes, but just can’t stomach those “mock meat” products with tofu in it…
Sorry for not contributing to your question, but how many people actually dont eat meat because they against the killing and eating of animals?
Also, is that a vegitarian? Or is there another name for that?
A lot of people are vegetarians because of Animal Rights. (See Peta), but I don’t care about that. I’d do it for health. No offense to animal rights people, I just don’t care about it.
I have been vegetarian for about a year and a half, but lately have been reconsidering, somewhat…only somewhat, though. Because I am still strongly opposed to factory farming, unnatural chemicals/hormones, etc. Basically any inhumane treatment towards any sentient being.
But I’m not against eating meat. I was recently presented with the option of eating organic free range chicken, and found that I had no moral opposition to it, because I know that animals eat meat and it’s not a bad thing, but I also knew that this animal had not suffered during it’s life.
So at the moment I’m still vegetarian, out of habit, and probably will be for a while just because I don’t feel like changing, and being vegetarian isn’t that hard or anything.
But in the future, whatever. I rather like the idea of getting my own meat, so maybe someday I’ll learn to hunt.
A book I read, Fast Food Nation, talks a lot about the meat industry. Regardless of how the meat industry treats the animals it, according to this book, treats its workers awfully. Maybe its just me, but I’d get worked up much faster over human rights violations than animal rights violations.
Regarding vegetarianism, I feel I might be one if I had more conviction, or if I had personal experience/more compelling evidence than this one book and PETA articles. It just seems like there are many more things that take priority over animals dying inhumanely. You know, like people dying even more inhumanely.
i only have one kidney, so am encouraged to eat a plant-based diet. i also had a teacher recommend the books The Jungle, and Fast Food Nation to me, as well as the movie Supersize Me. my sister, about the same time that i had the hospital check-up and was told to switch to a plant-based diet, was going onto peta’s website. so all of those things coming together plus going off to college and eating cafeteria food made the push. i haven’t eaten meat for a little over 3 years.
it can be a lot healthier, but i’ve seen veg’s that eat nothing but sugary garbage. still, i try not to judge people either way.
soy products can be a little weird. i wasn’t open to the idea for the longest time. i thought it strange to be buying mock meats, when i was choosing this lifestyle to avoid meat and meaty things. but those companies want appealing products. what the hell else were they going to shape them like? you can also do a lot with them, and substitute them into some of your favorite old recipies. tofu, on the other hand needs to be in something you cook that has a lot of flavor to begin with. it absorbes flavors pretty well. i’ve had it in some vegan soups before, and roasted, and it tasted great.
all i can say is that it’s great for you to examine what you eat. that’s good to question those sorts of things, and think about what you’re putting into your body.
as for me, it’s very late. and i’m going to go to sleep.
evan
Hate to nitpick (well not really) but I’m fairly sure this book helped change the meat industry, and most of what it points out isn’t all that applicable any more.
To answer the question…no, I’m not a vegetarian, and most likely never will be. You can give me any argument about animal rights, workers’ right, or nutrition facts that you want, but meat just tastes too good. Don’t get me wrong, I understand those viewpoints and empathize with the victimized parties, but my tastebuds would revolt if I stopped eating meat altogether.
I’m vegetarian and have been for my whole life. I don’t eat it because I was brought up that way and I would never start because I don’t think It’s necessary to kill animals when I’m perfectly healthy. I mean I have absolutely perfect health. Also the way that animals are killed is outrageous. It’s so cruel and just plain inhumane. They’re treated with no respect and killed in painful ways.
On the Peta site linked earlier, there’s a video on how chickens are killed for eating. Some are beaten with metal rods, some get clamped by their legs which breaks their legs, then have their throats slit, while others are boiled alive.
Think about that when you eat your roast chicken.
I spent many years as a very keen scuba diver, and I have seen with my own eyes huge piles of dead fish and crabs on the sea bed, thrown back in by the fishing industry. I am a life member of the Marine Conservation Society, and I have watched videos of the damage to the plants and animals on the sea bed caused by trawling. As a result, although I loved the taste and texture, I have not eaten fish for about 15-20 years.
A few years after I gave up eating fish, I finally gave up eating meat too. There are lots of small reasons, ranging from health, convenience and price to more complex things to do with the way the meat is produced, transported and slaughtered. The single easiest “moral” argument is the way that live animals are transported and slaughtered.
When foot and mouth disease hit the south west of England a few years ago, it was introduced by animals transported from the far north of England. They were to be fattened up for a few weeks in Devon, then transported to East Anglia for slaughter.
Those two journeys would each be a lvery ong day for a human, able to stop, get out stretch your legs, have a meal, etc. For animals standing in the back of a lorry, in the dark, with no chance to move, or to be cleaned, it would be appalling. If someone treated a pet dog like that, I’d call the RSPCA, yet it happens to livestock as a matter of routine.
There are inconsistencies in any vegetarian stance. For example, I do wear leather shoes, I do eat eggs, I occasionally drink milk, and I do eat cheese. But then, how many hedgehogs are killed each year by lorries transporting carrots? By not eating meat or fish, I do “more than my little bit” and I’ve found a balanace that I am comfortable with.
When you stop eating meat, you really start to notice the incredible variety of vegetable flavours. My favourite meal would simply be a big plate of boiled/steamed/roast vegetables.
I quite enjoy many of the tofu products, but I just don’t find them necessary.
ive been a vegetarian all my life, and am against factory
farming. Although im not against people eating free range meat
i choose not to eat meat. In the uk there are alot of big
companies like linda mccartney.
and its a good diet 
Vegetarianism is just a fancy expression for being picky 
Regarding Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle I read it years ago. And regarding the meat packing industry, it is still one of the most dangerous industryies in which to be employed. And interestingly and relevant to the current times, I recall that there is an entire chapter that deals with real estate scams perpetrated against the poor. The book may be more applicable to the present than you think.
On topic, I am a vegetarian for both reasons of health and conscience.
The Jungle
Hi all,
I am a vegetarian, but have only been one for a short time.
About 10 years ago after some reading and thinking about things that I have seen and done (I have slaughtered pigs, and poultry) I decided that I could no longer support the industry by buying meat and animal products. I loved the taste of meat, but couldn’t bear supporting such a harmful industry.
I started by doing lots of fishing, keeping my own free range chickens for meat and eggs and hunting deer. I then expanded by raising my own sheep.
I have lost the taste for meat, after a while killing and butchering became very distasteful, no matter how humane I was or how instant and unforeseen the animals death.
I still keep the chickens for eggs, and take an occaisional rooster out of the flock for meat for the wife and kids.
I feel healthier now, and am loosing a little weight. All good.
I do not eat any of the vegetarian meat-like products, fake chicken, beef, bacon or whatever. I do not see the need and think it is just a marketing scam, or possibly a way to help new vegetarians adapt.
I wish I were vegan…
But meat tastes so damn good. And dairy I doubt I can live without.
I hate pretty much all vegetables with very few exceptions. I hate all soy products. I hate most fruits. I hate all those substitutes for meat. Making the transition would be so hard.
I really feel bad for all those animals and find it cruel that we kill them and enslave them and trap them and eat them. It’s just horrible.
I guess I’m just selfish…
well, I´m vegetarian;)
Tofu is great, but only with the right sauce or the right spices:p
Try it with spaghetti bolognaise without meat but with tofu:D
it tastes great !
and aren´t you all sorry for the poor animals ? Love them ! Don´t eat them !
PS: sorry for my bad english:(
You will have to learn your protein compliments. Foods that when combined with other foods compliment each other’s proteins to provide a much more complete protien. Cheese and rice for example, provide more protein together than they would seperately. (read Diet for a Small Planet and Laura’s Kitchen for good recipes)
You will have to learn to love soy, an excellent protein. However soy will increase the amount of estrogen in your body. (In another forum we have replaced the word geigh with the word soy when that report came out.) Tempeh, Tofu, = soy
I’ve tried vegatarianism many times but I am too skinny to have any kind of diet…I have to eat everything in front of me or I will simpley waste away. But I enjoy the meals.
Look for the Hari-Krishna cookbook also. Some of the best veggie meals anywhere are in their book. Worth going to the airport for!
Good luck.
If you want to be a vegetarian only for the health benefits, you could just eat less meat, no red meat, etc. That’s what I typically do. I haven’t had meat for a week, but I’m not a vegetarian. I usually eat meat after I do some strenuous exercise, like the 40 mile 36er ride a couple weekends ago. Otherwise I’m content with non-meat foods.
While you do need to get all you amino acids, you don’t need to get them in the same sitting. I’ve been vegan/vegetarian for over 12 years, and I’ve never worried about combining protein.
The first version of Diet for a Small Planet focused on protein combining, but subsequent versions have retracted that view.
I wish being vegetarian necessarily meant being thin, but the truth is, it’s just as easy to get calorically dense food from vegetables as it is from meat.
so true:D