Are you a Vegetarian?

[hungarianchick 0]

Because people are carnivorous
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Not to pick on your reply, but people are actually omnivorous, just like pigs. Our molars are very similar.
Speaking of pigs.... Hmm, BACON!

Seriously, I used to be a lacto-ovo vegetarian for about ten years not so much for ethical reasons, but rather because I got sick of eating pork all the time,(pork is the most common meat in Hungary) and I didn't care much about the taste or texture of beef.
A few years ago I realized that I didn't feel any healthier or lighter for that matter because I ate too much carbs to compensate for the protein.(I didn't put too much effort into coming up with a balanced vegetarian menu)
Slowly I started reintroducing beef into my diet thanks to a wonderful boyfriend who makes a kickass steak!
I feel better, lost weight and I think my diet is more balanced with meat in it with little effort.

"I love cooking with wine. Sometimes I even put it in the food."

[TheAnvil 0]

I went vegan for month once in college. It almost killed me. Never again.

Vinny the Anvil

Vinny the Anvil
Post Traumatic Didn't Make The Lakers Syndrome is REAL
JACKASS POWER!!!!!!

[FlyingJ 0]

I've never been a vegetarian, but have gone through periods where I might as well have been. In college (I went to an arts conservatory) most of my best friends were all dancers (ballet and modern) many of whom took care of their health to extreme levels. Many ate meat, just in limited quantity, and in addition most of my other friends were vegetarian. Just by default, considering I spent most of my time with them, I ended up eating mostly non-meat items. I will never forget the first time my vegetarian roommate at the time came with me to visit my parents. I told my mom that he was a vegetarian and that we would need to have something suitable and she just couldn't fathom it, to the point of not even understanding how pasta could be made without meat in the sauce. I got a kick out of that. Just moved back to the Atlanta area where my family is, and eat with them a lot. Still trying to get used to the fact that every meal is centered on some big meat dish.

I have a number of friends that are vegan. I think it's amazing that they have that kind of ability to limit what they eat. I could never do it though, don't have anywhere near that much willpower.

Killing threads since 2004.

[ACMESkydiver 0]

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Because people are carnivorous
***
Not to pick on your reply, but people are actually omnivorous, just like pigs. Our molars are very similar.

'Omnivorous'...ooohhh..... Like 'all'. 'Total'. 'Complete'. I should know, I hear it all the time..."Jaye is the omnipotent Goddess of all things mortgage." Now and then it gets old hearing about my mightiness every day...

~Jaye
Do not believe that possibly you can escape the reward of your action.

[Cajundude 0]

No way, never ever, there is nothing tastier than a good chateau briand cooked to perfection (medium rare to rare) as far as beef goes. Yum!

[Dougiefresh 0]

Used to be, when I was in a LTR and had someone to cook for who was vegetarian. It's not all that hard, you just have to be creative.

But I like chicken too much, and that first burger in 1.5 years tasted SO good.

Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so. --Douglas Adams

[freeflybella 0]

My issue really is how dairy and beef cows, pigs and 'broiler' chickens are factory farmed.

I do the best I can to live accordingly. Like PhillyKev said, I like the taste of some stuff, but would feel worse about eating it.

I love cheese and some milk products - and every now and then find myself lusting after a Wendy's Spicy Chicken sandwich. But I know just becasue I want something in the moment - doesn't mean it's right for me to have it. It would be a momentary indulgeance and then I'd feel like crap.

I believe there are so many things creepy and horrifying about our food supply - especially the meat and dairy industry - in it's current corporate state, that I choose to avoid it.

Purists might say "you're not helping the cause at all if you eat honey or buy film!" Just like meat advocate purists say "it's all about perfect nutrition - you need meat to have a perfect diet!" (And honestly, if you're not perfectly healthy and fit - you better not be usin' that argument!)

But I'm not purist. I say the 15% (or whatever it is) who are veg have reduced demand by a nice percentage - and have at least helped to make others think about what they eat.

I don't dislike meat eaters. I avoid people who are close-minded but I don't equate openmindedness with thinking just like I do - just willing to have thoughtful conversation.
edited: No, I don't kill insects. I cried once when my dad tried to flush a cricket.

Action expresses priority. - Mahatma Ghandi

[PLFXpert 0]

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and why are you one or the other?

I am a hypocrite about this by definition and here's why:

I used to be full-on vegetarian (not vegan, though, as I ate dairy). I genuinely could not sustain proper nutrition and after 4 years, added fish and chicken to that diet.

Now, I stictly buy only fish (from the ocean, not farmed) and fresh veggies, fruit, whole grains (they make whole grain pasta) and cheese (b/c it's my absolute favorite food and I can not give up my extra-sharp chedder. Vegan cheese taste like @ss). But, I will not buy any other milk products (I buy soy milk).

I also have NOTHING in my house tested on animals (I'm a member of PETA and have a list of companies who do and don't test.) except for my moisturizer b/c you just can't buy a good one that's not. Basically, I can't buy any household products, though at the grocery, but thankfully PETA confirmed that all Costco-brand household products are not tested so I use Costco shampoo, dish liquid, detergent, etc.)

So basically, I do my best to do any and all I can, even going far past the point of "just what's conveinent" but I make exceptions here and there (like cheese and moisturizer) if it serves my purpose.

I also own a couple leather bags and jackets, but in my defense, I have had the same ones for a while; even when I store them away, they come back in style, so no need to waste money on new ones).

And also, if I go to a friend's or family's for dinner, I don't have them cook a special fish-dinner for me. I will eat their steak, chicken, or whatever b/c they way I look at it, I didn't buy it, but they did and they already cooked it so if it doesn't go in my belly it will go in the trash or someone else's as leftovers.

So there you have it. Call me what you will

My personal belief is if we all do a part, either a big part or small part or medium part and do what fits us personally than overall it would make a BIG difference. Most people just don't try at all. To each their own, but I will never understand someone who just doesn't care at all about animals. I guess that's why kids who hurt animals grow up to be serial killers

(edited for spelling)

Paint me in a corner, but my color comes back.

[PLFXpert 0]

One more thing: I DO believe that it is natural for humans to eat animals (ie: the food chain). I am an animal-welfare supporter rather than activist; meaning the part I have a problem with is how they are raised and treated from the moment they are born, to the moment they are slaughtered. It really is just awful and ignorance is BLISS!

Paint me in a corner, but my color comes back.

[tunaplanet 0]

Where's the, "Fuck no!" option?

Forty-two

[gjhdiver 0]

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and why are you one or the other?

I became a vegetarian some time ago, and I haven't drunk milk in years. There were a number of reasons for that.

1. Health. As I get older, my body doesn't tolerate the vast array of chemicals and hormones introduced into commerical meat. I found that eating red meat actually made me feel like crap. Chicken is produced under such unsanitary conditions, that it's no surprise that eating it is that leading cause of food related illness. I just decided to stop eating stuff that made me feel lousy.

2. Weight. I used to be able to eat anything I wanted in any quantities and stay rail thin. As I hit my mid 40's. my metabolism slowed to the point that I couldn't do that any more. To continue to stay at my ideal jumping weight without silly dieting and lots of excercise (I'm lazy), cutting out fatty meats and dairy worked like a charm.

3. Energy. I have far more than I used to on a meat and dairy diet.

4. General Wellness. Once you have to actually start thinking about what you eat and put effort into preparing it, you tend to let that general attention to health spill out into other areas of your life. I actually went to dentist and got my teeth fixed, went to a doctor and got a proper health exam, went to a dermatologist and got shit lazered off that I burned on in Florida etc etc.

5. Ethical. The more I read about the waste of good food resources that go into making food animals, and the ways in which they are treated, I no longer wanted to part of a system that brutalizes animals.

Now here's the funny thing. I actually liked meat, and it was hard at first to give it up. However, once I'd been off it a while, I can't really stomach it any more. It's like my craving for cigarettes. It was hard to give up, but once I did, if I give in to craving, it makes me instantly ill. I'll still eat certain seafoods though.

Basically, I don't eat anything that has a face.

[QuickDraw 0]

If we weren't supposed to eat animals, why are they made out of meat ?

*That's the second airing of this btw*

-- Hope you don't die. --

I'm fucking winning

[Jumpervint 0]

Yes. Lacto-ovo vegtarian, although I'm using more soymilk now and less cow milk. We buy free-range eggs.

Started in college 31 years ago as an experiment, now it's a way of life. My wife became a vegetarian when we started dating. Three kids raised as vegetarians and they are more 'militant' about it than I am.

Factory farming of animals is horrible. The amount of protein used to feed animals could be better used feeding the world than making more McDonalds (et. al.) burgers, let alone all the waste and the water pollution.

I think I'm healthier for it.

All my best friends are meat eaters. We coexist quite nicely. I have learned, from my brothers initially, to ignore ingnorant people who haven't thought much where their food really comes from and what's really in it. Their choice, and I let them be, as I would expect others to let me be.

Ragging on vegetarians or meat-eaters for what they eat is akin to ragging on someone because they are Methodist and not Baptist, let alone Muslim. It's a diverse world and we're all part of it.

Vint - proud owner of Garden Burger stock.

. . . . .
"Make it hard again." Doc Ed

“A person needs a little madness, or else they never dare cut the rope and be free” Nikos Kazantzakis

[PhillyKev 0]

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Now, I stictly buy only fish (from the ocean, not farmed)

Umm....why? Farmed fish aren't treated harshly as farmed mammals are. And ocean fishing leads to pollution, changes in eco-systems and the threat of extinction of species. Fish farming is a huge benefit to the environment.

[jtval 0]

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and why are you one or the other?

OK I'll be the FIRST to ask...

WHERE IS YOUR ANSWER

would it be considered vegan or otherwise if I was bulimic?

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[SpeedRacer 1]

I am not a vegetarian. Vegetarians eat vegetables.

I am a humanitarian.

Speed Racer
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[Remster 30]

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Fish farming is a huge benefit to the environment.

Salmon farms in the oceans give really, really poor quality fish.... with very high levels of heavy metals.

Remster

[Conundrum 1]

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WHERE IS YOUR ANSWER

No, I am not a vegetarian.

[cloudynot 0]

definitely a meat eater

Clouds are cool to move through but not if they are NOT jumpable

[PLFXpert 0]

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Umm....why? Farmed fish aren't treated harshly as farmed mammals are. And ocean fishing leads to pollution, changes in eco-systems and the threat of extinction of species. Fish farming is a huge benefit to the environment.

Farmed fish are fed some sort of enzyme or something (sorry, I'm no scientist and can't think of the name) that they can not digest that is in their feed. It passes through them and hurts their systems a bit, but not enough to damage the meat so it can not be sold. When we eat it, however, we are then consuming the same enzyme (or whatever it is) they digested. Ask any guy behind your supermarket fish-counter, or even the FDA, the news.

I do my best to take care of the environment in every other way I can; no pesticides, limited use of cleaning chemicals, recyle, reuse, etc. etc. etc. I think I'll make the exception for ocean-caught fish. Yes, I'm aware of the net issue, as well. But, I mostly eat salmon (three times a week, at least). Not only have I always genuinely LOVED salmon, but it's the best fish for you AND it's not generally caught where other mammals are at risk in the nets.

That's all what I tell myself anyways....

Paint me in a corner, but my color comes back.

[PLFXpert 0]

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Salmon farms in the oceans give really, really poor quality fish.... with very high levels of heavy metals.

YES! What he said, that's what I meant

Paint me in a corner, but my color comes back.

[fireflytx 0]

Now I am not against vegetarians at all, even though I am evil and I get my best friend who is a vegetarian to eat meat when she is drunk, BUT my question is what about all the animals ie worms, snakes, rodents etc that get killed in the tilling of the soil for soy?

"Well behaved women rarely make history"

[jtval 0]

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No, I am not a vegetarian.

so you ...uh...you eat meat?


(sorry I had to do it, I had a flash back to my elemtary school dayswhere that kinda comment was funny )

DOH!! EDIT TO FIX A FRUEDIAN SLIP

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[Shotgun 1]

I am a flexitarian.

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[hungarianchick 0]

Like Remster said, fish farming is far from beneficial to the environment. The caged fish carry parasites and diseases to which they're immune themselves, but escaped specimen pass them on to their wild cousins with disastrous consequences

Edited to add: They're also treated for those ailments with chemicals which they also pass down the food chain combined with the heavy metals...

"I love cooking with wine. Sometimes I even put it in the food."