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The other one
Original Poster
#1 Old 30th Oct 2009 at 1:57 AM Last edited by missroxor : 30th Oct 2009 at 5:46 PM. Reason: typos!!
Default Vegetarian/Vegan/Meat Lover?
...and anything else in between!

Which are you and why?
What are the benefits and drawbacks?
Do you have strong feelings about any of the other types of eaters?
You don't have to answer these, just thought it'd get things started.

Seems to me there's a lot of veggie types on here so I thought I'd start a thread about it.

I'm a meat eater. I once tried to be vegetarian for about 2 months because I love animals but I'm afraid my love for bacon sandwiches and Chicken curry is apparently far greater I know a few vegetarians but they're pretty rubbish at it. I mean they're strict about not eating meat or gelatin in sweets and stuff (whatever it's called) but they seem to live on cheese sandwiches and bean burgers! I just don't get vegans at all. Perhaps if I knew one I could learn to understand their reasoning but please feel free to educate me

I think over time I've just come to the conclusion that animals are here for us to eat, you know, the circle of life and all that. As long as we don't kill them just for the sake of it, are humane when we do kill them and don't waste what we've killed then I'm pretty ok with it. (Though I don't think I could personally kill one)

Anyone any thought on the subject?

Guys, rules are good! Rules help control the fun. ~ Monica E. Geller
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Alchemist
#2 Old 30th Oct 2009 at 2:06 AM
I'm a meat eater. I tried being vegetarian for a couple of days but resturants and fast food joints don't have many options. I love fruit but don't like vegetables (Mostly because I prefer cold food to hot) so it didn't go too well
The other one
Original Poster
#3 Old 30th Oct 2009 at 2:14 AM
Quote: Originally posted by kustirider2
I'm a meat eater. I tried being vegetarian for a couple of days but resturants and fast food joints don't have many options. I love fruit but don't like vegetables (Mostly because I prefer cold food to hot) so it didn't go too well


Just noticed your from up north. I have a lot of friends from up that way and they all seem to have a traditional approach to food. Occassionally when eating out I do order the veggie option because I love cheese so much. My northern friends get really irked by this, one of them told me this is because I meal is not a meal unless it includes some sort of animal, some sort of vegetable and something wet (namely gravy, beans, mushy peas or a combination of them). I think at the time I was eating a cheese and onion pasty for dinner, they were not amused

The veggie options do seem to be pretty rubbish in the UK at least. It's usually mac n cheese (which I love) or veggie lasagne.

Guys, rules are good! Rules help control the fun. ~ Monica E. Geller
Alchemist
#4 Old 30th Oct 2009 at 2:17 AM
I don't eat very traditionally. My meals usually consist of random foods like, for example; Chicken flavoured Super Noodles and Apple on the side. My meals are quite weird.
Scholar
#5 Old 30th Oct 2009 at 2:22 AM
I'm a huge meat person. Aside from pork, not a fan of pork or ham. Love bacon, though. I just don't like vegetables and only a handful of fruits. If I was to go vegetarian or vegan, I'd freaking starve. It's pretty much as simple as that.

As for strong feelings, only if they're pushy with it, trying to get others to join in. But I can't stand anyone like that really, so, yeah.

Oh, but I do LOVE mashed potatoes!
The other one
Original Poster
#6 Old 30th Oct 2009 at 2:27 AM
Quote: Originally posted by kustirider2
I don't eat very traditionally. My meals usually consist of random foods like, for example; Chicken flavoured Super Noodles and Apple on the side. My meals are quite weird.


Probably not very nutritional but super noodles are awesome! That's not the weirdest I've heard of though. (Off topic but...) I used to share a flat with a girl who literally lived on chow mein Pot Noodles, toffee flavoured French Fancies and raw onions (which she ate like she would an apple). God knows how she's still alive.

Guys, rules are good! Rules help control the fun. ~ Monica E. Geller
Test Subject
#7 Old 30th Oct 2009 at 2:31 AM
Which are you and why? I'm vegetarian. I love animals, and I can't bear eating them. My aunt owns a farm, and I always had the image of dead animals in my head when I ate meat, so I stopped. I don't like too many fruits or vegetables, but I put up with as much as I can.
What are the benefits and drawbacks? I lost a few pounds, and am definitely eating healthier. But, it's sometimes hard to find things to eat that I like without being repetitive.
Do you have strong feelings about any of the other types of eaters? Not really. I would rather people didn't kill animals, but it is their choice. I have no right to tell someone the way to behave.

.~: Rachel :~.
- RENT, Harry Potter, Wicked, Ninja-ness -
The other one
Original Poster
#8 Old 30th Oct 2009 at 2:32 AM
Quote: Originally posted by Nekowolf
I'm a huge meat person. Aside from pork, not a fan of pork or ham. Love bacon, though...


I'm starting to believe that bacon might actually be the sole reason for there being so many meat eaters in the world!

Guys, rules are good! Rules help control the fun. ~ Monica E. Geller
Test Subject
#9 Old 30th Oct 2009 at 2:41 AM
I am a vegan. I became a vegetarian when i took Biology in high school at the age of fourteen. I became a vegan when i was a senior in high school. I know it's drastic, but it isn't near as difficult as you'd think it be. There are so many delicious vegan meals out there. And there are delicious (and filling) vegan alternates out there. And my god, it is so much better for you, and the world/environment around you. I'm not hostile towards carnies though. Everyone has a right to choose what they eat.

And i know that sounds like some sh*tty PETA advert for veganism, but it's all true :]. I swearz.

I'd love to share my reasons for being vegan or answering any specific questions yah may have. I'm not a animal rights activist, though i do strongly resent animals who are butchered in slaughterhouse in unthinkable conditions. Saving animals is sort of an added benefit ;]. I became vegan due to personal beliefs. I converted to Buddhism about a year after i became a vegetarian. I won't explain doctrinal details, but i felt the need to get in as natural state as i possibly could. I am a very passionate artist, and i was going through this whole "self-discovery" trip, and was trying to liberate myself from the self-destructive pattern i had witnessed all around me (very full of teen angst and artistic expression :P). Veganism became a part of that. And i instantly began to feel healthier. I do a lot of yoga, and combined with the veganism, it keeps me very thin and lithe and i felt truly alive. I became very outdoorsy and began to combine my love for Surrealist art with this newfound naturalistic expression i'd found, and it sort came to help define me. And i've stuck with it ever since (i'm only 19, so i guess it hasn't been like AGES or anything. but still.)It's become a part of my lifestyle; part of my art, part of my character. I know it sounds wierd, but i'm hella wierd, so whatever.

It all sounds very Chicken Soup for the Teen Soul, i know. But it really did become a core part of my religious beliefs and personal expression. And plus, it keeps you thin as all get out, which is so a plus.

Hell is other people ~ Sartre
Inventor
#10 Old 30th Oct 2009 at 2:52 AM
Ooh yay! Been waiting for a thread like this. XD
There's a joke in my family that I'm a carnivore. I'm not, only in comparison to my vegetarian family. Poor little meat-deprived me, I've taken to going over to my cousins' and friends' houses to eat meat. :D
Field Researcher
#11 Old 30th Oct 2009 at 2:52 AM
Vegetarian its best decision I could have ever made I love animals aswell and I couldn't bare to continue eating them.Benefits I lost a lot of weight also I feel better health wise vegetarian/vegan can't go wrong there.Meat is very fatty and the hormones they shoot up in them are disgusting.

Also us vegetarians/vegans eat more than just cheese sandwiches its so many ways to eat without including meat.

The way Cows/pigs/Chickens are treated and killed just awful animals deserve life fair treatment just like any human.
The other one
Original Poster
#12 Old 30th Oct 2009 at 7:44 AM Last edited by missroxor : 30th Oct 2009 at 9:59 AM. Reason: Aargh, I somehow managed to biff it up and pressed submit before I finished!
TheLightElectric, wow, you sound a lot older and wiser than 19! Those are some very good reasons...I sometimes wonder if I would've chosen a similar path had I not decided to choose this one (I kinda had opposing dreams as a young 'un) but nowadays I think I'm too hot headed and arguementative to be all zen and buddist like

Jewa, how weird What made you decide to break away from the crowd like that when everyone else around you is veggie? Did you just see animals and think, 'nomnomnom'

christ, I didn't know about the hormones....sounds delightful! Its only recently I realised (duh!) that most veggies I know are thin and supposedly healthy but a new guy at work is a veggie and still manages to have a massive gut. Not sure how he does it He says he pretty much eats all the same stuff but where he had meat before he now uses quorne.

I think if it came to it I could probably go veg. I love loads of veggie options anyway and when I had my veggie mother-in-law staying I practically lived like one anyway using quorne and eating loads of veg dishes. I just don't have that hatred for slaughterhouses that most veggies seem to have though that gives them the will power to stay off meat. Also, I would probably become one of those rubbish ones that lives on cheese and quorne pieces, lol.

Guys, rules are good! Rules help control the fun. ~ Monica E. Geller
Field Researcher
#13 Old 30th Oct 2009 at 8:21 AM
Quote: Originally posted by missroxor
TheLightElectric, wow, you sound a lot older and wiser than 19! Those are some very good reasons...I sometimes wonder if I would've chosen a similar path had I not decided to chose this one (I kinda had opposing dreams as a young 'un) but nowadays I think I'm too hot headed and arguementative to be all zen and buddist like

Jewa, how weird What made you decide to break away from the crowd like that when everyone else around you is veggie? Did you just see animals and think, 'nomnomnom'

christ, I didn't know about the hormones....sounds delightful! Its only recently I realised (duh!) that most veggies I know are thin and supposedly healthy but a new guy at work is a veggie and still manages to have a massive gut. Not sure how he does it He says he pretty much eats all the same stuff but where he had meat before he now uses quorne.

I think if it came to it I could probably go veg. I love loads of veggie options anyway and when I had my veggie mother-in-law staying I practically lived like one anyway using quorne and eating loads of veg dishes. I just don't have that hatred for slaughterhouses that most veggies seem to have though that gives them the will power to stay off meat. Also, I would probably become one of those rubbish ones that lives on cheese and quorne pieces, lol.


Its not just the animal cruelty that motivates us veggie eaters its also meat is very unhealthy.

I don't think your ready too go vegan/vegetarian too be honest,until you truly understand the seriousness of the horrible treatment of animals.Also why meat is so unhealthy.
The other one
Original Poster
#14 Old 30th Oct 2009 at 9:54 AM
Quote: Originally posted by christx101
I don't think your ready too go vegan/vegetarian too be honest,until you truly understand the seriousness of the horrible treatment of animals.Also why meat is so unhealthy.

Who are you to decide such a thing? I didn't say I was going to, I even said I didn't have enough hatred of killing animals to give me the required drive and will power I just mean that although I eat meat, most of what I eat is veggie already so it wouldn't be a huge leap. I don't think I could ever go vegan, sounds too boring to me.

I didn't know about hormones but there's no need to patronize (that's how it comes off to me anyways) I know about animal cruelty in other forms. I was a member of CAPS (Captive Animals Protection Society) for years and to this day refuse to visit a zoo or circus. I'm against unneccessary cruelty, I do have a heart afterall. It's not gonna save the world, I know but every little helps, doesn't it?

Anyway, there is no rule that says you can only be vegetarian if you go off and learn about how animals are killed and prepared...or is there some sort of exam that I don't know about? Even people that don't give a crap about animals can be veggies. As you say, everyone has their own motives.

Guys, rules are good! Rules help control the fun. ~ Monica E. Geller
Instructor
#15 Old 30th Oct 2009 at 10:14 AM
Quote: Originally posted by Nekowolf
I just don't like vegetables and only a handful of fruits. If I was to go vegetarian or vegan, I'd freaking starve. It's pretty much as simple as that.


Same here. You should see me when I try to eat a tomato. I dip it in some piquant sauce, eat it as quickly as I can, then I shiver from head to toe, make terrible face, decide that it was enough of healthy stuff for today and quickly try to find something more tasty I could never be a vegetarian, it would just never work. I'm a carnivore, I was never meant to be a rabbit.

I'm against killing animals just for their fur but I'm not against killing animals for food. Killing for food is natural while killing for a new coat is just a waste of life for someone's vanity.

Do I have any feelings about vegetarians or vegans? No, unless they try to push me into changing my life style.
Theorist
#16 Old 30th Oct 2009 at 10:54 AM
I don't have a problem with killing and consuming anything that can't reasonably ask me please mister, don't eat me. I'm a pretty terrible hunter and fisherman, but I've done it. I also do a mean bit of butchering of meats if required to, mostly because it turns out you can save an awful lot of money pulling your cuts yourself. That, and it satisfies my inner caveman. That being said, I've got country roots and I'm not opposed to vegetarian meals if they're well prepared. My problem being that so very often vegetarian food is full of people craving meat and trying to satisfy that craving with poorly constructed bean porridge and nuts. Or worse, self-limiting their diets so much that it seems like they're denying themselves social opportunities and frankly just making life harder for what's likely a limited benefit. I mean, just talking about the stuff that's built into humans that's limiting like lactose intolerance, nut allergies, diabetes and the sort of stuff that old people get tender towards you're sometimes yanking an awful lot of food. To voluntarily pull stuff is just weird to me.
Field Researcher
#18 Old 30th Oct 2009 at 12:41 PM
Humans are omnivores, and I don't plan to go any other way anytime soon

I love eating meat and fish, I love eating legumes, I love eating fruits and veggies, I love dairy products, and I love grains. I honnestly have no idea how I would be able to live without all the variety of food that is available to me. I love eating, I love cooking.

Does that mean that I absolutely need to eat meat every single meal or so? Absolutely not. I've actually complained about that when I was still living with my mother and her boyfriend. He can not concieve a meal [that is not breakfast, and even then, bacon and ham anytime he could if possible] without meat. Now I can enjoy a good legume or pasta salad, or a quiche, or a tomato pie, anytime I want, and then eat liver pâté on my bagel the next morning if I want to

On a side note, I just wanted to mention something about the growth hormones used in raising cattle and other animals for consumption comment. I'd say that unless one is also going totally organic, using this as an argument, to me anyway, does not really seem valid. After all, non organic veggies are sprayed so much with chemical plant food, pesticides and herbicides, that it sounds just as bad at the hormones to me.
Theorist
#19 Old 30th Oct 2009 at 12:43 PM
I'm a vegetarian and have been all my life because both my parents were by the time I was born. We all have different reasons for being vegeatarians though. My mother stopped eating meat when she was 12 mainly because she thought it was unhealthy. My father's never liked the taste of meat and stopped as a child too. Obviously in a way I never had a choice, but I have to say that even if I had been brought up eating meat I probably would have chosen to give it up at some point during my childhood because I don't like the thought of eating anything dead or that's at one point had blood flowing through it. It's not as if my parents have forced vegetarianism on me though, my younger brother has eaten meat at friends houses and that's entirely his decision, although on the whole he is a vegeatrian because nobody will prepare meat for him at home!

However I have absolutely nothing against meat eaters, it's everyones right to chose what they eat. The only problem I have with meat eaters is that I've had "friends" in the past who think it's really funny to wave meat right under my nose, or to throw it at me etc. That does get to me, especially as I haven never even touched a piece of meat, and on the 3 occasions someone has accidentally given me meat I have thrown it up almost immediately. I'm pretty strict about eating sweets that contain gelatine etc. too.

I can't say I've noticed any massive benefits, but I guess that's because I've always been a vegetarian. I was always a very slim child, but I wouldn't say I was particularly thin now although I'm not fat either. A lot of my meat-eating friends do comment on my weight in comparison to theirs though, so maybe it does make a difference, and one of my best friends who became vegeatarian did lose a lot of weight when she did so. The only problem with not eating meat is when it comes to eating out/with friends. Fast food places are generally out of the question, and if we order pizza then I usually can't just share with them because they like to order pepperoni/chicken etc. I don't find it a huge issue though.

It's interesting to see how many of the meat eaters here say they could never become veggie because they hate vegetables though. There a lot of vegetables that I don't like and don't eat! I eat just as many dishes without vegetables in as I do with them included!

"Your life was a liner I voyaged in."
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retired moderator
#20 Old 30th Oct 2009 at 1:29 PM
I've been vegetarian/vegan at various points in my life, for different reasons - my mother went raw vegan when I was a kid and so I was forced to as well. I chose to try it again when I was an adult to see if it would help with some health stuff I was dealing with - it didn't, and I didn't like how I felt, so I stopped.

I love animals - especially the delicious ones. I know where our food comes from, and I try very hard to not be wasteful with meat products because I know something had to die to produce them. I don't eat a ton of meat, but I enjoy it when I do, and I'm not going vegan/vegetarian any time soon. I didn't feel healthy when I was (despite taking supplements and making sure my protein intake was correct - I was doing it right, but it didn't feel right). Eating meat doesn't have to be unhealthy as long as you're not getting over-processed stuff and eating a ton of it. Lean beef or chicken/turkey in small amounts is perfectly fine (though I enjoy pork and other stuff, they're more occasional). Everything in moderation. I've gotten a lot better at eating right in the past couple years - now the bulk of what I eat is usually veggies/fruits and I really like a lot of them - even ones I don't especially like are a great ingredient in a big pot of blended veggie soup. Having a baby who's eating solids now makes my diet better - I know that he'll want whatever I'm eating so most of the time I eat quite healthy so I can share. He eats bits of meat too.

I'm quite healthy and plan on staying that way - I also want to enjoy what I eat and I like meat. It's tasty. If all you do is eat for your health, you may as well go the absolute minimalist diet route - there've been studies that show that if you eat the minimum you need to survive, you'll live longer than if you ate a normal but healthy amount. Me, I'd rather enjoy 70 years than deprive myself of something I enjoy for 100.

What I don't like is people trying to force their ways on others. My mother signed me up for a PETA newsletter sent to my house, and routinely sends me to raw foodist blogs and tells me how I shouldn't feed my son non-organic broccoli. I usually counter with some sort of comment about delicious bacon, just to screw with her.

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Scholar
#21 Old 30th Oct 2009 at 1:43 PM
Quote: Originally posted by HystericalParoxysm
I usually counter with some sort of comment about delicious bacon, just to screw with her.


I so love you right now.

Ontopic: I personally find it hard for people to refrain from eating any kind of food, unless if its for religious reasons. I live in the Middle East and refraining from meat, vegetables or fruits is out of the question. For example:

The simplest meal that I know since I was a child was rice with some form of meat, however since this is the Middle East there are countless ways to prepare the dish. Sometimes it's white rice, or yellow, or red. Fat or skinny rice. Should the meat be fish, mutton, beef, or chicken? Should we even use meat? What about the herbs? Potatoes or Mushrooms!?

Something that I thought was so simply when I was a child, I discovered to be complex as a young adult. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going out with some friends for some Japanese dishes!
Forum Resident
#22 Old 30th Oct 2009 at 2:16 PM
I ate vegetarian for six years, because, exactly the same as HP, I hoped that would help with some health issue I had. It didn't help at all. But on the other hand, it felt like some kind of forced thing, to try to avoid any meat all the time. It just didn't feel natural. The hardest time I was having was with my morning sandwich, after a while there was just nothing I could put in it. Also, I'm crazy about seafood, mostly shrimps, hehe. I love cooking, I love tasty food, and I love variety.

There are a lot of theories about food today, some contradict one another. My own philosophy is, eat whatever feels right to you and enjoy eating it happily. Whatever kind it is, it will do you good then.
Alchemist
#23 Old 30th Oct 2009 at 2:36 PM
I think Michael Pollan's simple guideline: "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.", is a pretty good set of rules to live by. His book, "In Defense of Food" is really good for anyone interested in just what they're eating and what they probably should and should not be eating.

I eat meat about two times a week, as opposed to "before", when I ate meat at least once a day.

Nowadays it's "mostly plants". When I DO eat meat it's usually chicken, as opposed to red meats. I like the IDEA of organic meat, but not so much the price of it and the fact that these days, "organic" is more of a selling point than it is a philosophy or practice. For example, oftentimes a "free range" chicken is only allowed a narrow strip of grass, and to avoid disease, is not allowed to actually UTILIZE said grass until its last week or two of life.

Pretty silly.
Test Subject
#24 Old 30th Oct 2009 at 3:04 PM
I'm a meat eater. I have meat daily, usually red meat. Is it the healthiest way to be? Probably not. But it makes me happy, and I like being happy.
My uncle owns a farm. I've seen many different kinds of animals slaughtered for food, which wasn't something I found fun, but I found it necessary. I'm against the use of animals solely for fur, but I wear leather and sheepskin, because both are used for meat as well.
I have absolutely no problem with vegetarians/vegans until they go on a preach parade and start bitching me out for eating an animal. What I put into my body is a personal decision, and if I want to eat a dead rabbit wrapped in a dead pig, I will. I do eat most vegetables, and a few fruits, as well as my regular dose of meat. My diet is healthy, and, as I already said, I'm happy with it. I have eaten meals without meat in them, and it's not left me satisfied really.
The other one
Original Poster
#25 Old 30th Oct 2009 at 5:03 PM
Quote: Originally posted by coltraz
Nowadays it's "mostly plants". When I DO eat meat it's usually chicken, as opposed to red meats. I like the IDEA of organic meat, but not so much the price of it and the fact that these days, "organic" is more of a selling point than it is a philosophy or practice. For example, oftentimes a "free range" chicken is only allowed a narrow strip of grass, and to avoid disease, is not allowed to actually UTILIZE said grass until its last week or two of life.


I watched a show on telly about a year and a half ago that was all about how battery chickens are treated and how they fast food companies use them because they are cheap and easy to 'produce'. I was so sickened by what I saw that to this day I can't go near a McDonalds or KFC. It doesn't even matter how much truth is in what they said, that image of deformed chickens existing in squalor pops into my head every time I even think about eating any sort of fast food with meat in it. It hasn't put me off meat alltogether though but I'm a lot more choosy about what kind of meat I buy and where I buy it from too and I would never buy anything but free-range eggs.

LemonCandy...what's with the breakfast sandwiches? This is the second time in a couple of days someone on these forums has mentioned having sandwiches in the morning. That's absurd! Sandwiches are strictly for lunch or snacks in my opinion.

Anyway, I'm off to have some healthy morrocan cous cous for lunch since my hubby is taking me to China Town for dinner later :D

Guys, rules are good! Rules help control the fun. ~ Monica E. Geller
 
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