10 I raise my own beef and so far order the chickens from the Amish but this year will be raising meaties. I eventually want as little from the store as possible.
11. I can't say I don't eat meat at all (#1,2,3) and I can't say I only eat what I grow (#10).
I would say I eat "very little" for health, political and financial reasons. I eat a lot of beans and rice which is a complete protein combination, and I get millk and eggs from a friend. I will soon have my own eggs.
I feel fine on a mostly vegetarian diet.
I don't like how the meat gets to the store. The factory farms, the slaughterhouses, all the cruelty and unfairness in the entire system is so out of whack.
A week on beans, rice and vegetables in season costs me less than $10.00.
When I get my own hens I won't be eating them, either. I worked for animal control for ten years, and I got enough killing to do then to last me a lifetime. No more of that, thank you.
Cool survey, Wifezilla. Looking forward to the results!
I've been a vegetarian almost all my life. I'm not one for health, political, environmental or religious reasons. My reasons are purely personal. When I was young and finally understood where meat came from, I started developing extreme guilt. Found it easier to cut meat out of my diet than live with the guilt. I love animals and couldn't handle eating them. I was so young, I had never heard of the word vegetarian or even met anybody else like me. I was from a very rural area where everybody ate meat. My parents and grandparents tried everything, threats, bribes... to no avail.
Do I think my lifestyle is better than others? No. Would I raise my kids as vegetarians? No necessarily. Do I miss big old steaks? Sometimes. Would I change things? Never, that feeling of guilt still haunts me when I even think about a hamburger or bacon.