Curiosity has the best of me - Vegetarians.

[SilverPhoenix]

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Always nice to find more vegetarians. It's good to see that there are some of us around on here! I was surprised by how many posted when I made the Vegetarian thread a while back.

I've always been a vegetarian and I've always been keen on animal rights, but Earthlings really pushed me into being far more active about it and put it all in perspective for me. I wish Earthlings was mandatory viewing for everyone--even if it didn't turn everyone vegetarian (I suspect there would be a lot more of us, though), I think it would promote a lot more kindness and respect for other lives. I think everyone would be more active about changing the way things are. I try to recommend it to as many people as possible, but it's hard to get people to watch it knowing that it is horrific. So many people just want to ignore the reality of eating meat, it really frustrates me. Just because a person doesn't see it happen doesn't mean it isn't happening, and it sickens me how many people just want to pretend the slaughter of living things doesn't happen and that their meat just somehow magically appears in the grocery store.

Anyway, I'm going to go read that article. Thanks for sharing it, I always love reading new things about vegetarianism.

 

[Q9]

The way I see it, man has eaten meat since the dawn of... well, that's not quite right. Since right after the Flood.

Animals eat each other, so I see no problem at all with people eating meat. I do have issues with factory farming, but nothing against eating meat. Mmmm... Ribs...

 

[Laurajean]

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Ironically, my father did not have the "see how we do it on the farm" mentality. In fact, when killing and slaughtering time happened my father would have my mother call me into the house so that I would not see what was happening. And they never explained to me that the pigs we slaughtered were the meat in our freezer, in fact, my mother lied and said she picked up our meat at "Wally's", the local market. I knew better though, kids aren't stupid, so when I realized that Petunia had suddenly "moved away", I knew to avoid the freezer meat. Also, it wasn't a fully operating farm scene, so to speak. It was just my dad with some pigs and goats and rabbits, etc. My mother, brother and I never took part in any of the duties. So it wasn't like I got attached to one of his meat pigs. He made it very clear she was my pet and that I would have to take care of her. I imagine that's why it was so devastating. Although I suspect the pain would have been nearly as great if he were trying to teach me farm life like in your story. Either scenario is pretty traumatic for a child in my opinion.

 

[matthewschickens]

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I agree

But pigs actually aren't very good for you..

 

[Q9]

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I agree

But pigs actually aren't very good for you..

I know, which is why we don't eat it too often. However, bacon, ribs, and pork chops are just too good to quit eating altogether.

 

[thaiturkey]

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I've never heard that before and I enjoy pig meat. What's the problem with it?

The list of safe foods gets shorter. Poultry carries salmonella and avian 'flu, beef could turn me into a mad cow (it killed an English dairy farmer that I knew), rabbits have myxomatosis, fish is full of mercury and human waste, many people are allergic to shellfish, dairy products clog your arteries, vegetables and fruit are overloaded with nitrate fertiliser and water is full of chemicals that are supposed to make it safe to drink. I'm thinking of trying rocks but some of those contain natural radioactivity.

 

[Organics North]

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[Hillsvale]

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I agree

But pigs actually aren't very good for you..

Hog wash.... pun intended. Pork has lots of cuts which should be used in moderation, you know.... the really tasty bits (bacon and sausage) but pork per se isn't any worse than any other meat.... I package the two in my freezer and most of it is fairly lean. Plus the bacon (and english rashers) umm

 

[AndreaS]

I was vegetarian for 6 years. It started because I didn't agree with the way animals are treated in convential systems and the affect factory farms have on our planet. This was prior to the local food trends and there were no good farmers markets in my area. I ate soy, nuts, beans, whole grains, tons of veggies and some dairy and eggs (although i was concerned about the dairy and eggs because I had no gurantee of the conditions the animals were kept in- so for the most part I was vegan). I took supplements, but my health suffered. I went several years with very little energy and passed out several times. I have a scar on my forehead from one such event. My periods were abnormal, and i tended towards depression. I really put a great effort into research and being vegetarian the "right" way, by trying to get all the nutrition my body needed. Point being, I think everyone is different. Some of us need the proteins available in meats more than others.

I agree that it is a hard decision, because unlike other carnivores (omnivores), we have a CHOICE. We can choose to live without meat, and that makes it up to the individual.

My choice is this: I now choose to purchase animal products only from local farms that I can visit and see the conditions. It is more expensive yes, but I find a very small amount of animal protein is all I need to stay healthy. I don't waste anything, I make stocks and use all scraps from the animals I consume. I always try and be mindful and thankful that life was lost so mine could be sustained.

Before I made this choice I started learning more about big agri-business and how the huge corn, soy and wheat fields are managed. How most soy is GMO, which is super scary to me, and how over consumption of soy products may be linked to reproductive issues in women. Also, i learned about how the huge combines used in these massive grain and legume farms destroy tons of life all on their own. Habitat destruction, etc. Not to even mention how many rabbits, mice, moles, rats, wild birds, etc..are killed by the equipment used for planting and harvesting on a large scale. It seems no matter what our diet is, animal life will be lost to brings us our food. Even being vegan, our food is still tainted by the death of other creatures. It seems to be a sad fact of nature.

My long term plan is to face up to what it means to take life to sustain your own. This will be very hard for me, but i feel it is only fair that if i am going to eat an animal, i be responsible for raising it, making sure it has a good quality of life, and ultimatly, killing and using it. When you buy those packages of chicken breasts at the grocery store, you can happily live in denial of what you are doing. You don't have to see the chicken before it is killed, chopped up and individually packaged for you. That just doesn't seem right to me.

 

[PepsNick]

Hello there! I have been a vegeterian for 3 years now. I started when I saw a TV program on CBS Evening News about undercover slaughterhouse footage. Most disturbing thing I ever saw in my life, besides that time when I typed the search bar wrong... Anyway, here's another reason, this is what chicken nuggets are made of:

And here's an article on it:
http://www.snopes.com/food/prepare/msm.asp