No, I don’t have any regrets about eating animals.

[Ted_Harrell]

Gidget's story
So, I went to Rural King to get chicken feed, and on my way to the feed aisle, I stopped
by the chick days, they had polishes, which I had been wanting for about a year, so I grabbed a box, but I wanted other breeds also, so, I grabbed 2 polishes, and put them in the box, then I walked to the Easter Egger and Amerucana brooder, and I saw a small Easter Egger chick, trying to find an open heat lamp spot, I grabbed her, and she looked at me, and started to lay down in my palm. I put her in the box with the polishes, long story short, I got 3 more chicks, and took them home, a week later, I saw she wasn't growing along with the others, she was the same size as she was on the third day, the only thing that she grew were tail feathers. And she was struggling to get food and water, I made her Hard Boiled Eggs, which she ate up very fast, she still didn't grow though, 1 dozen eggs later, she finally grew a bit, not as much as the others, but she still grew, she almost died 4 times, but she survived, now, she is alive and healthy along with her Buff Laced Polish friend, Minnie, and her Blue Brahma friend, Violet, she likes bananas and tomatoes, and she likes to chase bugs with her friends. I named her Gidget, which stands for "girl midget" because she was so small as a chick.

Awesome, you go gidget

 

[Meg-in-MT]

Well, nowhere did I say I was vegan. I eat and use animal products all the time.

You're right that some plants are high environmental impact, but overwhelming evidence indicates that, in the end, a plant based diet (compared to the traditional factory farming) is more sustainable. Your point about the avocados, 12 gallons each? A single pound of beef is between 1000-2000 gallons. Eating food grown locally also reduces environmental impact. I'm not under any delusions that the earth and other humans aren't impacted by my lifestyle, but I choose to do what I'm able to so I can reduce my own impact.

Where did you come up with these numbers?
​

 

[BigBlueHen53]

BigBlueHen and SilkieKeeper, your words were spoken from the heart and regardless of what side of this argument folks fall on they should be respectful enough to listen. Thank you all who posted on this thread for both having an opinion and expressing it as well. I respect all of you and will continue to read/listen every chance I get.

? I have no disrespect or judgment toward anyone who eats meat or raises animals for meat, nor toward any who don't. I wish everyone who eats meat could raise their own in a humane and respectful way. In fact, I wish I could still garden and raise my own fruits and veggies! So I'm grateful that others can, or I reckon I'd starve.... No one should judge another in regard to what another person eats. ... Pretty sure I read that somewhere.

 

[FortCluck]

Humm. I wonder how she would have treated you if you had bought a steak and knew you were going to take it home and eat it. That was very unprofessional and manipulative of her, IMO. What you do with your purchases is none of her business. Her business is to sell you a product and wish you a good day.

I never specifically told her that I was using hers for meat chickens. I was hatching eggs from their farm so that I could add new layers to my flock to get fertile eggs from other breeds to make my meat chickens. I cross my jersey giant roosters with my dual purpose breeds to get meat chickens.

I'm not going back there that is for sure and it basically ruined my experience of getting hatching eggs from a physical person. I'll order from Meyers next time.

 

[FortCluck]

I think what I can gather from everything I've read is that most people would rather humanely slaughtered animals... I'm just glad everyone is listening to everyone's opinions and not creating hostility over different opinions.

 

[Coopscraft]

We must live in the most ridiculous household. All three of us eat separate meals. My teenage son is extremely picky and won't eat certain things; my husband rarely eats and when he does it's out of a can; and I then there is me....I cook extremely healthy. I love making soups and salads. I eat a lot of beans, quinoa, wild rice, fruits and vegetables. My latest favorite is kale. I LOVE cooked kale.

My kids eat what’s offered or wait till next meal. They aren’t going to be damaged by missing a meal. They might get damaged by getting whatever they want. It seems a natural progression from, “mom always does what I want in the kitchen to if I can’t have my way at work mom can support me.”

 

[FortCluck]

THIS! Me, too. I gave up on it because my then-husband was a meat-and-potatoes man and I just couldn't cook separate meals all the time, especially once I became a mom. My now-husband is more amenable to an almost-meatless lifestyle, but The Kid is not quite there yet. So sometimes I feed them (gasp!) hot dogs..... lol. Everybody agrees on a good chicken soup, though!

When I first met my husband he knew that I was plant-based and he didn't mind it plus he was so interested in it. He likes eating meat, rice, and potatoes... I usually make our meals the same I just don't use meat or animal products in mine.

I actually make a completely vegan chili with the vegan meat crumbles, he always thinks that we are eating hamburger it trucks him every time.

My oldest son would always make fun of me for drinking almond milk. He actually became allergic to dairy last year... Guess what he's drinking now

 

[Mak24456]

Where did you come up with these numbers?
​

It's highly highly dependent on the source/research method, but here's a short list of different numbers:
https://www.watercalculator.org/footprints/beef-king-big-water-footprints/

Please note that Veg*n is a common terminology for vegetarians and vegans cause typing out vegetarians and vegans 30+ times is exhausting. I presumed that because you said you generally avoid eating meat you fall into the category.

The point is the sanctimonious attitude isn't welcome and is utter nonsense and garbage and often misinformed. For example, you, uh, might wanna check your facts on beef numbers. Mainstream beef is substantially less than 500 gallons (granted much more than avocados). And it completely ignores the fact that avocados are grown in a low water area that promotes crime and poverty for whole swaths of underprivileged native people whereas beef production tends to provide a higher take of the profits to their farmers because of it's luxury status and can be grown on non-crop-arable land.
So you can say "Avocados are better, plants are better"... But they often aren't a good option for a LOT of people and for many poverty-stricken farmers beef is much more reliable. Much like I doubt that being carless is a good option for you. Even though being carless is better. After-all, a quarter of the worlds emissions are from cars. But I can't expect you to have no car and lose your income for it just to save on emissions, that would be horrible of me.

Other people might still be eating meat, but doing other things to change their lives, but the majority of the types of threads the OP are talking about aren't interested in that. They don't care that their avocado comes from impoverished regions of south/central america, that their bananas feed a totalitarian system in south america, that their agave syrup kills bats natural habitat in mexico... The sorts the OP are talking about don't care that the people they're talking to are usually already raising their own food, and eating locally, or hunting sustainably or drying laundry outdoors, or running solar panels, etc. countless other positive changes. They DO care that someone ate their OWN bird on their OWN property and that's a Big Bad. And that sort of the problem.

The problem isn't with doing something to try to be better. The problem is with considering your way the objectively best way and then, additionally, expecting other people to do the same. And this is a common problem for small farmers dealing with veg*ns, and it's a problem on this forum even in the meat birds section.

For some reason you seem set on trying to convince me that my personal choices are no better than straight up eating meat. I already explained that I understand there's no way to have no impact. The thing is, there's not much I can do about many of these issues you mention aside from boycotting (which doesn't have anything to do with being vegetarian??), and what I can do is stop eating factory farmed meat and eggs. If I can help the earth then I will, just as many of the other commenters do by growing their own meat.
And I am carless, though you assumed otherwise.

I shared my reasons for not eating meat because it was in line with sentiment expressed by others about preferring to grow their own animals. I'd personally be happy to raise and eat animals if given the chance in the future. I thought I was contributing to the discussion, since we were talking about personal choice and not imposing our own beliefs on people. I didn't come to argue.

 

[Coopscraft]

When I first met my husband he knew that I was plant-based and he didn't mind it plus he was so interested in it. He likes eating meat, rice, and potatoes... I usually make our meals the same I just don't use meat or animal products in mine.

I actually make a completely vegan chili with the vegan meat crumbles, he always thinks that we are eating hamburger it trucks him every time.

My oldest son would always make fun of me for drinking almond milk. He actually became allergic to dairy last year... Guess what he's drinking now

—Until he’s allergic to almonds. Many plants, not just wheat, have toxins that can contribute to the acquisition of new allergies or autoimmune disorders. One of the things that really seems curious about plant based diets is how much effort goes into mimicry. Why drink almond milk when you can just eat almonds? Liquid milk really isn’t a natural staple for adult humans anyway. Many people, including yours truly, are intolerant of the sugar in milk. I get my vitamins and minerals from low starch vegetables in moderation and lots of meat. That’s why I’ve always been as strong as an ox.

 

[Willowspirit]

I’m not going to say much but different humans have slightly different metabolic needs. And so different people thrive on different kinds of diets. I was a vegetarian for a long while for ethical reasons. Then I ate meat but was a very low fat high carb eater. I ended up becoming diabetic so a keto type diet is probably best for me, but I still crave carbs, so...

My daughter and her husband are new vegans for ethical reasons and they admit it’s a bit of a struggle. They are always grateful to get eggs from our chickens because they know they are truly free range. They miss cheese the most which makes sense to me.

When I think about my animals it interests me to consider that it is not culturally acceptable to eat them in the US but is elsewhere:

dogs — Asia
horses — practically everywhere but here
guinea pigs — South America and a few people in the US. They are actually a more efficient protein source than rabbits.

Chickens — most consumed protein source in the world.