Vegetarian and/or vegan members of BYC!

[fowltemptress]

bantimna, I'm curious. You cited the cashew nut in your example. How much do cashew nuts cost in your country? They are about $10 a pound here, which is a price I'm not willing to pay even for an extra special treat. Do cashew trees grow locally where you are? I wish the cashew fruit wasn't so perishable, ever since I heard about it I've been dying to try it.

 

[Organics North]

Mom 2em All and fowltemptress,
Food is our number one expense at our house and we have a very limited budget. We are after getting away from processed refined foods especially with corn and soy byproducts in them.

So far we have found that whole grain foods fill you up and keep you full much longer. A $60 bag of groceries from Trader Joes is much smaller than a $60 bag from Walmart. However, we have found out the Trader Joes bag lasts longer and tastes way way better. So I speculate it may seem like it costs more but the whole grains, nuts and dried fruits are packed with good nutrition.

bantimna, It is my opinion the USA is saturated in cheap processed factory foods that contain processed corn and soy. (We are the fattest nation on earth after all!!) Once you get away form major urban areas finding quality fruits and vegetables at a reasonable cost for a family on a budget with growing children is a real challenge. Thats even before you try and make those foods organic!

ON

Know if we had a type II diabetes tax, a obesity tax, a cancer caused by chemicals tax, a high cholesterol tax, and a heart disease tax, and did not subsidise factory farms, mono agriculture and fuel prices ....THEN we would see the true cost of our cheap unhealthy food..

 

[Wifezilla]

t is my opinion the USA is saturated in cheap processed factory foods that contain processed corn and soy.

Exactly! And high fructose corn syrup.

if we had a type II diabetes tax, a obesity tax, a cancer caused by chemicals tax, a high cholesterol tax, and a heart disease tax, and did not subsidise factory farms, mono agriculture and fuel prices ....THEN we would see the true cost of our cheap unhealthy food.

LOL Interesting idea but I really can't see "blaming the victims" so to speak. So much f the dietary information we have gotten over the last 30 years has CAUSED the obesity, heart disease, high cholesterol, etc... Telling people to reduce their natural saturated fat intake has done more to destroy people's health than anything.

Now, as for eliminating those subsidies, I am right with you

 

[mom'sfolly]

Beans and rice, the staples of most vegetarian diets are dead cheap. A pound of beans costs about $.69. Other grains are also fairly cheap, quinoa, wheat berries, millet, oats etc. I have yet to see seasonal fruit and veggies at $3-4, which is where most meat ranges. I think a vegetarian diet is probably cheaper than a meat based one. Some of the fancier products are more expensive, but not that much more. I think of the average meat based diet as meat supplemented with veggies and grains and the average vegetarian diet as bean/grain based with veggies to supplement. I may be wrong with my assumptions, but based on these, a veggie diet should be cheaper.

 

[Wifezilla]

It was cheaper for me FOOD WISE when I was vegetarian. It was NOT cheaper for me health-wise. The health problems I had can be directly blamed on a grain-based diet. With my family history (diabetes, heart disease, alzheimers, gout, type 2 diabetes, etc... both sides of the family) a whole grain based diet was THE WORST possible thing I could have done. For all my efforts I ended up more obese with high blood pressure and pre-diabetes. I have reversed all that now thank goodness.

That being said, I think it had to do more with modern preparation methods than the grains themselves. I am a BIG fan of Weston Price. Sally Fallon is a member of the Weston Price foundation and wrote a great book that explains traditional grain preparation and cooking methods vs modern and it is very eye opening.
http://www.amazon.com/Nourishing-Traditions-Challenges-Politically-Dictocrats/dp/0967089735

Beans and grains CAN be a good source of nutrition IF you soak, sprout or ferment them FIRST. If you don't, they can actually CAUSE nutritional deficiencies. Your local library should have a copy of Nourishing Traditions and I strongly suggest anyone considering a vegetarian lifestyle check out the chapters on grains and legumes.

 

[plumberroy]

Not a vegetarian at all but I appreciate the respect everyones choice tone of most in this thread. my dream is to produce most of my food both vegies and meat I'm not there yet but , we ate off the garden way into the winter and still have a couple winter squash left. You guys need to post a link to the different types of vegetarians for us non vegetarians. . I once heard I man on radio descibe himself as a "beady eye vegetarian" as in he would eat stuff he could kill himself ,stuff with small beady eyes I.E. shrimp, fish ,chicken etc.
My veiws are if I can't grow it and proccess it my self or kill and proccess it my self I won't eat it . Does this mean I alway grow kill and proccess it my self ? no but I can for the most part. I do think when some one get to an adult and makes the desicion to eat meat . they should be required to kill and proccess an animal to see that meat doesn't grow in styrofoam. a lot less of it would be wasted. I guess what I am trying to say is I don't hassle my vegetarian friends about not eating meat . they don't hassle me about me eating meat and we get along fine I supply them with good free range eggs and my extra vegies they bring me a lot of good vegie stuff to try
Roy

 

[Wifezilla]

I do think when some one get to an adult and makes the desicion to eat meat . they should be required to kill and proccess an animal to see that meat doesn't grow in styrofoam.

I agree

 

[Chicken Boo]

Quote:
Yes. Sorry, I guess I was a bit ambiguous. Vegetarians were behaving in the way I should be behaving if I really believed that animals deserved a good life and some respect. Just by being good examples, vegetarians were pointing out the disconnect between my beliefs and my actions and making me very uncomfortable, thus angy.

Oh. Sorry I asked.

Why are you sorry?

 

[Mom 2em All]

mom'sfolly :

Beans and rice, the staples of most vegetarian diets are dead cheap. A pound of beans costs about $.69. Other grains are also fairly cheap, quinoa, wheat berries, millet, oats etc. I have yet to see seasonal fruit and veggies at $3-4, which is where most meat ranges. I think a vegetarian diet is probably cheaper than a meat based one. Some of the fancier products are more expensive, but not that much more. I think of the average meat based diet as meat supplemented with veggies and grains and the average vegetarian diet as bean/grain based with veggies to supplement. I may be wrong with my assumptions, but based on these, a veggie diet should be cheaper.

I was just at the store. One 16 ounce bag of black beans: $ 3.59, green apples $1.99 a pound= 3 apples, cauliflower $3.00 a pound, natural peanut butter (meaning I flip the switch and it grinds the peanuts into a container) $3.99 a pound, pale rubbery-looking tomatoes for five of them, $3.29, bananas $2.99 a pound, and I could go on and on. I am feeding a family of five- one being an almost-seventeen year old bottomless pit boy/man. I spent two hundred dollars in two days at two different grocery stores and I only brought home enough food for three meals a day for three days. We will live on left-overs for the remainder of the week.

Food costs are ridiculously high.​

 

[Davaroo]

I used to be a vegan, but I gave it up.

Those who are, I can relate.