if i were vegetarian....

LoveBoatAdmiral

CJMST3K wrote:

There seem to be 2 different types of vegetarians:

1) People who do it for health
2) People who do it for the ethics

...and of course people who do it for both reasons.


When I was about 15 I saw a brief thing on HBO of the atom bomb tests. You know the one where the house gets a big puff of air after the explosion, and the trees wave over. Apparently there were also pigs in cages. They filmed it. You see the pigs scared and screaming. Trying to get out of the cages. Screaming from their skin being cooked.

I was a HUGE meat eater at that time. But it was suddenly a very easy correlation, which never really occurred to me before. Animals feel pain and have no right to be killed by us.

Not being a fan of vegetables, that made eating a little interesting. Pizza was a staple. (btw - Cheese and Dairy are vegetarian, but not vegan). Pasta and Chinese was a staple. When you're 15-19 years old you can manage that diet. In my early 20's it caught up to me on weight. Luckily when I was about 25 I was able to drop it all off without even trying, but now about 8 years later, it caught up to me again from poor eating.

With my GF's help (and without exercise ) I've dropped about 8 lbs in 3 weeks. Looking forward to that for the next several months!

...and there's plenty of vegetarian faux meats out there, so I never felt deprived. Half the time they taste practically 100% like the real thing, and other times the comparison is like diet-soda to regular soda; similar but not identical.


Anyway - I'm rambling.

Why is this on The Porch still? :?

My story is very similar to yours. I was convinced by a brilliant man named Coleman McCarthy who wrote for the Washington Post that I couldn't keep saying that I cared about animals while eating meat. I would volunteer at a farm and take care of the pigs, then go home and have a ham sandwich, which just doesn't make sense. The night we had that conversation I happened to have a turkey sandwich with me. I gave the sandwich to a homeless person and haven't eaten meat since. I would like to go vegan, but cutting eggs and cheese out of my diet eliminates about 90% of what I eat. Like CJ said, there are really good fake meat options out there, and anyone who lives near Boston should try the Grasshopper, a vegan chinese restaurant in Brighton and my favorite place to eat.

gonzo

I'm a vegetarian and just finished reading "Eating Animals" by Jonathan Safran Foer. It's a relatively quick read and addresses both sides of the meat/veggie discussion. What I respected most is that I found it non-didactic and extremely thought provoking, no matter what side you're on.
I vote a trip to the library to check it out.

G
*edit* I should more accurately say that it's not about meat/veggie but more about the ramifications of the factory farming system and how it affects every aspect of our lives from environment to health to disease, etc..

gonzo

there are really good fake meat options out there, and anyone who lives near Boston should try the Grasshopper, a vegan chinese restaurant in Brighton and my favorite place to eat.

The Grasshopper is the bomb! (used to live in Allston..)

Horos

YieldToNothing wrote:

Dru_Cortez wrote:

"Pescatarian"?
Huh, I learned something new today.
Remember, it's OK to eat fish 'cause they don't have any feelings.
Cheers.

it has nothing to do with any sort of moral standards....fish just feels cleaner in my body. that's why i gravitate towards it over meat.

i'm also a sushi junkie.

Fish is meat. Check your dictionary.

"Eating meat is instinct, not eating meat is a choice."

Riverrunner

CJMST3K wrote:

There seem to be 2 different types of vegetarians:

1) People who do it for health
2) People who do it for the ethics

...and of course people who do it for both reasons.


When I was about 15 I saw a brief thing on HBO of the atom bomb tests. You know the one where the house gets a big puff of air after the explosion, and the trees wave over. Apparently there were also pigs in cages. They filmed it. You see the pigs scared and screaming. Trying to get out of the cages. Screaming from their skin being cooked.

I was a HUGE meat eater at that time. But it was suddenly a very easy correlation, which never really occurred to me before. Animals feel pain and have no right to be killed by us.

Not being a fan of vegetables, that made eating a little interesting. Pizza was a staple. (btw - Cheese and Dairy are vegetarian, but not vegan). Pasta and Chinese was a staple. When you're 15-19 years old you can manage that diet. In my early 20's it caught up to me on weight. Luckily when I was about 25 I was able to drop it all off without even trying, but now about 8 years later, it caught up to me again from poor eating.

With my GF's help (and without exercise ) I've dropped about 8 lbs in 3 weeks. Looking forward to that for the next several months!

...and there's plenty of vegetarian faux meats out there, so I never felt deprived. Half the time they taste practically 100% like the real thing, and other times the comparison is like diet-soda to regular soda; similar but not identical.


Anyway - I'm rambling.

Why is this on The Porch still? :?

I have been vegetarian for 22 years. It began for ethics reasons, but then I learned about the environmental impact of meat eating, and I soon felt the health benefits. Now when people ask I cite three reasons for being a vegetarian 1) ethical, 2) environmental, and 3) health. I tell them I can think of no reason to eat meat.

Claireack

Veggie for 26 years :thumbup:

facepollution

Gave up 13 years of vegetarianism about a year and a half ago and haven't looked back. I'm almost shocked at how many carbs I was eating back then, and I wondered why I was so tired all the time.

facepollution

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GKTsWjbjQ8E

Couldn't resist it

facepollution

YieldToNothing wrote:

the idea of beef has begun to repulse me......something about a food that takes your system a week to process is kinda fucked up.?

That's not true at all, takes just over a day at most. Technically speaking fiberous vegetables can take longer to pass through your system as the body can't actually digest fibre.

Flagg

Backspacer_Backer wrote:

i'd weigh 400 lbs. i'd eat waffles and pancakes all day. heavy on the butter and syrup. or as my 4 year old calls it, syriup.

I love waffles and pancakes. Strangely I do not like syrup. I like butter though. Maybe I don't like soggy waffles and pancakes.

eyedclaar

Flagg wrote:

Backspacer_Backer wrote:

i'd weigh 400 lbs. i'd eat waffles and pancakes all day. heavy on the butter and syrup. or as my 4 year old calls it, syriup.

I love waffles and pancakes. Strangely I do not like syrup. I like butter though. Maybe I don't like soggy waffles and pancakes.

Maybe you should dunk, man, instead of pour the syrup.

tee-hee, I said dunk man.

demetrios

For the one's who've been vegan for year's, do you or does your doctor recommend you taking pills for those vitamins only meats & dairy carry that you are missing for your healthy body? Just wondering.

Horos

Riverrunner wrote:

I tell them I can think of no reason to eat meat.

Duh.........it tastes good!

Franny

I would go INSANE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Like Homer with no beer! Give me a juicy t-bone with pepper sauce!