Vegetarian

brianlux

I used to be a cigarette smoker and when I quit for good a friend said, "Now remember, the most obnoxious anti-smokers are ex-smokers. Don't do that!" That was a good lesson. I don't condone cigs but I also don't criticize smokers. I will try to remember that lesson.

In the past, I have said "I'm mostly vegetarian or "I'm getting closer to being a vegetarian". When I said those things they were true. Today is the first day I have referred to myself as a vegetarian.

I hope for two things:
1)That I don't cave in to eating meat again and
2)That I somehow find a way to encourage others to go vegetarian and at the same time never criticize anyone who chooses not to.

And for those who are vegans, I admire you but I'm not ready to give up local eggs (I have friends with chickens) and goat cheese. Please go easy on me. Thanks!

hedonist

There's so much information out there about vegetarianism and veganism that I don't think there's really a need to encourage others to go that route, unless the conversation comes about in a natural way. If not, this carnivore might show her canines!

Hope I didn't go too hard on you, B

(that's what she said!)

brianlux

Sayin' it like it is is always the way to go, Hedo!

I must admit, I'll miss my awesome chicken burgers.

JWPearl

im sorry i think vegan is good and wise
but i have weakness for roast or a nice
shank or steak
hopefully in paradise God invents a
new fruit or vegetables that taste just like
various meats..
one can dream..

brianlux

JWPearl said:

im sorry i think vegan is good and wise
but i have weakness for roast or a nice
shank or steak
hopefully in paradise God invents a
new fruit or vegetables that taste just like
various meats..
one can dream..

People have tried to make vegetarian foods that taste like "meat" but it's not the same. I'd rather have a bean/rice/goat cheddar burrito! I just found a book in my stuff called The Best Veggie Burgers on the Planet. I'll be spending some time with that one!

JWPearl

have you ever had japanese style tofu
its sooooooooooooo gooooooooooood
i know if you do your homework it is easy
to become vegan but my problem is that
i crave meat

deadendp

I was vegetarian for a few years. Why just a few? I was a dumb college kid who thought that being vegetarian was just not eating meat. I didn't sub things out right and felt like crap. I eat a lot of vegetarian meals, but am not vegetarian. I wouldn't mind giving it a stab again. Vegan? Couldn't do it. I love cheese far too much. I heart cheese.

rgambs

brianlux said:

JWPearl said:

im sorry i think vegan is good and wise
but i have weakness for roast or a nice
shank or steak
hopefully in paradise God invents a
new fruit or vegetables that taste just like
various meats..
one can dream..

People have tried to make vegetarian foods that taste like "meat" but it's not the same. I'd rather have a bean/rice/goat cheddar burrito! I just found a book in my stuff called The Best Veggie Burgers on the Planet. I'll be spending some time with that one!

Melissa's Soyrizo is a deliciously perfect subsitute for Mexican chorizo sausage, which is typically made from the scraps. Cheek fat, salivary glands, and lymph nodes are the primary ingredients...It's good to make use of the offal, but it isn't very appetizing to think about. Delicious though, anyways, the Soyrizo was a perfect sub!

mca47

People will always judge no matter what you do. I haven't had red meat or pork in like 17-18 years. So many people almost get offended when I tell them that. Like "oh my god, how dare you?!?!" Like eating meat is their religion and I just took a dump on their bible. I don't give a crap what you do, why do you care what I don't do?

Good for you OP. Keep at it!

SPEEDY MCCREADY

mca47 said:

People will always judge no matter what you do. I haven't had red meat or pork in like 17-18 years. So many people almost get offended when I tell them that. Like "oh my god, how dare you?!?!" Like eating meat is their religion and I just took a dump on their bible. I don't give a crap what you do, why do you care what I don't do?

Good for you OP. Keep at it!

But you still eat chicken and turkey?
Just curious.

hedonist

mca47 said:

People will always judge no matter what you do. I haven't had red meat or pork in like 17-18 years. So many people almost get offended when I tell them that. Like "oh my god, how dare you?!?!" Like eating meat is their religion and I just took a dump on their bible. I don't give a crap what you do, why do you care what I don't do?

Good for you OP. Keep at it!

I've never been even close to bothered by those who choose not to eat meat. Sure we judge (natural and necessary to do, and most decent folks keep it internally for the most part), but no one wants to be preached to, no matter if vegan or omnivore or whatevervore.

Kind of like religion, to which you alluded.

Live and let live. I have better things on which to take a dump!

mca47

SPEEDY MCCREADY said:

mca47 said:

People will always judge no matter what you do. I haven't had red meat or pork in like 17-18 years. So many people almost get offended when I tell them that. Like "oh my god, how dare you?!?!" Like eating meat is their religion and I just took a dump on their bible. I don't give a crap what you do, why do you care what I don't do?

Good for you OP. Keep at it!

But you still eat chicken and turkey?
Just curious.

On occasion. I try to limit that though.
I do eat fish/seafood.
Just no red meat/pork/mammals.

brianlux

mca47 said:

SPEEDY MCCREADY said:

mca47 said:

People will always judge no matter what you do. I haven't had red meat or pork in like 17-18 years. So many people almost get offended when I tell them that. Like "oh my god, how dare you?!?!" Like eating meat is their religion and I just took a dump on their bible. I don't give a crap what you do, why do you care what I don't do?

Good for you OP. Keep at it!

But you still eat chicken and turkey?
Just curious.

On occasion. I try to limit that though.
I do eat fish/seafood.
Just no red meat/pork/mammals.

Thanks for encouragement, mca!

Not to judge you or anyone here but just to say, the reason I decided to go vegetarian (actually have done so off and on before) was through reading about how 90% of ocean fish are over-fished and how environmentally harmful farmed fishing is. Also, the effect goes on land when considering the many millions of pounds of fish each year are fed to poultry and other animals that become meat on the table. If we don't let the oceans and ocean fish recover the ocean ecosystems will die (this is happening) and if that happens, we will die.

The other thing I've read is that soy beans and soy bean products are good for women but not a healthy food for men. I'll have to look into that again to be able to say why (it has something to do with hormone levels) but I know I'd read that a number of times.

mca47

brianlux said:

mca47 said:

SPEEDY MCCREADY said:

mca47 said:

People will always judge no matter what you do. I haven't had red meat or pork in like 17-18 years. So many people almost get offended when I tell them that. Like "oh my god, how dare you?!?!" Like eating meat is their religion and I just took a dump on their bible. I don't give a crap what you do, why do you care what I don't do?

Good for you OP. Keep at it!

But you still eat chicken and turkey?
Just curious.

On occasion. I try to limit that though.
I do eat fish/seafood.
Just no red meat/pork/mammals.

Thanks for encouragement, mca!

Not to judge you or anyone here but just to say, the reason I decided to go vegetarian (actually have done so off and on before) was through reading about how 90% of ocean fish are over-fished and how environmentally harmful farmed fishing is. Also, the effect goes on land when considering the many millions of pounds of fish each year are fed to poultry and other animals that become meat on the table. If we don't let the oceans and ocean fish recover the ocean ecosystems will die (this is happening) and if that happens, we will die.

The other thing I've read is that soy beans and soy bean products are good for women but not a healthy food for men. I'll have to look into that again to be able to say why (it has something to do with hormone levels) but I know I'd read that a number of times.

Good comments on the fishing practices that are currently happening. It's sad that in a matter of 10-20 years we've wiped out so many important oceanic ecosystems as a result of over-fishing and drop and drag practices.
What's also sad is that even if we as a country decide to change practices, implement stronger regulation, etc. you still have countries who can and will do their own thing...much like carbon emission. There needs be a global initiative for cleaning our oceans and assuring those ecosystems remain undisturbed and/or sustained.
Any fish and seafood I consume has to be wild caught, completely sustainable and I investigate where it came from and the fishery who pulled it in. There are websites and apps that help in this as well as ratings of those fisheries.
For birds, I only eat locally raised, organic-vegetarian fed free range (cage free/no cage). In a pinch, I'll get Whole Foods organic free range birds, but I prefer to do as much local (produce too) as possible.
I feel more people need to be aware and concerned about the food they put in their bodies, not only for personal health, but for the greater good of the environment.

Indifference71

mca47 said:

I haven't had red meat or pork in like 17-18 years.

Good for you OP. Keep at it!

Gross!!! Just kidding man....I hear what you're saying. And as someone who enjoys red meat, I hate it when people who don't eat meat act like I'm some sort of animal for eating meat. To each their own.

brianlux

Indifference71 said:

mca47 said:

I haven't had red meat or pork in like 17-18 years.

Good for you OP. Keep at it!

Gross!!! Just kidding man....I hear what you're saying. And as someone who enjoys red meat, I hate it when people who don't eat meat act like I'm some sort of animal for eating meat. To each their own.

I used to eat red meat so it would be super hypocritical of me to criticize anyone else for doing so. I do encourage people to at least cut back on eating red meat (both for health and environmental reasons) or better yet going vegetarian and am happy to explain why I think that's a good idea but I'm not going to berate someone else for what they eat.

RKCNDY

Good for you Brian!
I love seafood and some other meats (duck & lamb) too much to become vegetarian. Could never be vegan since I just love cheese too much, and also some other reasons that are more appropriate for a different thread.

Soy is actually not very good for women. 95% of the world's soy is GMO and it disrupts the estrogen production in women-I can look for an article if you like. I love soy so now I buy organic, which is not supposed to have bad effects.

brianlux

RKCNDY said:

Good for you Brian!
I love seafood and some other meats (duck & lamb) too much to become vegetarian. Could never be vegan since I just love cheese too much, and also some other reasons that are more appropriate for a different thread.

Soy is actually not very good for women. 95% of the world's soy is GMO and it disrupts the estrogen production in women-I can look for an article if you like. I love soy so now I buy organic, which is not supposed to have bad effects.

If you get a chance, that would be great- thanks!

RKCNDY

brianlux said:

RKCNDY said:

Good for you Brian!
I love seafood and some other meats (duck & lamb) too much to become vegetarian. Could never be vegan since I just love cheese too much, and also some other reasons that are more appropriate for a different thread.

Soy is actually not very good for women. 95% of the world's soy is GMO and it disrupts the estrogen production in women-I can look for an article if you like. I love soy so now I buy organic, which is not supposed to have bad effects.

If you get a chance, that would be great- thanks!

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/soybean-fertility-hormone-isoflavones-genistein/

This is the most straightforward article I could find. Most are 'scare tactic' articles, that you can read to get the jest of what they are trying to say...
There are articles that do explain the difference between GMO and organic soy...I just have to weed through all the fear mongering ones.

brianlux

RKCNDY said:

brianlux said:

RKCNDY said:

Good for you Brian!
I love seafood and some other meats (duck & lamb) too much to become vegetarian. Could never be vegan since I just love cheese too much, and also some other reasons that are more appropriate for a different thread.

Soy is actually not very good for women. 95% of the world's soy is GMO and it disrupts the estrogen production in women-I can look for an article if you like. I love soy so now I buy organic, which is not supposed to have bad effects.

If you get a chance, that would be great- thanks!

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/soybean-fertility-hormone-isoflavones-genistein/

This is the most straightforward article I could find. Most are 'scare tactic' articles, that you can read to get the jest of what they are trying to say...
There are articles that do explain the difference between GMO and organic soy...I just have to weed through all the fear mongering ones.

Interesting, RKCNDY, thanks!

Seems to me I read somewhere that if men eat soy they can get hormones that can give them big-time man boobs. Not my thing- I think I'll pass on soy beans, tofu, etc. until I find out more about this.

ldent42

Yea I think you got it backwards on the soy thing B-lux. Soy is bad for the ovaries.

brianlux

ldent42 said:

Yea I think you got it backwards on the soy thing B-lux. Soy is bad for the ovaries.

Ovaries. I see. So what your saying is, I'm not going to grow a pair of them if I eat soy, right?

rgambs

I would say the biggest problem with soy is how hard it is to find soy that doesn't line Monsanto's pockets! The Seminis acquisition made it,pretty difficult.

brianlux

rgambs said:

I would say the biggest problem with soy is how hard it is to find soy that doesn't line Monsanto's pockets! The Seminis acquisition made it,pretty difficult.

Yeah, sadly it's going to get harder and harder to find non-GMO/non-Monsanto foods as this giant megacorp continues to swallow things up.

ldent42

brianlux said:

ldent42 said:

Yea I think you got it backwards on the soy thing B-lux. Soy is bad for the ovaries.

Ovaries. I see. So what your saying is, I'm not going to grow a pair of them if I eat soy, right?

I doubt it. But if you did have ovaries, you could get cysts from eating soy.

brianlux

ldent42 said:

brianlux said:

ldent42 said:

Yea I think you got it backwards on the soy thing B-lux. Soy is bad for the ovaries.

Ovaries. I see. So what your saying is, I'm not going to grow a pair of them if I eat soy, right?

I doubt it. But if you did have ovaries, you could get cysts from eating soy.

Is that due to the nature of soy beans in general or is it due to GMO's/insecticide use?

shortstack

I'm vegan, gluten and soy free.

brianlux

shortstack said:

I'm vegan, gluten and soy free.

Outstanding!

rgambs

I can't imagine life without eggs and cheese. I really can't lol

JTH

My wife's a vegetarian, or really, pescetarian, but she really doesn't eat seafood very often.

I know there are preachy vegetarians out there but I've run across several self-described carnivores that are way more obnoxious about dietary choices than any of the vegetarians I know.

brianlux

rgambs said:

I can't imagine life without eggs and cheese. I really can't lol

That's a tough one, for sure! I went all raw food vegetarian for a few months once- no meat, cheese, eggs, bread, etc. Just raw fruits and veges. Even the nuts and seeds I ate I sprouted first. I felt great after doing so but eventually I went back to cooking. It was difficult to only eat salads without dressing when eating out with friends. But I'm trying to get closer to that again as often as possible.