why would you HAVE to eat meat?

The Champ

CJMST3K wrote:

I think photos of this are helpful. This is a rather tame one but it still gets the point across.

The point is I'm getting hungry ..

MayDay10

CJMST3K wrote:

Battery cages - in video (just regular video - but still disturbing):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H4_R5sGHIGo

Catching chickens in the modern world:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRwNJxk8LrQ

And... for those who eat chicken, please be brave to know this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HjhkJUDm ... re=related
(pardon, but it's narrated by Al Sharpton - but still informative)

lol, "KFC..... thats foul".

At first I couldnt figure out why Al Sharpton. Then I was like "ooooohhhhhhhhhhh"

Ms. Haiku

There may be reasons more than just diet that are causing you to feel light headed. Loss of breath which could lead to dizziness may be a heart issue. Lethargy could be an iron issue, and that could be remedied with diet, and you can decided which route to go for that. If you are worried about diet, have you gone to a nutritionist? They would know what nutrients you are missing. If you already addressed this throughout the thread. . . sorry

_Crazy_Mary_

I have a free-range & organic chicken egg farm. All of the eggs are accounted for, so this week my family had to actually buy eggs from the store! No, they weren't from free-range chickens.

Tone

At the ripe old age of 14 I decided to become a strict vegetarian. Being a teenage girl and clearly not in control of my diet and existing on the veggies that my mum cooked (the whole meat and 3 veg thing) whereby I just ate the veggie portion, I got quite sick after about 12 months and was diagnosed with anemia after I slept for 3 days solid. My doctor was most unimpressed with me and told me I had to eat meat 3 times a week. I tried. I went back to eating chicken and fish. Fast forward 15 years and my energy was still rather sapped and I got incredibly dizzy and I go have blood tests etc... yep, I'm still anemic. My same doctor looks at me and says: "Are you eating red meat?", I could only answer that I ate chicken and fish.

Needless to say, I try to eat red meat sometimes, but having it out of your diet for so long makes it really hard to go back. I'm very aware of dizzy spells and my iron levels. I eat red meat in the form of bolognese meat sauce or lasagna... I can't deal with steak or sausages. But I'm someone who really needs protein in their diet and I notice within a couple of days if I haven't had enough protein. That being said, I've also read the Omnivores Dilemma and the thought of eating red meat is a wee bit scary.

Re: Soy milk... indeed, not the best thing. Someone else posted to try Almond Milk and I wholeheartedly agree. I always use Almond Milk (being lactose intolerant).

JaneNY

Tone wrote:

At the ripe old age of 14 I decided to become a strict vegetarian. Being a teenage girl and clearly not in control of my diet and existing on the veggies that my mum cooked (the whole meat and 3 veg thing) whereby I just ate the veggie portion, I got quite sick after about 12 months and was diagnosed with anemia after I slept for 3 days solid. My doctor was most unimpressed with me and told me I had to eat meat 3 times a week. I tried. I went back to eating chicken and fish. Fast forward 15 years and my energy was still rather sapped and I got incredibly dizzy and I go have blood tests etc... yep, I'm still anemic. My same doctor looks at me and says: "Are you eating red meat?", I could only answer that I ate chicken and fish.

Needless to say, I try to eat red meat sometimes, but having it out of your diet for so long makes it really hard to go back. I'm very aware of dizzy spells and my iron levels. I eat red meat in the form of bolognese meat sauce or lasagna... I can't deal with steak or sausages. But I'm someone who really needs protein in their diet and I notice within a couple of days if I haven't had enough protein.

I'm not going to tell you not to eat meat if you feel you want to, but it would be a misconception in most cases, to think that meat must be consumed if you 'really need protein'. We all need a certain amount of protein but it can be obtained without animal products. Tofu, beans/lentils, nuts, nut butters, and grains (quinoa in particular is a complete protein), tempeh are some choices.

I have heard there are some people that need meat and do not dispute it, but remember that doctors are not nutritionists and don't spend a lot of time in medical school on nutrition, so they may be sharing their personal opinion not necessarily based on good knowledge.

decides2dream

JaneNY wrote:

decides2dream wrote:

i don't know what battery eggs are.... :?

Battery eggs are those layed by hens kept in battery cages like this:

aha ok...i knew of those conditions, i have just never heard them referred to as 'battery eggs' before, so thought perhaps it was a euro term i was unfamilar with. yes...that is hideous. :(


oh and i agree...the only reason one might *need* to eat meat is simply b/c they make poor choices on a veggie diet. i was no more healthy as a meat eater or a veg. watching your food intake, monitoring what you put in your body...and most importantly, educating yourself about proper nutrition is the BEST way to insure you meet your body's health requirements. and yes, a nutritionist will know way more than your average MD, by a loooonnng shot. osteopathic doctors, DOs, are far more educated and knowledgeable about nutrition.

Tone

JaneNY wrote:

I'm not going to tell you not to eat meat if you feel you want to, but it would be a misconception in most cases, to think that meat must be consumed if you 'really need protein'. We all need a certain amount of protein but it can be obtained without animal products. Tofu, beans/lentils, nuts, nut butters, and grains (quinoa in particular is a complete protein), tempeh are some choices.

I have heard there are some people that need meat and do not dispute it, but remember that doctors are not nutritionists and don't spend a lot of time in medical school on nutrition, so they may be sharing their personal opinion not necessarily based on good knowledge.

Honestly, I couldn't even tell you the last time I consumed red meat. My last big anemia attack was about 6 years ago and I have alot of difficulty eating red meat... I hate the smell despite other things. I don't dispute that you can get good protein from beans/lentils etc and I have had periods in my life where I've had a really high diet in those things but, for me, it's just not the same as having some animal protein... I find I will crave it and that tells me something. I'm a big believer in listening to what my body's telling me. Could my diet be better? Absolutely, but I do the best I can.

Horos

'Not eating meat is a choice, eating meat is instinct.' Dennis Leary

IMO evolution will have its way with vegatarians, its survival of the fittest and its only natural to eat meat. Vegatarians are just eliminating themselves from the gene pool, which is cool by me because to not eat meat is a lame decision.

CJMST3K

Horos wrote:

'Not eating meat is a choice, eating meat is instinct.' Dennis Leary

IMO evolution will have its way with vegatarians, its survival of the fittest and its only natural to eat meat. Vegatarians are just eliminating themselves from the gene pool, which is cool by me because to not eat meat is a lame decision.

I'm a vegetarian who is a really good marksman, and a believer in the death penalty. ...others will die off before I do. :twisted:

I do believe it's "only natural" to eat meat, just as in much of the animal kingdom. It's also "only natural" for man to kill and rape which has happened for presumably millions of years, just like in much of the animal kingdom. Does that make it right? That's subjective, depending on where and how you were brought up. In polite society, it is not accepted to kill and rape, and in my home I have the added decision of not eating animals because of the cruelty involved. ...if someone wants to eat roadkill though, I'm all for it.

Commy

Horos wrote:

'Not eating meat is a choice, eating meat is instinct.' Dennis Leary

IMO evolution will have its way with vegatarians, its survival of the fittest and its only natural to eat meat. Vegatarians are just eliminating themselves from the gene pool, which is cool by me because to not eat meat is a lame decision.

its has little to do with any of that. i could post ten videos showing animal cruelty-which isn't the best way to describe it, more like animal torture on an industrial scale. i won't.


i'll just say that the number one ingredient in all meat products is cruelty. something i'm not going to be a part of.



its a personal choice. if you think its lame, well join the military. or CIA. I hear they're pretty good at torture.

PJaddicted

Do you think he is cute? He was our pet Niki for 12 years.....so nasty! Not your average social pig....but we loved him despite his personality! When we put him down people asked us if we were going to eat him?! :? We would ask back....would you eat your dog?

totaledhead

I don't think too much about people who eat meat or people who don't. I have friends who are vegetarians and some who are strict vegans, each for their own individual reasons. I think that, if done so correctly, a vegetarian or vegan diet can be the healthiest diet of the lot! But so many people don't substitute the nutrients they lose from not eating meat so they become anaemic or malnourished. I personally chose to eat meat because I like how it tastes. I am aware of the harsh conditions that these animals live in, so I eat meat from my uncle's farm, where the animals are kept free range. I'm sure that still won't appease the Veggies and It's not exactly perfect but it's better than supporting the more cruel companies in the meat industry.

CJMST3K

totaledhead wrote:

I personally chose to eat meat because I like how it tastes. I am aware of the harsh conditions that these animals live in, so I eat meat from my uncle's farm, where the animals are kept free range. I'm sure that still won't appease the Veggies and It's not exactly perfect but it's better than supporting the more cruel companies in the meat industry.

Actually, I can appreciate that.

Though I'm a vegetarian with the utmost concern for the animals, if someone chooses to eat animals, I prefer they consume from a relatively more humane source.

I imagine your uncle's farm is a "farm", not an "industrial farm"? The type of place that if you want chicken, you pick up a chicken and place it's body on a wood-stump and cut it's head off quickly? Or is it a factory-farm where mechanical features handle the slaughter?

I think of it as this... I have four nieces. If someone was going to kill one of them, I'd prefer they take them, put their body on a block of wood and simply and quickly cut off their head with a heavy sharp blade in a single pass in 1/4 of a second. I would be much more upset if they were put thru a factory process where they are alive as their bodies are boiled (which is how feathers are removed apparently), or aware and awake as their neck is slit - both of which occur in modern farms (see the youtube video I posted earlier too see this). A chopping block is much more humane.

totaledhead

CJMST3K wrote:

totaledhead wrote:

I personally chose to eat meat because I like how it tastes. I am aware of the harsh conditions that these animals live in, so I eat meat from my uncle's farm, where the animals are kept free range. I'm sure that still won't appease the Veggies and It's not exactly perfect but it's better than supporting the more cruel companies in the meat industry.

Actually, I can appreciate that.

Though I'm a vegetarian with the utmost concern for the animals, if someone chooses to eat animals, I prefer they consume from a relatively more humane source.

I imagine your uncle's farm is a "farm", not an "industrial farm"? The type of place that if you want chicken, you pick up a chicken and place it's body on a wood-stump and cut it's head off quickly? Or is it a factory-farm where mechanical features handle the slaughter?

I think of it as this... I have four nieces. If someone was going to kill one of them, I'd prefer they take them, put their body on a block of wood and simply and quickly cut off their head with a heavy sharp blade in a single pass in 1/4 of a second. I would be much more upset if they were put thru a factory process where they are alive as their bodies are boiled (which is how feathers are removed apparently), or aware and awake as their neck is slit - both of which occur in modern farms (see the youtube video I posted earlier too see this). A chopping block is much more humane.

His farm is just a small country farm. He keeps turkeys and cows. The turkeys are decapitated the way you said, but if i remember it correctly, cos it's been a few years since i've seen it being done, the cows get shot with this like metal gun. It's instantaneous death and from what i remember it's painless.

I like that I know where my meat comes from and the animals are really well taken care of

_Crazy_Mary_

We chopped the head clean off one of our poultry a few months ago and after witnessing the blood & feathers and nastiness, not to mention the time it took to clean and pluck every last feather (there were still tons left in the wings) and all the clean-up afterward. Blech! I really appreciate the already packaged, cut up chicken thighs I can buy in the grocery store for $0.99 a pound. We did the math on our home grown chicken dinner and that meal cost us about $50!

CJMST3K

from the "believe it or not" show:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ATz3AdbjyRI

Horos

CJMST3K wrote:

Horos wrote:

'Not eating meat is a choice, eating meat is instinct.' Dennis Leary

IMO evolution will have its way with vegatarians, its survival of the fittest and its only natural to eat meat. Vegatarians are just eliminating themselves from the gene pool, which is cool by me because to not eat meat is a lame decision.

I'm a vegetarian who is a really good marksman, and a believer in the death penalty. ...others will die off before I do. :twisted:

I do believe it's "only natural" to eat meat, just as in much of the animal kingdom. It's also "only natural" for man to kill and rape which has happened for presumably millions of years, just like in much of the animal kingdom. Does that make it right? That's subjective, depending on where and how you were brought up. In polite society, it is not accepted to kill and rape, and in my home I have the added decision of not eating animals because of the cruelty involved. ...if someone wants to eat roadkill though, I'm all for it.

We are only animals and probably the worst species ever. All of the greatest 'Empires' have regularly practiced murder and rape (Romans, Macedonians, British...). I am not condoning this just pointing out that man is the greatest danger and to this day many murders and rapes continue to go unpunished. We will eventually bring an end to ourselves and I guess what we eat really has nothing to do with it.

JaneNY

Here is a handy graphic that someone showed to me regarding the numbers of animals killed every day:
http://www.vegan.com/blog/2009/04/18/slaughterhouse-numbers-infographic/

It is not anything graphic - it is an animated gif. Food for thought.

p.s. pjaddicted, lovely picture of Niki - he looks loved.

MayDay10

As a stockholder I just voted for McDonalds to use farm fresh eggs (brought up as a recommendation from stockholders). The board recommended against this, so I voted against all of them as well.