Vegetarians...

[Dtergent]

& have u ever seen those " raw food " only people? dude they seriously look like white Ethiopians.

My brother only ate raw food for sometime, and it was the fittest he looked in his life. Each eating preference has its extremes, in terms of appearance. I won't even point out the obvious ones. The meat-eating variety has particularly "special" specimens 8)

I am a vegetarian and female, and I am neither weak nor unhealthy. I would say I can carry more shit than the average male, and I'm hardly sick.

My father was on my case all the time and believed that my brother and I were malnourished and had "deficiencies" because we didn't eat meat or dairy. He began insisting we all have blood tests regularly. Without fail, my brother's and mine were always within normal range, while my father regularly had abnormalities in the kidney aspect. His doctor's advice? To cut down on his meat and protein.

I agree that there are vegetarians who overdo some things, just like there are meat-eaters who overdo it. We must all have enough common sense to know that we are not talking about the extreme cases here.

 

[Pingu]

obvious troll is obvious.

edit:No namecalling in this forum. Please try to be civil.

 

[wArEhOuSePuNk]

yeah...

^ thanks for the use of the word " wanker." seeing as how im American & dont give a fuck what a wanker even is your insult had even less of an effect on my delicate psyche.

As for the stupid or clueless part.... well i dont really understand where you got that from??
edit: No namecalling in this forum. Please try to be civil.

how is stating my opinion about vegetarians trolling? im sorry , i wasnt aware every post in a thread has to agree with the ops agenda. i must have missed the memo.

 

[wArEhOuSePuNk]

I agree that there are vegetarians who overdo some things, just like there are meat-eaters who overdo it. We must all have enough common sense to know that we are not talking about the extreme cases here.

I also agree , going veggie isnt necessarily bad. its just that some people do take it to extremes. I have friend who became a vegetarian & now she is overweight ( probably from consuming to many starches , carbs & dairy products) Her complexion is not attractive anymore I.e. shes pale ( probably from lack of iron ) she breaks out more frequently than she did as a teenager & she constantly complains about being tired. Meanwhile she tells me taking iron supplements is the same as eating meat. I dont give her shit for the way she lives , i feel to sorry for her

 

[lollerskater]

Preachy people are annoying, regardless of the topic or their position on it.

As for the health aspect, I find that now that I don't rely on animal products for my protein, I'm eating a much healthier range of protein sources. Nuts, seeds, grains, legumes, beans... lots of good, healthy stuff that also packs fiber. Being vegan hasn't turned me into a skeleton, either. I'm the same 118 I've been since high school, just leaner and more toned.

 

[Tronica]

what are the benefits of being a vegetarian? Saving a few brainless animals because you feel bad for them? They would rather be weak & unhealthy as opposed to eating something that had parents

I think your attitude is fairly common, as opposed to "trolling".

I disagree on two counts:

1. why is being "brainless" (by which I assume you mean the level of intelligence) important to you?

To take an example, if it were all about intelligence, why do humans find it abhorrent to think about eating human babies? or adult humans who are profoundly intellectually disabled?

No-one is suggesting we kill the profoundly mentally disabled, even though they have no chance of having an 'intelligent' life.

So instead I think it is rather a sense that humans are the dominant species and have some kind of god-given right to kill other species if it suits us.

The way we treat animals we eat for food (especially factory farmed ones, which most of them are) creates suffering and harm.

This is something I disagree with and this is the main reason why I'm vegetarian. (though this is not the reason others do it necessarily)

2. I have never been "weak and unhealthy". I've never been healthier actually, and this isn't just my opinion, but is shared by the naturopath and doctor I've reviewed my overall health with.

I'm sad to hear that you have a friend who went veg and was clearly unhealthy. There are good and bad ways to eat a veg diet, just like it is with an omnivore's diet.

An omnivore diet containing small amounts of lean meat with lots of wholegrains and fresh fruit/veg is going to be healthier than a vegetarian eating fries all day.

Health has everything to do with the variety of wholefood ingredients in your diet, and not much to do with the exact source of your proteins, in my opinion and in my experience.

As for the health aspect, I find that now that I don't rely on animal products for my protein, I'm eating a much healthier range of protein sources. Nuts, seeds, grains, legumes, beans... lots of good, healthy stuff that also packs fiber. Being vegan hasn't turned me into a skeleton, either. I'm the same 118 I've been since high school, just leaner and more toned.

I feel exactly the same, lollerskater.

My thoughts are that if you honestly believe that humans have a right to treat animals in ways you would never treat humans (that is, "speciesism"), and you haven't realised or don't care about the environmental damage involved in meat production - continue to eat it by all means, and just make sure you have a balanced diet to remain healthy. Usually that means eating less meat and more wholegrains and fresh veg.

But, if there is something about the meat industry that bothers your conscience, like it does mine, investigate veg*nism - and go ahead and try it for a month. You can always evaluate how it feels after you've tried it. At least you know that you aren't contributing to something that goes against your conscience.

 

[Tronica]

The most arrogant, loudmouthed points came from... the vegetarians. ...

When we pointed out that many low income families in certain neighborhoods either do not have access to natural food/farmer's markets and all those health nut stores or simply cannot afford to constantly buy fresh veggies and such (as it is easier to buy meat in bulk, freeze it then prepare when the need arises) the opposition declared that parents in such situations are mistreating their children and should just get higher paying jobs to afford a vegetarian lifestyle.

Sorry to post so much at once, but looking back over the thread, this is something I want to respond to.

I think the attitude you've recounted here from the vegetarians in your class is just wrong. People can only do the best with what they have. It is completely true that a lot of the 'veg' replacement foods can only be found in the better-off neighbourhoods.

I think it's really sad that fast food is often seen as the cheapest option for people for whom cost is the only measure that matters.

I count myself lucky to be in a position to be able to eat a really healthy veg diet - I actually don't spend heaps of money on food but I do spend a lot of time cooking at home, and I know if I were poorer I'd probably be working another job and wouldn't have that time, which would lead to more take-out, which would probably make it much harder to eat a decent veg diet.

I think it's best not to judge anyone else's decisions because we all have different values and different amounts of energy and time we can put into this. My position is that people need to at least be aware of the consequences of their decisions and ideally, alternatives should be easy to get and plentiful should they wish to cease eating meat. Unfortunately this is often not the case.

Although - The tastiest, cheapest and easiest meal I make is lentil bolognese. Are lentils available in US supermarkets? At least they are dirt cheap here in Australia! Even if you eat meat you should give it a try, just to save a few $ !