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Vegetarians...

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Raas07

Ex-Bluelighter
Joined
Jan 2, 2007
Messages
162
I've considering going veggie at several points in my life.

I think if an animal is living happily enough, then get's killed humanely I don't have a problem with eating it's meat.

What is the meat industry like? I know big corporate restaurants like KFC are terrible with animals, i would never eat from them.

What about meat you buy in supermarkets?

it's difficult to ascertain what's going on by researching.. can anyone provide some accurate insight into what the meat industry is like?
 
I'm not the sort of person that likes to push vegetarianism-- if people are curious they'll ask about it. I've been a veg for 4 years, and I couldn't even imagine going back now. If you have any questions about vegetarianism, please feel free to PM me.

In answer to your question, unless you're buying your meat at a farmer's market, organic, certified cruelty free, chances are it has come from a factory farm. Imagine the same principles being used in high-volume agriculture being used to 'grow' animals. I'm not going to go into any huge details, but there are many many sites around that will tell you more than you would ever want to know about the horrendous conditions that most livestock have to go through. Personally, if (and that's a big if) I were to go back to eating meat, I would make friends with hunters. Wild meat is the ultimate free-range meat, and you have the added ethical bonus of knowing that the animal lead an essentially normal, likely healthy, full life.

Here's some guy's list of reasons to be a vegetarian. Unfortunately, many of his claims and numbers aren't backed up, but with a bit of research you can form your own opinions.
 
The ethicist Peter Singer has written a book called Animal Liberation which is a well researched argument for vegetarianism. Go and read it.

(no it isn't short but this is a big and important issue)
 
singer kicks major ass. i totally tried not eating meat for the longest time because of him, but alas, weakness of will prevailed.
 
satricion said:
The ethicist Peter Singer has written a book called Animal Liberation which is a well researched argument for vegetarianism. Go and read it.

(no it isn't short but this is a big and important issue)
Click to expand...

Thanks for your suggestion.
 
iv thought about being a vegetarian before as well, but i think meat tastes great and is a natural and important part of our diet as omnivores. Either way my concern was with factory farming and all that as well as the fucked up shit that goes on with industrial agriculture and so i realized that not everyone is going to become a vegetarian, in fact only a small percentage of the population will, this means the shit that animal ethics people are concerned about still goes on on a mass scale. and so i only eat ethically harvested meat because by showing there is a market for it and encouraging it will help to change these conditions. If it were split 50/50 non caring meat eaters to vegetarians there would only be a market for factory farmed meat really.

also as to peter singer, he's cool but essentially he is only concerned with sort of individual animals as apposed to ecosystems and kind of boils down to animals being best off in a decent farm for a couple years with a painless death than being in the wild. Leopold was way ahead of his time as far as that goes....
 
I tried to go vegetarian and failed in like 2 days. LOL

I know it can be done though. People I've known to cut meat say they feel more healthy. I know that when I eat more fish instead of other meat that I do feel healthy, but sometimes I just want a big fat juicy cheeseburger or steak.
 
The key is to taper off meat. It took me nearly a year, but when I took the final step I didn't miss meat at all.
 
There are plenty of substitutes for meat..better sources of protein..it's really unnecessary to eat but i still do because its everywhere and society has been eating it for a long time

I've done some research into the production of it and its clear to me that most meat is not healthy to eat. Cows live in horrible conditions, cant move in their cages...very dirty atmosphere..and they see other cows be slaughtered which probably creates a lot of dis-ease in the cow..

Other sources of meat like chicken/pork etc, probably share the same fate...grown on a mass scale with no source of love to raise them to be healthy...it makes me sad :(

I'm sure there are those that do raise healthy cattle/chickens/pigs like the organic farms but we still don't need to eat them
 
I'm a true omnivore...love my meat. But lately, I have been eschewing red meat and eating mostly fish and chicken with my veggies solely for health reasons. I feel lighter, "cleaner" and just so much healthier in and out.

I love beef, but I felt really clogged up after eating it...beef is very acidic and tends to stay in your gut for quite sometime especially if you have a sluggish colon. Bad bad bad.

Thank God for fish. Ahhhh!!!!
 
Tofu, beans, legumes, nuts, certain grains (esp. quinoa and amaranth), seitan (if you're not wheat sensitive), hemp seeds and if you're ovo-lacto then dairy and eggs.

Dairy isn't particularly healthy, but damn tasty. I loves me some cheese. Eggs however are pretty well the perfect food, and I have no qualms whatsoever in eating them-- since I get them fresh direct from the organic, free-range, SPCA-certified cruelty free farmer!
 
i know i already said this but, buy ethically harvested meat and dairy!!!

if your concerned for your health and the conditions of the animals being farmed show that you care, that there is a market for ethically harvested meat and encourage that market!

for real, its the only solution, if you become a veg thats one less person who would otherwise of encouraged the ethical meat market.

its kind of like voting for third party candidates that dont have much of a chance so then the republican gets into office because people who would have otherwise chosen democrat chose the third party candidate. however the third party canidates are usually the best but lets not get into politic'n
 
Dave said:
Tofu, beans, legumes, nuts, certain grains (esp. quinoa and amaranth), seitan (if you're not wheat sensitive), hemp seeds and if you're ovo-lacto then dairy and eggs.
Click to expand...

none of those are a better source of protein than meat.
 
^ Umm, yes they are, and nothing (with a face or nervous system) died for it, and your digestive tract will thank you for it someday... Anyone serious about becoming Vegetarian, should seriously research alternative diet thoroughly. A great book to start with, to understand the industry and what's at stake with being a carnivore, is 'Diet For A New America" John Robbins-former heir to the Baskin Robbins legacy, until he wrote this 'muckraking' expose' on the Meat, Poultry, and Dairy Industries, I found it very impactful...he offers alternatives within the book and suggestions on food combining. There are some incredible Vegetarian Cook Books available as well. The 'Moosewood' efforts by Mollie Katzen-from the Restaurant in Ithaca NY, and Jeannie Lemlins Books are excellent (Vegetarian Pleasures etc.).
 
the fact that an animal didn't die doesn't somehow magically instill tofu with more protein than meat. meat is the best source of protein. seriously, look it up before arguing any more.
 
No, it's not. Eggs are the ideal source of protein. Quinoa has tons of protein. The big advantage of eating vegetable protein is that you're not getting as much bad fat, which is present in significant amounts even in lean meat.

Show me your source that tells me that meat is best.
 
who's talking about fat content?

anyway, I am so not interested in arguing with you about this. go eat a mushroom burger, hippy.
 
I strongly recommend picking up a copy of Omnivore's Dilemma, it's an awesome book with info on the conditions under which commerically grown animals live, as well as the difference in sustainable and humane farming. Reading the book will make you much more selective about what you eat in general, whether you choose to eat meat grown properly, or give up animal products entirely. I know book recommendations are a dime a dozen, but I absolutely love this book-- from your OP it sounds like you would enjoy it as well.
 
^^I also liked that book. I just picked up another of his called In Defense of Food and will be reading it when I finish the other book I'm into currently.

I went about a year on a semi-vegetarian diet (I ate dairy, eggs, and fish). I did it for my health, as a bit of an experiment really. The initial switch (I did it suddenly, not gradually) took my body some getting used to, but I felt great after it did. I had lots of energy and I learned a lot about and developed my taste in food. And my cooking!

Now, I eat meat occasionally, but I try to only eat meats whose origin I know, primarily chicken and bison from my local farmer's market. I know the conditions in which those animals were raised and killed is significantly better for them and for the environment than their industrial counterparts. So I very rarely buy meat from the grocery store and in restaurants or other places where I can't be sure its origin, I just try to avoid meat entirely with few exceptions.

No, we don't NEED meat, but I see no reason that organic, cruelty-free meat can't be a part of our diets in moderation. You can be a compassionate, responsible omnivore.
 
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