For those that don't eat meat, explain your reasoning

Mski02

I've never liked the taste or texture of meat.... My family forced me to 'at least' eat chicken until I was 16. I studied Biology at college and my lecturer was some kind of vegan warrior who *along with friends* broke into an intensive chicken farm and decided to show us the video one day..... I've never touched meat since, and I don't miss it at all!

Mine is a personal choice and whilst I would love it if less people ate meat, I would be happier if meat eaters were more conscious where their meat was coming from and actually read the list of indredients. Cheaper pre-packed chicken breats for example and pumped full of water and sugar to make them look plumper.... should sugar have a place in chicken?!

thinkitten

i just don't think we were made to eat meat, seriously think about, if we were made to eat meat than we could chase down a (insert meat animal here) on our own two legs and kill it with our own two hands and teeth and eat it like that. Maybe its just me that cant do that......

the thing that really got me off meat tho was the thought that all meat and fish in the supermarket is just dead rotting carcasses. Yeah try and eat meat with that thought in your mind its not fun. its really icky and ewwies and creepy. but again maybe that's just me.

kitkat415

I stopped eating meat in college because I learned too much about the food processing industry and it's questionable practices. I told myself I would only ever eat meat if I could be sure it was raised in a humane and environmentally friendly manner. It took me a while to adjust to the vegetarian lifestyle, but once I did I was hooked. Having to think outside the box both when dining out and cooking at home has forced me to try new things, and I've loved all of them (too much because I'm here obviously, but that's beside the point). After school, I found out I was gluten-intolerant, so I tried adding meat back in so I'd be able to eat more variety, but found I'd lost my taste for it. There's just much more variety in non meat options. An added bonus is that I usually save calories by skipping meat and loading up on veggies. These days I eat chicken or fish once or twice a week, but I've found it's much easier than I thought to be both vegetarian and gluten free.

girlinahat

I am an omnivore and happily so, however I love my veggies and eat stacks of them. I go through phases where I will only eat vegetarian dishes as a challenge to myself to shake up my meals.

I rarely eat dairy as my body doesn't like it, and this is often the fallback position for many vegetarian. plus, I confess, I LOVE the taste and texture of meat.

One of the reasons I eat an omnivorous diet is a sustainability issue. if all the world were to become vegan, we would have no need to keep cattle or sheep etc. In addition to the no sweet little lambs gambolling in the field, there is an often overlooked issue. If we were to grow only crops on the land, how would we fertilise it? Petrochemicals? What happens when they run out? What about the developing world where animals truly are part and parcel of life - goats are kept for meagre amounts of milk, and because they eat most things. Cattle can be used to pull the plough and at the same time fertilise the field. When that cow gets old what is the best option - to let it die and rot, or use is as a celebratory meal and use the skin for coverings, the bone for tools etc.?

Whilst in Canada I watched a video of a seal hunt by Inuits. I was amazed by how useful the whole animal was to them. To our shame in the Western world we take only the plumpest chicken breasts, the nicest cuts of meat and waste the rest. It is our approach to animals that should change - we should know more about where meat comes from and how it is processed. And we should change the practices are bad. Call me a cynic but the food processors aren't going to listen to the people who simply refuse to eat meat, what they want is for the meat eaters to eat their meat, and to that effect they may even be willing to change their practices.

I think we could all ddo with knowing a little more about where everything we use comes from and how it is made. hairspray for example is made using ground up shrimps. There was an excellent photostudy in the Guardian newspaper a few years back about one pig http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2010/mar/27/from-one-pig-185-products - the pig went into matches, porcelain, candles etc. - forget about the leather, that's the obvious one.

for me - less meat, but not no meat.

thirdtime

I have been a vegetarian for over 19 years (since the age of 15) and a vegan for about 4. While I don't like to give unsolicited reasons why I eat the way I do, I welcome the opportunity to explain when asked...

Everyone in my family loved eating meat and it was regularly over-consumed. I always hated eating meat, fish, and chicken: I identified animals with humans since the very early age, and felt it was wrong to chase them, torture them, and then eat them. I also did not like the feeling of eating something bloody, so raw, so gooey, and so stinky. My feelings about eating animals have never changed. In fact, never in my life have I felt something feeling so right. I have never stuck with anything for so long without doubting once my choice. So, yes, I have at least two reasons: hate the way meat looks and tastes, and hate the way we “grow” our food.

Most of my friends are not vegetarians, but interestingly enough, three of my best friends are all vegetarians. My live-in boyfriend of five years is not a vegetarian, although he mostly eats vegetarian food (I cook it!) and says he likes it a lot. He knows my stance on eating animals and I almost never bring it up as I don’t believe in pressuring someone into believing what you believe in. They eaither get it, or they don't . Some of my friends liked the way I ate and tried being vegetarians, but went back to eating meat. They missed it. Some have stayed and have been vegetarians for a long time now. What I did notice was this: those who tried it for health reasons (i.e. did not like the way their meat was “grown”, hormones…) – they eventually went back to eating meat - and just started buying organic/better versions of what they ate before. Those who did it because they were exposed to the idea of not eating meat for moral reasons (they just thought eating animals was wrong) – they stayed vegetarians. Hope this helps a little…

questionablemethods

Whilst in Canada I watched a video of a seal hunt by Inuits. I was amazed by how useful the whole animal was to them. To our shame in the Western world we take only the plumpest chicken breasts, the nicest cuts of meat and waste the rest.

I agree. In the Bay Area (and also in the "paleo" world) there is a movement to eat more "nose to tail" -- meaning making use of more of the animal. I can't say that I am yet a die-hard fan of offal, but I have introduced liver and rendered tallow into my cooking.

scraver2003

I love meat. I eat chickens, cows, turkeys, pigs, fishes, shrimps, and have tried deers, rabbits and squirrels.

Beckym1205

I recently became a vegitarian because I have become discusted by even the thought of eating meat. I read a bit about what takes place on farms and slaughterhouses and I am thouroughly disgusted. So, even though I loved steak I can no longer stomach it. I do (for the moment) still occasionally consume eggs and milk, but I only buy Organic eggs and milk (however I don't trust that USDA Organic is really what it claims to be, but that it is better than non organic).

TK421NotAtPost

i personally am vegan. i dont eat, use, wear anything associated with a living creature. i also dont do honey or certain things like red dye 40 since thats actually ground up beetles, not to be gross. my reasoning is because i dont think anybody should suffer, including animals. i wouldnt do that to my cat or dog, so i wont do that to anything else. with all the alternatives, theres no reason not to. i dont care why people dont eat animals, im just glad they dont. whatever reason is a great reason to me. i am not here to judge, as i wish people wouldnt judge me as well, so to each his own, but i wish nothing/nobody had to suffer.

Do you ever watch any movies?

ninerbuff

I agree. In the Bay Area (and also in the "paleo" world) there is a movement to eat more "nose to tail" -- meaning making use of more of the animal. I can't say that I am yet a die-hard fan of offal, but I have introduced liver and rendered tallow into my cooking.

Lol, being Asian eating nose to tail isn't uncommon, but many Americans like to make fun of our food choices.

ninerbuff

i just don't think we were made to eat meat, seriously think about, if we were made to eat meat than we could chase down a (insert meat animal here) on our own two legs and kill it with our own two hands and teeth and eat it like that. Maybe its just me that cant do that......

A gorilla could kill just about any animal. And our structure is very similar. If not for meat and our ability to store fat, we would probably be an extinct species by now.

the thing that really got me off meat tho was the thought that all meat and fish in the supermarket is just dead rotting carcasses. Yeah try and eat meat with that thought in your mind its not fun. its really icky and ewwies and creepy. but again maybe that's just me.

Please, if it was dead "rotting" carcasses it wouldn't be edible. We're not vultures.

ninerbuff

Animals eat other animals. That's part of life. While we may have higher intelligence, we still are animals in the world.

vegangirl88

Animals eat other animals. That's part of life. While we may have higher intelligence, we still are animals in the world.

Cows don't eat other animals...

SarabellPlus3

Animals eat other animals. That's part of life. While we may have higher intelligence, we still are animals in the world.

This is always an interesting argument to me.

There are so many species in the world, surely you know this but many aren't animals that eat other animals. But that aside, to the more interesting crux of it. People like to go two ways: 1. We are just animals, we do what the lion in the jungle does (putting aside also the fact that what you do at a grocery store or burger joint has NOTHING to do with a lioness hunting a wild gazelle), AND 2. We are above those animals, that's why it's OK to eat them.

You know, I don't let lions dictate my morality. I have a higher thought process than a lion, and I can use it in many ways. One of mine is to try to minimize suffering when possible. A lion doesn't have that interest or that thought process.

Regarding human development, the question wasn't posed to me, but to answer anyway, I did take "an anthropology class," and in fact have a degree in it. It's my fairly educated opinion that humans are "meant to be" omnivores, mainly herbivorious with periods of gluttonous meals of meat. This depends GREATLY on WHEN and WHERE you are talking about though.
At the end of the day, though, that's only relavent in an academic sense. It's not important to me what people were OK with 10,000 years ago, or yesterday. KWIM? Lots of practices are old, that's no argument for them. Besides, to compare the process we (most of us posting, I assume, are North Americans, I don't know much about European farming practices) get meat with the process humans in the past did, much less as above, other species, do, is pretty short-sighted, IMO.

darklord48

i just don't think we were made to eat meat, seriously think about, if we were made to eat meat than we could chase down a (insert meat animal here) on our own two legs and kill it with our own two hands and teeth and eat it like that. Maybe its just me that cant do that......

Actually humans are built to take down prey by enduring the chase long after the prey has tired.

http://www.physorg.com/news95954919.html

farberry

i stopped age 10 when a friend did a talk about a charity who helped to stop factory/intensive farming - i've always loved animals and realised i couldn't say i loved something if i ate it
then more recently i started to think about it more and it really weirds me out. i hate the idea that as humans we feel we can decide who/what lives and dies. the lamb on your plate had a mother, maybe a twin, lived for a couple of months running around a field, snuggling up to its mum at night, learning, playing, living. and then just to eat it...seems so pointless. people don't seem to appreciate that every animal we eat had a life, not just 'alive', but relationships (however basic), feelings and especially animals like sheep, pigs and cows, a personality! it just seems really really weird to me that we should end that for something so unnecessary so yeah ramble over

also if fish could scream, fishing (especially sport) would be taboo/outlawed/illegal within days...

scraver2003

i just don't think we were made to eat meat, seriously think about, if we were made to eat meat than we could chase down a (insert meat animal here) on our own two legs and kill it with our own two hands and teeth and eat it like that. Maybe its just me that cant do that......

Actually humans are built to take down prey by enduring the chase long after the prey has tired.

http://www.physorg.com/news95954919.html

I thought of that, too, when I read the comment. I have done reading on running and remembered seeing that article - very interesting.

spngebobmyhero

bump to read later. I am definitely a meat eater, but I want to know why other people have made this lifestyle decision.

MikeSEA

Being the opportunistic omnivore that I am, I eat meat. However, I definitely do not approve of how many animals are treated by the meat industry. It's not the killing I object to. I'll kill a tasty doe or buck given the chance, but the way we keep livestock could be classified as torture in some cases. For that reason alone, I've considered limiting my meat eating.

rosebarnalice

i personally am vegan. i dont eat, use, wear anything associated with a living creature. i also dont do honey or certain things like red dye 40 since thats actually ground up beetles, not to be gross. my reasoning is because i dont think anybody should suffer, including animals. i wouldnt do that to my cat or dog, so i wont do that to anything else. with all the alternatives, theres no reason not to. i dont care why people dont eat animals, im just glad they dont. whatever reason is a great reason to me. i am not here to judge, as i wish people wouldnt judge me as well, so to each his own, but i wish nothing/nobody had to suffer.

So everything you wear is 100% cotton?

Not so fast, cotton fans-- ever been to a West Texas cotton farm after it's been sprayed with ammonia until it smells like a cat box and watered profusely with water drilled from the Ogallala aquifer--which is a non-renewable water source trapped during the pleistoscene era that is rapidly being sucked dry by farmers farming crops in marginal semi-arid and arid land where they probably shouldn't be farming at all? !

SarabellPlus3

And this is where it gets a little silly. When someone says they respect human lives, do you then say "so you'd never get in a car, right? Because a car has the potential to kill someone, so you can't say you love humans and drive a car." Sorry, we live in reality. People can do what they can to try not to spread suffering, and it's ridiculous to meet that with "so you are dead, b/c you won't breath knowing that you could kill a gnat by inhaling it, right?"
That's what this discussion often falls to, and that's ridiculous. She can wear cotton and still do her best to minimize her causing more suffering in the world. Get real.

mimaduck83

ooh interesting topic!

I was brought up a meat eater and happily did so until I met Stripycat who is a proper veggie. At the time I was on massive amounts of anti-seizure meds for apparent epilepsy and my stomach was in a bad way. When I went to stay with her I would not eat meat (obviously) and my stomach would stop hurting. Tried it a couple of times and everytime I went back to eating meat my stomach would start to hurt again - it was a no brainer.

I went veggie on my 25th birthday for about a year out of choice (had a few slip ups but mainly no meat) and my stomach felt much better. Then when we moved in together I stopped buying meat generally because it was cheaper and easier. I cooked it occasionally but only for special occasions or if we had people over for dinner.

At the moment, I don't buy meat or cook it at home. I'll usually eat veggie if I go out but sometimes if I feel like it I'll eat meat. But I'm going off it gradually. Not sure why though. But I know that unless I can buy the very best organically reared and humanely slaughtered then I don't want to eat poor quality and poorly raised meat.

KBGirts

Why do you care? Does it affect you? At first I thought maybe you were genuinely interested in gaining the knowledge, and I would love to share with you, but then I noticed that you were quoting people and then asking them rhetorical questions... as if to argue or try to convince them of how dymb you think it sounds. If someone chooses not to eat meat it's their business and they have their reasons. I only eat fish and quite frankly my reasons are my reasons and I see no reason why I should have to explain them to you or anybody.

Why wasn't your post something like "If you don't eat broccoli, can you explain why?" Why is it that people act all weird about someone not eating meat. Who cares? People cram their faces all day with junk and crap that's bad for them and people seem to be accepting of it because that's the norm; but the minute someone mentions that they don't eat meat, everyone wants an explanation. I'm sure it's because some vegans are annoying when they use their veganism to look down upon others, but seriously... think about those who chose their diet based on something personal and then have to constantly deal with others ridiculing them because of those choices that were theirs in the first place and do not affect anyone else.

Maybe I'm wrong here but just the impression I got from all this. Sorry if I sound like a troll.

Fairysoul

I went to meat.org, I saw the video and it horrified me to no end, so I have a hard time eating meat at all, I still do but I am well on my way to being a vegan.

wvnurse1

I eat meat around once or twice a week, sometimes more, sometimes less. I recently found out this is called Flexitarianism...I guess there is a label for everything now adays. I don't eat much meat for a few reasons, 1. If I think about what it is and who it was while eating it it makes me nauseas and sad. 2. I find I can eat more if I do not have meat on my plate (and I am all about that), and 3. I don't care for a lot of meat, never have liked steak (you should see the stares I get when I say that). I do eat eggs, milk and cheese. Very rarely fish, like the other meat (and yeas fish is a meat) I can't think about it while I eat it. I think if I had more creative recipes I would even eat less meat that I do now.

scraver2003

HAHAHAA!! All day I thought the question was "for those that do eat meat"... I was like... wow, lot's of vegetarians responding. I think I need a nap... (Or maybe I need to eat less meat, it is rotting my brain)

catniph

Why wasn't your post something like "If you don't eat broccoli, can you explain why?" Why is it that people act all weird about someone not eating meat. Who cares? People cram their faces all day with junk and crap that's bad for them and people seem to be accepting of it because that's the norm; but the minute someone mentions that they don't eat meat, everyone wants an explanation. I'm sure it's because some vegans are annoying when they use their veganism to look down upon others, but seriously... think about those who chose their diet based on something personal and then have to constantly deal with others ridiculing them because of those choices that were theirs in the first place and do not affect anyone else.

Maybe I'm wrong here but just the impression I got from all this. Sorry if I sound like a troll.

You don't sound troll like at all to me, you're just asking a question about something you've obviously encountered in life!

To answer part of your question - I think it's because most people who don't eat broccoli do so because they don't like the taste... I've never really heard of a worldwide group of people that have moral reasons for not eating broccoli (although you never know, tee hee)! If there was, then I'm sure people would be asking questions...

Yes there are some veggies/vegans who try to force it down your throat, but also meat eaters who do it and many people who do the same with politics, religion and other beliefs.
I have no strong view on politics or religion, but many people are curious and would like a debate/conversation about them.
Seeing as this is mainly a food based website, the whole vegetarian vs carnivore/omnivore etc conversation seems a lot more relevant here than any of the others!

Personally I don't tend to surround myself with overly forceful people, as I prefer a more laid back life, but again - a personal preference; some people love to surround themselves with others who constantly challenge their way of thinking or can just give a good heated debate!

I am a meat/fish/egg eater, but I adore fruit and veg (and cheese and wine and… yes, that’s why I’m here, lol)
I have had many, many veggie friends throughout my life and totally accept their food choices, (just as I am fine with my friends who are not of the same religion/political/sexual preferences).
Some are/were healthier than me at the time, others not so; some had very good varied diets, some of them ate extremely poorly (especially one of my friends who basically lives on a diet of mushrooms and deep fried chips!)

I don't know the OP so I can't comment on what sort of person they are, but they seem to have happily listened to others posts (maybe playing devil's advocate some places, as they are entitled to!) except when people seemed to be saying that it was a FACT that certain things caused/healed certain illnesses.
I have no clue one way or another, if a vegan lifestyle has worked for some people then of course they will recommend that (just as people would recommend a good doctor, or hairdresser or anything that has woked well for them), just that I think most studies are bound to be biased in one way or another (why go to all those lengths and expenses only to say a the end "yeah, we didn't really find anything definite") and unless I had done tests myself, personally - or I knew the person who had done them, I would never trust them 100% (maybe not even my own tests 100% all of the time).


Regardless of all of that - I do have to say that although I don’t spend my life online (just my working day lol), I have been to quite a few different forums, and I’m not sure any of those would have managed such a lengthy debate on an issue like this without much rudeness, so I am very happy to have joined such a pleasant, interesting website!

jedi9393

i for one am a meat eater and love meat. But I totally admire and respect those that are vegan/vegetarian and so forth. If you are trying to get healthy or think the senseless slaughter or animals sucks then hey you are my hero. I wish I could leave the meat alone, but I am a low carb addict and no meat would mean the death knoll for me. So, I'll stick with meat. But really who cares what you do and don't eat? I think people feel deep down inside that the no meat crowd are doing something that they should and internally feel guilty or feel the vegans are better than them. They try to make them out to be hypocrites and ask a bunch of nutty questions. Making the no meaters feel like they are failing makes them feel good. Thats my observation.

PreshelledPistachio

And this is where it gets a little silly. When someone says they respect human lives, do you then say "so you'd never get in a car, right? Because a car has the potential to kill someone, so you can't say you love humans and drive a car." Sorry, we live in reality. People can do what they can to try not to spread suffering, and it's ridiculous to meet that with "so you are dead, b/c you won't breath knowing that you could kill a gnat by inhaling it, right?"
That's what this discussion often falls to, and that's ridiculous. She can wear cotton and still do her best to minimize her causing more suffering in the world. Get real.

Totally agree with this. It is not possible for one person to ensure that every single thing they do doesn't impact negatively on any other being, but at least we are trying. Sounds like the OP is mostly interested in picking an argument.

PS: jedi I am a low carbing vegetarian! Friend me if you like

stefchica

my whole life i grew up eating meat and dairy, especially in my hispanic family background every meal is a meat based dish with veggies or sides. but now that i'm older i'm realizing more and more that there are OTHER options besides meat to depend on and after learning about how most of these animals are treated its just sad. i've always had a general idea but seeing it, yuck. PLUS just with the way these animals are raised and fed is just unhealthy, animals were never meant to live that way or be eaten that way, so over the years i've weaned myself of red meat and just have mainly stuck to turkey and chicken but like i said, learning more and more of other options i went meatless for a month last year and i felt great, its amazing what a meat free diet does for your body. and after looking into it more, i found links to cancer and other diseases wiht meat and dairy ...its just gross and it goes back to what they're fed, how they're raised and how our society has just become DEPENDENT on consuming meat first before veggies...its just become a more indulgent lifestyle than nutrition based.

so i'm doing it for moral, health, just overal health reasons. i've embarked on a vegetarian diet, i know its not going to be hard because i dont eat it a lot and i want to eat more veggies and fruit and ALSO eat as much organic food as i can afford! its pathetic how healthy food is more expensive than PROCESSED food...just gross. really looking at how we live compared to what we used to eat decades ago, its insane how much our diets have changed. so slowly going to go vegan if i can, i've just been so dependent on dairy so it may be a little more difficult, but being vegetarian isnt that hard.