Vegetarians and vegans. Controversial Topic

gogojodee

I was vegan for years, til I was skinny fat and on top of that a teenager and an even pickier eater than I am now.

I've been non vegan for 10 years now and I'm leaning on going back to a vegan lifestyle again. I get tired of eating meat, the taste and the texture. I think butter, cheese and chicken will be hard to give up again. I gave up cheese and butter cold turkey last time, and I think I'm going to have to do it that way again.

Since I've been monitoring my food and "entering" in what I eat, it's made me become more aware and I feel sad when I eat, because half the time, if it's protein I'm eating, whether it's eggs or chicken...it had a mom at some point. So that's how I feel about that.

futuremalestripper

My views are somewhat formed by the culture I was exposed to when I was younger. In my hometown, there was a large Native American population as well as a lot of teaching in grade school about their beliefs and traditions. The neighboring tribes believed that it was fine to eat animals, but the death had to be quick, the animal must be thanked and prayed for, and nothing may go to waste. My view follows that same logic. Meat is fine, but go through companies that are respectful of each animal. That goes for more than just food, for example animal testing. For that reason, I only buy products through companies that don't test on animals.
Where I grew up, they have free-range animals that are free until the day before slaughter. It's quick, you pick the animal, and you have the control of what is done with the animal so there is as little wasted as possible.

MoreBean13

My views are somewhat formed by the culture I was exposed to when I was younger. In my hometown, there was a large Native American population as well as a lot of teaching in grade school about their beliefs and traditions. The neighboring tribes believed that it was fine to eat animals, but the death had to be quick, the animal must be thanked and prayed for, and nothing may go to waste. My view follows that same logic. Meat is fine, but go through companies that are respectful of each animal. That goes for more than just food, for example animal testing. For that reason, I only buy products through companies that don't test on animals.
Where I grew up, they have free-range animals that are free until the day before slaughter. It's quick, you pick the animal, and you have the control of what is done with the animal so there is as little wasted as possible.

I totally respect this. Very sensible.

Masterdo

I hate PETA with a passion.

Also, "enslavement" of pets? Really? Do parents also "enslave" their children? Pets (dogs, cats) are domesticated animals. And their cuteness and domestication is their best survival skill. Those animals would die without us as slaves to their cuteness and cuddles.

Fish and birds, maybe they are captives. But my dog runs the house!

Oh, I like pets, and treat them very well, don't get me wrong. But a very solid ethical argumentation could be made against that concept, and I could not say that the person defending that point of view would be completely wrong. Just like with vegetarianism. The fact that it's a matter of points of views was the point I was trying to make.

The important thing is to make choices that you feel good about. And "feel" is the important notion. Because like it or not, if you are born in North America, thousands and thousands of people, and even more animals, will die as a direct result of our lifestyles.

FeatherBoBeather

It's interesting reading 'vegetarians and vegans are so pretentious' and other similar statements...
So typical damning a whole group for the acting out of one extremist.
This applies to any group that has ever existed; there are always going to be those who go off of the deep end and ruin the name of the 'organization' for the rest. It's no better than saying 'Americans are so fat and lazy'. Great, thanks- so basically everyone is now categorized under one label. That sure seams reasonable. (Please insert loads of sarcasm here.)

I'm a vegetarian from birth; my parents raised me from the beginning without meat. To clarify; I'm considered an 'ovo-lacto' vegetarian. I eat unfertilized eggs and cheese products. I can tell you as a kid it wasn't easy to feel like the odd one out. All of my friends and classmates questioned why I wasn't allowed to eat 'standard' things like pepperoni pizza at a birthday party, or pumpkin shaped jello (gelatin) on Halloween. Not exactly an easy concept to explain to other 6 and 7 year olds... One thing I know for sure is that my parents raised me with a conscience. They asked me not to eat meat and I listened. I was told that I was free to make my own decisions about my eating habits when I was a legal adult at 18. I have respect for my parents and logically, this makes sense; just as a parent would control whether their child dyes their hair or gets a tattoo. Once a legal adult, all aspects of life become a personal choice.

By 14-16 I began questioning all of my own beliefs and those my parents taught me. This is when I really started to develop reasoning for staying vegetarian. My first reason was because of the fact that the society I live in can easily support a healthy vegetarian diet; the slaughtering of animals is no longer necessary to sustain humans. I can get just as much healthy proteins from whole grains, beans, tofu, nuts, meat substitutes, and eggs. When all of these things are readily available (and delicious), why would I support the meat industry?

My second reason, and what I'm personally finding to be even more important than the first, is the way in which most animals are raised, processed, and slaughtered. Upon extensive research of these things, it's become apparent that almost all name-brand meats which are not locally raised and/or organic abuse the animals in the process. Both in life and death; cattle for example are most commonly fed corn. This can lead to serious health problems which results in an unhealthy life and majorly increases risks of diseased meats. I can go on about this.. but there's plenty of research, articles, and videos about this that (if anyone is interested) can be easily obtained online or through libraries. ... I don't even want to think about the manner in which chickens are raised and processed for meat.. here's a small insight:
http://www.veganpeace.com/animal_cruelty/chicken.htm

My third reason is because of the affects meat has long-term on your body. I highly recommend anyone interested look into http://www.forksoverknives.com/ and most importantly, http://www.thechinastudy.com/ <----

I am a strong believer in 'to each their own'. I choose ovo-lacto vegetarianism because I believe in the principles for myself. I believe that it makes my body healthier and it takes a load off of my conscience when it comes to things like the deaths of sentient beings. My fiance is an omnivore and eats meat on a semi-regular basis, although chooses local and organic options. I love him with all of my heart and his eating habits could not change that. Neither do the eating habits of my friends, family, or complete strangers. Every individual needs to choose what is right for themselves. I would never judge another for their own choices that do not directly affect me, as I expect that they would and should do the same for me.

Troll

I've been a vegetarian for over 7 years now, and while i get over 1g per protein per pound of bodyweight, i totally agree with you handling the situation the way you did. I support carnivores-but my question is (i live in the south-there are no Jimmy Johns here), wtf was a vegetarian doing in what i have heard is a BURGER JOINT? If i was so violently opposed to consuming flesh, i for damn sure wouldnt' be giving a restaurant that does support it my money. Duh.

Rhea30

I was vegan for years, til I was skinny fat and on top of that a teenager and an even pickier eater than I am now.

I've been non vegan for 10 years now and I'm leaning on going back to a vegan lifestyle again. I get tired of eating meat, the taste and the texture. I think butter, cheese and chicken will be hard to give up again. I gave up cheese and butter cold turkey last time, and I think I'm going to have to do it that way again.

Since I've been monitoring my food and "entering" in what I eat, it's made me become more aware and I feel sad when I eat, because half the time, if it's protein I'm eating, whether it's eggs or chicken...it had a mom at some point. So that's how I feel about that.

You do know the eggs sold in the store are not fertile?? It had a mom but the egg is not living or going to turn into anything living.

mtaylor1980

What she said!!!! haha...word for word....

BTW I don't eat red meat. It just grosses me out, and I am weird about chicken. I have always been like that, and eating a piece of steak is like me going on Fear Factor and eating some weird creature. It is not any crazy belief, it's just a quirk. I am weird I guess, but I don't give a crap who eats what in fromt of me, and that was obnoxious and rude that she came up to you like that!!!! Mind yo business!!!!!!! and yeah if she was such a strict "veg" why was she there??? You don't go to a meat filled place, and then hassle someone

I've been a vegetarian for over 7 years now, and while i get over 1g per protein per pound of bodyweight, i totally agree with you handling the situation the way you did. I support carnivores-but my question is (i live in the south-there are no Jimmy Johns here), wtf was a vegetarian doing in what i have heard is a BURGER JOINT? If i was so violently opposed to consuming flesh, i for damn sure wouldnt' be giving a restaurant that does support it my money. Duh.

hillbillyannie

Well I can understand both views. We were lacto vegetarians for about 9 years back in the 70's and yes I lost about 75 pounds and had tons of energy and I did Atkins very strickly for a year and a half about 10 years ago and lost about 40 pounds. I now don't eat pork, shrimp, clams, etc. ( as close to my idea of Kosher as I am able) and have maintained this for almost 5 years. In the past I gained it all back and very quickly. I now eat mostly vegetables but do eat beef, turkey and chicken as well as other Kosher animals. I eat cottage cheese but not much other cheese. One thing I do remember from the 70's are that as much as you try you cannot get all eight amino acids from vegetables only even with eating brown rice and azuki beans which will give you seven and get you as close as possible. Our choice of being vegetarian was a personal choice, not to be healthier but because of the killing thing. As for G-d not putting animals here for us to consume, I think she misread the scriptures. Enjoy you sandwich.

hillbillyannie

You might need to be concerned about the mutants crops also. It's amazing the stuff they are putting on the fields to enhance production.

jg627

I always find those situations funny. Everyone traces lines in their morals, I mean everyone.

Everyone on the thread that followed the "I don't want to eat my pets" type of thinking could push the reasoning further and worry about the ethics of keeping them captive to begin with, most of the time sterilizing them, etc. Sure they are treated well, but those animals are put completely out of their natural habitat, purely for our entertainment. Surely, freedom counts for something? Yet we take that away from pets without second thoughts.

That would be just an example, but a PETA freak could have yelled at that vegetarian in that restaurant, and probably that vegetarian girl would have just thought "who cares about that anyway?", without even realizing the irony of the situation.

Yup, people have elastic morals and try to clumsily impose them on other people.

I hate PETA with a passion.

Also, "enslavement" of pets? Really? Do parents also "enslave" their children? Pets (dogs, cats) are domesticated animals. And their cuteness and domestication is their best survival skill. Those animals would die without us as slaves to their cuteness and cuddles.

Fish and birds, maybe they are captives. But my dog runs the house!

If you saw how poorly and inhumanely aphids are treated and enslaved by black garden ants, you wouldn't be laughing. They actually drug the aphids to keep them from escaping. PETA needs to get their act together and start protesting these deplorable and immoral beasts.

MoreBean13

If you saw how poorly and inhumanely aphids are treated and enslaved by black garden ants, you wouldn't be laughing. They actually drug the aphids to keep them from escaping. PETA needs to get their act together and start protesting these deplorable and immoral beasts.

You have a very strange fascination with aphids.

OMGLeigh

I've been a vegetarian for over 7 years now, and while i get over 1g per protein per pound of bodyweight, i totally agree with you handling the situation the way you did. I support carnivores-but my question is (i live in the south-there are no Jimmy Johns here), wtf was a vegetarian doing in what i have heard is a BURGER JOINT? If i was so violently opposed to consuming flesh, i for damn sure wouldnt' be giving a restaurant that does support it my money. Duh.

They make sandwiches, think of a Subway that delivers.
Their default vegetarian sandwich is pretty lame, but you could still make a decent veggie sandwich there.

jg627

If you saw how poorly and inhumanely aphids are treated and enslaved by black garden ants, you wouldn't be laughing. They actually drug the aphids to keep them from escaping. PETA needs to get their act together and start protesting these deplorable and immoral beasts.

You have a very strange fascination with aphids.

Those poor, little buggers need an advocate.

OMGLeigh

If you saw how poorly and inhumanely aphids are treated and enslaved by black garden ants, you wouldn't be laughing. They actually drug the aphids to keep them from escaping. PETA needs to get their act together and start protesting these deplorable and immoral beasts.

You have a very strange fascination with aphids.

I killed the aphids on my plants using soapy water. The ants were enslaving them, moving them from leaf to leaf so they could breed, so I put them out of their misery. Now only their brown little bodies remain.

MelissaRaeTerry

Like all "diets" it depends on if you do it the right way! You can e unhealthy either way. Eating is science if you dont eat the proper nutrients its bad for you no matter if you eat meat or veggies! That lady was just a butt head!

anthemforagirl

It isn't about "healthy". For most it is more ethical verses "healthy".
I try to eat mostly vegetarian because I personally feel better when I am not weighed down by a lot of meat products.
I also enjoy vegetarian food better.

I could care less what anyone else eats.

For that broad to approach you was rude, but we live in a society where people feel they have the freedom to share their opinions, asked for or not.

jg627

If you saw how poorly and inhumanely aphids are treated and enslaved by black garden ants, you wouldn't be laughing. They actually drug the aphids to keep them from escaping. PETA needs to get their act together and start protesting these deplorable and immoral beasts.

You have a very strange fascination with aphids.

I killed the aphids on my plants using soapy water. The ants were enslaving them, moving them from leaf to leaf so they could breed, so I put them out of their misery. Now only their brown little bodies remain.

It's only cruel if you kill them and then eat them.

MoreBean13

It's only cruel if you kill them and then eat them.

Disagree. Since you've already killed them, less cruel if you eat them, then at least they died for something.

jg627

It isn't about "healthy". For most it is more ethical verses "healthy".
I try to eat mostly vegetarian because I personally feel better when I am not weighed down by a lot of meat products.
I also enjoy vegetarian food better.

I could care less what anyone else eats.

For that broad to approach you was rude, but we live in a society where people feel they have the freedom to share their opinions, asked for or not.

I would agree with the freedom to share their opinions thing, but unfortunately the freedom of judicial dueling, which would inevitably follow the sharing of opinions, was taken away about a hundred and some odd years ago.