Vegetarians

Not everyone is vegetarian just based on animal rights. Some do it because of land use and the high toll meat ranching takes on the environment. Some do it for health reasons. Some just don't want an animal to die for them to have to eat. Etc.

I kind of come at it from a standpoint of what I would personally be willing to do to an animal. I've raised chickens and eaten their eggs. I've milked cows and goats. I've turned that milk into butter and cheese. I've gone fishing and crabbing and eaten the animals I catch (I was vegetarian for 15 years, but now consider myself more pescatarian - but still with a mostly vegetarian diet). So far though, I'm not willing to go hunting for mammals or birds.

I'd prefer it if I could raise most of the food - especially animal products - that I eat. Unfortunately that's not feasible for me currently. So I do my best to make the right (for me) choices when I shop, usually purchasing local, organic, free-range/cage-free whenever I can. Luckily I'm near quite a few local farms, so it's not as hard as it could be!

I'd like to (re)iterate though that I 100% support people making their own food choices. I'm not a preachy vegetarian. I'm only talking about this because there is a thread asking about it, NOT to cause any sort of debate. Thanks.

I think that everybody should be conscious of their carbon footprint regardless of whether they're vegetarian or not because that's something that affects the plant and all species living on it. (I hope that didn't sound argumentative because I am agreeing )

To reply to the post:

I think vegetarians who still eat dairy and eggs don't see it as a problem because no animal gets harmed in the process (the eggs are unfertilised of course) and generally as long as the animals are free-range then they don't have a problem.
But some people don't agree with animals being farmed at all and there are stories (I need to research this for more info and whether it's true) that the young calves have nothing to drink if their mothers are being milked for us and so they're sent off to the slaughter house prematurely. Or something like that. I'm not sure how true that is because it sounds unstable as no young would ever grow to an adult. But I've heard that from some vegans.

It's considered a vegan thing to not wear leather or fur, but I think that suits vegetarian principles too as animals directly die for that, so vegetarians shouldn't wear fur/leather either if they're really serious about it.

I hope this helps.

A lot of vegetarians would like to be vegan, but have a cheese addiction.

Also, a lot of vegetarians don't realize how cruelly dairy cows, veal cows (part of the dairy industry) and chickens get treated unless they are willing to seek out the info.

only makes sense if you get 'cruelty-free' eggs, milk, etc. good luck with that. raise your own chickens, dairy cows if you want that. i used to buy 'cruelty-free' ghee (indian staple: clarified butter; 'Purity Farms' i think's the brand). easy enough to find cruelty-free indian- and/or buddhist-oriented items if you know where to look. so, they claim the animals are treated ethically. :shrug: no way to really know unless you raise your own.