being vegetarian

[ifuseekamy]

Diets are like religions, with people (literally) shoving their view down your throat. Do what you want, meat is probably the least important staple food, you aren't going to die without it.

[Chris]

A lot of people are vegetarian and it's really their choice. Your mum should learn to respect your decisions.

[Wig44.]

Diets are like religions, with people (literally) shoving their view down your throat. Do what you want, meat is probably the least important staple food, you aren't going to die without it.

I'm not forcing anyone to eat a certain way if you were referring to me, I'm just refuting misconceptions in posts. Whilst it's true that you won't die without meat you cannot say it is the least important staple food.

[RedStratocas]

No the cow is not 'indeed wasted'. Demand for meat does not top demand for everything else a cow can be used for. And the bones usually go to a broth.

@Flatface: Well don't copy and paste crap about how MORALLY WRONG it is to eat meat (it's subjective), or post how unhealthy it is when you obviously don't have any understanding of biochemistry at all..

@RedStratocas: Actually I think you'll find we are on the carnivorous side of omnivorous. Just look at the human digestive system, we have small guts and huge energy requirements. We evolved on meat - the nutrients in meat (and by this I mean the fat and organs too) are what caused the massive growth in brain size and intelligence. Digsites older than 20,000 years ago (pre-neolithic) show we ate a mostly animal diet and the inuit, plains indian, masaai and various other tribes are living testaments to being the healthiest people in the world on a 90%-100% animal food diet. The japanese consume lots of pork and are even told they should continue increasing fat intake because of rates of ischaemic stroke in the japanese people.

I don't mind if people don't want to be a vegetarian because they don't like the idea of killing for food, but when claims are made that meat eating is unhealthy and that it is wrong when other people kill animals I do mind.

you're talking about the hunting and gathering stage of human existance, after which for the next couple dozen thousand years depending on where you look, humans didnt eat much meat. but my point wasnt even that eating meat in general is bad for you. an optimal healthy diet would include a fair share of meat. my point was, however, that today we feed our livestock such garbage that our meat is no less artificial than a bag of cheetos.

[Shar]

A lot of people are vegetarian and it's really their choice. Your mum should learn to respect your decisions.

I agree with this but parents worry nonetheless. Even if I were to become a vegetarian my mum would have a fit and it wouldn't last an hour.

[Ajthedragon]

I used to be, I hated the idea of eating animals.

I still do really, however I love Chicken and Minced beef.

[Circadia]

No I'm not vegetarian but my cousin is. I don't want to be a vegetarian since I get iron deficiency anaemia a lot (it comes and goes) and if i became a vegetarian it would make my anaemia more frequent. A lot of vegetarians are (or were) anaemic from the lack of iron they intake and I hate the dizziness feeling I have sometimes its absolutely horrible and to have a lot more by being a vegetarian would be hell! But yeah i don't mind vegetarians/vegans its just that I wouldn't personally want to be one.

[Wig44.]

you're talking about the hunting and gathering stage of human existance, after which for the next couple dozen thousand years depending on where you look, humans didnt eat much meat. but my point wasnt even that eating meat in general is bad for you. an optimal healthy diet would include a fair share of meat. my point was, however, that today we feed our livestock such garbage that our meat is no less artificial than a bag of cheetos.

Only about 10-12000 years, in which time we have not changed at all, with the one exception of producing lactase beyond the age of 2. 12000 years is nothing in evolutionary terms. I don't agree with feeding livestock grains instead of grass but the only difference in the meat is that there is a bit more fat on it, even the omega3:6 ratio isn't bad (which was once thought). Now I'm not sure about America but I know that meat produced in the UK comes from animals fed grains or (thanks to subsidaries) their natural diet of grass. I have heard horror stories about animals being fed pulped newspapers, raw soy etc, but this has been cut out of the uk (though some imported meat may still be from animals treated horribly). Though, who could forget BSE? Thankfully that was the kick up the arse that the industry needed to sort out their standards and supermarkets had to work to win people over to eat meat again, which included giving decent diets to livestock.

[FlyingJesus]

I just ate a leg of lamb which was so tender and non-fatty that it literally fell off the bone and was so fresh that I could it was trying to bound away over the hills while it cooked. If my children try to become vegetarians I will eat them and live to 100 just to prove that good meat is good for you - of course the cheapest cuts fed on toxic waste and arsenic won't be of much quality, but that's like saying you shouldn't eat salad in case it was farmed in Chernobyl and then spat on

[qaxzsw]

I couldn't be bothered to read all the posts so this has probably already been said, but if you eat chicken and fish you're not a vegetarian. They are meat, vegetarian's don't eat meat, therefore you are not a vegetarian because you are eating meat.

Also, these animals often eat over animals, it's part of the food chain.