Going Vegetarian

[Zygen 6,066]

Eh I'm not a huge meat eater or anything, I eat it whenever I get it, it is kinda good to at times. I mostly eat chicken though.

 

I suppose you can get all the nurtients you need from veggies, but it is harder. Expecially for protein. Plus I'd miss some things with meat. And my parents cook for me and would want me to eat it anyways.

 

I don't have anything against veggterians or anything, but I don't know if I could go full out veggterian despite not eating a whole lot of meat exactly. Just me though.

[Pixy Belle 102]

Humans eat to survive any way you slice it. Meat is something nobody can avoid. If you eat eggs, you're eating liquid chickens so you can't completely say no to meat. if you do, you'll end up malnurished.

 

I prefer a steak and egg dinner over a salad over a bunch of rabbit food anyday. I love fruits and vegetables don't get me wrong, I just don't see why we really need to have a discussion about it when it's everyone's own personal decision on what they eat and quite frankly not really anyone else's business unless they need to know of any food allergies.

 

Besides PETA really stands for People Eat Tasty Animals.

[GenderIsAnIllusion 2,177]

We have been eating meat since the dawn of humanity. Its nature, kill or be killed. Without meat, there is a major [racism 3] in our food supply. Sure we produce enough veges, fruits and grains to feed the masses  but lets just say a HUGE hail storm hits one end of the country, and a drought on the other side. ALL crops are gone in our country. We would have to rely solely on exports to survive, which would cause ENORMOUS strain on our already collapsing economy. Whereas with meat, those occurances would almost not effect on the meat suppl at all (Atleast at first). With meat, we have a cushion that our economy can rest on until we get our vege grain and fruit supply back up.

 

Ill be damned if i stop eating meat, just because its not "Required" by my diet. Its the easiest way to make sure you get all proteins that your body needs. And in fact, without meat our brains would never have developed as far as they are today, thus we would still be hairy beasts running around foraging for food without meat.

[Broseph Stalin 103]

The Basic Argument

 

1) Eating meat is not at all required for health. There have never been any bulletins or recommendations saying that "we need to eat more meat (for health)". Not from the medical community (beholden to the pharmaceutical industry), not from health agencies (indebted to special interest groups). Not even the powerful meat industry has ever dared make such an outrageous claim. In fact, the converse is true: every recommendation you have ever seen always stresses that we need to eat less meat and more fruits and vegetables for our health.

 

2) There is no nutrient in meat that cannot be found in a vegetarian diet. No one can deny this.

 

3) There is no disease where eating meat is required for the treatment or cure of the disease.

 

4) Therefore, eating meat is absolutely unnecessary.

 

5) Eating meat causes death to other animals, obviously. And, despite attempts to make slaughter "humane", whether it be "kosher", "halal" or otherwise, it quite probably, or even certainly, causes stress and pain as well.

 

6) Therefore, eating meat is immoral and unethical. And abhorrently selfish, since the person who eats meat does so only for the hedonistic and temporary satisfaction of his taste buds. Especially when there are so many vegetarian and tasteful alternatives (from meatless and healthful soy products to traditional Indian dishes).

 

7) There is more than enough cruelty in the world as it is; no sane person can deny this. There is no need to add to the world's cruelty, unnecessarily.

 

 

DISCLAIMER: If you are a dependent in your household you probably can't safely make the transition to vegetarian. Those that are considered dependent shouldn't be too hard on themselves. However, you can try making an effort to eat healthier.

 

Also, some countries haven't developed to the point where people can sustain themselves without meat. Though, if you have the internet, that's probably not the case.

Wow. I can tell you're either vegetarian or PETA. 

Aside from that, your points are valid. However, meat tastes good. Bacon tastes good, that is meat. Maybe...75% of people eat meat? They know it kills animals and cows. So do I. It's not that I enjoy it but hey, meat is meat.

I recommend elk, it makes the best burger I have ever tasted.

On the cruelty point.... no offense to cows and elk and other tasty meateries, they have no though process. They have eat-sleep-talk-fight as a system. Some may be part-sane, but their minds are muddled. They haven't fully evolved. So really, the only pain it causes is regular pain, not the ability to fully understand pain. And i'm sure farmers give teh cows some anesthetic or something so it doesn't hurt either way.

 

Meatery rant over,

--Oireann

Edited April 18, 2013 by Oireann

[Circadian 1,273]

I'm seeing a lot of people talking about protein.

 

 

 

I suppose you can get all the nurtients you need from veggies, but it is harder. Expecially for protein. Plus I'd miss some things with meat. And my parents cook for me and would want me to eat it anyways.

 

 

 

I'm sorry, but I'm on the carnivorous side of omnivore... Meat contains more protiens than anyone could even get out of a supplement.

 

That's the thing, you can get plenty of protein from other sources. It's one of the biggest misconceptions about being vegetarian. I eat black beans, chickpeas, quinoa, almonds, and the occasional tofu. (I'm not a big fan of tofu myself, though it can be good in stir-fry)

 

What we call “protein” is, in fact, a family of amino acid molecules. When grouped together in various combinations we get proteins. There’s no "protein" molecule hanging out in that hamburger; rather, the animal tissue is made of many different amino acid building blocks. Protein is just a catch-all term we use.

 

You won't keel over from not eating meat.

Edited April 18, 2013 by Circadian

[Virulence 254]

The only meat I generally eat is chicken. Now come on, chicken is very common. Chicken nuggets, tenders, and even fast food places with various chicken styles. But I don't eat it ever day.

[GenderIsAnIllusion 2,177]

I'm seeing a lot of people talking about protein.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

That's the thing, you can get plenty of protein from other sources. It's one of the biggest misconceptions about being vegetarian. I eat black beans, chickpeas, quinoa, almonds, and the occasional tofu. (I'm not a big fan of tofu myself, though it can be good in stir-fry)

 

What we call “protein” is, in fact, a family of amino acid molecules. When grouped together in various combinations we get proteins. There’s no "protein" molecule hanging out in that hamburger; rather, the animal tissue is made of many different amino acid building blocks. Protein is just a catch-all term we use.

 

You won't keel over from not eating meat.

 

The thing is, meat is a complete protein. That means it has 100% of the Amino Acids that your body needs to survive. There is not other natural source of food on earth that is a complete protein, although some (Such as lentils and beans) come very close. Meat is and easy way to ENSURE that you have all amino acids. It takes all forms of food to be healthy. If your not careful, a Vegen diet can cause you to have protein issues, as well as slow muscle growth. Just as well an all meat diet can cause heart, liver, and digestive issues. We have to BALENCE our diets to be truly healthy.

[Circadian 1,273]

 

 

And i'm sure farmers give teh cows some anesthetic or something so it doesn't hurt either way.

 

That's not how it works.

1. Cattle (mostly steers and heifers, some cows, and even fewer bulls) arrive via truck or rail from a ranch, farm, or feedlot.
2. Place animals in holding pens.
3. Knock them out by applying an electric shock of 300 volts and 2 amps to the back of the head, effectively stunning them,^[11] or by use of a captive bolt pistol to the front of the cow's head (a pneumatic or cartridge-fired captive bolt). Swine can be rendered unconscious by CO₂/inert gas stunning. (This step is prohibited under strict application of Halal and Kashrut codes.)
4. Hang them upside down by both of their hind legs and place them on the processing line.
5. Sever the carotid artery and jugular vein with a knife. The blood drains from the body, causing death through exsanguination

[Sugar Cube 4,843]

I totally respect your opinion, and your decision not to eat animals. However, even as I'm an animal lover, I must confess, I love meat. I don't think I could ever stop eating it. My body craves it. I'd probably lose my mind if I was never allowed to have it again. That doesn't mean I want people to eat so much that animals become extinct, because I don't. Moderation is key to everything.

 

But if people ate nothing but veggies, wouldn't that mean no fertilizer, and eventually no plants? It's a catch 22.

[WWAPD 126]

I love meat, and I eat it all the time. Bacon and steak and burgers and hotdogs are just too tasty to give up.

 

Also, it's a pretty good source of protein. Sure you can also get protein from beans or whatever, but meat is in far better abundance and is yummier.

[A Blithering Div 247]

Ok, I'm going to assume no one has asked this so I will. What do you think led to higher brain function, eating tons of vegetables in a time where vegetables were scarce -OR- our ability to eat meat which has a much higher energy density?

[Unikitty 1,212]

You know, I get the whole 'animal mistreatment' and such, but I don't get why we need to boycott eating any animals, regardless of how they were raised. Don't treat them well enough, it's called cold-blooded slaughter. Care for them too much, it's called killing the family pet. There's just no way to appease people 'opposed to meat'.

 

I, like many others, also don't get why meat eating is bad, but the killing of plant-life for salads is perfectly acceptable. They may not have a brain or heartbeat, but they're just as alive as we are. Everything is just a culmination of cells and chemicals designed to absorb other chemicals so that they can continue to live and spread.
 

Nobody screams bloody murder when a wolf takes down it's prey - Would it be better if plants ate us too?

[Anadu Kune 668]

I cant wait for scientists to conclusively agree that plants are in some way conscious. Then these particular vegetarians will be forcibly kicked off their moral high horses. What will they do then? Not eat? As others have said you have to kill to eat it is necessary. 

[Lisa 5,553]

Humans are omnivores for a reason. We don't eat meat for no reason...

We kill animals, and eat meat because it's how the animal kingdom works. 'Kill or be killed.'  

 

Also, meat gives us the proteins for our red blood cells, which carries oxygen through our body. 

Lastly, people say "We shouldn't kill defenseless living beings!" or something related to that, well...plants are living beings, and they are completely defenseless. Truthfully, animals have a better defense than plants do.

 

I would provide more reasons on my side of the debate, but at the moment I'm about to leave.

 

 

~Colgate

[SkyeRibbonPwny 406]

bacon steak ribs barbecue pork chops chicken fried steak Salisbury steak hamburger meatball meat sauce hot dogs chili chili dogs mcnuggets  chicken Florentine gumbo chicken noodle soup chicken noodle soup chicken noodle soup with a soda on the side ravioli tortellini musaca lasagna gyros giant turkey legs from Ren Fest sausage venison pulled pork sloppy joes ham bbq potato  crawfish boils etouffe shrim lobster crab oysters muscles clams rotisserie chicken fish   

 

 

so hungry 

[Crispy 5,563]

I'm a level five vegan.  I don't eat anything that casts a shadow.  I feel this is the proper way to live my life, thus it is something I will repeat at all of you until you conform to my beliefs.

[GenderIsAnIllusion 2,177]

I'm a level five vegan.  I don't eat anything that casts a shadow.  I feel this is the proper way to live my life, thus it is something I will repeat at all of you until you conform to my beliefs.

 

Sarcasm is the best weapon that someone with a point has. Good Job .

 

The way i see it is that meat is in our culture. There are just some things meat provides that NO plant could ever provide. Including the complex molecules that aid in mental development..

[Circadian 1,273]

How I feel checking this thread:

 

 

I would have thought more people here would be open/willing to go vegetarian. OH WELL...

 

Now if you'll excuse me, I have to get back to researching cartoons by watching season 1 of The Powerpuff Girls.

 

[GenderIsAnIllusion 2,177]

How I feel checking this thread:

 

 

I would have thought more people here would be open/willing to go vegetarian. OH WELL...

 

Now if you'll excuse me, I have to get back to researching cartoons by watching season 1 of The Powerpuff Girls.

 

 

 

 

So what your saying is that your intolerant to meat-eaters? How sad. And here i thought i lived in a country where all types were accepted. We are not bad people, and you should not persecute us for our beliefs. Its thinking like this that has started all wars fought in the history of the world. 

[Circadian 1,273]

 

 

So what your saying is that your intolerant to meat-eaters? How sad. And here i thought i lived in a country where all types were accepted. We are not bad people, and you should not persecute us for our beliefs. Its thinking like this that has started all wars fought in the history of the world.

 

 

Um, there is no way you're being persecuted; you're on the side of the ovewhelming majority in this thread! What I'm doing is called disagreeing.

 

Also, would you mind deflating your diction a tad, please? You're making this sound like we actually are about to have a war.

[Stratos 109]

I don't want to pick on you, because I agree with a healthier lifestyle and part of that comes with severely restricting the consumption of meat.... But allow me to pick apart your argument and still be your friend?

 

 

The Basic Argument

 

1) Eating meat is not at all required for health. There have never been any bulletins or recommendations saying that "we need to eat more meat (for health)". Not from the medical community (beholden to the pharmaceutical industry), not from health agencies (indebted to special interest groups). Not even the powerful meat industry has ever dared make such an outrageous claim. In fact, the converse is true: every recommendation you have ever seen always stresses that we need to eat less meat and more fruits and vegetables for our health.

 

This is a relatively new phenomenon in human history that our dietary needs are both exceeded and horribly misaligned.  T'was a time where meat was that rare treat you got to have on feast days or when you were able to splurge or you got to have it all the time if you were super wealthy.  The human body craves protein and flesh is concentrated protein so you are super full when you eat it and (most) humans get this signal to the brain that says "woah dude this is awesome go take a nap for 12 hours you earned it good job."  It is an evolutionary response that comes from our predatory history and our brain cases dig protein packed meals.  The problem is modern society with cheap bad meat that is the equivalent of eating pure fat for pennies on the dollar.  Such a diet sends the poor into a hunger/obesity cycle.  Next time you see a fat poor person, think of the cheapest, easiest thing to eat and it's most likely a $1 cheeseburger.  Zero nutrition, hella fat.  Hence fat hungry people.  Seriously, there are starving obese people in our society, how did we manage that??

 

 

 

2) There is no nutrient in meat that cannot be found in a vegetarian diet. No one can deny this.

 

 

Depends on what you call nutrients.  You can't get hemoglobin or marrow from plants.  You can get protein from beans and fats from nuts (don't laugh) but it is much more convenient to get several nutrient from one source than from many.  Plants generally do not have the broadest range of nutrition by themselves but a well balanced diet should include everything you need.  I'm not denying your point (even omega-3s can be found in vegetation) but speaking from an anthropological viewpoint, it is much easier to eat a fish than to eat several different legumes.

3) There is no disease where eating meat is required for the treatment or cure of the disease.

 

It can help with anemia, but is by no means a cure and anemia can be supplemented by the correct vegetarian diet, but it is more difficult and expensive.

4) Therefore, eating meat is absolutely unnecessary.

 

Not always.  You see we evolved to be omnivores out of necessity.  Humans are the buzzards or the hyenas of the primate world.  We came to be because we could eat anything and everything as long as it was within grabbing or killing range.  Some of our ancestors were carrion scavangers.  Why?  Convenience, of course!  The best and worst drive that is ingrained in our species.  What is the easiest thing to do?  Do that!  When that fails, invent something to make the harder thing easier.  From a modern standpoint, we don't often see the primal programming that went into make us what we are.

5) Eating meat causes death to other animals, obviously. And, despite attempts to make slaughter "humane", whether it be "kosher", "halal" or otherwise, it quite probably, or even certainly, causes stress and pain as well.

 

Yep.  But also, you need to look back.  Domesticated food animals were domesticated for food.  That sounds redundant but it bears saying.  Try to think that for thousands of years, by artificial selection, we made the modern domesticated animals we see today.  For the express purpose of what they are used for whether it be pack, food or companionship.  Believe it or not, humans created the modern banana through selection.  That's not an animal, but it demonstrates my point.  We remake the natural world around us by our actions.  It is what we are compelled to do.

6) Therefore, eating meat is immoral and unethical. And abhorrently selfish, since the person who eats meat does so only for the hedonistic and temporary satisfaction of his taste buds. Especially when there are so many vegetarian and tasteful alternatives (from meatless and healthful soy products to traditional Indian dishes).

 

I covered this already but there are the issues of socio-economic status, instinctual impulse, the history we already have with changing the fauna around us and convenience.  Taste is a minor and almost imperceptible factor.  Those who say "animals taste good" are saying that because they like what they know and are reacting against you.  Also, animals, plants, fungus and certain bacteria DO actually taste good to us because we have a genetic memory of what works and what doesn't.  Taste isn't a real tangible thing and neither is smell.  They are created in our brain as an autosorting program to weed out bad stuff and take in good.  Taste and smell is actually produced by our glands not the food itself.  My counterpoint to your point?  Sure it may be selfish, but we are by nature opportunistic creatures, so that is what we default to.  Not everyone shares the same morals and ethics and it is wrong to label anyone who eats an animal product as an evil person.

7) There is more than enough cruelty in the world as it is; no sane person can deny this. There is no need to add to the world's cruelty, unnecessarily.

 

Then let us end the violence we inflict on each other?  End wars, end poverty, end hunger, end slavery, end violence?  Not to be that guy, but can we stop screwing each other over first before we look at cows?  Cows, by the way, don't notice giant holes in their sides and just keep chewing cud and don't care when you look inside to see their stomachs work.  Or any food animal who has been bred to be too fat to mate so humans have to extract semen (yes I've seen someone jack off a pig they have curly dicks it is weird) and artificially inseminate.  Yeah, that sounds fucked up right?  But we already did it.  Hell, if we just up and went to just free range organic everything, thousands of animals would die.  I don't have a problem with that and I think we should "deselect" the mutant food animals we have created but wouldn't that be as cruel to you by your logic?  Would you want to care for these animals and see new generations of them and care for them etc for no gain?  I'd like to return to more of an animal husbandry way of livestock rather than factory farms, let the animals be animals until we eat them, but eat less of them and not have them be super processed because it is extremely bad for us.

 

Also, some countries haven't developed to the point where people can sustain themselves without meat. Though, if you have the internet, that's probably not the case.

To summarize, I agree that the advantages of a PROPER vegetarian diet to ones health are massive.  But I do not agree that everyone 1: is in an economic position to do so 2: is properly educated on how to put together a nutritious diet 3: would be able to overcome the human impulse for convenience 4: is automatically terrible because they are poor or undereducated or acts on the dietary impulses bred into them over 20,000 years.

[Sunny Fox 5,950]

I shall continue to eat meat. One reason is that it is the way I was brought up. My parents eat meat, and therefore so do I. I will stop eating meat when everyone who only ascribes to a religion because it was the one their parents ascribed to joins an entirely different religion.

 

Secondly, I do like the taste of meat. And in moderation, it's probably less harmful to my health than is the amount of coke I drink.

 

Finally, I don't appreciate people judging my lifestyle with words like immoral, unethical or selfish, thank you very much. Eat and let eat, I say.

[Stratos 109]

 

 

Um, there is no way you're being persecuted; you're on the side of the ovewhelming majority in this thread! What I'm doing is called disagreeing.

 

Also, would you mind deflating your diction a tad, please? You're making this sound like we actually are about to have a war.

 

Eh, you did have a somewhat aggressive opening volley so you can't be surprised that you picked up some vitriol.  Also, some people on these boards can't deal with disagreement that they view as...    They are watching so I have to say this quietly...

 

 

progressive

 

[Raiden_Opsaidoun 23]

While I personally don't like vegetables. They got all that "green stuff" all around them! I would rather stick to meat though, it's the only way I can survive, (but I still don't like fish)

[Fluttershyfan94 5,742]

I want to point out, that I eat healthy food so it's often that vegatable stuff. But all of your reasons mentioned aren't good enough for me too stop me from eating meat. Too begin with, meat is awesome, it's just wonderfull. I'm not saying you couldn't live without meat, but still there are some nutritions that you get more off by eating meat. I like all meat, be it sheep, beef, fish, whale or a bird. I love all types of meat. So no way I would give up my meat eating.