Why do I become a vegetarian?

I do not eat red meat (mammals) for pretty much the same rasons.

Also mammals are not that different to us biologically, and so we can share diseases as has been demonstrated by CJD and swine flu.

I have also heard that red meat is not as easy to digest, particularly in the quantities it is often eaten in the West.

I have not managed to give up either fish or poultry, part of me wants to, but I enjoy cooking a great deal and have not managed to overcome that hurdle.

quote:

Originally posted by Peter Dinh:
A couple of years ago, I decided to become a vegetarian. The day when I started thinking about not eating meat when it became dawn on me that:

o Animals suffer from pain and fear just as much as a human being does.
o Animals are capable of logical thought. Chicken, pigs and sheep are far more intelligent than small children.

My own experience has been very positive so far, and I have never looked back since then.

Congratulations on becoming a Vegetarian.

It's a way of life I aspire to.

I will nearly always order / make the Vegetarian alternative if there is one available.

I am a struggling part-time Vegetarian.

I am slowly discovering there are numerous healthier alternatives to eating red meat and poultry.

It's a slow process of, education, re-conditioning and seeing the positive effects of slowly becoming a Vegetarian.

I believe there is a strong connection between animal welfare and one's own health.

I thought about sponsoring a child but decided to donate on a monthly basis to the WSPA ( World Society for the Protection of Animals ).

My monthly donation helps to continue giving the animals of the World a much needed voice.

WSPA do some terrific work and I will be wanting to leave them a legacy.

Please help save Australian sheep from
'Live Export'.

http://www.savethesheep.com/f-ausliveexport.asp

The World is not just about mankind.

Animal flesh is one of the tastiest foods I eat. I love it and have no intention of denying myself this pleasure.

Who has the right to kill any animal???

And just for the sake of taste???

I am a vegetarian cook since 20 years and I guarantee that there are TONS of tasty meals to eat without meat.

For the production of 1 kilo of meat you need kilos of grains, veggies and WATER while in the 3rd world people die of hunger...so that people can please their tonque...fabulous...

quote:

Animal flesh is one of the tastiest foods I eat. I love it and have no intention of denying myself this pleasure.

I am sad to read such a post, sorry.

Look in the eyes of a cow and say this again.

quote:

Originally posted by luxen2:

quote:

Animal flesh is one of the tastiest foods I eat. I love it and have no intention of denying myself this pleasure.

I am sad to read such a post, sorry.

Look in the eyes of a cow and say this again.

I often do this. There are cows every summer in the field next to my holiday home. When I mow the lawn they love to eat the freshly cut grass. I tickle their chins talking to them about how tasty they will be later in the year.

In England once there lived a big
A wonderfully clever pig.
To everybody it was plain
That Piggy had a massive brain.
He worked out sums inside his head,
There was no book he hadn't read.
He knew what made an airplane fly,
He knew how engines worked and why.
He knew all this, but in the end
One question drove him round the bend:
He simply couldn't puzzle out
What LIFE was really all about.

What was the reason for his birth?
Why was he placed upon this earth?
His giant brain went round and round.
Alas, no answer could be found.
Till suddenly one wondrous night.
All in a flash he saw the light.
He jumped up like a ballet dancer
And yelled, "By gum, I've got the answer!"
"They want my bacon slice by slice
"To sell at a tremendous price!
"They want my tender juicy chops
"To put in all the butcher's shops!
"They want my pork to make a roast
"And that's the part'll cost the most!
"They want my sausages in strings!
"They even want my chitterlings!
"The butcher's shop! The carving knife!
"That is the reason for my life!"

Such thoughts as these are not designed
To give a pig great peace of mind.
Next morning, in comes Farmer Bland,
A pail of pigswill in his hand,
And piggy with a mighty roar,
Bashes the farmer to the floor…
Now comes the rather grizzly bit
So let's not make too much of it,
Except that you must understand
That Piggy did eat Farmer Bland,
He ate him up from head to toe,
Chewing the pieces nice and slow.
It took an hour to reach the feet,
Because there was so much to eat,
And when he finished, Pig, of course,
Felt absolutely no remorse.

Slowly he scratched his brainy head
And with a little smile he said,
"I had a fairly powerful hunch
"That he might have me for his lunch.
"And so, because I feared the worst,
"I thought I'd better eat him first."

The Pig ~ written in 1970
Roald Dahl (1916-1990)

quote:

Originally posted by luxen2:

quote:

Animal flesh is one of the tastiest foods I eat. I love it and have no intention of denying myself this pleasure.

I am sad to read such a post, sorry.

Look in the eyes of a cow and say this again.

I live in a farming area, my house is surrounded by various livestock from adjacent properties.

I am not a vegetarian.

Living here has changed my approach to farmed produce though-it has taught me to respect it more. For me these products are no longer dislocated from the source-as they tend to be when sitting on the supermarket shelf under their clingfilm on a nice little pad of sponge to mop up any suggestion of blood. Beef = cow very clearly when you see them go off to slaughter.

So why not a vegetarian? Essentially I am comfortable with the idea that these animals are a product of farming. They have considerable effort spent on improving their nutrition, safety and health. Their are not pampered as pets but they do lead protected lives and I am content that at the end of that life (not the natural span I accept) they can be turned into a product that is of value, and valued.

I also have no problem with 'hunted' food, such as the pheasants and rabbits that appear in our freezer from time to time. I see these animals in great excess around us, I also respect the fact that they are used for food not just thrown away without a thought. I am hypocritical (and honest) enough to feel uncomfortable with actually killing these myself-but if I was starving in the wilderness I'd have no hesitation.

I am not sentimental about animals that I eat, but that does not mean I have no thought for their welfare. I completely understand that some people choose to be vegetarian, and a very decent number of thoroughly reasonable arguments for doing this however I do not believe that vegetarians have exclusive access to the moral high ground and find such argument irritating.

Look into the eyes of that cow again; now tell it to go and look after itself without the farmer. Without the land being drained so its feet do not rot, without the winter feed and shelter, without fences to protect it from the dangerous gully. Let it die of old age, slowly dragging itself around in pain, starving when it has no teeth left to chew any more.

Bruce

PS

"o Animals suffer from pain and fear just as much as a human being does.
o Animals are capable of logical thought. Chicken, pigs and sheep are far more intelligent than small children."

I don't belive that either is true. Fear (and to an extent pain too) are complex emotions that require intellectual and emotional intelligence. Our perception of these is far, far more sophisticated than any animal because it is affected by all sorts of additional cultural and social conditioning. Animals feel something equating to these but exactly 'how' they experience it is impossible for us to understand because their cognition is so radically different.

As for the comment about animals vs small kids, this is simply nonsense. Human infants may lack capability (as in the ability to self care) but that does not equate to lack of intelligence.

Vegetarianism can find far better arguments to support it than these!

quote:

Originally posted by luxen2:
Who has the right to kill any animal???

what animal has the right to kill another animal.

when animals stop killing eachother then i will stop eating meat.

One more thing. The practicalities of dairy farming mean that a number or male calves are produced every year by the herd. I would rather see those reared and used for food than 'wasted' by being destroyed. The economics of milk production certainly do not allow for them to just live out unproductive natural lives.

A dilemma for vegetarians eating dairy products!

Bruce

But the whole world works by things eating other things!

An excellent post by Bruce; animals should be treated humanely and by caring for them well they reward us by tasting good.

I love meat, but as a concession to vegetarianism I make a point of only eating animals that eat grass.

As Peter Kay said, "If we aren't supposed to eat animals, why did God make them out of meat?"

remind me, why do i have 4 incisors?

why do I not have 3 stomachs?

Grass tastes crap

Meat tastes great.

No eat meat equals no animals in fields being bred to go on my plate.

I am an OMNIVORE not a herbivore.

I am a hunter gatherer perfectly adapted to hunting in the local supermarket for a varied diet of meat fruit and veg and bread products.

Animals in fields equals meat on my plate.

David

I am a struggling vegetarian - I sometimes eat fish and some ham and bacon. My wife is 100% vegetarian.
I agree with all the arguments to say that I ought not to eat meat because I might be eating my wicked great grandfather. However, I think the best reason for not eating meat is health. Plenty of web sites to show the link between red meat and cancer, and fat and cholesterol. I drink very little milk and eat few eggs.

But of course the main reason why we should all be veggies is a Green one. Again plenty of web sites - it is very wasteful of land and energy to produce a steak. Growing grain or beans is much more efficient.

With respect, I think that the person who says "I like my steak every day, and I am going to have it whatever." is similar to he who says "I have my gas guzzling 4x4 to take the kids to school, and how I spend my money is my business." He will soon be an anachronism.

Don, sunny cowfree downtown York

Avole

My point about farmers supporting animal welfare is not that they do it for altruistic reasons, they don't. However the wild world is red in tooth and claw, wild animals live painful frightening and frequently brief lives, they die violently and of disease. Farmed animals have a controlled environment without many of these dangers. Some farming practices are barbaric and cruel, but not all.

Bruce

I only eat vegetarian animals.

I didn't fight to the top of the food chain to eat rabbit food.

I am not a fan of the vegetarian way of life as its not as nature intended, but if that is your bag, go for it and be happy. But I do not like to have vegiarians affecting my choices through their own personal demands, or vegetarianism pushed down my throat (no pun intended) as thee only healthy food option or that supercilious holier than thou attitude that some veggies seem to have.

I am a believer in all things natural and natural evolution, also an avid wildlife conservationist, observer & photographer; and out of need I have seen, smelt & experienced hunting & being hunted.

Nature has evolved mammals to be carnivores, herbivores or omnivores
Our species and most of our near cousins are omnivores
Our digestive system needs a diet of mixed vegetable, grain & meat. That's how our metabolism is designed to operate.

quote:

Originally posted by avole:
If people worked in abattoirs they wouldn't eat meat.

So only vegetarians work in abattoirs then?

quote:

Our species and most of our near cousins are omnivores

Both my cousins deny that and have alibis for the night in question.

quote:

Originally posted by avole:
I don't know that vegetarians are supercilious and holier than thou at all. In fact, judging from the responses on this forum, I'd say it was the meat-eaters.

You should shouldn't be surprised that the non-vegetarians are more aggressive than veggies. It's all that red-meat you know.
Don, sunny downtown York

Wasn't Hitler famously a veggie?

Bruce

(well he allegedly was very fond of his dog!)

quote:

what animal has the right to kill another animal.

when animals stop killing eachother then i will stop eating meat.

Are you being serious????

This is really ridiculous...

Human beings can decide what they eat, animals follow instinct...

I suggest all meat-eaters should visit a slaughterhouse for one day.

There is no reason for eating meat, except for the satisfaction of the tonque.

Eating meat means being involved in the process of killing.
Fine if you choose this, I dont.

www.earthlings.com

Oh yeah...I see it coming...

"But you also kill plants!"

But see, there is a difference in cutting the throat of a cow and in harvesting a cauliflower, not?

quote:

Originally posted by Bruce Woodhouse:
Wasn't Hitler famously a veggie?

Bruce

(well he allegedly was very fond of his dog!)

I thought he was meat and only one veg...
Don sunny downtown York