I have been a vegetarian for almost 13 years. Today, a friend of mine offered me fish. He knows I am a vegetarian, but didn't think fish counted. I know there are different levels and types of vegetarianism, but I never understood fish-eating vegetarians. I was wondering if there were any other veggies on the site. Vegan? Ova-lactos? What are people's reasons for not eating meat? I guess to be fair, what are people's reasons TO eat it? I am an ova-lacto (egg and dairy eater). My reasons are a disgust for eating flesh and an inability to reconcile the living breathing animal with the cooked piece of flesh on the plate. I prefer my animals alive and happy. That is just me. How about you?
Yeah, I never understood why some people consider fish to not be a type of meat...it's an animal, so how is it not meat?? Personally, I think I could live without meat but I prefer not to because I don't mind the taste of it, and it's convenient. Although I understand people who refrain from eating it because they don't like the taste, I think that if you're served food that contains meat at someone else's house, it's curteous to accept simply because it should be treated like any other dish that you're served by someone else.
I tried going veggie for health reasons. In my culture it was just impossible. Puerto Ricans do not eat veggies other than root veggies, banana/plantains and rice. It was just to hard to get my mom into the idea that there was a whole other universe of green and colorful veggies out there to enjoy. Even still, I cannot get William (the hubby) to dig into a nice side of sauteed veggies. He just curls his lip and makes the Yuck Face.
Um...rice is a grain product, and bananas are a fruit Regardless, I can't imagine being that limited in choice for a food group. Vegetables are healthy and you need them to survive, I don't see why anyone with an adult mentality would look down on them =/
Oh, I am aware that they belong to other groups. But they are the closest thing here to eating veggies. Actually, it's not that the eating of them is looked down on, it's that here in Puerto Rico, in the past, these were luxury foods. Imagine a time, not all that long ago, when not every house had a fridge. Bananas and plantains grow wild here in Puerto Rico. Grain, and root vegetables keep well at room temp, but not green veggies. So, there is a cultural predisposition not to eat them.
I don't sacrifice my beliefs to be polite. Anyone who cooks for me knows in advance that I am a veggie.
@Laurelin: It's just not common in the culture. Kindof like it's not common for americans to eat arepas, empanadas and such. TBH, I've never met a vegetarian (I think).
I have no problem eating meat of any kind. I don't anthropomorphize animals and I accept the historic biology of mankind as omnivores. My daughter is a vegan. While I am respectful of her lifestyle choice, she often criticizes me for eating meat. Vegetarianism often includes a political component that attempts to force those views onto others, rather than simply a personal dietary choice. My daughter has disrupted many a family BBQ or Thanksgiving with her constant lashing out at those of us who eat turkey, chicken, beef or ham. Fortunately, we've all just learned to ignore her.
I am a vegetarian, not a veggienazi. My husband is a meat-eater. I don't cook meat, but don't stop him from eating it. I bring a vegetarian dish to family gatherings and potlucks. My mother-in-law owns a sheep and goat ranch. I don't try to force my beleifs on others. I know some people do, and that gives the rest of us a bad rep.
Well i like eating meat. I mean we have all heard what farm animals are doing to the world (global warming wise), so i try to help fix that as much as i can.
I stuck to a vegetarian (Ova-lacto) diet for a year during college. I did it largely for health reasons, particularly with the huge amounts of red meat I was wolfing down before that. Instead, I ended up really overloading on carbs, so the health benefits were not all that profound for me. Then came the day when I just could not pass by the sub shop on Newbury Street, with its wonderful beefy aromas. I said, "The hell with it," ran inside and consumed two large steak subs with everything. I swear, no meal had ever tasted so delicious in my life! I have a finer appreciation of vegetable foods from that year, but I also embrace my inner carnivore - carefully, because he bites.
I don't mind meat. Frankly In my view the animals going to die whether I eat it or not so i might as well have a good meal out of it. I don't mind vegitarians as long as they don't make a big deal out of it. Eat what you like I don't mind (or care really). I'll take my hamburger and love it in the mean time. PS: I don't get that fish thing either. How don't fish count
I like meat I like big fat juicy beef burgers and nicely cooked chicken the meat is so tender and nice. The fact animals kill other animals to eat and survive is only the same as we do. I do believe in the you kill it you eat it as well. I don't believe in cruelty to animals. But I need meat and As much as Veg is healthy I really do like eating meat. It's juices are something of desire. Like fat sizzling sausages in a frying pan. We are a Predator race and therefore I can happily eat meat to keep the balance in check. And I love haddock with chips from a fish n chip shop.
I like meat to much to go veggie. If animals didn't want to be eaten, then they shouldn't be made out of meat
I could never be a vegetarian, because i like meat too much - all the meals i consider the best are ones with good meat - and because i dont really like vegetables at all... there are very few that i ever eat and those are more things i force myself to eat rather than things i enjoy. Also i have no reason to not eat animals, as i think it is perfectly natural. I dont care if other people dont eat meat because they dont like the taste or are uncomfortable eating other animals. I dont like it if they try to force their belief that eating animals is wrong onto others though. As for the fish... the only thing i can think is that fish sometimes isnt considered in the same category as other meat, so vegetarians that are just vegetarians for the sake of it rather because they really dont want to eat animals have got it in their heads that they arent meat, so are allowed? I've also never understood the vegan thing at all
I agree. Also, with the way we have domesticated the animals we eat, there would be no place for them if we didn't take care of them. Also, there is not enough land to grow enough vegetables and fruit to feed the world's population.
Hey, I don't care WHERE banana slugs are on the global food chain, they will not become part of MY food chain!!
As nfor "seafood vegetarians", do they consider fish a lower animal, further removed from us than herd animals and fowl? Or is it more a matter of avoiding red meat and birds? My former mother-in-law stopped eating meat and poultry because it made her squeamish to eat animals she could picture alive. Somehow that same squeamishness never carried over to fish. For my part, I can appreciate how beautiful deer are in the wild - they wander right up to the house at my mother's - but I still love a good venison roast.
I like animals too much to eat them. I just want them for pets. I am not even sure how many pets I have.
i was an inveterate carnivore all my life, ate almost anything that moved and could make great gravy out of any poor thing's life blood... then, i started thinking about what my vegetarian 'little' sister said when i took her to lunch and she turned down my offer to join me in some pricey animal entree with, 'I don't eat anything that had a mother.' and when i left the 'real' world a year or so later, to find out why humans are so inhumane, i finally came to the realization that one of our greatest evil-doing habits is the murdering of our fellow members of the animal kingdom for food and other non-essential, made-up 'needs'... so, i gave up aiding and abetting the crime by never again eating any fellow animal [yes, fish are animals, as are we!] or using any animal-derived products, such as anything made from leather...
Jungle survival school will change that notion...LOL! Crickets, ants, slugs, snakes, mice, frogs...not even cooked.
I too like animals and have three dogs. But I wouldn't keep a cow as a pet. The temptation of Beef would just drive me so insane that poor daisy would be roasting on a spit. Or chopped up for a nice juicy Beef stake. My point is some animals you just wouldn't keep as pets. and some you wouldn't eat. Like a dog or cat. It's life and I feel its the way of things. God I'm hungry right now.
