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Let's go vegetarian together in 2010.

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Desperado

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I have done some thinking several times this year about my views on eating meat. I do love to eat all kinds, especially chicken and fish, but I have long had underlying concerns about the moral significance of my meat-eating ways. I eventually came to the point where I could admit that it was hypocritical of me, as a person who thinks of himself as someone who 'cares about animals,' to go on eating meat and supporting the commercial farm industry. (This video helped a lot.)

As is typical with inconvenient things, this personal dilemma was pushed aside and forgotten for a while. A few days ago, though, it returned to my thoughts while I was having a deep conversation with my girlfriend about unrelated matters. I decided that I should try vegetarianism as one of my New Year's resolutions, and when I told her about it, she offered to try it with me, though we both agreed that it would be difficult to start while we were home for winter break -- my parents cook a lot of meat, I'm apprehensive about refusing meals that her parents make, etc.

So, as soon as I return to school, I will be an ovo-lacto vegetarian. I know that I will eventually have to come to terms with the farm industry's practices in regards to laying hens and dairy cows, but for now, I won't be going vegan.

Your reasons don't have to be the same as mine, and neither do your goals. I just hope that by seeing this thread, some of you out there on GAF that have had thoughts about going vegetarian can be motivated to follow through with them.

If you're not ready to commit to it as a full-on lifestyle change, set a concrete period of time -- a few weeks, a few months -- and go for it. Then you'll be able to see how hard or (hopefully) how easy it will be for you.
 
Be sure to grab some multivitamins.

Quick question: I don't quite understand vegetarianism from a ethical perspective. If you feel that chickens and cows should not be killed, why is the death of any animal okay? Humans can more easily emotionally connect to animals with similar facial features, but logically, an ant has the same right to live as a cow.

You can't even really draw the line at plants v. animals, either. There are exceptionally primitive animals without brains or central nervous systems, and plants that are technically capable of feeling pain. (There was a recent GAF thread about this.)

I'm just confused as to why it's okay to kill certain animals, and not others. And it's almost impossible to completely avoid killing any form of animal life.
 
steak_out.gif


heck no
 
Yeah... not gonna happen.

No one considers the moral significance of eating plants and shit, and they respond to music and talking. HA!
 
You do realize that the only reason these animals are alive to begin with is so that they can eventually be eaten right? The only effect you not eating meat has on an animal is that the animal never gets a chance to exist at all. Do you really think that is a better option then the animal at least getting a chance at life.

In essence you've gone from being a meat eating carnivore straight to being an animal abortionist. Chew on that for awhile.
 
I'd like to explore vegetarian dishes as I do occasionly think I should have a healthier diet, but I could never give up meat and just cannot understand going vegetarian on moral grounds. There may be a lot of shady & undersirable practices within the farming industry, but where I live i'm lucky enough to have access to a whole host of local farm produce that is ethically produced, flavourful and guaranteed to be fresh.
 
The good news is that people are less obnoxious in real life than they are on GAF.

You do realize that the only reason these animals are alive to begin with is so that they can eventually be eaten right? The only effect you not eating meat has on an animal is that the animal never gets a chance to exist at all. Do you really think that is a better option then the animal at least getting a chance at life.

In essence you've gone from being a meat eating carnivore straight to being an animal abortionist. Chew on that for awhile.
Click to expand...
Do you think people should have as many kids as humanly possible regardless of their ability to take care of them?
 
Feep said:
Be sure to grab some multivitamins.

Quick question: I don't quite understand vegetarianism from a ethical perspective. If you feel that chickens and cows should not be killed, why is the death of any animal okay? Humans can more easily emotionally connect to animals with similar facial features, but logically, an ant has the same right to live as a cow.
Click to expand...

The complexity of a cow's nervous system and its capacity for thought is far greater than that of an ant's. I'm not saying ants don't have the right to live, but life =/= life.

You can't even really draw the line at plants v. animals, either. There are exceptionally primitive animals without brains or central nervous systems, and plants that are technically capable of feeling pain. (There was a recent GAF thread about this.)
Click to expand...

The distinction between what is okay to kill and not okay to kill is obviously a very gray area and certainly differs greatly between people. However, plants don't feel pain (and the article never stated so) -- they don't have nervous systems. As Hitokage put it, it's "glorified stimulus-response."

I'm just confused as to why it's okay to kill certain animals, and not others. And it's almost impossible to completely avoid killing any form of animal life.
Click to expand...

True, it may be almost impossible to avoid killing, but trying to reduce the amount of killing you contribute to still has value.



You do realize that the only reason these animals are alive to begin with is so that they can eventually be eaten right? The only effect you not eating meat has on an animal is that the animal never gets a chance to exist at all. Do you really think that is a better option then the animal at least getting a chance at life.

In essence you've gone from being a meat eating carnivore straight to being an animal abortionist. Chew on that for awhile.
Click to expand...
Your argument makes no sense. Abortion requires life to be conceived. Is contraception wrong because a possible life was not allowed to come into existence? Is not trying to have as many babies as possible wrong?
 
I'm vegetarian since y2k.
biggest problem is boring people telling you why they can't become veg, and of course I never asked why :)
go ahead and give it a try if you feel it's the right choice.
 
Some suggestions OP if you are serious:

* Dont go "cold turkey" - cut out each kind of meat over time. First cut out red meat, then after a couple of weeks cut out chicken and then a few weeks later stop eating fish.

* Multivitamins - buy some and get used to taking them.

* Check out the fake meats at your local store - Quorn, Boca, Morning Star and Gardenburger all make a good range of Soy-based meat-like products that can make the transition a lot easier.

Good luck with your "experiment" - I did the same thing about 12 years ago and have been a vegetarian ever since.
 
domstah said:
Some suggestions OP if you are serious:

* Dont go "cold turkey" - cut out each kind of meat over time. First cut out red meat, then after a couple of weeks cut out chicken and then a few weeks later stop eating fish.

* Multivitamins - buy some and get used to taking them.

* Check out the fake meats at your local store - Quorn, Boca, Morning Star and Gardenburger all make a good range of Soy-based meat-like products that can make the transition a lot easier.

Good luck with your "experiment" - I did the same thing about 12 years ago and have been a vegetarian ever since.
Click to expand...
Thanks.
 
Just went to a old school steak house in Argentina last night and between the 8 of us, we probably ate an entire cow. So good. You don't get meat that tasty anywhere else in the world.

I'm sorry what were you saying? Vege something?
 
well I'll be moreso strict on the traceability of my produce for 2010 however the explorations of cooking with meat are a bit too flavoursome to resist for now. I admire your compassion and good luck.
 
Desperado said:
The complexity of a cow's nervous system and its capacity for thought is far greater than that of an ant's. I'm not saying ants don't have the right to live, but life =/= life.

The distinction between what is okay to kill and not okay to kill is obviously a very gray area and certainly differs greatly between people. However, plants don't feel pain (and the article never stated so) -- they don't have nervous systems. As Hitokage put it, it's "glorified stimulus-response."

True, it may be almost impossible to avoid killing, but trying to reduce the amount of killing you contribute to still has value.
Click to expand...
Mmmm, you make some good points. I've just always been a little perturbed over the almost arbitrary valuation of certain animals over others. An ant vs. a cow is easy, but we don't fully understand self-awareness, pain, or rational processes. People who hurt dogs are criminals, but people who throw an innocent lobster into boiling water are chefs.

Anyway, I think becoming a vegetarian on the ground of resource conservation makes much more sense. I think a pound of beef requires the usage of something like 37 gallons of fresh water, or some crazy number.

But I'm afraid I like steak too much. = (
 
Trurl said:
Do you think people should have as many kids as humanly possible regardless of their ability to take care of them?
Click to expand...

But I definitely have the ability to take care of a tasty animal. I lovingly sear them in a pan for a couple of minutes on both sides before I broil them.
 
domstah said:
Some suggestions OP if you are serious:

* Dont go "cold turkey" - cut out each kind of meat over time. First cut out red meat, then after a couple of weeks cut out chicken and then a few weeks later stop eating fish.

* Multivitamins - buy some and get used to taking them.

* Check out the fake meats at your local store - Quorn, Boca, Morning Star and Gardenburger all make a good range of Soy-based meat-like products that can make the transition a lot easier.

Good luck with your "experiment" - I did the same thing about 12 years ago and have been a vegetarian ever since.
Click to expand...
This is pretty much it. It's not hard to go "vegie" and you'll be surprised by the amount of food you won't eat anymore.
 
Feep said:
Quick question: I don't quite understand vegetarianism from a ethical perspective. If you feel that chickens and cows should not be killed, why is the death of any animal okay? Humans can more easily emotionally connect to animals with similar facial features, but logically, an ant has the same right to live as a cow.
Click to expand...

For most of the vegetarians I know it's an ethical thing in the sense that they do not wish to support the largely inhumane killing of animals for meat. The mass production of meat usually results in extremely poor conditions and killing methods for these animals that prioritise speed and efficiency over preventing pain. Hen cages, bleedings, etc, are the best examples.

These people are not always against the idea of eating meat, just the way it is handled in modern day society, and some genuinely dislike the taste and texture of meat anyway. Of course one could argue "what other way is there to do it?", but in the end they do have a point and if that's there stance then good on them. Throw in heavy carbon emmisions by the meat industry and they've got another moral reason to stop.

That being said, any vegetarian that gets up in my grill about meat eating usually ends up verbally abused, and I do not support the 'moral' argument that states that eating another living creature is plain 'wrong'.

While I am not a vegetarian I've been very lucky to find out my friends who are have reasons I can understand and respect.
 
I did this in 2007, but not for ethical reasons.
I wasn't feeling well and my doctor suggested it could be my diet, so I just started an experiment. My goal was a month at first, but after that month was over I didn't miss meat at all.
I was feeling the best I've ever felt, it was easy to focus on work and stuff.
But I stopped being a vegetarian about 8 month later. Now I do eat meat, but only when I'm at home over the holidays or over the course of a festival. So I guess it's coming down to about 1 or 2 times a month.
I did go "cold turkey" and had no problems with that. Most dishes don't really need meat to taste good. Just explore oriental food, most of their dishes have a vegan or vegetarian equivalent, if they aren't vegetarian to begin with.
Hope this helps a bit.
 
No thanks. I have a freezer stocked with beef, pork, venison, bison, kangaroo, poultry, shark.......

Not letting all that delicious go to waste.
 
the love for meals made of everything alive in this thread makes me feel warm inside

but seriously: isn't a plant/vegetable also alive?
isn't it's meat just not made out the meat we call meat?
 
I'm thinking about it too, mostly for ethical reasons. I'm just not sure if I can do it because, well, I don't really know how to cook without meat... yet.
 
thanks but I already have an ex girlfriend.
 
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