We had similar topic in the past, but it was more about Liser than anything else...
Do we have vegetarians/vegans here? What do you know/think about it? Was you ever mocked for your beliefs, or maybe mocked someone else?

I Live in Argentina. In this country if you don't eat 200 Kg of meat per day are rare  . But many years ago I travelled to the country and I see the farmers kill a cow. That was the most horrible and disgusting I saw in my life  . Since that day I was eating less meat.
I'm not vegetarian but I am in the process  , for this I vote the first option...

(sorry for my bad English)

*Thanks Dag for creating this thread, I love threads that encourage debate/opinions. :x

Yer, I finally decided to become a lacto-ovo vegetarian (means I still eat/drink dairy products and eggs) a few months ago. Reason being that I just don't want to feast on the remains of a dead animal while it's completely unnecessary. I can manage just fine without hurting an animal, so why not?
Alot of these animals are being tortured to death, and some of them are being raised in cramped up spaces, living in agony until the day they may finally go to rest. This is completely unacceptable, whether we actually need the meat to survive or not.
I'm not really extreme though, I envy people who can actually feel bad for the animals, I don't really "feel" that strongly about it, I just figured it's somehow right not to eat animals. Don't feel that it's inherently wrong... it's just nature. So eating meat isn't wrong, but it's not right either. I'd be alot more at peace if it wasn't cos we cause the animals unnecessary suffering. I respect people who eat meat as long as they can admit that there is a problem with the way the animals are treated. (I respect vegetarians more though )

As for veganism I think it's just overkill... stay away from any products that involves harming animals (including clothing), enjoy the rest. Milk cows and hens are usually being treated well in their lives, and it's a win-win situation. We provide the animals food and shelter from their natural predators, they reward us with food (and clothing!). Eggs doesn't involve taking a life or anything, for most of the industry they're unfertilized. If one's a vegan because they still think the animals are treated poorly, I guess that's alright, I'd rather just try making an effort to improve conditions for animals.

Hunting for the sake of preserving the biodiversity, like thinning out the number of a species in order to save them from starvation is fine with me, I think it's important for us to preserve our current ecosystems.

As for being mocked... few know or care that I am a vegetarian, my brother keeps going on about it though, how it's wrong to be a vegetarian and that eating meat is right. No arguments other than it's whimpy to not eat meat and manly to do so. Not really a big deal though, he mocks me for absolutely everything, I just filter him out and have a laugh when I can. ^-^

Casper
Well, being a vegetarian/vegan doesn't really restrict you from eating the same meals you've always had, there are substitutes in the form of quorn, tofu and soy products. Variations of quorn are heavenly, I can't get enough of that stuff. I didn't really change my diet much at all since I became a vegetarian, I eat the same meals as the rest of my family, just replacing the meat products.

Rain_Kid
Aww, well I hope your family will respect your choice if you ever decide to go full vegetarian. I wanted to become a vegetarian for well over a year before I made the transition, mostly because I assumed my family wouldn't support me. My mom does. Her husband, my brother and sister don't appear to see it though. ;/ So yer, I know it's harder than it may sound to some, but don't drop the idea... if not while living at home you can always switch over once you've moved out. (=

I voted 3...I just CAN'T LIVE without a bacon butty or a chicken pizza...
However, I am not a fan of all meats, I could probably deal without beef, or lamb...I am usually very fussy about a lot of pork too (sausages for example, tend to have "expensive tastes" ),...

I could try to be a vegetarian, would probably last a week at the most till I crave meat again...
plus as already mentioned, it obviously won't stop the killing/slaughtering of animals
I'm no passionate animals rights activist but like most people, I'm no fan of animals being hurt/tortured/tested on for our sake etc...
but it's not something I tend to think about, or even want to think about when eating meat, would rather just enjoy the taste of a chicken chow mein rather than worry about where it came from X)

I went for the second option. I'm not a vegetarian, in fact I eat more meat than veggies (I should've went for the third option), but I understand their points of view. Killing animals is cruel, I agree, but meh, circle of life.

Vegans don't eat eggs and drink milk? o_O I'm sorry, I just didn't understand...

Anyway, I agree with you. Killing animals for fun is cruel. I do not like that one bit. They're living organisms, just like we are (I was gonna say "living animals just like we are" but it would sound kinda... I don't know, stupid). I'm being kinda hypocritical, because I don't like animals to be killed, but I do like to eat meat. x_x It's some sort of "damned if you do, and damned if you don't" thingy.

I've been eating meat for whole my life, so when I think of a vegetarian's diet I can only imagine a plate of tasteless maccaroni or a bowl of some vegetables and green leaves. I'd die of starvation if I had to limit myself to such food:-)
Yes, I know vegetarian cuisine can be pretty nutritious, and there are a lot of spices to add taste to any meal, but still, I can't imagine a meal without a good piece of meat;-)

I tried going vegetarian once. It lasted a day.

That was back when I was infatuated with Lisa, so her views about animal cruelty naturally spilled over into my life. But it just seemed like a lot of effort to keep going with something that was trivial in the sense that it didn't accomplish much; as Mat said:


I couldn't agree more. Even if one person stopped eating meat, that doesn't mean one less animal would be killed - instead it means that one more animal would die needlessly, instead of providing nourishment to someone. And eating meat is not something people do for entertainment; it contains protein and a variety of other things needed to keep human beings going.

I don't believe that people have the right to be excessively cruel to animals, but I do believe that killing them is a necessary evil in which humankind must take part in to survive. It's the way of the world.

Think of what would happen if everyone was vegetarian.
And there are already many, so I think your points of view are wrong. Anyway I don't know how these people (vegs) are replacing the proteines and so on. There have to be pills ore something that include them, I hope.

OK I'm not informed well yet

Casper
I'd go for the quorn fillet (fillet btw isn't exclusively veggie, it's what you call pieces of meat products without any bones, sorry don't know how often the word is used in english) whether I was a vegetarian or not. The quorn fillet actually doesn't taste 100% like a chicken fillet, but I like the taste of it better than chicken. If I wasn't a vegetarian, I probably would've gone for a regular hamburger instead of a quorn burger. I've only tried one kind of veggie burger so far, it's pretty dry... same for meat balls, unless you've got some sauce or lots of dressing for the burger, I'd prefer the meat. Other than that I've got no complaints... since I'm lacto-ovo vegetarian I've got access to any and all peripherals in my meals. (=
The chicken is already dead you say, I guess you could say I just want to be part of boycotting the industry. I'd have no problems eating meat at all, I've just chosen to do whatever little I can to avoid harming animals... and the more people who stop eating meat, the less will be produced. Say you and a group would decide to boycott the coffee industry (or anything that you feel is wrong) because the farmers are grossly underpaid and can hardly afford food. It's not like you'd go to the shops and buy coffee from any of the companies that buy their coffee cheap thinking "oh well, what's done is done, might as well save me those 50 cents and buy this one since it's here."
Like I said in a previous post, I envy those who actually feel real compassion from the animals, I just think I could do just as well without meat. Don't feel it if I don't see/know the animal. Can't feel for what I've never seen or met. And I'll also admit that I do take an EPA rich Omega 3 supplement (Eye-q) every day, fatty acids extracted from certain fish (at a certain time of the year as well x_x). I take it because I've always had trouble focusing, and since I started taking this half a year ago I've experienced alot of improvement in my ability to concentrate. There are Omega 3 supplements suitable for vegetarians, but this particular one is rich on EPA, and has shown good results in trials with people with neurological disorders (ADD and ADHD in particular. I've got asperger syndrome, though I was originally examined for A.D.D), because the bodies of people with such disorders have difficulties absorbing EPA. It does trouble me a bit that I keep taking this, but the reason I went vegetarian is because I didn't need to eat meat. I don't NEED this supplement either, which is why it troubles me, but I do want to take it for my own good... at least the fish oil is going to a good cause, and that there are no alternatives is what I think to accept my choice. x_x

Bit thorough answer, but there you go. :/

Kasper
A good answer to all the questions. Thanks for that! Interesting about the fish oils, makes me think about the whole meat thing in general. We as humans have been brought up on eating meat because, as cave-men, we NEEDED it for survival. Now there are plenty of alternatives and we dont need true meat as much.

I've been tempted into vegeterianism before, but personaly, I wouldnt like to limit the amount of food I could taste in my life. Ofcourse I havent eaten every type of food availible, so I wouldnt know if I was missing out on the best meal of my life until I tried it.

(Would be ironic if quorn fillet was just that meal )

Maléfix
Yay ^_^ Makes sense that your mom wants you to eat fish if she's a nutritionist, it's a bit tough to get those fatty acids otherwise. I've got that covered though since I take my supplement.
Ill? In what way? :\

Casper
Probably not, most kind of meats could be the best the best meal of your life, depends on what you do with it really. If it's eaten by itself, I love it with a little bit of black pepper and some flakes of sea salt on top of it. ^-^

Not being a vegitarian myself I can say Quorn is fairly good. I liked it. it almost has the right texture and was fairly impressed by the taste. It all depends how they flavour it though, some stuff may not be as good as the stuff I have had.

If i had a choice between the chicken and the chicken flavoured Quorn I would pick the chicken, but I would probably polish off the Quorn too.... I'm a greedy piggeh!

Quorn was initially not accepted by Vegitarian Society due to the use of battery hen eggs, but now does not use battery hens. Interesting article:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quorn

And boy do some of the flavours of thier newer range sausages and burgers sound good!

http://www.quorn.co.uk/CMSPage.aspx?ssbid=65&prid=2

Hey the brits invented it so we get to keep the best stuff

I suppose its supply and demand, they need to introduce slowly into new countries in order not to loose money. Quorn has been around a long time in uk and is well established so can afford to bring out lots and lots of new products. May be worth contacting them directly asking why certain products not availiable. Although I have to say I have not seen most of those in local supermarkets either. My local supermarket (Sainsburys) has a Quorn section which has only some of the stuff, while a rival, Tesco has different stuff, so the full range is still not availiable unless you visit many different stores, something which on a weekly show not many will do.

Can see what happened in USA happening in other places. Some people trying to get quorn banned in USA saying it can cause allergies in some people... true... but then all foods can. I think its more rival american brands trying to get rid of the competion because they know its far better... and I would imagine also the fact that its not an American invention.

Sadly I think Marlow Foods hold the rights to make food using this fungus in many copuntries, so unless a similar fungus is found similar stuff may be unavailiable in certain contries. Also some contries have strict food testing procedures before stuff can be imported or manufactured in these countries, so may be some time before tests are passed before it can be sold.