Vegetarians - why?

[Gitty101]

Because animals.

Or because they dislike the taste.

Not one, myself, but totally understand the most popular reasoning.

I mean, I'm apparently in the minority in that I find chocolate ice cream absolutely disgusting and terrible.

Not the only one there...

OT: Not a vegetarian myself, but all my vegetarian friends always say they have a moral objection to eating creatures that would otherwise have lived. I understand it, but meat is far too tasty to give up XD

 

[Ekonk]

Because the industry of factory farming animals is a disgusting and unimaginably cruel one, and being a vegetarian is a protest against that travesty.

That's the reason my father is a vegetarian, at least. I eat meat once, twice a week?

So hold on there, in theory if we all stopped eating meat, that would cause animals to never hurt? You have stated your father's opinion, but what is yours? I can imagine it would be difficult to obtain meat while you were still a teenager, let alone even think about eating it would bring his wrath down on you.

See, being a vegetarian means that you don't eat meat. That's all it means. It doesn't mean that you force your opinion on others as well, that's being an arsehole. I can eat meat whenever I please, no wrath involved.

No I didn't say being a vegetarian was part of forcing ideals on other. I was simply curious to see if to see if you agreed with your father. You said you do eat meat, so you probably don't.

Edit: Whoops, incorrect words

I agree with him, but I also like meat. I don't eat it a lot, and when I do it's the kind you pay extra for in the (most likely vain) hope that the animals had a less dreadful life than most of them in the world of factory farming. Which I oppose. Factory farming, that is.

 

[MrGalactus]

Why should something have to give up it's life for my happiness, enjoyment, or survival when I have alternatives? I went fishing once and became responsible for the deaths of two fish. Still haven't lived down the guilt. I know, I know.
Besides, meat is just the same bland taste in different varieties of shapes and textures anyway.

 

[Rayne870]

no idea, but i didnt climb the top of the food chain to eat rabbit food

I'd be surprised if you ever climbed to the top of a jungle gym, fatass.

Honestly WTF? You think calling me a fatass over an anonymous forum when I know you have no idea who I am is going to make any difference in my life? But I suppose with a name like Captain Pooptits, we should all know not to expect anything intelligent from you. Shit son it's people like you that change my stance from pro choice to pro abortion.

 

[chiggerwood]

Because animals.

Or because they dislike the taste.

Not one, myself, but totally understand the most popular reasoning.

I mean, I'm apparently in the minority in that I find chocolate ice cream absolutely disgusting and terrible.

WHAT? chocolate ice cream is del-- disgusting all hai-- NO! chocolate is wonder- Horrible all praise be to hyp- NO! NO! Chocolate ice cream is the bes- most vile creation. All glory to the Hypno Toad. *DROOL*

 

[andeve3]

I find the moral argument for vegetarianism very compelling.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCcluVG2ZI8

 

[Vet2501]

Never personally been a vegetarian, but I knew a girl who turned vegetarian when she started studying to become a veterinarian. Every time she saw meat, she couldn't help but think of the insides of the animal in the non-cooked gross way. It killed her appetite every time, so she gave up meat. Does this help?

I don't understand this reason. Being a vet myself has, if anything, allowed me to debunk the majority of "animal cruelty" argument that vegetarian/vegan activist groups come out with. Not to mention that the veterinary profession was started to ensure that the food we eat is safe by ensuring that animals have a healthy life.

Not that I have anything personal against veggies (unless they're trying to convert me), but I do love a good steak.

 

[Kiju]

There are several reasons...I will list the ones I know of.

Reason One: Conscience. People think that eating animals is cruelty because of the fact that farmers raise animals solely for the purpose of being eaten. They call this cruelty, and while I can see their point, denying to eat meat simply because you feel better about yourself is a very selfish thing. After all, plants are alive, aren't they? They're even alive while you're eating them...anywho.

Reason Two: Health. There are many health concerns with meat products, so this one isn't so bad. There are many meat substitutes that can be used to give you a healthy diet, and in fact it is technically true that eating nothing but fruits and vegetables can be more healthy than an omnivorous diet like the rest of humanity. This one is ok, I think.

Reason Three: Personal Reasons. There are some more personal reasons for becoming a vegetarian. Religious beliefs are one. Some people are actually allergic to certain types of meat, in the effect of breaking out in some form of reaction. Some still actually had a traumatic moment that caused them to swear off meat products entirely due to psychological reasons, where the sight of red or white meats make them sick to their stomachs.

I'm sure there's other reasons entirely, but these are the ones I've heard, asked about, and read about from some of my classmates. Wonderful what you can learn in a Culinary school.

 

[Rayne870]

no idea, but i didnt climb the top of the food chain to eat rabbit food

I'd be surprised if you ever climbed to the top of a jungle gym, fatass.

Honestly WTF? You think calling me a fatass over an anonymous forum when I know you have no idea who I am is going to make any difference in my life? But I suppose with a name like Captain Pooptits, we should all know not to expect anything intelligent from you. Shit son it's people like you that change my stance from pro choice to pro abortion.

I bet you wish you were aborted, fatty.

Yup, every day of my life I just sit around obsessing about how morbidly obese I am wishing I was done in by a coat hanger.

 

[DazBurger]

no idea, but i didnt climb the top of the food chain to eat rabbit food

Bears, sharks, and many more animals can easily kill and eat humans. I don't think we're at the top of the food chain

OT: I don't eat meat and it started with cows, because I can't help but think of cows as huge animals that eat grass all day and remain fat. With that thought, it doesn't make sense for me to put it in my body.

They can but they only rarely do, and for sharks, we eat more of them than they do of us.

Man have no natural predator and we eat everything.. Therefore we are on the top of the foodchain.

 

[SpAc3man]

My main reason was that meat isn't the healthiest of foods, as the human digestive system is longer than that of pure carnivores, and any meat that you consume rots inside you, releasing carcinogens.

Um... That is completely false. First off, nothing rots in the stomach seeing as the PH levels in the stomach are very low (around 2). Meat is then broken down in the small intestine by enzymes produced by our body called proteases. Proteases break down the protein in the meat into its basic building blocks which are then absorbed and used by our bodies.

The only things that technically "rot" in our bodies are foods that contain things that enzymes can't completely break down which end up in the large intestine, which is full of good useful bacteria. This is primarily excess sugars and starches along with fibre which are sourced from grains, beans and vegetables.

 

[Nemu]

I'm not a vegan, I just don't like the taste of meat. It's that simple.


Not eaten it for 23 years now, but I do still partake in cheese and (on rare occasions) eggs.

 

[Rayne870]

My main reason was that meat isn't the healthiest of foods, as the human digestive system is longer than that of pure carnivores, and any meat that you consume rots inside you, releasing carcinogens.

Um... That is completely false. First off, nothing rots in the stomach seeing as the PH levels in the stomach are very low (around 2). Meat is then broken down in the small intestine by enzymes produced by our body called proteases. Proteases break down the protein in the meat into its basic building blocks which are then absorbed and used by our bodies.

The only things that technically "rot" in our bodies are foods that contain things that enzymes can't completely break down which end up in the large intestine, which is full of good useful bacteria. This is primarily excess sugars and starches along with fibre which are sourced from grains, beans and vegetables.

Well said, and even more well informed!

TLDR: If it isn't digested and absorbed into the body it is evacuated..such as corn, which is a vegetable not a meat.

 

[Fetzenfisch]

I was a vegetarian for nearly 5 years, at first just to see how long i could last without something i love like eating meat. A challenge of will against desires. Then last christmas i spontanously decided that it was enough and ate a whole duck.

 

[BNguyen]

it's all about morals and preferential tastes,
even if a person is born in a culture which prohibited eating meat, that doesn't necessarily mean that they like the taste of vegetables, grains, and fruits
then there are the morals
some see it as an evil to kill animals for nourishment, although, these people fail to look at nature and realize that we as animals are part of nature. animals eat other animals but we are one of the few species which eats both meat and plants, but first and foremost, our anatomy was designed for eating meat.
Some may say eating only vegetables is healthy but lack of meat or on the basic level, protein and iron, is detrimental to one's health and these cannot be obtained in sufficient levels without eating meat.

I beg to differ.

And yes, I'm going to copy and paste this.

Some might expect that since the vegan diet contains a form of iron that is not that well absorbed, vegans might be prone to developing iron deficiency anemia. However, surveys of vegans 2,3 have found that iron deficiency anemia is no more common among vegetarians than among the general population although vegans tend to have lower iron stores 3.

The reason for the satisfactory iron status of many vegans may be that commonly eaten foods are high in iron, as Table 1 shows. In fact, if the amount of iron in these foods is expressed as milligrams of iron per 100 calories, many foods eaten by vegans are superior to animal-derived foods. This concept is illustrated in Table 2. For example, you would have to eat more than 1700 calories of sirloin steak to get the same amount of iron as found in 100 calories of spinach.

Another reason for the satisfactory iron status of vegans is that vegan diets are high in vitamin C. Vitamin C acts to markedly increase absorption of non-heme iron. Adding a vitamin C source to a meal increases non-heme iron absorption up to six-fold which makes the absorption of non-heme iron as good or better than that of heme iron 4.

Fortunately, many vegetables, such as broccoli and bok choy, which are high in iron, are also high in vitamin C so that the iron in these foods is very well absorbed. Commonly eaten combinations, such as beans and tomato sauce or stir-fried tofu and broccoli, also result in generous levels of iron absorption.

From http://www.vrg.org/nutrition/iron.htm#vegans

yes, maybe studies show iron is obtainable from certain vegetables, but this still does not make up for the lost protein, and the subtle fact that a good deal of people do not want to eat vegetables for many of the same reasons that vegetarians do not want to eat meat

 

[Airsoftslayer93]

I understand that if some people are foolish enough to quit eating meet for reasons of animal cruelty, fine, ok, you can have that, if you believe that then fine. what gets me is people who 'dont like the taste of meat' what does that even mean. you know, because all types of meat taste the same, duck and beef, same thing. because all meats have the same texture, red chicken meat and white chicken meat, exactly the same. people who 'dont like the taste of meat' obviously havent tried enough of it to justify that arguement

 

[BNguyen]

From my standpoint, I prefer meat to eating vegetables but eat some
The people who bark that eating meat is wrong must understand that for men (a word I use to encompass all people regardless of gender) to rely entirely on fruits and vegetables would mean destroying the homes of countless animals in order to provide sizable farmland for production, and in the end, millions of species would go extinct through this process
insects would die via pesticides, as well as fish and animals that live in the soil from water poisoning, and animals that require specific plants to live off of would die out due to land clearing.

This is completely false. You do realize that livestock consumes more grains and plants than humans, right?

We'd actually use less farmland if everyone was vegetarian, because we wouldn't need all that extra farmland to grow corn for livestock.

but also think about this, humans can only eat certain plants, such as grains, after being processed, and even then, it takes much more grain than what one livestock farm will ever consume.
for example, in the 1980's the US sent hundreds of pounds of grains and flour into Africa to feed the starving, yet how much land do you think it takes just to make that much grain? All humans consume from a stalk of grain is the seeds- we cannot eat the rest of the plant like animals can
when you think about it, humans eat just like elephants - needing large amounts of food even if we don't exactly eat all of it,the simple fact is that humans are warm-blooded organisms that need many calories in order to live, calories gained from plants would take much more than that from meat
another point is that by going vegetarian, the process would kill off probably a third of the world's population that's already starving even with all of the food we produce now
so I do believe we would need much more farmland to produce sufficient quantities of food to feed everyone, and the equipment needed to harvest, fertilize, and protect these crops would consume much more fuel than processing meat.
- I don't just think about people in developed parts of the world but everywhere because people in the developed part of the world aren't exactly racing to create efficient forms of farming