Why are you a Vegetarian?

[Mechsoap]

because i don't want to have the feeling of something had to die in order for me to survive, i know its survival of the fittest but you get my point.

 

[Ham_authority95]

Hooray for another flame and bigotry-filled thread about Vegetarianism! Let me get my popcorn....

 

[piratejames]

I guess I'm a vegetarian, but that's because at the moment I just don't like the taste of meat. My palette changes a lot. I honestly don't care what anyone eats as long as they don't shove it in my face.

 

[Tetranitrophenol]

Im no vegetarian, (carnivore)

But I admit that there are some wrong doings by the industry and if I were vegan it will be only to drive certain people out of business.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ebTQXkMUqt0 <<<disturbing Shait, careful...

 

[eggy32]

I'm not a vegetarian because I see no point in not eating meat. It's tasty and healthy, why wouldn't I eat it?

 

[FolkLikePanda]

I eat both meat and veg, its natural and really many people don't eat it because it affects their consciouss (which is far enough, as I can't things like Veal) really I think we should go out and hunt our own food but then again alot of people would lose their jobs.

 

[thethingthatlurks]

Been a vegetarian for almost two years now, and I haven't exactly been wanting to go back. I'm in great shape, perfectly healthy, and have a surprisingly large amount of spending money not used to buy greasy fast food. 'course, there's a correlation between vegetarianism and intelligence, which may explains why I took it up so easily...

Anyway, I hate people who try to convert others to vegetarianism (hell, that's one stupid sentence) almost as much as I loathe the idiots who claim eating meat is actually important. No wait, I still hate stupid people more than preachy people, as one can least mock the preachy kind, while one can only pity idiots.

 

[Super Toast]

mr snippy

I just had an argument with a annoying idiot the other day about vegetarianism, and as such I felt like having a rant. You are right, not all vegetarians are stuck up jerks, and I apologise.

Spoiler: Hugs For All!

 

[Zyphonee]

mr snippy

I just had an argument with a annoying idiot the other day about vegetarianism, and as such I felt like having a rant. You are right, not all vegetarians are stuck up jerks, and I apologise.

Spoiler: Hugs For All!

This is funny but I had one of those too; I don't blame you, a lot of vegetarians think they are superior to all just because they don't eat meat and have the right to call everyone who does a murderer.

 

[insaneHoshi]

I'm just confused by the people who honestly think being vegetarian is healthier.

Well.

If someone decides to do their research and make sure their diet contains all the vitamins and minerals your body needs (all of which can be found in non-meat products), they can be just as healthy as meat eaters. And considering you can avoid all the fat and hormones and steroids you get with shitty meat, I'd say being vegetarian can in some cases be healthier.

Just as healthy != Healthier

You're putting forth a weak argument when you say a vegetarian can be healthier than someone who eats meat with fat and hormones and steroids, (on the note of fat and hormones and steroids i dont know if any of those are actually bad for you, especially fat, its nutritious), its like saying a vegetarian could be healthier than someone who just are junk food. You are comparing the best case vegetarian to the non best case meat-atarian. Now if you compare the best case vegetarian to the best case meat-atarian, I contend that that the vegetarian couldn't be healthier, but only just as healthy.

What i believe Tom The Guitarist is referring to is the fallacy of some vegetarians believe that not eating meat is somehow superior and more healthy than the alternative.

It's just so much healthier for both the body and the mind.

No its not. There is nothing healthier about not eating meat, if anything not eating any meat is bad for you.

Meat is only unhealthy if you eat to much of it.

Agreed, couldnt of said it better myself.

i am a vegetarian because it is cheaper in terms of money and the environment. why feed enough grain to a cow to feed 5 people when you can feed 5 people the grain?

Because, correct me if im wrong, but what they feed cows isnt fit for human consumption and the land cows graise on is unfit for agricultural development.

Well mister, let me tell you that the human species wasn't initially omnivorous; how do you think the first human, no tools and no weapons, managed to eat a cow? That said, I don't eat meat, yet right now, meat has become an important aspect of human progress and economy. My vegetarianism is more a personal thing so maybe you should try to stop saying that all vegetarians by choice are uninformed douches because you'll just come off as ignorant, or at least you just did to me.

A) cows didnt exist before humans used tools

B)IIRC using tools is what defines us humans, we wouldn't exist without them.

And id hate to be a dick but when you said "uninformed"....

See points A and B

 

[latenightapplepie]

torture: to create great agony with the intent to sustain life for the longest time possible, to inflict the greatest pain possible. i don't know about you, but if i ran a massive corporation, i would want my products available quick, not slow. they would die anyway, and with that your argument falls apart.

Torture is subjective and vague. You clearly define it as the pain and anguish caused in the process of eventually ending life. I define it more generally as any kind of agony or suffering, either mental or physical caused for some kind of benefit to the torturer. If I put you in a tiny cage that did not allow you to stand up or move your arms because I'm sadistic or because it saves money, would that be torture, regardless of whether I planned to eventually kill you? Of course it is torture. To argue otherwise is simply nonsense.

 

[Mr.Mattress]

I can't see me not eating Meat. I respect others opinions to give up Meat (And to give up anything made From Other Creatures), but it doesn't feel natural to me, especially since we are Omnivores through evolution.

Though I will admit, the way we treat most of the animals is cruel. However, these can be fixed through laws and regulations.

 

[Ambi]

Then why am I, and the vast population of vegetarians and vegans on the planet not dead? Is the American Dietetic Association [http://www.eatright.org/Media/content.aspx?id=1233&terms=vegetarian] wrong?

You don't do anything that requires meat. Mezmer is right in saying we need both meat and veggies to survive to a point. If we were running around the savanna or being a hunter/gatherer we would need meat and other various things, but we aren't. Vegetarians typically have a lower BMI(not getting into why BMIs are horrible) because they don't have fat in their diet and because they don't strenuously work out. If a vegetarian tried to say be a body builder she couldn't. Also, food in this era is horrendously supplemented. You could live off of Twinkies if they were supplemented correctly. Hell, you could live off of an IV in your arm that pumped calories and nutrients into your body.

Yes, one could say we'd need meat to survive in a certain environment, but it's an irrelevant argument now because of the diversity of foods available.

I must clear up some of the unfounded claims in this post.

1. Having a lower BMI is a good thing, so long as it's not dangerously low. Vegan and vegetarian diets can provide sufficient calories (or more, if you eat a lot) to sustain a healthy BMI.

2. Vegan sources of fat come from coconut cream, oils, nuts, avocados, and seeds. Vegetarian sources of fat can come from dairy or eggs as well as the aforementioned plant sources.

3. Take a look at this guy, a vegan bodybuilder. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YvEH7W_w1NA and these. http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=vegan+athlete&aq=f

That's not even including the vegetarians, a simple google search will tell you you're wrong.

4. Supplements aren't needed in a vegetarian diet. I hear you need the occasional B12 supplement in a vegan diet, however, but some believe it's better to take a supplement than kill an animal.


I am a vegetarian because endorsing and paying for the killing of animals is completely unnecessary and I don't want to be a part of it.

The animals are already dead, yes. But every dollar that goes into that industry sustains the abhorrent practices and allows for growth of the industry. That will mean even more animals will be mistreated and/or killed. I am not "disrespecting" the animals and "making them die in vain" by not eating them.

I don't care if it is "natural" to eat meat, nor if hunting made us intelligent, nor for religious arguments. I don't care if meat was needed to get us to where we are; it doesn't matter because it's not needed to sustain our intelligence and wellbeing now. Besides, being "natural" doesn't automatically make something right.


There are economic reasons to consider too, if you care about how the consumer decisions of people like you are affecting the state of the world outside your comfortable little lives:

http://rs.resalliance.org/2007/12/09/food-prices-rising-due-increases-in-meat-consumption-and-biofuels/
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=the-greenhouse-hamburger


For the record, I'm not the evangelistic type of vegetarian who tries to shove it on everyone else. However, if someone makes inaccurate claims about my beliefs or questions me, I will stand up for myself.

Although, I must admit I did get a little annoyed at my mum when she went and bought some ham from the cheapest supermarket whose suppliers are likely to have used factory farming right after I pointed out a poster I'd just noticed on a wall of a health food shop featuring a story about factory farming and animal cruelty, complete with pictures of the conditions the pigs were in. She just made a joke about "crying pigs" and simply did not care.

 

[crudus]

Then why am I, and the vast population of vegetarians and vegans on the planet not dead? Is the American Dietetic Association [http://www.eatright.org/Media/content.aspx?id=1233&terms=vegetarian] wrong?

You don't do anything that requires meat. Mezmer is right in saying we need both meat and veggies to survive to a point. If we were running around the savanna or being a hunter/gatherer we would need meat and other various things, but we aren't. Vegetarians typically have a lower BMI(not getting into why BMIs are horrible) because they don't have fat in their diet and because they don't strenuously work out. If a vegetarian tried to say be a body builder she couldn't. Also, food in this era is horrendously supplemented. You could live off of Twinkies if they were supplemented correctly. Hell, you could live off of an IV in your arm that pumped calories and nutrients into your body.

Yes, one could say we'd need meat to survive in a certain environment, but it's an irrelevant argument now because of the diversity of foods available.

I must clear up some of the unfounded claims in this post.

1. Having a lower BMI is a good thing, so long as it's not dangerously low. Vegan and vegetarian diets can provide sufficient calories (or more, if you eat a lot) to sustain a healthy BMI.

1. No, BMIs are crap. Most bodybuilders are "obese"(at least overweight), a friend of mine actually went up on the BMI scale because he started working out (he gained muscle and thus weight). Besides, if you are in the range it calls "normal" you are more likely to die before the people in the "overweight" but below the "obese" section(there are acids in your body that are attracted to fat. If you have little then the only fat is around your vital organs and thus that acid attacks those).

2. For the rest of your argument, I was more thinking of a primitive human rather than today's standards. More or less justifying why we became omnivores in the first place. I was also agreeing with you!

 

[insaneHoshi]

Then why am I, and the vast population of vegetarians and vegans on the planet not dead? Is the American Dietetic Association [http://www.eatright.org/Media/content.aspx?id=1233&terms=vegetarian] wrong?

You don't do anything that requires meat. Mezmer is right in saying we need both meat and veggies to survive to a point. If we were running around the savanna or being a hunter/gatherer we would need meat and other various things, but we aren't. Vegetarians typically have a lower BMI(not getting into why BMIs are horrible) because they don't have fat in their diet and because they don't strenuously work out. If a vegetarian tried to say be a body builder she couldn't. Also, food in this era is horrendously supplemented. You could live off of Twinkies if they were supplemented correctly. Hell, you could live off of an IV in your arm that pumped calories and nutrients into your body.

Yes, one could say we'd need meat to survive in a certain environment, but it's an irrelevant argument now because of the diversity of foods available.

I must clear up some of the unfounded claims in this post.

1. Having a lower BMI is a good thing, so long as it's not dangerously low. Vegan and vegetarian diets can provide sufficient calories (or more, if you eat a lot) to sustain a healthy BMI.

1. No, BMIs are crap. Most bodybuilders are "obese"(at least overweight), a friend of mine actually went up on the BMI scale because he started working out (he gained muscle and thus weight). Besides, if you are in the range it calls "normal" you are more likely to die before the people in the "overweight" but below the "obese" section(there are acids in your body that are attracted to fat. If you have little then the only fat is around your vital organs and thus that acid attacks those).

And having more fat is better when you get seriously sick, fat comes in handy when your connected to an IV

 

[The_Chief]

you two should totally battle it out.

You made me LOL good sir. But if you look, we are arguing different things. I am arguing that vegetarians, and especially vegans, can be total dicks. He is arguing that eating vegetables, and only vegetables, is healthy. Unless you meant a physical battle, in which I applaud your ridiculousness. That would be kinda kick ass, though.

i see that. but look at how he's doing it. he's contradicting everyone else who argues any little thing about vegetarianism like he owns the place.

 

[Snake Plissken]

I don't eat meat strictly on moral grounds. I came to the realization that I would not be able to kill and prepare my own animal, and therefore should not eat them. If you are capable of taking the life of an animal and preparing it and not feeling remorseful about it, feel free to eat meat. I just would never be able to. I don't get in people's faces about eating meat and don't care to. I wish people would consider moral implications of it more closely, though.

 

[CrazyDave DC]

Spoiler: This is why I will never be a vegetarian

Just had some this morning. It was delicious. Imma live forever. You'll be dead, I'll be alive though.

Also I have responded to vegetarianism/veganism before here on the Escapist but let me reiterate (with different words obviously): In nature, all predators and meat eaters, hunt, kill and devour their prey. This is nothing personal, this is just because they need the food to survive and be healthy. And no, cutting meat out of your diet completely is not and never will be healthy. We are omnivores. We are not the only species who are omnivores either. To survive we need a balance of meat and plants in our diet. We are hard wired to like it, eat it and digest it. It's as simple as that. You feel bad because we're killing animals? Don't. Because out in the wild, those animals would be nothing but prey for predators. Dying in a slaughter house sounds just as bad as being chased down by a pack of wolves and having your throat ripped out. So no, I will not feel guilty for enjoying a nice breast of chicken or a juicy burger for dinner. We are animals, we are predators, we eat meat. Just because we have superior intelligence doesn't change that. It just makes us smarter. That is all.

Couldn't have put it better myself! Though I do feel a little guilty from time to time about various corporation's definitions of animal cruelty and how I continue to eat their food regardless, but that's about it.

 

[Thedayrecker]

snip

You chase an animal while firing a gun. Does it show fear and run? It does, just like a human would.

It seems wrong and unecessary to kill something that has the same emotions, and reactions, as a human, and is aware of an imminent death, just because you want a burger.

Again, this is how I feel, and as I said I don't care if people eat meat, it's a personal decision.

However, I do care when people challenge, and attempt to change my beliefs, when I've done nothing to provoke them, just because I don't agree with what they say.

 

[PrimoThePro]

you two should totally battle it out.

You made me LOL good sir. But if you look, we are arguing different things. I am arguing that vegetarians, and especially vegans, can be total dicks. He is arguing that eating vegetables, and only vegetables, is healthy. Unless you meant a physical battle, in which I applaud your ridiculousness. That would be kinda kick ass, though.

i see that. but look at how he's doing it. he's contradicting everyone else who argues any little thing about vegetarianism like he owns the place.

Ya, I want to say something, but that would mean possible mod wrath, unless he came to me first, in which I would be defending myself. If ANY vegetarian says to me that I must become a vegetarian, I will flip. But until that time, nothin' doin bro. You could coordinate some sort of... manipulation if you wish.