One of my friends just sent me this quote, and I laughed.

"I'm not a vegetarian because I love animals, I'm a vegetarian because I hate plants." - A. Whitney Brown

But then it occurred to me that this could be turned into a discussion topic, so... yeah. Here we are. Marvel at my brilliant line of thought.

I used to be a partial vegetarian for awhile. What do they call it, semi-vegetarian? I dunno. I was on a health kick for awhile last year, but had to drop it after I realized that the college food without meat was about as bland as it comes. So I gave in. Oh well. I keep meaning to go back to it, but I never do... maybe when I get out of college...

The concept of consuming meat just really disgusts me sometimes. I can't think about the meat I'm eating while I'm in the process of eating it... I dunno. It just gets to me. Not to mention that it makes no sense to eat some animals while leaving others. I mean, most people would never think of eating cats or dogs, but pigs? Sure. Even though pigs have the same level (maybe higher, I forget) as cats and dogs...

Here I am, debating the issue with myself. Someone else talk.

lol..pigs are some of the most intelligent animals, yeah. very easily trained.

anyhow, i was a vegetarian for five years. to let you know why, i'll tell you a little story. (sorry, i'm really bored..lol)

a four year old girl had two pet ducks that she really loved. their names were blondie and blackie (this was not the most creative little girl). these ducks died, as ducks are bound to do..but the girl did not. she grew up, as little girls are bound to do. when the little girl was about twelve, her mother decided to serve duck one night for dinner. the girl refused to eat it, remembering her beloved pets. the next day, the girl's mother served her some soup and told her "it's chicken." well, boys and girls, this soup was not chicken. it was, as you may have guessed, duck. the girl's mother didn't tell her this until after she had finished the soup. the girl was understandably upset, so she told her mother that she could no longer trust her and she would not eat any meat that the mother set before her. and she didn't, for five years. what caused her to go back to eating meat, you ask? well, the girl was horribly addicted to a little thing called the internet, and the mother knew this. she cut the internet off and said "i will turn it back on if you start eating meat again so i don't have to buy you tofu and veggie burgers any more." the girl consented, and still eats meat to this day, but usually only chicken and fish.

yup..that's why i became a vegetarian. i became very used to not eating meat, so when i went back to eating meat, beef and pork both made me really sick. i could only eat chicken and fish for a very long time, so that's what i eat mostly now, since i now associate other meats with getting sick..lol.

as for the whole morality thing....i have no qualms whatsoever about eating chickens. have you ever met a chicken? if you have, then you understand why. i also don't mind eating fish because i think there are some plants that have more intelligence than them. but, cows and pigs...that does bother me a little. *shrug*

i don't really see the point in vegetarianism myself. animals eat other animals, and i just think that it's part of the food chain if we eat animals...

sorry, that's just me...

LMAO.. that was always my justification for eating chicken... chickens are part of the bird family and all birds do is shat on your car.. but now I really like birds...I find them peacefull and relaxing.. so my new justification for eating Chicken is that I was attacked by a rooster when I was younger... I really was, that is the sad part

I have trouble accepting many reasons for being veggie as valid. Sure, I don't agree with farming battery chickens, but that's mainly on the basis that free range organic eggs taste so much better. I don't eat veal (well, maybe once every year or two), but that's 'cos I'm not too fond of it, rather than morally objecting to the way the animals are treated.

I guess I can be rather cold and callous at times, but the way I see it, animals is animals. Given a chance, I'd try cat, dog, snake, mouse, hamster, dolphin, elephant, yak, meerkat and monkey, merely out of curiousity. Half of them would probably taste of chicken anyway..... I'd draw the line at human flesh I think. Probably

And as for folk being put off the meat by the thought of what you're eating? I really don't get that. If it tastes good, eat it. What does it matter which fwuffy kewt animal it came from? It's perfectly natural. Lord knows how many years of evolution can't be wrong.

It's like people refusing to eat kidneys (e.g. steak and kidney pie), saying "don't you know that they're basically piss-filters?". My usual response is "you eat eggs? And what are they?". Now if they said "I don't like the taste/texture", then I've got no problem accepting that. That's the one reason I can understand for going meat-free.

And while I'm having a bit of a rant - why is it that some of the 'moral veggies' will eat fish? Are fish evil? Or just not cute enough? I suspect hypocrasy rather than any other reason.

Mind you, on the plus, side, being a veggie does give you comedy fart power.

i was veggie for about 4 years, and mostly its was moral. But really i dont so much like the taste of meat, I usually end up pooring a bottle of some sauce on it and then licking the sauce goop of my fork until everyone is finished and i can throw it out.. There are some meats i still some what like. BBQ hot dogs, burnt like crazy (if you would call that meat but probably not after you saw how black I made them), My best friends Dads Ribs, i dunno they just dont taste like meat more like BBQ goodness.

Beside's i justify it. I wasnt born with Wisdom Teeth (no ability to ripe a tear over here), and i have unaturally flat K9's, there not pointy at all. So in all thruth the act of eating meat is more like a labour to me, and thus just not werth it.

It has nothing to do with it being fluffy or cute. Believe me, pigs and cows are not real fluffy or cute... but still. If I think about it too much, I get to thinking about how... alive... it used to be. I don't feel bad for the animal itself - as it certainly didn't know what was going on, let's not be too anthropomorphic about this - but the concept of eating something that was once living and breathing... well... it just doesn't go over too well with me.

And don't even start with the whole "plants live and breathe too" argument - that's an entirely different kingdom of creatures you're messing with there...

Ah, the veggie debate! Permit me to waffle on fer hours on this very subject!!

First off, a quote... "I didn't get to the top of the food chain to eat feckin rabbit food!" - me.

Yep, I actually said that to a veggie. She was a pious bee-atch. No, really - she'd sit there tellin me that meat is murder while I was eatin a packet of Beef flavour crisps (animal content of zero, an the nearest they got to a cow was when the delivery truck passed a field of 'em) while she's devourin a yoghurt thickened with gelatin - a delightful product produced by renderin freshly stripped animal bones...

People who say they are "veggie" and eat fish are NOT vegetarian! They simply don't eat red and/or white meat. It's not the same thing. I find these people deeply irritatin, cos they always argue that they are an that fish is irrelevant. A fish is irrelevant?? WTF?? Does it not live an breathe like any other animal??

I used to know a girl at school who was veggie, but her diet was so limited she ended up havin to take vitamins, protein tablets, iron tablets... you name it! How healthy is that??

I have no qualms wi people bein veggie on principle. I shared a house with a chap of such a persuasion, an he took it VERY seriously! He'd actually phone companies to find out how they produced things like lecithin and whey, he only ate vegetarian cheese... but he told me he was a lacto-ovo veggie, basically meanin he wouldn't eat anythin that was killed, but did not object to naturally unfertilised ovulations or milk as these didn't mean the end of a life.

I dun have a problem with anyone's life choices. Unless one of those choices is to bug me half to death over theirs. If yer a veggie, then that's fine by me. Jus don't try an convert me, cos it won't happen!

Personally, I like meat, an I'm prepared to try anythin once - I had veal once but didn't like it much... but I have enjoyed venison, game of various descriptions, shark, pike (bony buggers, them!), alligator, an even kangaroo! An guess what, not a chickeny flavour to be had anywhere!!

Alligator is the funniest meat I ever ate.. it smelled like fish tasted like fish but had the texture of chicken... quite interesting... anyway... I had a battle with meat for a while.. when i was 10 I had a pet chicken named Charlie.. I raised it from a chick... it was so sweet.. anyway.. so me and my grandmother are out in the yard and she says, wo wash up and get read to help with supper.. I asked what we where having and she said chicken pastery... about this time charlie the unsuspecting chick comes strolling by.. my grand mother reaches down, grabs my chicked around the neck swirls him around in the air twice and jerks his freaking neck off!!!!!!!! here in front of me was the chicken I raised running around headless..i was soooooooooooooooooo upset. I cannot express how upset I was...
but I got over it in a few years... *tear* -voice from stage left- on cold winter nights you can still hear a childs cry CHARLIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I swear that is a true story....
PS I still eat chicken...

That's really sad, rave... An the same goes fer cand too... I think it's terrible that family can do such horrid things in front of kids an really should jus leave em alone!! I bet in both cases they passed it off as "they gotta learn" Then these self same people complain how kids grow up too fast... pfft!

Kangaroo is like beef... a bit stronger an a LOT tougher!

I don't mind others being vegetarian, just so long as they don't get all preachy about it. Myself, I enjoy a variety of meats. I like veal. Rabbit is nice stewed. Venison is great. So's lamb and mutton. Pheasant is good, so long as you watch for bullets. And one of these days I'm going to have squirrel. A friend of mine promised to invite me over the next time her family had it. I might go veggie some day, but I don't think so.

I have been a vegetarian for about thirteen years now. It started because I felt sorry for the animals (actually I didn't eat certain kinds of meat long before then... but it was about 10-11 I actually became a vegetarian). I also get annoyed with people who say they are vegetarians and eat chicken or fish... that's just silly. Of course it was even worse in high school when at a party, this girl told me "Oh, yeah, I'm a vegetarian too" as she was eating her pepperoni pizza Anyways, now I can't even stand the smell of meat (some meat is REALLY bad when it's cooking)... sometimes it makes me feel REALLY sick... I definitely could not ever go back to eating meat.

But I also wouldn't preach to anyone about being a vegetarian. I figure everyone already knows what they are eating, and they can eat what they want to... I just don't like it when people criticize vegetarians too. I wouldn't try to make anyone stop eating something they want... or eat something they don't want to.

See, that's what I don't like. I was in Jacksonville (Florida, USA) at this club at Five Points (the alternative part of town) and on this table near the door were vegan pamphlets talking about how wonderful life can be without meat or dairy. It showed pictures of dairy-free ice cream and other desserts, veggie burgers, smoothies and other non-meat products. I kind of liked that because it wasn't pushing vegan views on anyone. It was enightening others to a different lifestyle thats almost-if-not-as good as the main stream. What really gets me are veggies or vegans who act like your a murderer if you grab a burger or protest a school because they serve meatball sandwiches. I never eat pork and eat beef sparingly, sticking mainly to chicken and seafood with the occasional venicin (deer meat). I grew up around heavy meat eaters, but I'm not that way. One of my dad's friends was a veggie. She even had a green house (where she grew more than vegetables, if you follow me). All in all, I don't condemn anyone for eating what they want to eat and I personally expect the same from others. To all veggies and vegans: Please take this to heart. I don't want to be called a bloodthirsty killer when I pick up a cheesesteak up at the deli anymore.

too true. as a rule of thumb, i'm okay with any beliefs (provided that they don't conflict with human nature, e.g. murder), as long as they work for a certain person...

If anyone has a problem with eating meat all they have to do is buy food from the Burger King or Mac Donalds at Victoria Train Station in London...

I swear to you - there is NO meat in any of their products (except the fries which are cooked in Beef Fat - but aren't actually made from potato)...

Common misconseption that... Mcdonalds is one of the best fast food resturants meat-wise because they get so much flack for it... now Pizza Hut, don't get any trouble, but didn't you ever wonder why they call beef and pork "Spicy."? well, its cause theres not actually enough beef or pork in either of those to justify calling it just beef or pork.. that goes for Chargrilled Chicken, and Cajun Chicken as well....

My apologies for hijacking the thread, but I'll get back on topic..

I grew up on a farm, I still live on a farm for quite a bit of the year... I got to see all those lovvey creatures that a lot of people feel sorry for eating in a completley different light.. yes, pigs are probably the best, but cows and sheep.. the only time I ever felt sorry for a cow was when I first saw it getting an injection, with cows its basicly a matter of plunging the needle in a coupla times, then actually injecting, but then I never was good with anything involving needles. A lot of vegetarians that I've met never really seemed to know what actually happens on farms, sheep, stupidest creatures alive, I personally freaking hate the smelly animals, its a little known fact that they can't walk backwards.. I've seen a lot of sheep die by walking into mud to get a drink getting stuck and, unable to turn around or go backwards, simply walk into the pond until they drown. I don't know, living on a farm has made me into a cold bastard about these things, and I don't actually mind vegitarians... well, I get more annoyed at people who see a farm animal and go "Aaww, isn't it cute!?!?!" Usually at a baby lamb... guh..guh.. gah..
Possibly thats my horribly inarticulate rant over.. I'm pretty tired, so let any nasty remarks slip please?

"I didn't fight my way to the top of the food chain to eat vegetables."

"Salad? That's what food eats!"

I love trying new food. I've had emu, bison, venison, pike (called jack fish round these parts) perch, lamb, veal (both excellent) calamari, mussels, and escargots. I liked pretty much all of them except for the emu and bisn. Quite tough and dry.

i figure us humans evolved to be omniverous, so there's nothing wrong with eating veggies and meat. as for the whole vegetarian thing, there are a lot of folks out there that eat more than their fair share of meat, and not enough veggies, so vegetarians are natures way of balancing stuff out... or something... i'm tired... anyway. eat what you bloody well want, i'm off to have some beef curry and salad. also lemon merangue pie.

True dat. We have both tearing teeth for meat and grinding teeth for vegatables. So there.

i hate that too. i eat mostly only chicken and fish, but only cause beef and pork make me feel sickly now....and i do not call myself a vegetarian. it would be ridiculous to do so. i didn't eat any meat, including chicken and fish when i did call myself one. all i ate then was eggs (the ones you buy at the supermarket aren't fertilized, so they wouldn't become a baby chick even if they were incubated) and dairy products (trust me, it hurts the cow none at all to be milked...hurts them if they aren't milked, however).

I first became a vegetarian when I was 12 years old. So I've been a vegetarian for over 10 years. My original reasoning was just because I loved animals too much to eat them. Plus I just wanted to do something different from everyone else. It was just a rather random decision for which I later came up with justifications and reasons. I don't eat anything that once had a heartbeat, but I do eat dairy and eggs.

Part of the reason I stick to a vegetarian diet is that I'm very uncomfortable with slaughtering practices, and the idea of raising animals just so we can eat them is absurd to me (not to mention a self-defeating waste of resources).

Another of my reasons still has to do with emotion/sympathy for the animals. I don't want to eat them because I like them too much as companions, and I do have sympathy for them. I am indeed concerned for the well-being of all animals around me, and it does concern me when an animal is unnecessarily killed for food. I don't care to downplay the influence of emotions and sympathy on my vegetarianism, although it is still only a part of the reason. It just bugs me that everyone else tends to devalue the effect of emotions on our actions, but we have, after all, evolved to become emotional, not just rational, beings and it has served us well in many ways. I just prefer to maintain an even balance between reason and emotion...

I also no longer like the taste, smell, or appearance of most meat. If I were to suddenly stop being vegetarian tomorrow, I would be able to begin eating chicken/turkey again, but the look, taste, and smell of beef or pork is rather disgusting to me now. It baffles me now how I could have ever eaten that putrid crap. *need a green puke icon here* Due to my changes in taste, I can't even feel comfortable eating tofu hot dogs or certain types of veggie burgers because they resemble the taste of the "real thing" too much (I only like the Original Gardenburger because it's not supposed to taste like meat, and it doesn't).

I want to stop eating dairy food, just because I think it's a little strange to rely on another species of animal to provide something that humyns can produce for themselves if they really wanted to (haha). Plus it's another one of those "not really necessary" parts of the diet, once you hit a certain age anyway. I have tried numerous, numerous times to become vegan, but it never works. Having grown up in Dairy Country somewhere in the Midwest, dairy food has just become my staple food, so it's really difficult trying to phase it out. Not only that, but I'm a lazy cook, which means that if it doesn't come in a box or a can, then it doesn't belong in my kitchen. Having said that, it's almost impossible to find completely vegan food that comes prepackaged in a box or a can. So I fall back to my old habits all the time (plus I just can't live without pizza, and the vegan variety is just way too expensive for me). As for eggs...blah, I don't really have an opinion on them. It bugs me when egg-laying chickens live in bad conditions, of course, but now they have free-range/organic eggs and stuff. But I don't really consume eggs that much anyway, so it's irrelevant to me.

But it's largely my objection to the treatment of animals and the deprivation of their free lives that causes me to be vegetarian. If I were shipwrecked on an island, and my sustenance depended on the eating of some sort of animal, I would of course attempt to hunt them and eat them. I have few moral objections to eating animals in a situation where it's necessary.

I certainly don't push my beliefs or practices on others though. If I did, I don't think my meat-eating partner would still be living with me.

By the way...to the people who said that it's okay to eat some animals because of their lower intelligence level, how do you differentiate between that and eating severely mentally challenged people or newborn babies, since they have low intelligence levels as well? Not attacking ya, just a question to get you to think some more and see what ideas you come up with.

this is only voicing my opinion. it is dirrected at no one in particular.
i like meat. i like nothing more than tucking into a nice bit of dead cattle flesh. i like the taste, texture, and most of all the flavour.i like eating fish. they also taste good.birds too. does this make me evil? like hell it does! this is my personal choice. how dare anyone think that they are better than me because they decide that their animal-flesh-eating days are over! how dare they look down their noses at me while i am trying to enjoy my damn meal of prime cow arse! if you are so worried about the animal why the hell have you decided to have lunch in this place, which serves one veggie alternative to the twenty or so meat products that are on the menu? get out of my f**king face you whinney a$$hole!

if any vegitarian or vegan can convince me that eating meat is wrong, without using the "but that gazing land could be used to grow blah amount of blah" arguemeent, i will send that person a gold medal.

A few months ago I was walking down the high street (eating a hot dog as it happens) when I was accosted by a mad woman with a placard and a toy pig. She was a 'militant vegetarian' - you know, the sort who call you Satan for enjoying your lunch.
The basis of her argument was 'Don't eat dead animals. They don't like it'. She got oddly angry with me when I pointed out that she was using a rather curious statement. If I were to stick a fork in a live animal and start munching away I'm sure it would be rather nonplussed. Dead ones on the other hand are a little past it!
Fun day that!

By the way - I know a couple of vegans and am undecided about telling them that they cant drink most beers because isinglass is used to make it clear...

Isinglass
Gelatinous semitransparent substance obtained by cleaning and drying the air bladders of the sturgeon, cod, hake, and other fishes. Isinglass is manufactured in Russia, the United States, Canada, Brazil, Indonesia, the West Indies, and the Philippines. It is used in the clarification of wines and beers, as a stiffening for jellies, in court plaster, and in glues and cements. The name isinglass is also commonly applied to thin sheets of mica and sometimes to a gelatinous substance obtained from certain seaweeds.

Do you think I should traumatise them?

meh..i was just joking when i said that myself....cause of the fact that i hate chickens w/ a passion (my parents raise them) and well fish just sorta scare me..lol. the real reason they're the only things i eat (most of the time, anyway)is that they're the only meat that doesn't make me feel queasy.

i don't see how someone who was serious would differentiate between that and eating severely mentally challenged people or newborn babies....it seems like the same principle to me.

I've been a vegetarian for 6 or 7 years now mainly because I am opposed to the view of breeding animals solely to satisfy our platters. I was told once of the conditions that some animals (which are bred for their meat) have been kept in and also the methods in which these animals are killed and I found it to be incredibaly inhumane. I do not eat anything that was once alive and I only eat vegetarian cheese and free range eggs.

I do not in any way try to impose my beliefs on to my friends even though they try to convince me that I should eat meat, and once even criticised me for eating Quorn and said that I was "not a propper vegetarian" ( I don't know how they worked that out).

I am not planning to return to my meat eating days as I am sticking to my principles and also I now find that the smells of some meat is off putting.

I LOVE MEAT!
i would die without it. i love the way it tastes and the way it smells and i dont care if im eating a dead animal because you know what?!!?!?! a lot of the dead animals that we eat eat dead animals!!! we are meant to be omnivoires! if someone doesnt like the way meat tastes, thats good for them, they shouldnt eat it. i hate fruit, i wont eat it. i always have. if it really bothers you so much to eat another animal, then dont. just dont bug me about it!!!!! its my choice to eat what i eat. im with monjan when he says this:
besides the everything tastes like chicken thing. lol. well i happen to love veal and lamb and chicken and steak and emu was good i only had a little though, i really wanna try rabbit!!!!!

Has anyone here ever read Jonathon Swift's A Modest Proposal for Preventing the Children of Poor People from Being a Burthen? It's one of his best satires! I just suddenly hit on it when I read about eating babies. If any of you want to read it, go to:

http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/%7Erbear/modest.html

I'm like that too... I won't eat any of the vegetarian products that are made to look and taste like the real thing... it just seems gross to me. But I do like those Gardenburgers!!! yummmmmmm

if a lion would eat a cow why cant i?

but for the record im definatly not a vegantarian