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Vegetarianism


benzzz
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Well, I admire vegetarians for what they do. I've always been an animal protector, I love them, they're very cute. On the other side, even I love them I eat meat because I am a thin person so I need calories and proteines which meat has. I don't see any problem in eating meat beacause.. it's a nutriment.

I don't eat meat, eggs and milk friday because of my religion [i'm an ortodox christian] and I DON'T consider me a vegetarian.

 

Again, I admire vegetarians for their love for animals but I'll never be an vegetarian.

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I tried to live veggy once but gave up after a week. couldn't see the cheese and marmalade to put on my bread any more.

i'm kind of awkward at this at all. for some reason i don't mind eating swin or chicken meat but yesterday i almost bawled when i was meant to eat a bunny. even apologized to it before started eating in the end.

 

so, i really respect and admire people having the strenght to keep this up and live without meat.

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I'm pretty sure I've said a lot about this before, but I'll say a few things now too, haha.

I was a semi-vegetarian for 1,5 years, meaning I ate fish and chicken, but no red meat. I've always been an animal lover, and I've always had some sort of animal around me. If it was for me, I'd cut out chicken and fish too, but my parents and doctor said it was better if I started with red meat, and then see how it went. It didn't go all that well. I was sick for long periods, and my immune system wasn't exactly the best. So, after 1,5 years of loads of sickness I started eating red meat again. I didn't want to though.

 

I got a lot of shit for it too. From people that didn't have any thing to do with. I was called after at school, people just made fun of me for it. Even my teacher laughed of me because of it. Needless to say that wasn't all that fun, but oh well, people suck.

 

Anyways, I have a lot of respect for people who've gone through pretty much all their life being vegans/vegetarians. I'd like to try again. My plan is next year when I move out, it's a lot easier then :)

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just to warn you ahead of time, this is going to be really long and all over the place. i'll be amazed if anyone actually reads it all and understands it hahaha. however, animal welfare is something very dear to me so i have a lot of opinions around it. (note that i said animal welfare, not rights. they're two different things. i'm no extremist PETA freak, just fyi.)

 

first i'd like to address the idea that dairy and eggs are 'fine' because 'we're not killing the animals'. slaughter is not the only form of suffering animals go through. these animals are stuffed into cages and factories where most of the time they can't even turn around. they have no fresh air, no sun, no veterinary or basic care, no proper food. i'd be surprised if they even had clean water. in fact, when egg laying hens aren't 'doing their job' they're denied food and water, sometimes for weeks at a time, to 'shock' them into laying an egg. male chicks are brutally murdered right after they're born because they cannot lay eggs and they're not good enough for meat. chickens raised for eggs and chickens raised for meat are different breeds of sorts. they're beaten by the 'farmers' and left there, dead or alive. they don't care. they have their beaks seared off with a hot blade so they can't peck each other. do these chickens look okay to you? dairy cows don't have it any better. they're locked away just like the chickens (and pigs raised for meat). they're consistently impregnated so they can produce milk. the machines they use to milk them are often painful. once the calf is born, it's ripped away from the mother and sold for veal. when the cow's productivity drops it's slaughtered for meat. both cows and hens have dramatically shorter lives than they normally should because of all the stress. yes, chickens laying eggs and cows producing milk is 'natural', but there's absolutely nothing natural about how we're going about it.

 

i'm sure most people are aware of the brutality happening to animals raised for meat. quite similar to dairy cows and chickens. if you're not, google it. meat.org had some pretty horrifying videos that scared me off eating meat. one of the things i forgot to mention above is that these animals have been bred so they grow bigger and faster. this usually results in broken bones and other injuries. many animals starve to death because they literally cannot walk to get food. i watched a documentary a few weeks ago (food, inc.) and in one scene the cows are literally up to their knees in their own shit. animals that are diseased, injured, nearly dead are still slaughtered and sold for you to eat. food poisoning much? a lot of diseases and infections that come from food nowadays are mutated from previous strains because of how we produce the meat. not to mention all the growth hormones, pesticides, and antibiotics that are now in there. think about that next time you eat a hamburger and see how you feel.

 

another point i'd like to talk about is the environmental impact of factory farming. check out this page. i'll sum some of it up for people too lazy to read that. the large majority of crops grown in the US (and i'm sure elsewhere as well) goes to feeding livestock. we're producing almost six times as much meat as we were 50 years ago. livestock is also one of if not the biggest contributor to greenhouse gases. where's all the global warming freaks? worry about that instead of wasting money on 'electric' cars. going to post some direct quotes now.

 

If 1/3 of Americans switched from eating one 3 ½-ounce serving of beef, one egg, and a one-ounce serving of cheese each day to a mix of vegetables, fruit, beans, and whole grains:

(United Nations, Food and Agriculture Organization, 2006.)

 

  • Acres of cropland spared: 180 million (an area larger than the state of Texas)
  • Tonnes of pesticides eliminated: 9,375
  • Tonnes of fertilizer eliminated: 2 million
  • Tonnes of manure eliminated*: 570 million (* Livestock manure and flatulence generate 30-40% of total methane emissions from human-influenced activities.)

Pounds of grain needed to produce enough meat and other livestock products to support a person for a year: 2,000

Pounds needed to support a person for a year if grain is eaten directly: 400

 

Number of additional people who could be fed if all grain grown in US for livestock was used to feed people: 800 million

 

Amount of meat consumed by the average person worldwide 50 years ago: 45 pounds, today: 90.3 pounds

bit shocking, isn't it?

i have an unlimited amount of respect for vegetarians, and vegans especially. the dedication and effort it takes to follow a proper vegan lifestyle is outstanding. there's animal products and by-products in everything. food, personal care products, household products, clothing, furniture...you name it, there's probably some kind of animal derived ingredient in there. who would think that marshmallows contain animal ingredients? how about your daily multivitamin? hello, gelatin. they're everywhere. now i'm not saying if you're not vegetarian/vegan you're a horrible person, because i don't believe that. as i said in the beginning, i believe in animal welfare. the idea of using animals for things like food and clothing in and of itself does not bother me. what bothers me is how we do it. and i definitely believe people need to be more aware of what is going on and demand change.

 

anyway, i think i said everything i wanted to. if you actually read all this...congratulations, you're probably the only one. :razz:

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Jorgi is correct.

 

Matt is a racist.

 

Nice to look back and see me reference farting cows as a reason to eat meat lol and I was ready to reference cats this time too. Basically cats need meat to live, a vegetarian cat is a dead cat.

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just to warn you ahead of time, this is going to be really long and all over the place. i'll be amazed if anyone actually reads it all and understands it hahaha. however, animal welfare is something very dear to me so i have a lot of opinions around it. (note that i said animal welfare, not rights. they're two different things. i'm no extremist PETA freak, just fyi.)

 

first i'd like to address the idea that dairy and eggs are 'fine' because 'we're not killing the animals'. slaughter is not the only form of suffering animals go through. these animals are stuffed into cages and factories where most of the time they can't even turn around. they have no fresh air, no sun, no veterinary or basic care, no proper food. i'd be surprised if they even had clean water. in fact, when egg laying hens aren't 'doing their job' they're denied food and water, sometimes for weeks at a time, to 'shock' them into laying an egg. male chicks are brutally murdered right after they're born because they cannot lay eggs and they're not good enough for meat. chickens raised for eggs and chickens raised for meat are different breeds of sorts. they're beaten by the 'farmers' and left there, dead or alive. they don't care. they have their beaks seared off with a hot blade so they can't peck each other. do these chickens look okay to you? dairy cows don't have it any better. they're locked away just like the chickens (and pigs raised for meat). they're consistently impregnated so they can produce milk. the machines they use to milk them are often painful. once the calf is born, it's ripped away from the mother and sold for veal. when the cow's productivity drops it's slaughtered for meat. both cows and hens have dramatically shorter lives than they normally should because of all the stress. yes, chickens laying eggs and cows producing milk is 'natural', but there's absolutely nothing natural about how we're going about it.

 

i'm sure most people are aware of the brutality happening to animals raised for meat. quite similar to dairy cows and chickens. if you're not, google it. meat.org had some pretty horrifying videos that scared me off eating meat. one of the things i forgot to mention above is that these animals have been bred so they grow bigger and faster. this usually results in broken bones and other injuries. many animals starve to death because they literally cannot walk to get food. i watched a documentary a few weeks ago (food, inc.) and in one scene the cows are literally up to their knees in their own shit. animals that are diseased, injured, nearly dead are still slaughtered and sold for you to eat. food poisoning much? a lot of diseases and infections that come from food nowadays are mutated from previous strains because of how we produce the meat. not to mention all the growth hormones, pesticides, and antibiotics that are now in there. think about that next time you eat a hamburger and see how you feel.

 

another point i'd like to talk about is the environmental impact of factory farming. check out this page. i'll sum some of it up for people too lazy to read that. the large majority of crops grown in the US (and i'm sure elsewhere as well) goes to feeding livestock. we're producing almost six times as much meat as we were 50 years ago. livestock is also one of if not the biggest contributor to greenhouse gases. where's all the global warming freaks? worry about that instead of wasting money on 'electric' cars. going to post some direct quotes now.

 

 

bit shocking, isn't it?

i have an unlimited amount of respect for vegetarians, and vegans especially. the dedication and effort it takes to follow a proper vegan lifestyle is outstanding. there's animal products and by-products in everything. food, personal care products, household products, clothing, furniture...you name it, there's probably some kind of animal derived ingredient in there. who would think that marshmallows contain animal ingredients? how about your daily multivitamin? hello, gelatin. they're everywhere. now i'm not saying if you're not vegetarian/vegan you're a horrible person, because i don't believe that. as i said in the beginning, i believe in animal welfare. the idea of using animals for things like food and clothing in and of itself does not bother me. what bothers me is how we do it. and i definitely believe people need to be more aware of what is going on and demand change.

 

anyway, i think i said everything i wanted to. if you actually read all this...congratulations, you're probably the only one. :razz:

 

read it!

Do i get something for that?

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I'm not a vegetarian but I kind of think it's wrong to eat animals. I know this is really hypocritical and I feel bad about it but I just cannot do it. On one hand, I'm a Christian and I think God put animals here for our benefit, but I don't think that means we need to be cruel to them. I also feel like we are intellegent enough at this point to understand that it's wrong, and know how to get what we need from meat from other food. It just makes sense to me.

But I just cannot give up meat. Everytime I try, I cave and eat a burger. But I totally respect anyone who is a vegetarian. You're awesome.

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Feels wrong naturally to eat animals. I wonder if they feel pain? You know...Slicing the throats of cows left and right. It's horrible. But not. Hah, We eat em and have hamburgers and good shit like that. But they were once living and once moving and once living for itself. What if cows got super smart and we stayed at our intelligence and they started killing us left and right. Probably feel a bit silly after then.

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  • 9 months later...

I'm not a vegetarian but I kind of think it's wrong to eat animals. I know this is really hypocritical and I feel bad about it but I just cannot do it. On one hand, I'm a Christian and I think God put animals here for our benefit, but I don't think that means we need to be cruel to them. I also feel like we are intellegent enough at this point to understand that it's wrong, and know how to get what we need from meat from other food. It just makes sense to me.

But I just cannot give up meat. Everytime I try, I cave and eat a burger. But I totally respect anyone who is a vegetarian. You're awesome.

 

I agree with you about the "God put animals here for our benefit," part, and I do NOT support animal abuse, (in fact, one day I hope to have a charity against animal abuse) but I still eat meat. I do not eat cow, pig, or fish though because they suffer a slow, painful, death.

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  • 3 weeks later...

i turned vegetarian in like may or something i think, after having some kind of a key moment. it makes me laugh to be honest how most of the people i know can't really deal with it since they always keep asking me if i don't even eat the famoous spaghetti with bolognese then or what i do on christmas. it really doesn't bother me though, i'm happier to see a living and happy animal instead of satisfying my hunger with it.

 

what sometimes really is a bit hard for me though, i have to confess, is to stay away from gummi bears or fruit cakes which mostly contain gelatine as binder. but i could deny them pretty good so far.

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  • 1 month later...

I've been a vegetarian for about 4 years now, and I never really found it hard.

I mean, at first, my health was kind of bad because my body was adjusting, but I never wanted to call it quits.

For those of you who do struggle with missing ribs or burgers or anything, Walmart sells vegetarian replacements by Morning Star Farms. They're found in the frozen food aisle. Green boxes. Everything is pretty good, except the "chicken" nuggets.

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  • 1 year later...
  • 4 months later...

Hi there! I'm a vegetarian and decided to stay so and not to become vegan, even if I can do it no problem.

 

I realized right away how healthy and light I felt when I stopped eating meat and fish. I don't miss at all, but there's something for sure: my budget on food is always more expensive than my friends'. Also, when you eat vegetables and fruit more often and you make it the centre of your diet, you start appreciating better how tasteless and bland are these vegetables that are sold at the supermarkets. The alternative for me is ordering ecological products from small co-ops of farms (that won't use pesticides, besides). Yet again, super expensive.

 

Maybe in the future there'll be a way to eat meat without killing animals thanks to science. I found this new recently: A team of scientists have created a lab-made burger made from cells taken from a cow (the meat isn't taken from livestock, instead they create the steak directly, no animal suffers). Have a look at it!

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