Why are you a vegetarian?

[mm84321]

I've noticed a preponderance of vegetarian related discussion among the boards recently and it has made me wonder as to why some of you are vegetarians. Is it solely for reasons pertaining to morals/ethics? Do you believe you are doing your health a service by abstaining from meat? If so, why? What led you to vegetarianism? Conversely, I'd also be interested to hear from the omnivorous folks as to why they are not vegetarians.

 

[willpower]

'Because I really hate plants' - David Sedaris

 

[2quiet]

As an ethics major I've looked a fair bit at the vegetarianism case, and find nothing wrong with eating most animals. I do, however, think that the factory farming methods used in about 99% of animal farming is ethically wrong, however, and would like people to move away from that.

That having been said, I do eat meat, albeit not a great deal of it (mostly because there's a lot of meat I just don't like - certainly not into steaks for instance). This certainly has health benefits - whilst there is nothing unhealthy about eating some meat, most people are eating far too much of it. Animal meat and salt are two things which humans have come to crave because they used to be very hard to get - when we had to spend hours hunting down meat, and couldn't readily produce table salt in a sprinklable form, but rather got it through naturally salty foods. Evolutionarily we were programmed to want it so that we would bother going to the lengths required to get it, but today meat and salt are so easily obtainable that our continued predisposition towards them sees us over eat them a lot.

So, don't know how much I've helped, but having studied it I've seen no convincing ethical argument as to why we shouldn't eat meat, however there are some convincing nutritional studies which show that we shouldn't eat too much of it (and as a group, certainly not as much as we do).

 

[Kajak]

1) Meat tastes good
2) We didn't take over the planet by eating plants. Meat developed our brains.
3) It is insanely easier to eat healthy with meat
4) Fish is full of Ω3s, and
Counter argument:
5) If you don't want to eat a pound of meat a day, by all means don't. Eat small, food guidesque portions of organic, free range stuff

 

[gort]

Just dropping in to link a great anthony bourdain quote, even though his voice annoys me profusely. http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show/37262

"Vegetarians, and their Hezbollah-like splinter-faction, the vegans, are a persistent irritant to any chef worth a damn. To me, life without veal stock, pork fat, sausage, organ meat, demi-glace, or even stinky cheese is a life not worth living. Vegetarians are the enemy of everything good and decent in the human spirit, an affront to all I stand for, the pure enjoyment of food. The body, these waterheads imagine, is a temple that should not be polluted by animal protein. It's healthier, they insist, though every vegetarian waiter I've worked with is brought down by any rumor of a cold. Oh, I'll accomodate them, I'll rummage around for something to feed them, for a 'vegetarian plate', if called on to do so. Fourteen dollars for a few slices of grilled eggplant and zucchini suits my food cost fine."

 

[sho'nuff]

im sometimes a vegetarian:

on days when there is not really much to eat at home, and coincidentally i had a salad for lunch at work.

on days during and right after being tremendously ill.

when i am at my mom's house..



i would love to be a vegetarian full-time, but i love to eat meat too much.

 

[GraphicNovelty]

When I was a vegetarian, I figured that i could survive fine without meat, and the only reason i ate meat wasfor my own heidonistic enjoyment that came at the expense of another creature's life.

I still think I could if i wasn't attempting to be as physically fit as possible. And if i was still in college. But really I just want mah protein.

 

[Scrumhalf]

Vegetarian from birth (my family is Hindu).

Never felt the need to change. And not killing any sentient life is a bonus.

 

[grit]

It's long, but if you're interested in the subject, David Foster Wallace's essay about the Maine Lobster Festival is well worth the read, and is IMO one of the best essays I've ever read on any subject, mainly because it is so effective at reframing the discussion to where vegetarianism is the norm and carnivorousness must be justified, and is also totally devoid of preaching.

 

[mm84321]

Originally Posted by Scrumhalf

Vegetarian from birth (my family is Hindu). Never felt the need to change. And not killing any sentient life is a bonus.
My hindu friend got into Wharton Business school with a college essay recounting his experience of having to kill lobsters while working at a local market.

 

[deadly7]

Originally Posted by gort

Just dropping in to link a great anthony bourdain quote, even though his voice annoys me profusely.

http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show/37262

You found that quote "great"? You must be a brain-dead jock and/or have an IQ of 30. Believe it or not, most vegetarians are normal people and not the dipshits from PETA on the news.

 

[Exalt]

Originally Posted by Scrumhalf

Vegetarian from birth (my family is Hindu).

Never felt the need to change. And not killing any sentient life is a bonus.

My parents are Hindu as well, but I am an atheist. My mom has always been a vegetarian and my dad never has been. I ate meat as a child and then in 6th grade I started thinking it was gross - I haven't eaten it since. My sister and dad still eat meat.

It has nothing to do with ethics for me. I wear leather jackets and shoes, but I am not about to eat them.

 

[randomax]

Similar story here, I am also Hindu although my father eats meat. I've been on and off meat for most of my life but have been vegetarian since the last four years.

I'd always been conflicted when I ate meat, so it was mostly a moral decision. That being said, if it gets to a point where I feel my health depended on it I wouldn't necessarily mind starting again. Bottom line, I don't feel that eating meat is justified just because it tastes good. Ofcourse, if it comes to my survival or health I wouldn't mind eating it.

 

[Nil]

My reason for eating meat: animals are delicious.

 

[utailor]

I eat mostly fat free vegan and raw food at home. Basically all the time. When I go out which is maybe 2-3 times a week I eat whatever I feel like (no junk food though).

Going to an excellent steak house here next weekend for a tomahawk cut wagyu beef on my wifes bd. She keeps it the same like me. We don't mind eating meat and actually like it from time to time but eating really healthy and good is our priority and that means vegan / raw food.

If anyone believes eating a lot of meat is healthy you guys have no idea and at best have read nutrition books from lifestyle docs instead of the real research papers from scientists.