Vegetarian? How long?

[uppityperson]

Are you a vegetarian, for how long and why?

I am not a vegetarian right now as I eat meat (mostly seafood) 1-2 times a week, and I eat eggs and milk products. I have been in the past for moral and health reasons. I raised, butchered and ate rabbits and chickens 15 yrs ago. I currently raise chickens for eggs, manure and fun.

Edited to make different poll for why since it will only let you vote once. http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x2987613

[justinsb]

1. I haven't eaten meat since 91

It takes 12 pounds of grain to produce 1 pound of meat so , if you were to be given a choice between 1 lb of steak or 5 lbs of Rice, 4 lbs of wheat (for bread), and 3 lbs of soy (for protein) what would you take? From a world hunger standpoint meat just doesn't make sense.

Also, one of the primary reasons for deforestation in the Amazon is so that cattle can be grazed, so that US fast food chains can get cheap beef. Rain forest land isn't particularly good though, it takes thousands of years for a rain forest to develop and the soil, once the rain forest is removed is weak so if you cut down 100 acres to graze cattle this year, you have to cut down another 100 acres next year because the first 100 acres is spent.

[Kali]

14. except that you can also produce meat

from inedible (for humans anyway) cellulose, such as grass and browse. Niether chickens nor cattle HAVE to be fed grain, (or raised in cleared rainforests) and in fact cattle are naturally rather low on the food chain, lower than most fish!

[justinsb]

15. Ok but

the land you use to grow 'inedible' grain can also usually be used to grow edible grain at least wheat and probably potatoes.

[Kali]

19. not here, without pumping groundwater.

4500 feet - very rocky granitic/sandy soils 15-16 inch primarily summer rainfall - grows good grass and mesquite, some oak at higher elevations, not enough winter moisture for wheat - too hot in summer.

Classic RANGEland. Not cultivatable (is that a word?) but perfect for raising livestock.

[tjdee]

2. I was for about a year, then I got pregnant.

I was a vegetarian because of the animal reasons (I ate eggs, cheese and milk. My criteria was whether I could have those things without killing the animal).

But when I got pregnant I craved meat something awful. I'd gulp it down like a maniac.

And now I don't have the time (or money actually) to do it right with enough nutrients for me and the kid. Maybe someday again...I don't know.

But I do like a cheesesteak. Tofu just doesn't hit it.

[bryant69]

7. That's the thing

If I were a vegetarian scientist the first and most important thing to invent is a meat supplement that actually works. I'm not sure it's possible, but it should be.

Bryant
Check it out --> http://politicalcomment.blogspot.com

[leesa]

25. What do you mean..." a meat supplement that actually works"???

There is no reason whatsoever to have meat in your diet, so this makes no sense. If you like meat, go ahead, I guess.

I do not think it will be a viable food source for long though. Far too expensive both economically and water-wise.

[sabra]

3. Keep kosher

So kind of a vegetarian in public...

[prayin4rain]

4. 7 years. Animal rights and the environment.

I think if the animals were treated with more respect it may be OK. I, unlike many vegetarians, don't have a problem with people who hunt and then eat the animals. I think this is much better than buying meat at the supermarket. The entire meat industry is absolutely DISGUSTING in every way. Mass production of animals for slaughter and sale. And how people will eat half of their hamburgers and then go, oh gee I am full and just throw the rest of it away. And how much of the meat spoils. No reverence is given to the fact that meat, used to be able to feel the sun on it's back and be a conscious animal. Anyway, I am not saying in all circumstances eating meat is terrible, but certainly the way it is done nowadays, is just horrible. I will never eat another animal again.

[TyeDye75]

5. I have been forced to give up many foods

over the last year because of IBS...and because many meats are bad for me I decided to go Veggie.

Although it is something I thought about... before the choice was taken away.

[Guy Fawkes]

6. I read Upton Sinclair's "The Jungle"

and then "The Hotzone" (forgot the writer)

[G_j]

8. with scattered exceptions

about 35 yrs.

[imenja]

9. problem with your poll

You are asking whether people are vegetarians and for how long, and also their reasons for being vegetarian. All the yes responders could answer yes on both parts of the poll. You really need two separate polls here.

[uppityperson]

10. Not sure how to make it possible to vote twice so did another poll

[evolvenow]

11. When I was four, I saw a vein in a piece of ham, went veg forty years,kill

ing is WRONG. Murder is wrong. Animal are sentient, they feel pain, have emotions, suffer, and meat tastes, looks...like a dead animal!! With a life based on non-violence, and being a voice for those who are suffering , it is the only choice for me! Plus, now there are so many delicious options.
Animals are beautiful and I will do everything I can, to protect them.
Of course, by being a vegetarian, you substantially lighten the burden on the planet, which could lessen world hunger, water sources, pollution, cancer, obesity, heart disease, prostate, kidney disease, environmental devastation, needless cruelty to animals. But those are my reasons, everyone makes their own choices. I wish the world would go veggie, it would be such a beautiful world!

[UdoKier]

12. If you eat fish or chicken, you are NOT a vegetarian.

I have had several acquaintances that ate chicken and fish and claimed to be "vegetarians".

Meat is meat. I am not a vegetarian, but that just irks me for some reason...

[uppityperson]

18. Irks me to. You can not eat red meat, but meat=meat, not veg

Sort of like "I don't eat sugar" while snacking on sweetened breakfast cereal and flavored latte.

[jmm]

20. I also ask chicken and seafood eating "vegetarians"

where I can buy a salmon or chicken tree?

[UdoKier]

26. Heh heh. nt

nt

[mr blur]

13. Been a vegetarian for 20 years

Never missed meat once. I was never comfortable with eating something that had been alive then slaughtered just so that I could eat it. Just the smell of a butcher's shop/counter makes me feel sick. See a piece of meat on a plate and it's just death warmed up.
I'm answering because you asked but I never push my ways onto other people. That's their business. Funny, though, how people who find out that I don't eat meat/fish etc. always have to confront me and ask or even demand to know why. I feel it says more about them than me. It's as if they want a chance to justify what they do.

[The Revolution]

16. Can't be vegetarian...

...must...have...chicken!

Mmmmmmmm...chicken.

[Walt Starr]

17. I was a vegetarian once

It lasted until lunch.

[bloodyjack]

21. It's been ~12 years

Having fully understood the connection between meat and its source(s)

[Stuckinthebush]

22. Vegan, actually

My wife read a stat to me last night:

50% of men eventually die of a heart attack
4% of vegan men eventually die of a heart attack

I need to check the stat, but if true, it is interesting.

[Curtis]

23. Been vegan for 20 years now

in 1985 I almost died because I came down with some extremely rare disease where my body just cannot digest animal protien. So, it was either die or stop eating meat. My wife went vegan 4 years later, and we've never looked back.

[Piperay]

24. Vegetarian over 40 years

quit eating meat when I was a little girl, never liked it, it was repulsive to me. :puke:

[eridani]

27. I'm a steako-lactovegetarian

Meaning that I am working on incorporating more vegetarian main dished into my diet, but not quite up to giving up on meat entirely.

[T Town Jake]

28. Ah...I had Sirloin & Lobster Tails last night at my favorite...

...restaurant; a T-Bone one evening and then a Tenderloin another earlier this week - and a rack of pork ribs is on the menu for my household tonight. They are marinating in my refrigerator as I type right now.

Sunday I intend to take it easy: Roasted Lamb and Calf Fries for the playoffs with friends. Half-time is going to be scrumptious. :9