Vegetarianism; your thoughts?

[Jas0n]

Are you a vegetarian?
Why are you a vegetarian?

It seems more and more people are turning to vegetarianism as a means of protect animals from cruelty or to save the environment. Personally, I find these to be badly thought out mindsets.

Firstly, most people seem to forget that humans are omnivores. Our natural anatomy requires that we eat both meat and plants. While you can get all the nutrients required for survival purely from one of those sources it's definitely not the most optimum way to go about things, our brains wouldn't have grown to as large as they are today without being omnivores.

While vegetarianism may be a short-term answer to protecting animals and the environment, in the long-term much more harm will be done with the increasing demand for farming. Soy, wheat and corn all take up huge amounts of space, destroying forests and grasslands where animals both live and feed. Without these areas, the animals quickly die out purely due to a lack of hospitable environments and food. These are obviously more humane ways to die than slaughtering the animals but in the long run, far more animals are harmed this way and much more of the environment is destroyed.

If you really wished to protect against cruelty to animals and save the environment, or even just be as healthy as you can be, the best thing to do is to continue being an omnivore. Eat natural, locally farmed meat and produce.

 

[EpicGamer12]

I'm not a vegetarian solely because I don't think I could handle not eating meat...
I can't go without meat, to be perfectly honest...
How could I?
Meat...
But yes, vegetarianism is a very good and healthy practice as long as you maintain a healthy balance and don't just eat cabbage the whole time. I think it's a good thing to do.

 

[Stevey Queen]

I love meat too much to ever become a vegetarian. Plus, I'm aware that we are meant to eat animals. However, the thought of animals in slaughter houses makes me sad and I choose not to think about that. Kinda unrelated but I saw this video of this chinese place skinning animals fur off while they were alive and it made me sick. They could at least kill them before doing that :c So i am against the use of real fur for products like clothes.

Not that there's anything I can do about that :/

 

[Jas0n]

I'm not a vegetarian solely because I don't think I could handle not eating meat...
I can't go without meat, to be perfectly honest...
How could I?
Meat...
But yes, vegetarianism is a very good and healthy practice as long as you maintain a healthy balance and don't just eat cabbage the whole time. I think it's a good thing to do.

I think it's a huge misconception that Vegetarianism is healthy for you. I'm going to quote something here:

Vegetarians and vegans have to get the bulk of their calories from other sources than meat and often end up eating larger portions of soy, wheat or other grain based products. Tofu, soy milk, breads, pastas, rice, … Those products are toxic and lead to a high carbohydrate load which could lead to chronically high insulin levels, weight gain and diabetes in the long run.

Of course, many vegetarians will instead lose weight, but my understanding is that they miss some highly bio-available meat protein and a lot of the nutrients available in much greater quantity in meat in a form that’s easily absorbed like iron or copper. Our digestive system is short and can’t digest cellulose. Eating more nutrient-dense foods like meat and animal fat leaves more energy for other processes to happen.

Most herbivores have to eat slowly all day long and have a digestive system to digest cellulose by a fermentation process. This job often requires more than one stomach. Comparatively, most carnivores can eat more infrequently and will stay well fed for a much longer period of time after eating, This is a good thing because they can survive for a couple of days if they don’t make any kills for a while.

 

[muffun]

I'm a staunch activist for the ethical treatment of animals and I'm entirely against animal cruelty. However, I do still eat meat. I agree with a lot of the points in the OP about the omnivorous nature of people, and while I definitely respect vegetarians and vegans, I don't necessarily agree with their rationales for refusing to eat meat. There simply aren't many (if any) benefits to adopting a diet like this...the only one I can think of is the sense of moral accomplishment you get from not eating meat. Most people don't realize you can be an animal rights activist without having to give up eating animals outright. If the animals are treated humanely, then there shouldn't be an issue. But perhaps this is just my opinion.

Also, I don't eat too much meat only because I find it kind of gross, but I eat enough of the stuff to meet/exceed my daily nutritional requirements.

 

[Mary]

As long as they aren't actually hurting themselves by being vegetarian, I guess it's okay. My sis is a vegetarian because she can't bear the thought of animals being killed.

 

[Pokeking]

I eat chicken and fish mostly especially fish during this Lenten time. There've been sometimes that I've had neither, but going meatless forever, I don't think I could do it.

 

[Jake]

I am not vegetarian, but I really don't like red meat that much (I only like lamb and thats about all) and I only like certain types of white meat (TUNA!!), but vegetarian food is really nice.

I don't have anything against vegetarians - people are allowed their own opinions and beliefs, and I respect that.


But I don't agree with veganism (kinda contradicting myself here #yolo) because they're like 'o i only eat plants animals have feelingzzz' plants have feelings too so I just think vegans are kinda (I would say stupid but that's rude)... ignorant? blunt? (sorry if anyone here is vegan). Hard for me to explain, when I was 13 I did a huge debate on vegans and **** so it's something that I'm passionate about and don't understand

 

[Kip]

I wanna become a vegetarian, but that would be very hard due to my current lifestyle. I used to think of animals as soulless creatures... but as i matured i began to understand that they have souls just like humans, just not as good a brain.

 

[Officer Berri]

I'm not a vegetarian. I've tried to go about eating no meat before and I wound up feeling sick and sluggish every time. On top of that I started getting junk food cravings because I simply did not feel like I'd ate enough during the day. I wound up gaining weight because I was eating so much more because for one reason or another my brain and stomach would not acknowledge I had eaten enough to be full when I was only eating salads and stuff like broccoli.

Though until my mom moved in with us and starting cooking real meals, I'd forgotten what meat could actually taste like. I: Grandma is too lazy to cook anything that doesn't come in a TV dinner box.

 

[oath2order]

I have a joke for you all. How do you know if someone is a vegetarian?

They'll ****ing tell you.

I know most vegans via Tumblr. Probably not the best place to interact with them, but so far, the only vegetarians and vegans I know are obnoxious and self-righteous, because they think they're so much better for not eating meat.

Meat is delicious. I love steak, especially rare steak. Oh my lord, rare steak is so good, even though I feel like I'm tempting fate each time I eat it. Sushi is also delicious. California rolls are the best.

I know we're meant to eat animals, and the slaughterhouse thing< Lovemcqueen...Honestly, I think some people get jobs at those places just so they can torture animals.

Also, I don't eat too much meat only because I find it kind of gross, but I eat enough of the stuff to meet/exceed my daily nutritional requirements.

Are you saying that you meat your daily nutritional requirements?

 

[Kip]

Are you saying that you meat your daily nutritional requirements?

Every now and then i find eating chicken to be disgusting, just know it was alive :X

 

[Bambi]

I love steak, especially rare steak. Oh my lord, rare steak is so good, even though I feel like I'm tempting fate each time I eat it.

I think I could just take a bite right off a cow. The rarer the better mmmmmm steak steak steak. I'm also a fan of raw Salmon and Tuna, yum! Lamb and veal are also two of my favorite things.

Whenever I see documentaries like "Earthlings" though it really makes me want to become a vegetarian. BUT there are lots of organic meat/veggie farms where the animals are treated properly and have a decent life before they are killed for food. Small and local is the way to go b^.^d Oh, and avoid fast food chains.

 

[Kaiaa]

I'm not vegetarian but my grandma is. I can tell you right now that being vegan/vegetarian doesn't help anything. Although you aren't taking in the meat that is pumped full of preservatives/antibiotics/growth hormones you also aren't taking in enough of the nutrients that meat provides. If youre vegetarian to protect animal cruelty, you are doing it in vain. You need to eat some meat and if you truly care about the animals, buy local that way you know whats in your food and you know that they were raised with care.

Not ordering chicken in your salad never saved a chickens life.

 

[Princess]

That joke only works when talking about vegans.

I was a vegetarian for about 3 years.

The thing about being a vegetarian is you HAVE to know how to pair your food. You cannot eat certain things without
adding another food to your meal (rice and beans). The reason for this is because a lot of food does not have all the amino acids you need, so obviously you'll end up getting sick.

You can be a healthy vegetarian, you just need to know how.

 

[Bambi]

That joke only works when talking about vegans.

I was a vegetarian for about 3 years.

The thing about being a vegetarian is you HAVE to know how to pair your food. You cannot eat certain things without
adding another food to your meal (rice and beans). The reason for this is because a lot of food does not have all the amino acids you need, so obviously you'll end up getting sick.

You can be a healthy vegetarian, you just need to know how.

I agree with this. I don't find Vegetarians to be stuck up at all or people who will automatically let you know. Although I have found Vegans CAN definitely be. One of my good friends is a vegetarian and the only time she will let you know is if she has to stay for dinner lol.

 

[Dustbunnii]

While I'm fine with other people being vegetarian, I wouldn't be vegetarian.
I enjoy meat too much xD

If I could, I would totally support local farmers and buy from them, but that gets expensive...

 

[Prof Gallows]

I agree with everything Jason said.

Vegetarianism is a lifestyle choice that most often than not is employed by

the only vegetarians and vegans I know are obnoxious and self-righteous, because they think they're so much better for not eating meat.

.

I've had to hunt and kill so I could eat. Most people can just go out and buy their food and not think about where it comes from or sit on some moral high ground because they can choose what they will and won't eat.

If you were starving, and there was an animal, regardless of your lifestyle choices eventually you're going to kill that animal and eat it. It's part of life.

That being said, I don't look down on any vegetarians or vegans. People can live how they want, and they figure out healthy ways to keep those lifestyles. Which is also part of being human, you adapt.

 

[Grawr]

I tried to go vegetarian. It lasted about two days, when one of my friends got me something from Jimmy John's, and I just straight up ate it without a second thought.

Then I tried only eating fish as my meat source. That also lasted about two days.

Bottom line - I agree with you, Jas0n, especially on that very last paragraph.

 

[Keenan]

I understand people's reasoning behind vegetarianism, but I would never do it myself. My thought is that these animals are born to be eaten, as long as they're treated humanely before then, there's nothing wrong with it. If the animals aren't being treated humanely, I can see myself not eating food from a specific company, but I can't see myself not eating any meat any time soon.