Think I'll give up meat

padz

After watchin a docu called Earthlings i think ill go off meat, eventhough i bloody love it, the docu is all about how humans treat animals our fellow dwellers on this planet and it has some extrodinary footage ive never seen beofore of how animals are slaughterd and how hormones are pumped into them, has anyone else seen this docu?

Here's the imdb link http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0358456/ worth watchin its insane what goes on

ps i love meat, i never in my life had any inclination to stop eating meat but this is insane whats contained in this docu, they said some fact that if most humans had to kill ther own food we would mostly be vegitarian

CreedonsDogDayc

Brave choice, hope you go through with it!!

I decided to become a vegetarian when i was 11, as I wanted to be a vet, and couldnt save animals all day, then go home and eat them!! Also, we used to pass "Galtee Deer Care" on our way from Dublin to Cork and back. We all used to get really excited when we got near to the fields where we could see the deer, but then when I was 11 it dawned on me that Galtee and deer "care" didnt make sense, and I clicked to what was really happening!!!!

Being a vegetarian is hassle, limited choice in restaurants etc, but its worth it when you come across cases of cruelty, or shows on how meat is actually made, you get a smug little feeling like "I'm not contributing to that!!"

Go for it, if animal welfare is important to you, its a great sacrifice to make!!

Whispered

OP why not pop over to the vegetarian and vegan forum and have a chat over there. Very friendly bunch and they would be more than happy to help with your decision without ramming their opinions down your throat.

I've been vegetarian for about 13 years, I started eating meat again for about a year and had to give it back up. Not only did I feel guilty everytime I ate, I also didn't feel as healthy as I did when veggie. It's a very personal choice to become veggie.

OP if you like meat, then, instead of giving it up, why don't you make an effort to eat only free range and organic meat. Even if you limit yourself to game animals, they have had a full and healthy natural life. To be honest, I think that as a vegetarian when you start talking about farming practises etc people switch off. Where as if you are a meat eating person who believes in a better life and death for these animals, you might actually do more good if people ask you about your choices.

If you decide that is something you would like to do then again, pop over to the v&v forum. There would be plenty of advice there.

As far as I know, Tar, one of the mods over there, used to be a card carrying meat eater who hated vegetables (I believe he has a particular hatred for onions) and is a happy veggie now. He and others over there who loved their meat could tell you how they made the transition.

morganafay

I used to eat meat and no vegetables or fruit at all. I always had pets and always thought I'd be vegetarian one day, in the future. Then one day I just decided to be vegetarian, and I really soon got to love vegetables. I felt much healthier and I eat way better now. I don't eat junk food or alot of processed food, so it was really great. I eat a more varied interesting diet too and cook nice things all the time. 6 months after that I went vegan, but that was much harder to adjust to.

Being vegetarian was easy enough though, for me.

If you really want to, then I'd definitely recommend it, because it was actually the best decision I've ever made.

fatmammycat

padz wrote: »

After watchin a docu called Earthlings i think ill go off meat, eventhough i bloody love it, the docu is all about how humans treat animals our fellow dwellers on this planet and it has some extrodinary footage ive never seen beofore of how animals are slaughterd and how hormones are pumped into them, has anyone else seen this docu?

Here's the imdb link http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0358456/ worth watchin its insane what goes on

ps i love meat, i never in my life had any inclination to stop eating meat but this is insane whats contained in this docu, they said some fact that if most humans had to kill ther own food we would mostly be vegitarian

Oh! I watched that aboout 8 months ago and haven't touched a shred of meat since. It was shockingly graphic and what those poor creatures go through for out dietary pleasure is disgusting. I have to say I don't miss meat any longer either and feel remarkably glad not to be part of its consumption any longer.
Good luck OP, good decision.

It wasn't me!

Good luck with it. It's nice to see strong principles. I went vegetarian for a couple of months a few years ago. It wasn't for moral reasons, more just to try something else. It wasn't hard either. Only stopped because I didn't have any compelling reason to keep going. I currently eat meat and continue to, but I'm an advocate for better animal welfare, and I hunt and fish and supply as much of my own wild meat as possible, though that's not as much as I'd like these days. It is, as helena ryan says, another choice available to you, but I wish you the best of luck and strong will whatever you choose.

December

While I think your intentions are good, I think basing your decision on one documentary is unwise. (I'm not saying that the documentary itself is wrong, but I do think that it's scaremongering - and is not an accurate representation of *all* slaughterhouses in the world etc...)

I would suggest you do some more research, for example watch a series, made in the UK called: Kill it Cook it Eat it - (they demonstrate the humane killing process and all the restrictions and necessary procedures slaughter houses in the UK have to abide by.) Or talk to your local butchers etc and find out more about the process of such things in this (your) part of the world.

Also I think Helena Ryan's advice is excellent - going organic and free range is great. Even just by investing more time in finding out where the meat you consider to buy comes from, how its processed etc can help a great deal for animal welfare.

Either way I wish you best of luck with your new lifestyle.

Graces7

Someone we knew decided to go for self-sufficiency, including keeping pigs for meat.

Her theory was - before she go attached to the pigs - that we need to be able to do everything we need to do, including killing.

We asked if that meant that she would eg take her own appendix out. .....

We could not kill - period. But others in the family can.

We can cook better than they can.

The idea of killing is abhorrent, and we eat little meat etc; the cost alone.

And try not to think about it too much.

The egg thing is interesting. Caged hens are bad - but the price difference between caged hen eggs and free range is horrific. Three times the price.. Many of us on small pensions just cannot afford to buy organic or free range. We have to eat after all.

Given that we can buy 15 eggs or five for the same price?