would you become a vegetarian?

Knasher · 01-05-2011 01:21PM

Darkginger wrote: »

Just a thought - what sort of death do you think animals will have if we stop farming and eating them? Is it the method of their death, or the quality of their lives which matters? Just something I've always thought about when considering vegetarianism...

Well if everybody went vegetarian then we would have to convert almost all of the grassland to arable crops. Especially in Ireland where most of the natural habitats are hedgerows, we would end up wiping out a lot of the wildlife.

Domesticated animals should be able to go feral and survive, but obviously only in very limited numbers.

LK_Dave · 01-05-2011 01:21PM

PeakOutput wrote: »

it isn't solely diet can make around a 20% difference

cholesterol and obesity are two completely separate things though, my father for example is pretty much exactly in the right weight region for his height and if anything would be considered skinny, yet he has high cholesterol.

Yep I agree thats why I said I am not sure about that website but the summary I quoted is roughly the exact same conclusion that I had read from much more recent studies but I cant find them from a google. I am not having a go at you or anything I am just saying that the science says otherwise.

No worries I respect your argument/views but I don't buy it!

mrsdewinter · 01-05-2011 01:27PM

PeakOutput wrote: »

has there been any documentaries like that on cruelty in the Irish meat industry? people forget that most of those films are made on different continents and the practices here are extremely humane and ethical and by opting out of the meat industry in this country you are actually harming the people who go to the effort of not treating the animals like they do in those videos while having absolutely zero impact on the people who do treat them like that

I've often wondered about this myself. I'm a meat eater who's trying to cut down on meat (largely for environmental/sustainability reasons - oh, and budgetary reasons too) and I think many vegetarians sometimes hinder the cause by citing the ravages of the meat industry citing, usually, large-scale industrial 'farms' found in the US. I don't live in the countryside but relatives of mine are farmers and, from what I see of their work, the animals *seem* to lead contented lives.
By the way, OP, what's with bemoaning your 'boring' diet? You need to head on over to the Vegetarian forum for a few recipe ideas...

purity · 01-05-2011 01:29PM

mrsdewinter wrote: »

I've often wondered about this myself. I'm a meat eater who's trying to cut down on meat (largely for environmental/sustainability reasons - oh, and budgetary reasons too) and I think many vegetarians sometimes hinder the cause by citing the ravages of the meat industry citing, usually, large-scale industrial 'farms' found in the US. I don't live in the countryside but relatives of mine are farmers and, from what I see of their work, the animals *seem* to lead contented lives.
By the way, OP, what's with bemoaning your 'boring' diet? You need to head on over to the Vegetarian forum for a few recipe ideas...

Well not really boring I make a nice quorn tikka masala:D
I meant compared to a meat eater it's boring as many famous food chains don't cater to a vegetarian as well as they would to a meat eater.

ceadaoin. · 01-05-2011 01:33PM

I was a vegetarian for a few years but have been eating meat again for the past 4 years or so. I would like to go back to not eating meat but I've got too used to it now and don't think I could go without it!

That said, I don't eat it everyday and I still have a soft spot for quorn products and the like, especially the sausages

Irish Guitarist · 01-05-2011 01:34PM

I've been a vegetarian for about four years. I had made another attempt to become a vegetarian about ten years ago but I missed Southern fried chicken. After seeing a few programmes about how chickens are treated I find it easier not to eat it now.

I'd like to be a vegan but soya milk is disgusting. Also I eat Quorn which contains milk and eggs.

Have you tried Quorn Chicken Style burgers? They taste a lot like real chicken burgers. You can also get Quorn Chicken Style Pieces which you can cook with a jar of curry sauce.

Ilyana · 01-05-2011 01:35PM

I'm setting myself a challenge, to see if I can go without meat for a week. Not so much for ethical reasons, just to see if I have the willpower.

But would it be cheating to eat fish?

Gummy Panda · 01-05-2011 01:37PM

No way!

I like to chomp down on beef burrito

purity · 01-05-2011 01:37PM

EmilyO wrote: »

I'm setting myself a challenge, to see if I can go without meat for a week. Not so much for ethical reasons, just to see if I have the willpower.

But would it be cheating to eat fish?

No I think you can eat fish but you'd be classified as a different type of vegetarian. I hate fish wish I could eat it as it's so healthy:(

purity · 01-05-2011 01:38PM

Irish Guitarist wrote: »

I've been a vegetarian for about four years. I had made another attempt to become a vegetarian about ten years ago but I missed Southern fried chicken. After seeing a few programmes about how chickens are treated I find it easier not to eat it now.

I'd like to be a vegan but soya milk is disgusting. Also I eat Quorn which contains milk and eggs.

Have you tried Quorn Chicken Style burgers? They taste a lot like real chicken burgers. You can also get Quorn Chicken Style Pieces which you can cook with a jar of curry sauce.

I loved southern fried chicken:(

Shenshen · 01-05-2011 01:47PM

purity wrote: »

So meat really is essential in our diet? I will admit there is lots of variety but does one need to eat meat to be healthy. Well as a newbie vegetarian I avoid meat at all costs however chicken was hard to give up but I'm now full vegetarian because I like animals.
So whats your opinion on this? Would you consider becoming a vegetarian?

Became one about 3 years ago, I had always meant to but never could keep it up for more than a few months. Then I met my now husband, who had been vegetarian for several decades, and after moving in together I gradually stopped eating meat. I never cooked it at home, since I always cooked for both of us. And I eventually stopped eating it at restaurants, since I realised that this was the place where the quality of the meat and the concern about the animal's welfare while alive probably wasn't really considered that much.

I can't say I'm missing it. I did in the begining, badly sometimes. But these days, the thought of it can occasionally make me feel rather sick, tbh...

Azureus · 01-05-2011 01:47PM

I couldnt be a vegetarian.
My brother did it for awhile because the girl he was seeing at the time was vegan, so he decided to meet halfway and go veggie, so I attempted it with him. I lasted 4 days. I am an animal lover, but no. Just no.

Irish Guitarist · 01-05-2011 01:50PM

purity wrote: »

No I think you can eat fish but you'd be classified as a different type of vegetarian. I hate fish wish I could eat it as it's so healthy:(

If you eat fish but not other meat you're a pescetarian.

purity · 01-05-2011 01:50PM

Shenshen wrote: »

Became one about 3 years ago, I had always meant to but never could keep it up for more than a few months. Then I met my now husband, who had been vegetarian for several decades, and after moving in together I gradually stopped eating meat. I never cooked it at home, since I always cooked for both of us. And I eventually stopped eating it at restaurants, since I realised that this was the place where the quality of the meat and the concern about the animal's welfare while alive probably wasn't really considered that much.

I can't say I'm missing it. I did in the begining, badly sometimes. But these days, the thought of it can occasionally make me feel rather sick, tbh...

True it helps if your partner is a vegetarian too, Restaurants buy the cheapest meat so I'd hate to think how they animal met it's fate before making it's way to the table.
I found it hard as my family and friends ate meat and going to kfc and burgerking was impossible as the vegetarian options were bad they all should cater for vegetarians there is a good market for them

Irish Guitarist · 01-05-2011 01:55PM

purity wrote: »

I loved southern fried chicken:(

I loved it too but unfortunately chickens are among the most badly treated animals, especially where fast food is concerned. I saw a programme where they squeezed chicks to get the faeces out of them and then threw them in a bin. There was a man doing this to hundreds of chicks and it didn't bother him in the slightest.

Shenshen · 01-05-2011 02:00PM

purity wrote: »

True it helps if your partner is a vegetarian too, Restaurants buy the cheapest meat so I'd hate to think how they animal met it's fate before making it's way to the table.
I found it hard as my family and friends ate meat and going to kfc and burgerking was impossible as the vegetarian options were bad they all should cater for vegetarians there is a good market for them

I know what you mean, the times I had tried before, the biggest reason why I failed to keep it up was because I was still living at home, and my mother will actually eat meat 3 times a day. It's difficult finding out about vegetarian cooking in those surroundings.
I have to say that as I started thinking about how and what to cook, I came up with fantastic recipes and ideas. The problem I think most people have when trying to live as vegetarian is that they simply try to leave meat out of meals. And as a result they of course start missing it badly. The trick, I find, is to do meals that where never designed to have meat in them. So nothing is missing, and you still enjoy eating.

I do find it kind of sad that fast food places simply don't cater for vegetarians. It would be easy enough to put a falafel kebab on the menu in Abrakebabra, or some sort of quorn burger in KFC or McD. Burgerking does a veggie burger, but I have to say I don't like them.
Thank goodness there's SubWays, they're veggie patties are fantastic

purity · 01-05-2011 02:00PM

Irish Guitarist wrote: »

I loved it too but unfortunately chickens are among the most badly treated animals, especially where fast food is concerned. I saw a programme where they squeezed chicks to get the faeces out of them and then threw them in a bin. There was a man doing this to hundreds of chicks and it didn't bother him in the slightest.

Sick b**tard really..how don't they have guilt or feelings towards the animals and I also saw a video where the chicks were put into a mincer whilst still alive. People who that sort of thing are inhuman and absolutely horrific.

purity · 01-05-2011 02:05PM

Shenshen wrote: »

I know what you mean, the times I had tried before, the biggest reason why I failed to keep it up was because I was still living at home, and my mother will actually eat meat 3 times a day. It's difficult finding out about vegetarian cooking in those surroundings.
I have to say that as I started thinking about how and what to cook, I came up with fantastic recipes and ideas. The problem I think most people have when trying to live as vegetarian is that they simply try to leave meat out of meals. And as a result they of course start missing it badly. The trick, I find, is to do meals that where never designed to have meat in them. So nothing is missing, and you still enjoy eating.

I do find it kind of sad that fast food places simply don't cater for vegetarians. It would be easy enough to put a falafel kebab on the menu in Abrakebabra, or some sort of quorn burger in KFC or McD. Burgerking does a veggie burger, but I have to say I don't like them.
Thank goodness there's SubWays, they're veggie patties are fantastic

I agree the bk veggie burgers are rotten tried them before. Why in this day and age are the vegetarians still a minority? Money is to be made big time in facilitating a menu for vegetarians quorn is delicious.
Never tried the veggie pate in sub way? It's meant to be calorific ha imagine something healthy yet so fattening.
I like the veggie Mcdonald wraps tasty..
I have absolutely zero friends that are vegetarian so it's going to be a struggle however I plan to progress and carry out a vegetarian diet

rainbow kirby · 01-05-2011 02:09PM

I was a vegetarian for 2 years (from age 19 to 21) - my diet is healthier with meat in it tbh. I still enjoy good vegetarian food though.

Shenshen · 01-05-2011 02:09PM

purity wrote: »

I agree the bk veggie burgers are rotten tried them before. Why in this day and age are the vegetarians still a minority? Money is to be made big time in facilitating a menu for vegetarians quorn is delicious.
Never tried the veggie pate in sub way? It's meant to be calorific ha imagine something healthy yet so fattening.
I like the veggie Mcdonald wraps tasty..
I have absolutely zero friends that are vegetarian so it's going to be a struggle however I plan to progress and carry out a vegetarian diet

I think the best kind of advise I can give you is to cook as much as you can. Don't go for ready-made meals, but try to cook most of what you eat yourself.
It's easiest to start off with curries and stir-fries, there are tons of recipes out there. Pasta with different kinds of veg sauces is good as well.
The more things you find you like without meat, the less you'll miss it.

01-05-2011 02:11PM

I was a veggie for a year but I love meat too much

Hookah · 01-05-2011 02:14PM

I'm not a veggie, but I eat meat very rarely.

Save the planet and all that.

Shenshen · 01-05-2011 02:17PM

purity wrote: »

I loved southern fried chicken:(

Try this :

Take button mushrooms, remove the stems.
Mix some flour with salt, pepper and if you like it spicey, a little chili, put it on a deep plate
Take an egg, scramble it in a second deep plate, and add a little milk
Put breadcrumbs in the third deep plate.

Heat oil in a frying pan, make sure it's hot but not too hot by dropping a drop of egg in it, it should fry but not turn dark too fast.

Cover the mushrooms in the flour mixture, then turn them in the eggs, then in the breadcrumbs.
Fry them until golden brown.

They'll be a little like garlic mushrooms, but a bit more like Southern Fried Chicken

Lu Tze · 01-05-2011 02:17PM

bluewolf wrote: »

I was a veggie for a year but I love meat too much

Thats what she...

Oh never mind

purity · 01-05-2011 02:18PM

Shenshen wrote: »

Try this :

Take button mushrooms, remove the stems.
Mix some flour with salt, pepper and if you like it spicey, a little chili, put it on a deep plate
Take an egg, scramble it in a second deep plate, and add a little milk
Put breadcrumbs in the third deep plate.

Heat oil in a frying pan, make sure it's hot but not too hot by dropping a drop of egg in it, it should fry but not turn dark too fast.

Cover the mushrooms in the flour mixture, then turn them in the eggs, then in the breadcrumbs.
Fry them until golden brown.

They'll be a little like garlic mushrooms, but a bit more like Southern Fried Chicken

Thanks will try not the best cook but I will try

Irishchick · 01-05-2011 02:19PM

Priori wrote: »

I'm not a vegetarian myself, but that's quite the statement!

Agree with you on that one. It's when things like the following happen that put me off my meat..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lano_8u9e1E

And thats why everyone should know where their meat comes from. The meat I eat comes from the farmer who lives across the road from my partner and is slaughtered at the local slaughter house to which I have been to and know they slaughter the animals humanley.

Capt'n Midnight · 01-05-2011 02:53PM

Spunge wrote: »

Where else am i gonna get my protein

.

Hank_Jones wrote: »

Lettuce and blowjob day

kingtut · 01-05-2011 03:23PM

Irishchick wrote: »

The meat I eat comes from the farmer who lives across the road from my partner and is slaughtered at the local slaughter house to which I have been to and know they slaughter the animals humanley.

How can you be so sure that they slaughter all their animals humanely? For all you know the minute no-one is around they do whatever they want

Capt'n Midnight · 01-05-2011 03:54PM

Irishchick wrote: »

No. I find the majority of vegetarians are stupid. They dont eat meat because they "love animals" but are happy to wear leather and eat products containing gelatin.

there are many reasons not to eat meat besides it being trendy or "love animals"

Take that logic further and I'd have to ask how you can sleep at night when you could save lives by donating to charity or by being politcally active against the many injustices in this world.

It is human nature to eat meat.

for much of history meat was a rare delicacy for most people, in general only the rich and powerful had it on a daily basis. look at the spice trade to see how expensive meat was, if meat was cheap there wouldn't be as much interest in hiding the taste of tainted meat.

Our brains grew to the size they are because of meat protein.

link please , I guessing that essential oils were just as important if not more

also have a look at the demand for salt in the past another meat preservative, compare it to demand from vegetarian tribes in amazon / india

We dont have a developed ceacum and therefore are not built to digest large amounts of vegetable protein.

how about high energy stuff like fruit / seeds / nuts instead of stuff that takes longer to digest like green vegetables

Life is a cyle. There is no life without death and no death without life.

life isn't a cycle , the Permian extinction wiped out 98% of terresterial vertebrate species - very close to game over
it's only a cycle in the short term or if you look at the atoms involved and off topic at present man made processes are bigger than natural ones in the Nitrogen cycle

yes you can have death without life eg: falling into a Volcano :eek:
and there are immortal jellyfish

If an animal has its needs met during its life and is slaughtered humanley then im happy to eat it.

rant over.

have a read of Fast Food Nation sometime,

IIRC in the UK Chickens housed in a windowless warehouse with the equilivant space of an A4 sheet of paper each are considered free range.

Asphyxia · 01-05-2011 03:59PM

I thought about it before but I'm terribly anemic and need lots of iron. I do eat meat but not a lot of red meat.

would you become a vegetarian?

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