I have many vegetarian, vegan and (gasp!) raw friends, so it was inevitable. But, I also think it\'s the right thing to do - for animals, my health AND the environment.
It doesn\'t hurt that the face of baby cows eerily resemble my dog!
I\'m just not ready to say goodbye to chicken and turkey yet - but hey, it\'s a start!
Who\'s with me?? :)
changingtimes
Member Profile
**crickets chirping**
westseattledood
Member Profile
May I interrupt for a moment? What does \"crickets chirping\" mean? I think I have a notion, but I just would like some confirmation please.
And, hey, my grandfather was a German butcher. I just can\'t make the complete leap. I fear Grandpa will roll over in his grave.
mmmmm meat!
I feel a whole smoked brisket in my near future.
I don\'t eat red meat, pork, lamb, any organ, sushi, or any \"exotic\" meat.
I eat about 85% vegetarian with a little turkey, chicken, and fish.
I don\'t miss beef at all, save for an occasional cheeseburger craving.
RainyDay1235..
been there done that.. i was even macrobiotic for a while..
it didn\'t work for me.
i actually need red meat to keep my little grey cells functioning.
i think i will just settle for making sure that the meat i consume was raised in a healthy respectful environment...
i think i am getting myself a steak to have tonight. hubby requested salad.. and as much as i like salad.. it doesn\'t agree with my digestion:(
i am glad there are so many more protein choices available for those who make the effort to give up meat now...
i hope it works for you.
JimmyG
Member Profile
Haven\'t had a taste of red meat since Nov. of 1995. Can\'t say I miss it.
I\'ve been practicing pescetarianism since 1998.
I was veggie for a while too and I really missed red meat. So instead of missing it and craving it and denying myself, I just started eating it again. I buy local, grass-fed, free range stuff. I do enough fighting against the ills of the world in other ways that I refuse to feel bad about eating red meat. But that\'s just me. I\'m totally supportive of veggies as long as they don\'t try to proselytize to me all the time.
Oh, and Westseattledood, \"crickets chirping\" implies that you have made an argument to which no one has a comeback/ no one is jumping in to agree with your statement/ no one has an answer your question. Hence the only sound to be heard is crickets chirping.
westseattledood
Member Profile
Hey, RS. So, yeah, that makes sense. Thanks!
RainyDay, go for it. Even if you do backslide now and then, only eating red meat now and then is better for you and the environment than eating it all the time. It\'s cheaper, too. I try to eat vegetarian, but backslide to turkey, chicken or fish now and then. I also try to avoid anything that\'s cooked alive, like clams or lobster.
Jiggers
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I\'m craving for a bloody rare Filet Mignon from Jak\'s right now.
JenV
Member Profile
I gotta go with Jiggers on this one. The less red meat y\'all eat, the more there is for the rest of us.... :)
I subscribe to the Jim Gaffigan school of vegetarianism:
\"I\'m not a strict vegetarian. I do eat beef and pork. And chicken. But not fish \'cause that\'s disgusting! How do you know when fish goes bad? It still smells like fish! \'Hey this smells like a dumpster, lets eat it.\'\"
ToddinWestwood
Member Profile
My only argument is......ZIPPY\'S!!!!!!!!!
It\'s funny--lots of people eat chicken instead of red meat, but I have trouble eating chicken, because I love our darling pet hens. I don\'t buy it much at all. But BEEF...! We buy the grass-fed, never-seen-a-feedlot beef by the half-steer from a farm in Sedro-Wooley. Nice to know it all comes from the same animal, and you know how the animal was treated and what it ate.
I would love to eat more fish. I love fish, but the husband doesn\'t, and that\'s a problem....
Jak\'s...good steaks....but does anyone really order their steaks \"blue\"? Geez...it comes running out of the kitchen on it\'s own and jumps on your plate, waving to the fire as it goes by...
I stopped eating beef around 1990 when I worked in a cancer clinic and started reading all the scary info re: hormones/fat/etc and how it tends to feed cancer cells. I wasn\'t a huge fan of it to begin with, so it wasn\'t difficult to give up. I\'ve since learned to appreciate (though not LOVE) tofu. Though Buddha Ruksa does some amazing things with tofu! I do eat a cheeseburger about once a year, just because I get an inexplicable craving for it. :-)
I\'m with you, but I\'m already vegan. ;) My mom\'s had breast cancer TWICE so I\'m not taking any chances with IGF-I and all the other crap hormones in animal products. Good for you, RainyDay! And truly, as someone who has been vegetarian/vegan for a long time, the \"cravings\" you might have aren\'t really for the meat product itself - they\'re for familiarity, comfort, fat/protein which you don\'t have to necessarily get from the food you\'ve given up - there are plenty of substitutions to be made, if you give your palette a chance to change.
Also, you might be interested in the podcast Vegetarian Food for Thought by Compassionate Cooks. It\'s chock full of awesome, supportive info. Good luck!
guidosmom
Member Profile
I have nothing against people who eat meat, but personally don\'t eat it because I hate the taste and texture, and I am a huge animal lover. I could never give up cheese though. :) I did once, then moved to Europe and thought \"what the heck was I thinking??\" Anyone who wants to give up meat or cut back, or even just eat local grass fed meat, the farmer\'s market on Sunday in the junction is a great place to buy all kinds of produce and/or meat (and cheese). Can\'t live without my monthly fromage blanc.
I really miss Skagit River Ranch. We have more meat providers now, but no one else sells beef and I just can\'t bring myself to eat lamb. I just might have to go up to the Ballard Farmers Market since they still sell there.
Two thumbs up on the smoked ham frmo Sea Breeze Farm! And thei sausage...and the cream...and the cheese...and the wine....
Bikefor1
Member Profile
Aunt Voula, in My Big Fat Greek Wedding: He don\'t eat meat?! That\'s ok, I make lamb.
Rainyday1235: Can\'t do it. Tried it. But, we all can make good choices about meat. I am a confirmed carnivore...but I don\'t like factory farms. :)
rainyday1235
eating meat is not bad for the environment...
do the words food chain ring a bell? Have you noticed that humans come equipped with canines? that\'s because we evolved as meat eaters.
Without meat eaters, certain animal populations would careen out of control and fall prey to disease and starvation...
eating meat that is raised in agribusiness and stuffed full of hormones and antibiotics can be bad for your body.. and is definately bad for the environment on a lot of different levels.
and i personally feel it is detrimental to the local economy...
but... giving up meat of any kind is a personal choice..
i hope it is a good choice for you... but it is not the only ethical, moral or healthy choice.
Oh, I agree that the human body was meant to be carniverous by nature. And this certainly is not the only choice, just one I happen to be trying out right now. Really, if everyone tried to be meat-free one day a week - it would make a huge difference. No extremes necessary.
By saying it might be good for the environment, I\'m just speaking specifically to cattle created and raised to be meat and meat only. Those animal populations are man-made.
The effects on the environment I was referring to are things like the large amounts of land, gas, energy needed to produce beef (greenhouse gases and all that). Not to mention the methane effects (whew!)
JoB, I must respectfully disagree with some of what you say. We may have canine teeth, but that doesn\'t mean we necessarily should use them. There aren\'t any animal populations now kept in control by our eating them.
Eating meat is bad for the environment. The nutrition provided by, say, a steer eating grass and cereal grains is less than the nutrition provided by vegetables grown on the same area. Some of the food they eat goes to grow hair and eyeballs, for example. Some of it is used to provide energy to the steer. And if he\'s not raised organically, the manure is wasted.
With the world population increasing while the areas of the world usable for raising crops decreases, using arable land to raise meat will someday be a luxury. It may be already.
KatherineL,
Did you know that the deer population in our state is kept in balance largely by people who eat meat?
In fact, local populations determine the number of tags issued each hunting season. There are still people whose main source of meat is the deer and elk they shoot during hunting season.
I don\'t disagree with you that the agribusiness of meat production is problematic... and i sincerely hope one day it will become a luxury.
however, i have to question your assertion that the nutrition provided by using land to raise animals is inferior to that of raising vegetables... providing the animals are raised organically.
You assume the nutrition from animal protein and that from vegetable protein are equal. Although it is possible to get adequate protein from a vegetarian diet, it is not the same protein as that found in meat... and some people have to supplement to get adequate brain nutrition on vegetarian diets.
For some of us with malabsorption issues (for whatever reason) supplementation is not enough. Some of us really do require animal protein on a regular basis to maintain health.
Also you assume that land which can be used to grass feed animals is also land that can be used to raise food. And that is often not the case. Grass fed animals are often grazed on land that is not suitable for the production of vegetables of any kind.. including grains.
This isn\'t an issue that has to be an either/or issue. Sustainable farms have long successfully raised a balance of both animals and vegetation... with benefit to and from both.
By paying more than lip service to sustainability, we can satisfy both the needs of those whose bodies require animal protein and the wants of those who will pay for the luxury... without endangering global food production.
There is a real problem with this idea of deciding what the \"best\" way is and then legislating that for everyone (whether through the use of legislation or coercion).
A good example is the current legislation to make incandescent light bulbs illegal. Aside from the toxic waste issue.. there are many who can\'t use the compact fluorescents without triggering migraines and seizures.
Since i am one of those who has to be very very careful which compact fluorescents i purchase to avoid headaches.. and limit my use... this legislation is not in my best interests... and i am not alone.
i would prefer legislation which gives financial preference to both those who manufacture compact fluorescents and to those who use them.. but not legislation which bans incandescents...
there is always a middle ground that meets the needs both of the few and of the many...
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