Happy Vegitarian Day!

[Sora]

Well, belated V-day. Yesterday, October the first, was World Vegitarian Day. Did you load up on the veggies? Brings a thought to mind... how many of you are vegitarians? Or vegans... Myself, personally, I'm a lacto-ovo vegitarian. Have been for quite some time now. What are your thoughts on this matter?

[Starlight]

Dude, this was a pretty one sided poll wasn't it? :)

[willowfairy]

i'm proud to say i'm a vegitarian! :D but i do eat eggs and drink milk.... :(

[Sora]

Originally posted by Starlight
Dude, this was a pretty one sided poll wasn't it? :)

Yes, yes it was. But I don't know how to classify the meat-eaters because, well, I've never tried. Sorry about that :) I don't mean to be bigoted to those of you with different habits.

[MammaStar]

While I'm not like my brothers (they don't believe in veggies), I still do eat meat. I have a great marinade for london broil, that my kid brother made up. I also eat venicin (sp??) & other game, plus poultry & stuff. Mainly, when I do eat meat, it's chicken & such. But most of my diet consists of veggies & grains, because I know it's healthier for me & I like them. :)

But put an OD's (local tavern here) burger in front of me, WATCH OUT!!!! :mmm:

:rotfl:

[loopy]

Yesterday I had salad and pasta, and I didn't even realize it was Veggie Day. :D Oh, wait, I had chicken... :(

[Myst]

Originally posted by Sora


Yes, yes it was. But I don't know how to classify the meat-eaters because, well, I've never tried. Sorry about that :) I don't mean to be bigoted to those of you with different habits.

Yeah but meat eaters are just that, meat eaters. Like if we eat fish but not beef we're a certain kind of vegetarian, not termed a meat eater. So on. Meat eaters simply eat meat.

[talamh]

If you don't eat meat, you avoid 90 per cent of the accumulated pesticides and poisons that get into the food chain.

But the main reason i don't eat meat is that the animals are treated so dreadfully. They are mostly raised in "factory" conditions with very little space. Then they are killed horribly in fear and frequently in pain.

Another problem with huge meat factory farms is the manure. There is so much of it in such a concentrated space that it isn't disposed of properly. Frequently it's simply spread on fields, even in the wintertime, so that it runs off into streams and gets into the water table and pollutes wells and aquafers. This threatens our water supply.

As humans evolved over thousands and thousands of years, the diet was mostly vegeterian with the occasional feast of meat. i suppose it's a matter of moderation in all things... but the human body wasn't designed to eat meat every day. bb talamh

[Starlight]

I'm kinda 70/30 on the meat thing..I don't really eat a whole lot of it just certain things. Like pizza or chicken. It's not a regular thing . But there's just those certain foods that I just can't give up to become a vegetarian. *shrug*

[Starlight]

Originally posted by Starlight
Dude, this was a pretty one sided poll wasn't it? :)

Ummm.......I guess you kinda took that wrong..I'm sorry.. I just meant that (when I read it) the poll results were one side or the other they were 50%/50% . I didn't mean it as an insult or anything. Sorry about that! :ack:

[Illuminatus]

Other.

Carnivore means you eat ONLY meat, and that's not the case... I am an Omnivore! I eat anything and everything.

eat *.*

[Spirahl]

I call myself a semi-vegetarian.
I do not eat mammals, but I do eat fish, seafood, and birds.
I do eat eggs and dairy.
I try to find free range birds and eggs.
I only eat whole grains. I bake my own whole grain bread, and eat whole wheat pasta, brown and wild rice, pot barley, whole wheat couscous etc.
I use honey or maple syrup instead of sugar where possible.
I watch salt intake and processed foods, though will allow myself treats. I don't keep ice cream or chips in the house- too easy to give in- but I will go out and get them if the craving is a nagging one.
About 3 times a week I skip the flesh foods and eat a meal heavy in legumes.
Pass the bean burritos please!

[Sora]

Originally posted by Illuminatus
Other.

Carnivore means you eat ONLY meat, and that's not the case... I am an Omnivore! I eat anything and everything.

eat *.*

I knew that... i really did. Sorry :)

[willowfairy]

i have strong feelings toward animal eaters. have you ever watched hannibal? where he cut that guy's brain up and he was fully conscious and cooked it and ate it? grody! but of course, he was so doped up he didn't feel a thing. that's what you're doing to animals. (sometimes....) the people cutting up those poor animals do it when they're still living and breathing and feeling it all. gross, huh? and you BUY IT!! and let it sizzle in you're frying pan.... an animal's flesh.... :sick: :ugh: i know, not it's not all like that, but still!

[Sora]

Good timing with that post, I just watched Hannibal for the first time yesterday. Well, two days ago. That part in the movie was just... :razz: ... eww... And I know how you feel.The last hours of an animals life, not to mention the rest of their life, are unspeakably painful. Animals that cannot fit into teh trucks are dragged behind on rope... They require an animal to bu uncntious before they cook it, but many chickens escape the neck-slitting and are boiled alive. It makes me sick...

[Sita]

mmmmm meat......

[Sora]

Bite me...

[gunner]

"Carnivore means you eat ONLY meat, and that's not the case... I am an Omnivore! I eat anything and everything."

if it walks, crawls, creeps, flies or swims it's lunch!
(pass the tobasco sauce please)

[Emy]

I am sort of a semi-vegetarian,
that is I avoid meat whenever I can... :)
I do eat fish and birds, but barely ever red meat...

I used to be a vegetarian, lacto- ovo, for four years, but when I moved in with my boyfriend I found it was too much trouble making two different meals every day, one with meat for him, and one without for me... but now these days, I am sort of working on making him a vegetarian at home instead, that is he can eat meat if he wants to, but at home we eat vegetarian, and if he has a steak for lunch that I don't care much about. :)

B*B

[Sita]

Originally posted by Sora
Bite me...
*bites sora* mmmm meat...

[Starlight]

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Sita that ruled to no end. :lol:

[Autumn Gemini]

OK, time for my redneck/hillbilly roots to show. Yes I eat meat. I prefer venison to beef as it isn't as fatty. My father is in charge of a hunting club that works with the game wardens in 2 counties to help control our deer population. Yes I used to hunt but gave it up since I spent more time curled up under a tree reading and not hunting. I also used to clean and prepare the venison. In fact, the only deer I seem to have managed to get I hit with my old '76 Pontiac Catalina....a tank on wheels. And yes, I stopped to pick up my raodkill(told you my redneck roots would show). As for pork and beef, my dad has it worked out with some local farmers where he picks his cow and pig and has the meat processed by a butcher who's been in the business longer than I've been alive. They kill the animals as quickly and painlessly as possible and the butcher prepares the meat. I raid one of my mother's 2 freezers as oppossed to buying meat at the supermarket when I can. I noticed when I was pregnant that I craved protein during the last trimester so I ate a lot of meat and legumes then. And I do love a perfectly prepared ribeye. Just my thoughts........and yes, I know I'm a little weird. :)

[Sita]

Originally posted by Starlight
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Sita that ruled to no end. :lol:

heh, thanks...:spidey:

[Spirahl]

Actually Autumn, I think that a more honourable and honest way of doing things. Most people just pick meat up at the supermarket and forget that it was one alive and sacred. A lot of people have become too far removed from nature.
My reasons for eating the way that I do, are not because I think it unethical to eat mammals. I just don't like the way in which the animals are raised now. Let them have a pleasant life before they are killed. Also, I have a strong history of colon cancer in my family, and red meat is hard to digest.

[willowfairy]

us humans have a long intestines to slowly break down vegetables and fruits; where as carnivores have a straight digestive track to quickly get the meat out of their system before it does any damage! :nyah:

oh, and vegetarians save an acre of trees a year because forest is being cut down all the time to raise cattle.

[jasmine]

im veggie at the moment, i used to be vegan then i didnt get what wasnt ethical about eating eggs - as long as the hens are kept in a pleasant environment and treated well. i still dont drink milk though.

[Wyrdsister]

While I do eat meat, I've significantly cut down on my meat consumption, mostly in the red meat area. I now find that I'm loathe to order a hamburger at a fast food joint! :p I do eat poultry, though I've reduced that as well. I also do eat fish, albeit rarely, and I probably should be eating more of it.

I've cut down on my meat intake for many reasons, a lot of them mentioned here. My biggest reasons are the inhumane way animals are treated; the levels of antibiotics, hormones and other chemicals that are given to animals before they are slaughtered and fed to us :ugh:; and the levels of environmental damage mass farming produces. While I'm not sure that it is completely morally or ethically wrong to eat animals, I am sure the way we are treating them now is wrong.

My 2 cents in the discussion!

Wyrdsister

PS Has anyone here read the book My Year of Meats by Ruth Ozeki? It's an incredible book!!

[Myst]

Originally posted by talamh anEiac
If you don't eat meat, you avoid 90 per cent of the accumulated pesticides and poisons that get into the food chain.

But the main reason i don't eat meat is that the animals are treated so dreadfully. They are mostly raised in "factory" conditions with very little space. Then they are killed horribly in fear and frequently in pain.

Another problem with huge meat factory farms is the manure. There is so much of it in such a concentrated space that it isn't disposed of properly. Frequently it's simply spread on fields, even in the wintertime, so that it runs off into streams and gets into the water table and pollutes wells and aquafers. This threatens our water supply.

As humans evolved over thousands and thousands of years, the diet was mostly vegeterian with the occasional feast of meat. i suppose it's a matter of moderation in all things... but the human body wasn't designed to eat meat every day. bb talamh

According to whom? Where are you getting this stuff from? My family and my fiance's family are all farmers and my dad's been a butcher for over 20 years, also I worked for a veterinarian for 4 years. Let me reassure you, none of them have been involved in "raising animals in factory conditions" or "killing animals in a horrible way" or making the animals "live in fear". The animals are all treated well and die as quickly and as painlessly as possible.

If people are *so* worried about the toxins they supposedly get from foods then they should visit the organic section of the supermarket, or take a few minutes to drive out to the country and look - wow, there's farmers out there who are more then willing to tell you exactly what they use and sell you foods too. Personally we get all our eggs and beef from a farm knowing well that there are no pesticides or steroids or anything else involved. Don't want to eat food from a factory? Don't. It's not a hard thing to do.

Manure has *always* been spread on fields, not because "there's too much of it", but because it is an excellent fertilizer. Farmers usually take special precautions to avoid excessive run off.

Furthermore, oh let's be vegan because ending lives is *BAD*. Uhm, how are we so sure that plants don't feel pain when they are cut down? They are living creatures just as much as animals are. Just because we can't hear them doesn't mean they don't scream.

Hey and since we want to eat like the animals we resemble shouldn't there be someone in my lap wanting me to pick fleas out of their hair?

City people. :rolleyes:

[Spirahl]

I'm a country bumpkin and organic hobby farmer, from a long line of farmers.
I agree that most family run farms have been ethical with their treatment of animals, but unfortunately, the family farm is an endangered way of life. Factory- type, corporation- run farms are taking over. Small family farms are being bullied to run change their methods to the unethical. A good friend of mine, an egg farmer, had to switch to the cage system four years ago or become bankrupt and lose the land his family occupied for generations. A traditionally run farm has a hard time competing financially. A lot of consumers would like organic products, but do not have the funds for the higher prices.
There are many health risks and environmental concerns with meat- eating. Deforestation, manure- runoff, heart disease, and cancer aren't pleasant. However, studies also show that brain development increases with meat consumption. Our evolution as a species really took off when our consumption of meat was increased. Vegetarians run a higher risk of diseases such as Alzeimer's.
As with all things, moderation is key. The way I eat as a semi-veg is the way to go for me, yet I'll cook pork chops for my family if they want them. I'm not going to control what others put in their bodies. I think humans are omnivores by nature. I think we are meant to eat meat, though some of our society overeats. Deforestation and pollution caused by animals we raise for food, is really a result of human overpopulation, and most of the world's wealth being in the hands (and stomachs) of the few.

[StormChaser]

Here is my philospophy.
My species did not work so hard at evolving up the food chain to have to sit around and eat greenery and roughage.

I have NO problem with being torn to shreds in a slow painful death by an animal who is carnivorous or pissed off at me.
Slow painful whatever. I also have no problems with someone eating me if i died in a fire or in the frozen wilds of the north.
Even though i wasn't BRED to be eaten, i don't have qualms with the notion of it.

I don't go in for the torture and death of lambs and calf's I think what is done to them is absurd.
But everyone else.. Roast 'em and Toast 'em. Serve them to me fried. Bring me my meal, and bring it to me dead.

And as for hannibal.. GO CANNIBALS. More of mother natures own personal brand of population control.

But hey, its up to you. Me personally, I have two bumper stickers on my car...

"Vegetables aren't food, Vegetables are what food eats"
and
"Do not meddle in the affairs of dragons for You are crunchy, and taste good with ketchup."

~Storm Chaser
*I am prepared for the sound lashing I am feeling I will get for this*

[LadyWinter]

I just wanted to say Stormchaser and Myst .....Woo Hoo ! My thoughts exactly! :D

Slan Astar
Winter

[willowfairy]

i'm glad you feel as strongly about what you eat as us vegetarians do. everyone is different. i just stated stuff i read from peta and everything. i just don't want to eat meat. you want to eat meat. i'm ok with that. i want to be healthy by not eating something that can cause my life to be any more short or painful than it already is. or making any more lives out there more painful and pitiful than it they already are.

and i'm also a country person. :)

[StormChaser]

Theres a reliable source of information *cough gag*

I'm glad you aren't throwing a tantrum at my quite anti veggies speach. It's refreshing.

PETA does more damage in the name of a decent cause than it actually does good.

My father was involved with them.. right up until they started persuading people to attack fur purchasers with paint and throw bricks through windows.

I am not a fur wearer, nor a supporter of such stupid trends *its as dumb as sport fishing\hunting to me, and no less cruel and tacky*.

Take everything PETA says with a giant ass grain of salt. Just like the anti-abortion alliances.. many times their opinions get in the way of the facts.

~Storm Chaser

[Myst]

Originally posted by Spirahl
A lot of consumers would like organic products, but do not have the funds for the higher prices.

People who want to be vegan are more then welcome to be. I think that's great for them. But I'm sick of the extremists (not necessarily anyone at MW) who will let animals out of their cages or throw paint and bricks at people for "animal cruelty", or scream at me for "eating something that once had a face" because they won't shell out a few extra bucks to get some organic food or find a farm they know is good for them. Furthermore, I'm sick of seeing "oh farms cause manure runoff", "animals are treated cruelly, they live in fear" from people who have evidently never been on a farm. Why are small farms losing business? Because people aren't taking the time to go to them. They do exist, find one, buy from them, help the quality of our foods. Take a few minutes to drive out through the country or a few bucks to pick up organic foods if you are that concerned.

[Shy Hawk]

I'm a member of PETA....and yes, some of their info is quite biased.
As far as my beliefs go....I know some of you are going to think I'm a weirdo....
I think eating meat is fine and quite honorable, so long as you are willing to go out and get that animal. Hunting, I have no qualms with, if you use the animal in entirity and don't hang his head on your wall. And, although this sorta makes it tough, I don't believe in using guns.
So I guess that leave me with the inevitable......I'm a lacto-ovo veggie. I don't have a problem with eating fish...if you've done the fishing. There has to be a level of respect between man and nature...if you don't have it, you have no right to reap the benifets. IMHO
~Shy

[StormChaser]

Yeah stopped buying that canned crap.

And furthermore.. if you want truely healthy veggies..
BUY IN SEASON!
and Buy IN YOUR AREA.

I had to teach my bf that asparagus is NOT a damn all year plant and if he wanted GOOD asparagus he was gonna have to suffer in the winter. It doesnt matter if the climate is perfect all year for a plant.. they NEED rest.. they are SUPPOSED to have rest.. thats why those plants are planted rather than growing naturally in those warmer.. and even in some cases.. colder climate.
The rest allows the plant to yield a better product *geezus moms been talking horticulture to me too long..*

And yeah, im with you against the exteremists being hypocrits.. it's not only annoying, it in and of itself is cruel and really disturbing.

I just get confused a lot when it comes to my true veggie\vegan friends.. where exactly they draw the line.
Does it stop at food or do they not wear leather or wool? What of the glue used in shoes? Are they anti animal testing..
It's very very confusing.

~Storm Chaser
*setting the scene for a hopefully HEALTHY debate\discussion... lets not make this a *snicker* 'witch" hunt or somethin!*

[Swanspirit]

if they are hunted.......... the vegetables have to just sit there ...... helpless and defenselss............ poor things.......
There are plants that send messages to each other and they have been measured and shown to feel pain.........look up the telegraph vine as an example..........
You know I buy free range eggs from the store .......... When I have them for breakfast...... I am not hungry all day......
they have much more "substance" somehow........
And I agree with going to a bit more trouble for your food........ puts you in touch with the mother ......... and her bounty .......... an organic co-op isnt out of the question either........
but then I have lived in the country or in rural areas almost my entire life....... so for me it hasnt been really necessary and now living in the largely agricultural region that I do ..... If I dont grow it ...... someone else does and offers bags and boxes for free to share or trade.....
Love and Light
Swannie

[Shy Hawk]

As far as whether or not vegans where leather, suade, animal testing etc....I guess it depends on the person. No one ever really HAS to explain their beliefs to anyone...so not feeling pressure to justify themselves would free them to do only what they think is right. Not what organizations or magazines say is right. I guess I'll only wear leather if I made it. Want to know how much leather I have? Zip. But that isn't going to stop me from saying...."hey nice jacket" to someone who is rocking the house. I have my way of life, they have theirs. Not everyone is a "radical"....
Generally, I buy nonanimal tested everything. Yes, it's possible. I shop at a store where NOTHING in it has been animal tested, no artificial colors, preservatives, and uh.....well, if you'd like to check it out the addie is www.mustardseedmarket.com I used to work there. And, all their meat is free range. A lot of what I buy is also organic. Not for any reason other than I like the way natural products taste, feel, smell.....real.
I'm not a "this is right, this is wrong" person. i just do what I think is "right".
~Shy

[StormChaser]

This is for all the Omnivores\Carnivores who can have no problem facing thier "food"
I would hunt, in fact I'm all for it. But what could I hunt that I could make booties out of too?
Can I hunt Sheep?
I want some nice sheep skin mocasins... wool lining.. yes yes..
mmm.. hunt.. sheep.
Doesn't taste bad either.

Are there any uses for goat? i like goat.

Oh.. and where is it legal to hunt cow? chicken? piggie?
Please tell me.
I have a rifle.. well my bf does. I will gladly go out and get a license as long as theres something within an hour or two of my home that I can go hunting.

And where do i learn about treating meat and the skin and stuff to make clothes out of. I figure.. if i'm gonna kill it i should wear it too.
Will PETA go after me for that?


That is.. slightly serious with a twinge of sarcasm FYI.

Truly... I eat what I wear..
I eat bull and drink from cow.. i should be allowed to wear it.
and so on and so on.

I figure.. if i eat all the bits of a cow bought from the store, and buy a new leather outfit.. that equals a good hunt doesn't it?

They ran and graze.. i browsed and purchased.. fought with evil cashiers, and stood around obnoxious other costumers..
isn't that enough hassel? In all honesty their lives were more fun than my shopping experience.

And if i want a damn hamburger, and someone else is willing to do the butchering for me for a price.. heck yeah, im gonna let him do the dirty work.

I face my meal every time i go out to the country, and every samhain when i put a dead piggy with an apple in its roasted face on the table and carve straight from it.
I think i do enough "facing the death" i cause or whatever it is all the overly moral and ethical people wanna call it without going out and hunting my dern meal every night.

I DON'T LIKE VENICINE LET ME EAT MY COW IN PEACE!
PBTHTHTH :-P

heck, i can't even spell it hehe.

My friend *whom i may be moving in with soon* owns chickens,
another friend whom i HAVE lived with lives right across from a dairy and bull raising farm *they kill the bulls after mating* and we get that from the butcher.
I sat around the cows and bull.. and bulls are no nice beasties.. but they are loads of fun to talk and sing to.
I faced em live, and i still eat em dead.
I watched CHICKEN RUN while eating poultry.

*my bf couldn't do it.. shows his charachter*

What i'm saying.. is that not all us carnivores\omnivores are stupid to the fact that they\we cause death and destruction of pretty lovely happy go lucky animals. I also realize that a wolf or a mother bear wouldn't think twice about tearing me skin to bone and I don't hold that over thier head, and I don't expect that the bacon on my plate much cares any more how it lived or how it died.

It's nature. It's what comes natural to me. I'm happy. I'm slightly pudgy, I'm curvacious, I'm precotious, and I eat meat.

And that's the way..
Uh huh, uh huh..
I like it.


~Storm Chaser
PS: End rant here

[StormChaser]

just wanted to know what people actually did as far as that stuff goes.

I get VERY confused with my veggie friends.. not so much the vegans, they seem to be defined.
but the veggie friends who dont eat meat because of "those poor animals"

yet wear leather sneakers and jackets etc..

I've found mostly that if it isn't a cutesy pootsy animal..
people don't care.

No one seems to mind that they are making squirrel fur coats...
it pisses me off to no end *because who the heck, who isn't a road-kill gourmet, eat's squirrel?*

[StormChaser]

PS: I'm suffering from a severe caffiene high..
try not to get freaked about my stupidity.

[Myst]

Originally posted by StormChaser
My friend *whom i may be moving in with soon* owns chickens,
another friend whom i HAVE lived with lives right across from a dairy and bull raising farm *they kill the bulls after mating* and we get that from the butcher.
I sat around the cows and bull.. and bulls are no nice beasties.. but they are loads of fun to talk and sing to.


oh boy, they're still actually physically letting the bull near the cows there.. stone age... :)

[StormChaser]

they breed the cows then kill the bulls.
Lots of fun.
MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

*ps: sheep don't go BAAAAA they go MAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA*

[willowfairy]

i'm sorry. i should have said SOME SLAUGHTER FACTORIES. i am aware that not all are cruel. sorry.

[Shy Hawk]

You can kill your own meat without having to hunt it....if that's what you're saying. My father only eats chicken and beef that he himself kills because he doesn't agree with slaughter methods.
Many farms will let you buy one of their animals, and kill it yourself on the spot, if that is your fancy. That is what we do. You don't really have to "hunt" a chicken. It would be nice though.
As far as veggies who wear leather and junk...I guess I can see the point about them being hypocrites. Generally, like i said, I let people make their own decisions. But no, I don't "get" it.
And yes, there are uses for goat aswell as every animal. If you have trouble finding ways to use all of the animal ask an older person, they have quite a bit of knowledge on an array of topics.
And anyhow, I have said from the beginning, and I'll say it again, this is my path, and my belief. No need for you to get defensive....no one asked you to go kill for food. I was merely stating what I know to be right for me.
If you want to buy your meat from a market...by all means, if that's what works for you. And, if I kill all the meat I eat, no exceptions, then that's what works for me. No need to argue.

[StormChaser]

It was more joking than serious.
The serious part was more of a "where" than the
"can I's" Like i said.. Caffiene high. *In a BIG way*

I live in mid jersey..
I don't see much farmland around here.
A lot of dumps, strip malls, and ticky tack.. but not farms.

North jersey is all mountainous and stuff.. none up there.
And most of Southern Jersey is either a glorified sandbar or a power plant.

The few farms I've seen here sell vegetable. Tomatoes are a big thing, but I prefer those homegrown anyway. A lot of eggplant and squashes too. OR they have horses and other such pretties

I honestly wouldn't mind doing it, if theres something local. If not, like I said, I'll stick to my samhain rituals.

Oh yes.. chickens are SOOO Much fun to chase! They wouldn't leave 5 feet from the coup so we *my friend and I* chased them out and about... but they are REALLY stupid, and VERY slow


Storm Chaser

*who still hasn't a clue what they make out of goats*

[Shy Hawk]

Do you have an Amish country around? A lot of times on their farms they raise all sorts of animals just for sale.
When we lived in NY we had to go to Long Island for such things...

[Mythrel]

gimme a nice big fat juicy steak anyday!!!!

[StormChaser]

Way cool!
We have one, sorta. It's way out in Pa. But not too far as to that I wouldn't travel it.

Mm.. I'll have to plan a trip!

~Storm Chaser

[Shy Hawk]

Yep, we go to Amish country for all our Lamb and Chicken needs. Well, my family, not me specifically. I am not at a point in my life where I can easily kill any sort of animal...so uh...it's not cool for me to go and watch.
Also, you can feel good knowing that there probably aren't steroids, chemicals, antibiotics and whatnot in the meat...aswell as that they lived a pretty good life, roaming around on a farm. At least, that's something I think about.
Frankly, Amish chicken, aswell as all naturally raised meats taste way better. (and don't smell so funky)

[Swanspirit]

are stocking organic milk..... and free range eggs ....... only a matter of time until the organic meats are freely available..... but there are SO MANY local farms and gardens and our growing season is so long ........ that it is really easy to go there ....... as well......
Actually when you get to the topic of harming the environment ........ packing shipping and transporting vegetables and fruits that are largely out of season in many parts of the world causes a lot of environmental damage ....... so the vegetarian lifestyle that requires increased amounts of those intrusions into the environment isnt always necessarily a good environmental option either ......
Love and Light
Swannie

[Myst]

I think it's very obvious that I was brought up in a farming background for the most part even tho I don't live on a farm now -to put it in perspective my parents let me and my brother watch when my dad and uncle etc. would butcher deer, chickens, turkeys, etc. from a young age. It was never gross or "bad" to us, even tho I'm one of those people who loves animals. *shrugs*

I think if you're strong enough to make your own decision about being vegan, especially when you're young and it's harder for people to take it seriously, and when you research carefully to make sure you get your RDA's of stuff that's really cool.

[Shy Hawk]

I'll agree to that Myst.

[StormChaser]

Thats where they let the eggs run around before they box em right
*giggles*

Utoh.. time to put down the caffiene..

back away from the jokes..

hehehe

[Spirahl]

What do they make gelatin out of these days? Just wondering if they still boil horses. I won't give up gelatin in the form of marshmellows melted for Rice Krispie squares. Those are a life's necessity.
In a way, I still eat a little pork. I only eat turkey or chicken sausages, but they still use the pig intestine for casings.
I'm not militant at all.
And personally, I feel Peta makes it hard for animal rights activists to be taken seriously sometimes.

[loopy]

I think they're still making it out of horses hooves, but I also heard of some gummy bear-like product made out of dogs and cats?! :huh:

[Shy Hawk]

I hear they make it out of several different animals...I don't know for sure....

[Swanspirit]

I live in "Purdue" country ....

I used to say I was able to tell I was on the Eastern Shore by the dead
chickens on the side of the road ......but of course that keeps the
foxes happy ......
It is a very rural area in many ways........
and I thought I was doing OK as a pagan on the Shore ..... until
someone on a local pagan list told us omnivores meat and or chicken eaters we werent REAL PAGANS
because we still ate meat ..........
The people who were saying this have a chicken sanctuary ..........and
are of course Vegetarian .. with which I have absolutely NO argument
, that is a life choice of a most individual nature......but I dont think it is
a criteria by which to decide who is a REAL pagan or not ........
I remember at the age of three in downtown Baltimore .....my
grandmother took me to get a chicken for dinner ...........and she
picked a live one out of the cage........ and the butcher cuts it head off
right there for her ..... it did run around ......but I just took it in as part
of life.......being so young .....
In my paradigm .... there are some animals that were on this planet
to be food ..... and fowl are one of them .......
Take the buffalo for instance ....... if the White folks hadnt insisted on
importing their own cattle and destroyed the buffalo as a food source
for so many years...... we would have a Low cholesterol healthy
delicious alternative to beef.....
Love and light
Swannie

[EyeballKid]

I am VEGETARIAN because it seems to work best for my health. I have no problems with people that eat meat and I don't get offended when someone eats meat around me or even talks about eating meat. However, people who eat meat in front of me or talk about their favorite meat dish constantly appologize to me thinking I'm going to be offended. I'm made of meat so why would I be offended by the stuff.
On the other hand, people should be very aware of where their meat comes from. Eat organic, or buy from a local butcher or rancher. This way you support local trade and are getting the cleanest most guilt free meat possible. Some people would even possibly say organic, happy animals taste better.

[Pandy Fackler]

I'm an omnivore. I eat everything in sight. Kind of like a dinosaur, actually.

[Bluewillow]

I'm an omnivore. I don't eat a lot of red meat, and I prefer to eat chicken.
I love my veggies and fruit, too. :D

[Aquarian_Moon]

Veggies Rule Forever!!! I've been a lacto-ovo for exactly 1 year, 2 months, and 20 days now :)

Several weeks ago, I went to McDonalds (first time since I became a veggie) and sample ordered a Bacon McMuffin, just to try and remember what animal meat tasted like, as well as examine what other people were ordering. I felt like I had descended through the gates of Hell just by being there and doing what I was doing (if I ever believed in such a palce this was it).

The sandwich tasted fine, but aftwards I felt really funny inside. Even so, it was much easier to see how people can become so utterly numbified to what they are eating. I felt that the taste of the bacon was nothing more than a fatty additive to the english muffin and egg sandwich, and never would have been able to eat that one item alone, like I used to as a kid (my parents were and still are pure carnivores).

With my one pre-meditated meat eating experience in over a year having now come to a close (willfully consuming 2 tiny strips of fried fatty meat coming from a brutally butchered pig of all things) I can say I'm very happy with the decision I made from the onset, and will not have to sample anything ever again, thank you, no matter how much people who know me disrespect my reasoning (my dad to name but one) :)

[Azul]

I love vegatables!

so much, that i refuse to eat any...


My deit mainly consists of http://www.republicanvoices.org/meat.jpg

:woot:

[Shanti]

Well, belated V-day. Yesterday, October the first, was World Vegitarian Day. Did you load up on the veggies? Brings a thought to mind... how many of you are vegitarians? Or vegans... Myself, personally, I'm a lacto-ovo vegitarian. Have been for quite some time now. What are your thoughts on this matter?
Veggy day? Geez what next? Official Oral hygene day?
How about butt wipe day.

~Shanti cant stand these 'special' days~

[MysticWitch]

I eat non meat products and I eat some meats so I guess Im a half/half :D

[Aquarian_Moon]

Veggy day? Geez what next? Official Oral hygene day?
How about butt wipe day.

~Shanti cant stand these 'special' days~ umm... shouldn't butt wipe day be everyday? :hahugh:

[DarkDancer]

I am an omnivore, by nature, and by choice.

[Birdy]

The idea of a 'Vegetarian Day' seems really weird to me. I am a vegetarian myself but I just don't see why I need a day for that. It's an eating choice not an identity. I'm a lacto-ovo vegetarian because I don't like industrial farming methods and all the meat in the supermarket is either from industrial production line style farms or way too expensive. I have no problem with hunting for food or family farms (although personally I am too much of a coddled city girl to kill anything.) While my choice is motivated by ethical and enviromental considerations I still think that PETA is a BS machine and that self-rigteous vegans/vegetarians are among the most annoying people on Earth (speaking from personal experience). I think thats why these kinds of threads always result in some sort of backlash like people posting huge meat pictures etc..

[tru]

I'm Lacto-ovo vegitarian yeah thats what they call it. I don't eat eggs by it self just in stuff like cakes mmmm.
I've been vegitarian all my life because i'm cool like that. :hahugh:

[maeli]

i have strong feelings toward animal eaters. have you ever watched hannibal? where he cut that guy's brain up and he was fully conscious and cooked it and ate it? grody! but of course, he was so doped up he didn't feel a thing. that's what you're doing to animals. (sometimes....) the people cutting up those poor animals do it when they're still living and breathing and feeling it all. gross, huh? and you BUY IT!! and let it sizzle in you're frying pan.... an animal's flesh.... :sick: :ugh: i know, not it's not all like that, but still!

Ummm, ever saw a lion eat its prey.

[maeli]

i'm glad you feel as strongly about what you eat as us vegetarians do. everyone is different. i just stated stuff i read from peta and everything. i just don't want to eat meat. you want to eat meat. i'm ok with that. i want to be healthy by not eating something that can cause my life to be any more short or painful than it already is. or making any more lives out there more painful and pitiful than it they already are.

and i'm also a country person. :)

PETA...bahahahaha

[HorseCrow]

Primarily Lacto-ovo vegitarian, but I do eat some meat, mainly chicken and fish, about 1- 3 times a week, depending.

[maeli]

I believe its natural to eat meat. I don't think it should be the main thing on our plate but it is like the star of the show. I love meat, especially MR steak with horseradish sauce (now I am drooling) If you look in the wild you see animals eating animals (alot more gruesome). I love deer meat. I live in Texas and lets just say I new better than to have my wedding on the opening weekend of deer season. My fiance's family is all about eating what they got. I love rattlesnake, it is actually really good. I don't mind people who are vegans by choice, I just have an intolerance to those people who push their own views on other people.

[Libris]

I eat low on the food chain ----> very low, ramen being a staple :(

[Tigerlily]

I'm the only vegan? :(

[Pesha]

I consider myself an omnivour. I eat a wide variety of foods including meat and fish and fowl.

[QuizzicalKarma]

I said "other" because I'm in the process of going Veggie. Because of having borderline anemia I promised my mother to talk to my doctor about it before I make it a permanent fixture in my life, so I will be able to know what to add to my diet to supplement for protein. I'll be lacto-ovo, but the only dairy product I can eat is cheese because I'm lactose intolerant. By Halloween I'll be going Veggie full time, as my New Year's resolution. :)

[QuizzicalKarma]

Also wanted to add that I agree that there's nothing worse to have to deal with then a self-righteous Vegan/Vegitarian. Or a PETA-ite. Those SOBs make what my friends and I try to do with animal rescue harder, suggesting dogs and cats are better off dead then put into loving homes. That is such utter BS that ever since I learned their stance on rescues my eye twitches at just the name PETA.

My reason for wanting to go veggie isn't because I don't think people should eat meat, I just would like to see the meat market treating the animals more humanely before they become food. Not to mention with things like Mad Cow and Avian Flu, plus all the hormones they put in beef, I personally am choosing not to put that junk in my body. If and when the meat market enmasse begins to be more enviromentally friendly, more health conscious and more respectfull to the creatures the meat comes from, I may resume meat eating.

*gets off pedastool*

[demonique]

Gugh. Vegetarian Day? Hoo boy. Does everyone need a day?

Anyway, Happy veggie day to those who, uh, are celebrating it. Late, of course. *shakes head*

I'm a meat eater. Not a huge meat eater, cuz meat is expensive. And frankly, it takes a while to cook. And I'm sort of an instant-gratification type gal. But I love meat. Yesindeed. I love animals, too. Not just on my plate. I am just as horrified as the next person when it comes to cases of animal cruelty, but I grew up in Montana, on a farm. We always bought a cow, or half a cow, and had it butchered for us. Best meat you can get. Virtually all meat from Montana is what you'd term organic, or near to it. Definitely not factory farm type stuff. Definitely none of the cruelty that goes with it. We raised two cows one year, but as my family were wheat farmers, not cow ranchers, we didn't exactly make a habit of it. But we had them slaughtered and packaged, and we ate them. Their names, courtesy of my brother, were Michael and Jordan. He cried when he first realized what he was eating. But then he had no problems delving into Jordan's T-bone steak. Me? I never had a problem. Frankly, I don't see what everybody sees in cattle, anyway. They're stinky, smelly, ugly, brutish, and not at all cute. But maybe that's just that type of cow, eh?

For the idiots who believe that humans aren't /meant/ to eat meat... let me point out that our digestive track is neither the super long digestive track of an herbivore, nor the super short digestive track of a carnivore. It's mid-length, which suggests that we are indeed omnivores. Don't twist science just to get the point across that eating meat is not typically as healthy as eating vegetables. Doesn't mean humans aren't omnivores, or that your way of life isn't valid.

And Christ, don't buy into all that PETA bullshit. Buy organic meat if you're concerned about the way animals are treated/what horomones/pesticides/whatever are being fed to them. Sure, if you buy in a supermarket, you'll pay more for organic, but if you buy in 'bulk' - like, a quarter cow from some small rancher, you'd be surprised at how cheap it is. And you'll get better quality.

As for that shit about all the billions of trees being cut down for cattle farming? Ffft. Propaganda. Most cattle in the US, at least, are farmed on the plains. Where there are no trees anyway. And quite a few forests are being destroyed for urbanization. And for cropland.

I don't believe that you have to go face your meal and hunt it down with a knife or something in order to be a valid meat eater. That's absurd. I applaud those who can/do. I can't/won't. But hell, I can't stomach cleaning up someone else's plate without rubber gloves and a huge waste of hot running water. I'm a squicky stomached person in general. I'm easily disgusted - doesn't mean I'm having ethical issues with it, as some would say.

Anyway. I bought some ground beef from the supermarket (we've plumb run out of our own stock from last year), and I didn't buy the pricier, choice stuff (you can't buy just... organic stuff around here. if it's Montanan beef, it's /likely/ to be pretty darned organic anyway, but... it isn't labeled as such), but just the tubes that are shipped in from god knows where, cuz it was on sale... and oii. Bad stuff. Full of gristle and grit and ick. If that was all I had to eat ever, I'd probably be a pasta-tarian for life.