Vegetarianism - The Debate

[Tak]

Originally Posted by goldilocks

(though in reality i will still continue to glare at people with cheap meat in their trollies)

S'ok - I'll still glare back

[Will]

Though it has to be said that expensive meat is not always necessarily well sourced. It's hard to prove that the meat has been ethically reared.

[SidewinderINC]

Originally Posted by Will

Though it has to be said that expensive meat is not always necessarily well sourced. It's hard to prove that the meat has been ethically reared.

<probably asking for trouble posting this in a veggie thread but here goes>

http://www.farmerschoice.net/

That's where we (Read: my mum) used to buy our good cuts of meat from
I haven't gotten round to setting up an account yet though since moving in to my new place, I can afford it though.

[iCraig]

Originally Posted by Haly

Eat what you want, believe what you want. Just don't push it on me and I don't care what you do.

Spot on. I have no issue with vegetarian or vegans whatsoever for the most part. It's their body, their money, and their ethics. It's totally up to them what they consume, BUT in as much respect it's up to me what I consume as well.

This affects both parties because on either side you have people pushing their opinion on human food into the faces of others. I've been harassed by vegetarians before, telling me I'm scum for eating meat and it's unnatural. The human body isn't designed to process meat, yadda yadda yadda. Meat eaters are just as bad. They push their opinion in the face of others too; You are malnourished if you don't eat meat. There's things in meat you can't get anywhere else, and other such nonsense. These extreme views don't do either lifestyle any favours.

We're very diverse and opinionated, and as such, we should respect each other's choices for their lifestyle. Simple as that.

[Jonny69]

Just a heads up: two packs of free range chicken legs and thighs (4) are on offer for £3 in M&S, £5 if you wanted to go for the organic version. That's 6 portions for me, 4 thighs and two lots of 2 drumsticks. I have no doubt they are going to be exceptionally tasty compared to two packs of battery farmed breasts (8) for £5.99 in Sainsburys, it's just a cheaper cut of a premium product.

[lostkat]

Fantastic. Thanks Johnny. I don't have issues sourcing fresh, local beef/lamb etc., but chicken can be a problem, especially as me & Leon have agreed that unethical chicken is off the menu for good

[Justsomebloke]

Originally Posted by Roberta

I feel that coming home to Debbie sandwiches may have contributed to me becoming a veggie when I left home!

[semi-pro waster]

I'm probably a bit late in joining this but as it is a thread on vegetarianism I can't quite leave it alone although I've probably said most of it before anyway.

I'm vegetarian and have been since I was about 4 or 5, it was my decision and not down to parental pressure - while my mum has been vegetarian from before I was born she used to cook meat for me and would never have forced me not to eat meat. I always find it rather amusing when people tell me how unhealthy I must be as a vegetarian or that I'm not getting enough of foodstuff X in my diet, I'm fortunate enough to be one of the healthiest people I know - while I can't say for certain that I wouldn't be healthier as an omnivore it is difficult for me to see how. One of the things I will probably never understand though is when people ask me "so you're vegetarian, does that mean you eat fish?".

I don't like meat substitutes much because I don't like the taste/texture of meat but lots of people assume that I must since I'm 'missing out', oddly enough I've never felt like that, I've been vegetarian so long that it doesn't even occur to me most of the time. However if people want to become a vegetarian on ethical grounds or whatever and find that a meat substitute helps them in their choice then I've obviously got no issues with it. Such things don't appeal to me but nor does a lot of what people do so I'm not about to worry about it.

At the end of that rather disjointed mess, my view is definitely of the live and let live variety. I don't really care what you eat, what you believe or what you do - live your life and leave me free to enjoy mine. That doesn't mean I don't want to talk about it as I do like a good debate on most subjects but I always try not to take it seriously, it just isn't worth it.

[Stan_Lite]

I was wondering how easy the long term vegetarians found sourcing ingredients for cooking etc. Do you have lists of stuff which you know contain no animal derived ingredients/additives or do you have to stand in supermarkets reading labels a lot?

I know when I did it for 2 years (we're talking mid 80s here ), I was constantly frustrated by reading labels to discover that many of my favourite foods contained animal products. Finding biscuits was a nightmare as most of my favourites were made with animal fat. I remember writing to McVities and asking if they had thought of replacing the animal fat in some of their ranges with vegetable alternatives. They wrote a polite letter back and said, yes they'd thought about it but had no intentions of doing it - basically, up "yours veggie freak".

Also, how about restaurants, do you tend to go to vegetarian restaurants or do mainstream restaurants offer a decent variety of vegetarian food?

Basically, I was curious as to whether things have improved any, 20 odd years on from my experiences? I would like to think things would be better now and you would have more choice but it's not really something I've paid any attention to since I went back to eating meat.

[lostkat]

Originally Posted by semi-pro waster

One of the things I will probably never understand though is when people ask me "so you're vegetarian, does that mean you eat fish?".

Probably because a surprising amount of people who claim to be vegetarian say they eat fish. I really don't understand it either. A fish is as much an animal as a pig or a chicken. It always makes me feel like saying "so... you're not a vegetarian then are you", but I usually just keep quiet because it's far more trouble than it's worth to mention anything.