I don't like vegetarians

I became aware of what I chose to put in my body over 30 years ago. Note that I did not label my self as Vegetarian, Ovo-lacto, Vegan or whatever. I am turned-off by the labeling which seems commonplace these days. I consider myself fairly knowledgeable as far as nutrition, which is a term I prefer to use. I stopped eating meat, poultry, pork and seafood in 1978 and do consume dairy products. My weights been stable throughout and I have no health issues. Do I care what others eat? Absolutely not. The folks who insist on asking me to justify my food choices for no apparent reason, I just consider rude and defensive simply because my choices call into question their own.

I agree with that Timmie. I hate using labels and terms to describe what I am or what I do and don't do. And when people ask me why I'm a vegetarian, I tell them "Because it makes me happy." Simple as that.

Timmie wrote:I became aware of what I chose to put in my body over 30 years ago. Note that I did not label my self as Vegetarian, Ovo-lacto, Vegan or whatever. I am turned-off by the labeling which seems commonplace these days. I consider myself fairly knowledgeable as far as nutrition, which is a term I prefer to use. I stopped eating meat, poultry, pork and seafood in 1978 and do consume dairy products. My weights been stable throughout and I have no health issues. Do I care what others eat? Absolutely not. The folks who insist on asking me to justify my food choices for no apparent reason, I just consider rude and defensive simply because my choices call into question their own.

I absolutely agree. Who needs labels? I don't eat meat, dairy or any other animal products. At work I'm constantly hounded with "WHY???" I tell them it's my body & my choice. Then I threaten to eat sour kraut for a week if they don't stop.... lol. People seem to think it's funny to sit next to me & naw on a Big Mac. When I gag they think it's the meat. Nope, it's because they eat like the cow they are consuming.

Case in point!

Things that used to go MOO make me salivate, but I am a bit of a glutton. One word of advice I recently received was to not eat anything raw - veggies included - whilst traveling for fear of food poisoning.

Yea, this is one of those topics I don't like to enter, but I have to say I agree with most everyone's comments.

I am not in a position in life to need to kill an animal, and the idea of killing an animal is not something I am fond of when there is really no reason for it... when faced with eating meat I usually think of the animals life and just knowing the industry that killed it turns me off pretty quickly. I'll probably eat meat again, but I will know that particular animals life, and I will know how it died, and then I'll probably feel good about eating it.

I'm a lifelong vegetarian (was raised as one) and recently became vegan within the past couple of years. For me, it is for ethical, health and environmental concerns. I am really against factory farming. It has always been easy being a vegetarian since it is all I have known (although when I was old enough to decide, I was given the choice to consume meat if I wanted to) - I've never been drawn to eat "fake meat" type products since I don't have a taste for it.

I am not the type of person to force my beliefs on others. In fact, I tend to get more hassle and harassment from co-workers for being a vegetarian - they bring it up constantly! I don't even bring it up, I just keep to myself and eat what I like...it is almost as though some people are threatened by the fact that I have made different, conscious choices for myself. I don't ever talk about my reasons for becoming a vegetarian (and I'm never asked) - of course, if someone wanted to ask me why, I would tell them my personal reasons.

If you come to South Africa, you will find a lot of meat eaters. I have been eating a lot more meat since staying here.

There was a time when I was vegetarian. I guess I just adapt to whatever my environment is.

I had a moment of clarity some years ago when I was watching a nature show. It had some bears fishing during a salmon run. They focused on one bear standing in a pool staring into the water. Suddenly he swiped something underneath, and came up with a salmon in his claws. He trundled over to the bank, sat down, and immediately began devouring this poor flopping salmon.

Watching this, I could only think one thing: "Man, that looks delicious." And that's when I realized I could never be a vegetarian.

And yes, I did order the fish next time I went to a restaurant, in honor of Life Lesson Bear and the Salmon of Truth.

My logic might be strange but makes sense to me, and I think that's enough of a reason.

If I have a choice, I choose to eat only the things I can imagine I've to grow/pick/kill all by myself. If all other animals have to do that, I should too. Since I don't particular like to see the image of animals killed while I'm eating, so I stay away from meat as much as possible, but I'm okay with seeing myself growing vegetables, picking up eggs, milking a cow, picking up oysters so that goes my food choice. But, when I travel to places where I was offered a nice meal from locals who have no other choices but meat from what they raise, I would respect and enjoy that.

Taking a more logical analysis, factory farming is a horrendous practice to both the animals and the environment and that's something I don't want to support.

The only problem I have is with the overly preachy Vegans (which seems to be most of them). Vegetarians are generally more laid back about their eating style. Vegetarians are nice, because they can eat REGULAR food (just not meat). Vegans have to eat special vegan food, which is obnoxious as hell. Its like someone took the concept of kosher/halal and then made it about being pretentious and expensive, and not about religion. Eat meat, don't eat meat, whatever you want. Just don't bitch and moan that the brand of pasta I am serving isn't vegan.

I totally get the "factory farming is evil" thing, I don't like it either. But like it or not, it's going to happen. Truely fresh food is AMAZING! Eating with the Afghan Army and local paramilitary people is one of the greatest things about deployment to a remote area, one that a lot of American/Canadian/Australian/European soldiers are afraid of. Yea sure, I've gotten dysentry before, but the pure flavor of authenticly organic freshly butchered meat is TOTALLY worth the health risks. If a vegan took part in raising and butchering their own livestock, I think they'd have a totally different point of veiw on the food chain and the necessary sacrifice of lesser beasts to greater ones.

BlueLlama777 wrote:The only problem I have is with the overly preachy Vegans (which seems to be most of them). Vegetarians are generally more laid back about their eating style. Vegetarians are nice, because they can eat REGULAR food (just not meat). Vegans have to eat special vegan food, which is obnoxious as hell. Its like someone took the concept of kosher/halal and then made it about being pretentious and expensive, and not about religion. Eat meat, don't eat meat, whatever you want. Just don't bitch and moan that the brand of pasta I am serving isn't vegan.

I totally get the "factory farming is evil" thing, I don't like it either. But like it or not, it's going to happen. Truely fresh food is AMAZING! Eating with the Afghan Army and local paramilitary people is one of the greatest things about deployment to a remote area, one that a lot of American/Canadian/Australian/European soldiers are afraid of. Yea sure, I've gotten dysentry before, but the pure flavor of authenticly organic freshly butchered meat is TOTALLY worth the health risks. If a vegan took part in raising and butchering their own livestock, I think they'd have a totally different point of veiw on the food chain and the necessary sacrifice of lesser beasts to greater ones.

I'm vegan, I'm not preachy, I realize that most people in the world eat meat and dairy. I make my own choices in life, and this is what feels right for me! I also don't really understand what "special vegan food" you think that I eat....I eat regular food that you find at the grocery store...fruits, vegetables, grains, beans, pasta, rice... I just don't eat animals, dairy, or eggs. I find it strange that you seem to feel defensive about my personal choice! If anything, if you have friends that are vegan, you should be happy to try to accommodate their choices while going out to restaurants to make them happy. I know that if I'm out with a majority of my meat-eating friends, I try to choose a restaurant that will make everyone happy!

BTW, I'm happy to not raise and butcher my own livestock. Living in the city, that's not realistic, plus I wouldn't be able to do it anyway. Pretty much all meat does come from factory farms here...and I'd rather not support that.

Though I have no problem with people who choose the vegetarian lifestyle, I've found that I don't like having a vegetarian travel partner, or worse, a strict vegan. At mealtime it means skipping over wonderful-looking eateries with delightfully exotic foods and instead heading to the only place in town that serves rice and boiled cabbage in order to accommodate that person's strict dietary regimen.

Humans are omnivorous so they can eat meat and vegetables... The key there is balance... You can eat meat and eat lots of vegetables too...

I don't have problems with vegetarians... They have their own reasons... I just hate those vegetarians who annoyingly impose their beliefs on others just like PETA... They do scandalous acts just to get public attention...

jlinFan wrote:Humans are omnivorous so they can eat meat and vegetables... The key there is balance... You can eat meat and eat lots of vegetables too...

I don't have problems with vegetarians... They have their own reasons... I just hate those vegetarians who annoyingly impose their beliefs on others just like PETA... They do scandalous acts just to get public attention...