quote:

Originally posted by jessecarl:
and this to STIV when he says that you should "eat what makes you feel good." some of us can not do that if what we eat was tortured or suffered greatly. most people would not eat the meat of a slaughtered human just becaue it simply tasted good. we must try and do our small parts to ease some of the suffering so many in the world experience.

Seems to me that you are eating what makes you feel good then. If the idea of animals suffering spoils your ability to enjoy certain foods, then it's not making you feel good. Right?

actually, what i am saying is that just because something feels good does not necessarily make it right.

ive been a "vegetarian" for 7 years, i think it originally started out as this teen idolization with river phoenix and then after reading all the literature on cruelty to animals and health benefits(some may disagree) it seemed liek an obvious living choice. after the first 5 years of no meat but still milk cheese and eggs i caved and went out for seafood when i was in capetown. i used to beat myslf up alot about it and got a lot of peopel saying to me, well your not a vegeatarian, you eat fish......all this labeling talk can get pretty annoying pretty quickly, so i dont call myself anythign anymore. i just take pride in the fact that i feel i am doing my part, taking care of my body and contributing to the betterment of how animals are treated......our culture has eaten meat for thousands of years, it would be quite difficult to change those ways over night, but i think if everyone at least cuts down on their consumption of meat they'll be helping themselves out and the animals....

It's really difficult (if not impossible) to live in this world and to travel in it without being part of the cycle of cruelty and violence to animals or humans. For example: have you ever seen what they do to the cows to provide the fertilizer for growing vegetables? I think we really have to pick and choose our battles carefully. I say do what you can and forget the rest.

Ok, a good friend of mine managed to survive TEXAS as a vegan. Then he went to Russia to do research for his dissertation. And what happened? He agreed to bring some medication to parents of a friend of his who where living in the countryside in an area he'd pass through anyhow. When he got there, they'd made a huge meal as a thank you, and of course he was served the best parts. Meat and all. So how do you say no in a situation like that?

quote:

Originally posted by Elis:
When he got there, they'd made a huge meal as a thank you, and of course he was served the best parts. Meat and all. So how do you say no in a situation like that?

you dont, in my opinion, though others would probably disagree.

I guess in that way I'm a 'practical vegetarian' too. If not eating meat means going hungry, or a dear relative crying in the kitchen, I'll suck it up on a rare occassion.

On a side note, tho I dont like the taste much, I am slightly more inclined to eat wild or at least small-farm grown meat than factory farmed stuff that is most of what you get in the US.

As far as I know- vegetables are available worldwide.

I've been vegan 9 years, homeless for 2 of them. I can find vegetables anywhere. They even grow on their own!

What I meant to say, is that I really respected this guy for pulling off being Vegan in Texas, but there was one situation where he even ate meat (for the first time in 10 years or so). But only the one. After he went back to vegetarian (not vegan). I think there's exceptions to everything, but it's still important to try and make the right choices.

quote:

Originally posted by Elis:
What I meant to say, is that I really respected this guy for pulling off being Vegan in Texas, but there was one situation where he even ate meat (for the first time in 10 years or so). But only the one. After he went back to vegetarian (not vegan). I think there's exceptions to everything, but it's still important to try and make the right choices.

And I meant to say, I agree

quote:

Originally posted by Elis:
What I meant to say, is that I really respected this guy for pulling off being Vegan in Texas, but there was one situation where he even ate meat (for the first time in 10 years or so). But only the one. After he went back to vegetarian (not vegan). I think there's exceptions to everything, but it's still important to try and make the right choices.

I've never been vegan, but I was vegetarian in texas for 7 years without any problems. I didn't even start eating seafood until I moved to the west coast. texas isn't nearly as backwards as people seem to think. it's actually pretty progressive and even cosmopolitan in parts, which isn't surprising, considering three of the ten largest US cities are there (houston-4th, san antonio-8th, dallas-9th).

[QUOTE]
you dont, in my opinion, though others would probably disagree.

I guess in that way I'm a 'practical vegetarian' too. If not eating meat means going hungry, or a dear relative crying in the kitchen, I'll suck it up on a rare occassion.

I guess it depends on the person. Me, I can't eat meat because it makes me throw up. I've been that way since I was a small child. I guess for me it's just a gamble of what's going to offend someone more; me not trying their meat dish that they slaved over all day and which is a deep and induring symbol of their culture and heritage, or me gagging down the precious culturally charged dead animal and then bringing it back up onto the table. I tend to bet on the same one as causing the least offense.

I've been a vegetarian for 9 years now and I've had very few problems finding stuff to eat. The UK was definitely the easiest, what with all the Indian and Thai food. I'd like to go to Africa, though, and I'm told that it's difficult to be veg there. Having been without meat for so long, it's not an easy decision to eat a meat product (my body could have trouble digesting it and I could make myself ill). I spoke with a vegetarian who'd been in the Peace Corps in West Africa, and his tactic had been to tell people that he had a religious objection to eating meat. He said that his hosts were always gracious and understanding.

When it comes to cities, it's almost always easy to find a grocer with fresh fruit and veg that you can cook up at your hostel, and if you include some beans and rice you've got yourself a damn good meal.

My experience in west Africa (Senegal specifically) was that people don't serve that much meat anyhow because it's too expensive. The normal meal is a big bowl of rice with some veggies on top and maybe a largish chunk of fish or meat that everyone shares. It should be rather easy to avoid, and the religious objection sounds like a good argument.

By the way, am I the only one who relies a lot on red lentils? In my experience there are even countries in Europe where veggie sausages or even tofu can be hard to find (Spain was weird that way). But it seems that lentils are sold the world over and the red ones cook as fast as rice. For me that's always been one of my main options for getting the legumes and the proteins into a meal.

And on the topic of Spain: they don't have a lot of veggie options either, but one great thing they now have is Gazpacho in the Tetra pack in the produce refrigerator section. Delicious.

Countries that have been notably difficult to feed my ovo-lacto-veggie butt in:

• Vietnam, although it was better my last trip there
  
• Iceland
  
• Spain
  

I'm a semi-vegetarian (eat chicken or fish about once a week--mainly because of lack of veggie options in my area), and I maintain that while abroad. I've had a very easy time in the British Isles, and other countries I visited in Western Europe. Costa Rica (and I'd venture to guess all of Central America) was also quite easy with the heavy emphasis on beans, veggies, and fruit (though I did indulge quite a bit in fish there). Suprisingly, mexico was INCREDIBLY difficult. I ended up giving in and eating chicken, though even that was hard, especially in Guadalajara, for some reason. My friend was full vegetarian, and she was insanely frustrated after six weeks, as she basically lived on quesadillas and chips with guacamole. On the coast we had some more options, but inland it was really suprising what a time we had. While the cheese there is great, it does get hard.

And in the US, any city is quite easy, though here in small-town Midwest, it's nearly impossible to do vegetarian well. Even if I cook for myself, my local grocery store offers so few vegetarian cooking staples.