I wish I could stop eating meat

but I'm addicted to hamburgers

n.c. wrote:I'd like to make the point that one can live a very healthy life without meat, eggs or dairy. However, go on an all meat diet, and see how you feel in a month.

other than pizza, i've been pretty much only eating meat (almost all the time) for a good 12 years or so.

my ex-gf went to the doctor and had a blood test because she wasn't feeling right. the doc asked "you're vegetarian, aren't you?" and she said "almost" cause she would eat chicken every month or two... the doctor told her one of the reasons she's tired all the time is because she's iron deficient, and she could clear that right up by eating a burger once every week or two.

i thought that was really badass, in a "piss off the hippies" kinda way. i'm sure there are nutritionists that will tell you A and others that will tell you B, and others etc etc. but to tell a mostly-vegetarian that her health will improve if she eats more meat, i loved that!

my sister's been full-on veganazi for years now, and i think she's as healthy as ever. it's true what n.c. says, you gotta mix up the veggies in there. isn't brocolli a good one for iron?

n.c. wrote:

MissAnthrope wrote:i was vegetarian for 6 years - and i only quit because i knew i wasn't eating right. (suppliments are key

I have been vegetarian for over 18 years, strict vegan for 2. I have never taken vitamins or suplaments. If you base your diet around a variety of vegetables, you don't have to. It's only the people who eat mac n' cheese every meal that become sickly vegetarians and give the rest of us a bad name.

I'd like to make the point that one can live a very healthy life without meat, eggs or dairy. However, go on an all meat diet, and see how you feel in a month.

n

I wasn't really talking about vitamins - I was talking about protiens and amino acids.

Unfortunately, I, (ME, PERSONALLY - not trying to give you a 'bad name' here) had trouble eating the right amounts, and was told by my doctor after various blood tests over the years, that i wasn't taking care of myself.

I ate really well - thats the thing - tons and tons of vegis - and tofu, seitan, tempeh, wheat gluten, tvp - i love it all, but i was still malnutritioned.

i'm doing what's best for me - you do what's best for you
and let's agree to disagree.

not crap.

I'm not a vegetarian, though.

I eat almost all vegetarian food but every once in a while I eat some seafood. I still eat a little sour cream and cheese and drink half and half, but I like that soy milk better than cow milk. They haven't got the half and half substitute right yet. No pork, chickens, turkeys, ducks (mmm...) etc. About 3 weeks ago I ate some bison meat and that was the first red meat I had eaten in about 4 years. It was a pretty tasty Tatanka.

The reasons I see to abstain from meat, or at least cut way back:
1) factory farming is nasty, fucked-up, and causes suffering.
2) too much meat is bad for your health, or so they say.
3) good vegetarian food is delicious
4) evironmental and global hunger concerns like: we feed all these cows instead of feeding people, there are lakes full of pig shit, etc. I read that about 120,000 cattle are slaughtered every day here in the US.
5) for the most part there is no respect for the animal and no connection between the consumer and the animal that has died to sustain him or her. I think eating animals is OK in a context that values and respects the life of the animal, like (my probably romanticized perception of) Native American cultures. Nowadays, people are generally not thankful for the life of the animal. You might say grace, but that's not the same.

Salut vegetarianos!

Salut Tatanka!

lee wrote:4) evironmental and global hunger concerns like: we feed all these cows instead of feeding people,

since when was this an either/or proposition?
people give the cows grass and the cows give people meat. everybody's happy! unless you wanted some of that grass.

there are lakes full of pig shit, etc.

i would see this band called there are lakes full of pig shit.

I read that about 120,000 cattle are slaughtered every day here in the US.

sounds about right. can't let all that meat go to waste! pass the ketchup.

i think you should have stopped at 3).

only here wrote:

lee wrote:4) evironmental and global hunger concerns like: we feed all these cows instead of feeding people,

since when was this an either/or proposition?
people give the cows grass and the cows give people meat. everybody's happy! unless you wanted some of that grass.

In theory that could be true, and it would make sense since a lot of land can support only grass, not any crops people could live on. But most cows raised in the U.S. are raised on corn because it gets them nice and fat more quickly. The cow's digestive system is naturally adapted to grass, but apparently they adjust. I've heard this adaptation described as akin to a person subsisting completely on Snickers bars. I replied to this thread just so I could share that image with this community. You're welcome.

The 120,000 cows a day stat seems a little pointless. We're a big country. That's around 2,500 people per day per cow without factoring in imports and exports. I don't know about you all, but I want more than 1/2500th of a cow every day. 1/2500th of a cow plus maybe 1/1000th of a pig should do it, though.

Yeah, when you put it that way 120,000 seems low. I read that on a website about buffalo meat a few days ago. The stats were from 2000. Anyway, cows eat a lot of grain that could feed people.

I think a lot of cattle out west get to graze until a few months before slaughter when they put them on feedlots and feed them snickers bars, but I don't know what percentage are all grain-fed as opposed to range and then feedlot.

4) and 5) make sense to me. They aren't rational arguments, just reasons why I don't eat hardly any meat, ever. I'm not preaching about it or trying to convince you either way, so bon appetit.

(ignore)

toomanyhelicopters wrote:isn't brocolli a good one for iron?

I dunno about broccoli, but green leafies are -- spinach, kale, collard greens, Chinese cabbage, etc. Iron you right up they will, as good as beef.

does anyone eat the meat of a carnivore? no because that would kill you. at least you die slower with the meat of an herbivore.