Any Vegetarian/Vegan Ledgies?

[chriskisn]

Ok lets make a point at the beginning of this thread, I'm asking if anyone is vegetarian on here. If you aren't that is fine, I won't preach to you if you don't preach to me.

Anyway, it is now about 14 months since my wife and I stopped eating red meat and chicken, and now we have pretty much cut out the fish as well.

We have done this for ethical reasons, we have rescued pets over the years, helped out at an animal shelter, etc, and one day just decided that we couldn't keep doing that and serving them up for dinner at the same time.

I have to admit that I don't have the same sort of compassion for fish, but my wife has never actually liked seafood anyway, so we have decided to stop eating the fish as well. That should be interesting at Christmas when we go to my parents and Mel's parents for lunch and dinner respectively (hard enough for them to feed us as it is).

So any other Ledgies on here who are vegetarian or vegan?

[holidayroad]

I'm a vegetarian for a lot of reasons. The main one is why eat animals when you don't have to! There are so many other options! I've tried to get my husband to join me in this but I don't think it will ever happen. He did try though!! My son kind of goes back and forth on the issue. (He's 7) I hate that I still have to shop for meat on occasion. I don't even like to look at it or touch it, but I get it for the rest of my family because overall they respect my opinion on it, so I try to respect theirs. Glad to know that you respect animals!

[chriskisn]

Originally Posted by holidayroad

I'm a vegetarian for a lot of reasons. The main one is why eat animals when you don't have to! There are so many other options! I've tried to get my husband to join me in this but I don't think it will ever happen. He did try though!! My son kind of goes back and forth on the issue. (He's 7) I hate that I still have to shop for meat on occasion. I don't even like to look at it or touch it, but I get it for the rest of my family because overall they respect my opinion on it, so I try to respect theirs. Glad to know that you respect animals!

My wife and I have said that if we ever have kids we will let them choose whatever they want to do. We won't be cooking up meat for them, but if they want to eat meat when they aren't at home then they can make that decision for themselves.

Just don't have any kids though...

[chriskisn]

Originally Posted by trackaghost

Yep, I've been vegetarian for about 20 years. I gave up eating meat when I was pretty young. I think having a pet brought me to the conclusion I couldn't eat meat anymore and now I really couldn't ever go back. Meat is pretty disgusting really, just to prepare, from the blood to the fat and the bone. I don't tend to preach to people about it but God knows the amount of people that have tried to convince me that being a vegetarian is wrong over the years. I think it makes them feel bad or something and they have to try and justify what they eat by trying to convince me that I'm wrong.

Actually it is funny how many people make out you are missing out on something by not eating meat. I think it was my biggest fear when I started that I would miss meat, and although sometimes I miss some nice crispy bacon it really isn't an issue.

Like you say meat is disgusting...when we give our cats chicken necks (as we don't enforce our vegetarianism on them) my wife can't even stand to handle them and I have do it. She couldn't even bring herself to serve out some cold meats when we held a birthday party for her mother earlier in the year (yep I had to do it again!).

[HejiraNYC]

Include me in the cult.

I've been vegetarian for over 21 years, but on the cusp of veganism for the past seven (virtually no dairy). I do make an active effort to be vegan as much as possible... but in the modern non-farm, non-commune world, it's really, really hard to be 100% vegan. Perhaps someday when I am old and have all the time in the world I will be able to cook wonderful vegan dishes... but as of now, I am kind of at the mercy of doing the best with the time I have and what is available. Living in the city offers a few more options, but you would be surprised by the hostility that most restaurants harbor towards veggies. My biggest pet peeve, and I mean BIG, are restaurants that assume that since I don't meat, I don't eat like to eat; so some steamed vegetables thrown on a plate would be considered a meal. That is the height of disrespect to me. Any restaurant that does not put out the same thoughtfulness and care into preparing a veggie dish as a meat dish does not deserve my money.

My reason for going veggie all those years ago was: why not? And why is it necessary to eat meat in the first place? It certainly isn't healthy. It's certainly not good for the environment. And most importantly, it's tragically inhumane. I basically became veggie without thinking about it- one day, after realizing that I had not eaten meat for a couple of days unwittingly, I made the conscious decision to see how long I could live without meat. And that was basically it- I never ate meat again and I never really missed it (although I have had dreams about eating meat every once in a while, namely KFC!). The whiners who insist that they could never live without meat have never really tried to do without it. It's amazing how quickly you lose your taste for meat, and for me that's saying a lot since I ate red meat twice a day, every day, as a kid.

[FMlex]

I eat vegetarians and vegans!



Just kidding... but yeah, me & meat have been getting along just fine thus far in my life.


"All God's creatures look best next to the mashed potatoes and gravy"

[seekerj]

I don't eat meat and can't understand why anyone would want to.

My cat eats meat, but she has to in order to live. Humans don't. And neither do dogs.

[holidayroad]

Originally Posted by chriskisn

My wife and I have said that if we ever have kids we will let them choose whatever they want to do. We won't be cooking up meat for them, but if they want to eat meat when they aren't at home then they can make that decision for themselves.

Just don't have any kids though...

I agree that's it's best to let the child decide.

[Remy]

Hey, count me in! I'm semi-vegetarian (I eat fish once in a while).

I need to work on my menu, though - my iron has always been low (even back when I used to eat meat).

I'm very happy to see fellow vegetarians on the Ledge!

(there are more VegLedgies, i remember we've had a conversation about it before)

[Meowi]

Im not sure if I count, but you could call me a half-vegetarian I dont really like most meat (chicken, Steaks) but I enjoy a roast. However, I absolutely love vegetarian substitutes, like Lasagne

I also deeply respect all you Vege/Vegan Ledgies! Keep it up - Id love to join, but I have low iron.

Yum,
Meowi

[Remy]

Originally Posted by Meowi

Id love to join, but I have low iron.

I know the drill (i started going to the dietician): broccoli, brussell sprouts, peanuts, apricots, soy, chickpeas, all types of beans plus lemon or orange juice regularly.

(vitamin C from citruses activates the absorption of non-heme iron in the above vegetables)

now i've got to come up with some way to integrate all of those

PS. David's co-blogger, Cassandra, gives great ideas for veg. meals

[HejiraNYC]

Originally Posted by Remy

I know the drill (i started going to the dietician): broccoli, brussell sprouts, peanuts, apricots, soy, chickpeas, all types of beans plus lemon or orange juice regularly.

(vitamin C from citruses activates the absorption of non-heme iron in the above vegetables)

now i've got to come up with some way to integrate all of those

PS. David's co-blogger, Cassandra, gives great ideas for veg. meals

It's hard to believe that people can have low iron these days when everything is so enriched- flour, cereal, rice, bread, etc. If anything, I have to try to avoid consuming too much iron!

[HejiraNYC]

Originally Posted by Meowi

Im not sure if I count, but you could call me a half-vegetarian I dont really like most meat (chicken, Steaks) but I enjoy a roast. However, I absolutely love vegetarian substitutes, like Lasagne

I also deeply respect all you Vege/Vegan Ledgies! Keep it up - Id love to join, but I have low iron.

Yum,
Meowi

I believe that makes you a Roastafarian.

[jenniferuk]

We are partially there...we eat fish but I don't prepare meat (chicken, beef, pork, etc) at home and I never eat it. My husband and 1 of the kids will sometimes have meat when dining out, which is fine by me. I don't like the taste of meat and I won't eat anything with bones or blood--just never had a desire to do so. I always refused lamb chops, roast etc as a child--the rareness always put me off. I ate chicken for a long time but really got put off by the stories of antibiotics, hormones, etc.

I had low iron for a long time but it's been fine for the last few years. I'm not sure if I vary my diet more or if it's the fortified foods--probably both. I took a supplement for awhile and hated it-I had a constant hungry feeling.

I let the children make up their own minds and never forced it on them--I explained that Mummy doesn't care for the look/taste/smell of meat and so I don't cook it or eat it. They have had their carnivore phases but for the most part it's short-lived.

[HejiraNYC]

Originally Posted by jenniferuk

We are partially there...we eat fish but I don't prepare meat (chicken, beef, pork, etc) at home and I never eat it. My husband and 1 of the kids will sometimes have meat when dining out, which is fine by me. I don't like the taste of meat and I won't eat anything with bones or blood--just never had a desire to do so. I always refused lamb chops, roast etc as a child--the rareness always put me off. I ate chicken for a long time but really got put off by the stories of antibiotics, hormones, etc.

I had low iron for a long time but it's been fine for the last few years. I'm not sure if I vary my diet more or if it's the fortified foods--probably both. I took a supplement for awhile and hated it-I had a constant hungry feeling.

I let the children make up their own minds and never forced it on them--I explained that Mummy doesn't care for the look/taste/smell of meat and so I don't cook it or eat it. They have had their carnivore phases but for the most part it's short-lived.

Well, hopefully your kids are not being indoctrinated in school by the meat industry's propaganda aka "four food groups." I know as a kid in elementary school we were taught that meat was a necessary part of our diets; there was no mention of the increased risks for heart disease, obesity, colon cancer, gout, etc. If kids are taught that eating meat is purely optional and that consuming large quantities of meat comes with potential health risks (as well as helping to pollute the environment), I think a lot of kids would go the veggie route.