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...

[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

[chriskisn]

Originally Posted by Remy

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

Actually that is the same for my wife, even though we eat all of the right foods. She had low iron as a regular meat-eater, it has dropped a bit as a veggie, and now she takes a liquid iron supplement (suitable for vegetarians) so hopefully her iron levels will start to go back up.

I think it is one of those things that vary between individuals.

[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"

[golddustdrummer]

Originally Posted by 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"

bahahaha I love you Alexa

I'm an omnivore too lol
but I totally respect all the vegetarians and vegans...
I couldn't do it if I wanted to.

[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.

[BellaDonna93]

Vegetarian here!

I have been a vegetarian my whole life, 16 years, because my mother and father already were vegetarians when I was born so they decided that I can eat meat if I want, they say, but I absolutley don't want to!! Tho I'm not a real vegetarian, because I eat fish and egg and cheese

[GypsySorcerer]

Not a veggiesaurus here, though I only eat chicken and the occasional burger. No steak, seafood, or pork. I have always hated pork. Yuck.

But I'm with the others who love cheese. Goat cheese and brie? Mmmmm.