to consider stopping being vegetarian after 11 years?

[Bluetinkerbell]

I've been a vegetarian for 11 years, out of principle that you can live quite happily without eating animals. I don't eat meat or fish.
The only times I have felt craving for meat or fish was during my both pregnancies.

What are the pro's of being vegetarian and what are the cons?
Is it that much more expensive eating meat/fish etc?
DH isn't vegetarian and only eats meat when eating out or take-away.
DD, 3 is vegetarian, but has asked to try DH's meat when he eats some.

Any people out there who have stopped being vegetarian and can share their experience?

[worraliberty]

I suppose you need to ask yourself why out of principle you don't like eating animals...I mean what is the reason behind the principle?

After 11yrs you should know the pros and cons of being vegetarian surely?

Meat and fish can be expensive but you have to shop around and use your freezer when you see bargains.

[ChocolateBiscuitCake]

A good reason NOT to be a vegetarian?...bacon

[Bluetinkerbell]

chocolate I loved bacon before becoming veggie... and I still love the smell of it!

[LaurieFairyCake]

DH is a veggie (as he thinks it is morally wrong to eat animals as he believes they have a right to life) and DD is a pescatarian (fish only).

I eat ethical meat only - free range chicken/turkey, beef, very little pork as pigs are more intelligent than dogs (find eating intelligent animals harder to justify - would never eat bushmeat).

In my opinion it is morally wrong to eat unethical meat like battery chicken - I just can't justify it. Which is why I eat much less meat (maybe once a week/fortnight) as I can't afford it. I think meat should be 'special' too and not for every meal as it is destructive to the planet and human kind will survive much longer if we eat a largely vegetarian diet.

[faverolles]

A good friend of mine was a vegetarian out of principal because she strongly disagreed with intensive farming.
She started eating meat when a local farm started producing very high welfare organic meat.
She felt her issue was with the farming practices, not eating meat, so wanted to support the local farms that made the effort to keep their animals in the best possible way.
She now also rears her own chickens for eggs and meat (quite a step from being such a dedicated vegetarian).

[Elderberries]

You have been veggie for 10 years and you are talking about expense? The reasons I am vegetarian are ethical: factory farming, environmental issues such as deforestation. Also I have always thought that if I can not face the idea of butchering an animal myself I should not be involved with a industry that does it behind closed doors.

Why are you vegetarian?

Having said that if I followed my principles through to their natural conclusion I would be vegan but I have found that difficult to make happen.

[Elderberries]

I should also say YABU.

[TheMonster]

I was veggie for ten years and I have been eating meat again for 4 years now. It's widened my choices a lot, especially when I eat out, as I don't like so many things.
My tastes have changed too: I would never eat red meat before but now I enjoy it.

[TheMonster]

By the way, I have never like bacon!

[splashymcsplash]

I agree with what previous posters have said that you should know the answers to the questions you are asking. Are you posting this because you want to eat meat and are looking for justification?

I am a life long vegetarian, so while cannot comment on eating meat, I do think that being vegetarian is cheaper. I eat lots of pulses like lentils which are very cheap.

Whether you continue to be vegetarian is entirely your choice. Personally I love being vegetarian :)

I look at it this way - why eat meat? It's expensive, unethical, bad for the environment, extremely inefficient, and also less healthy than a vegetarian diets (there are numerous studies to prove this - I can link to them if you are interested.)

[GirlWithALlamaTattoo]

If you're veggie on principle and not craving meat, I don't understand why you're thinking about eating it. Can you explain?

The only advantage I can see is that you'd have more choice when eating out. Not a big enough deal to me to justify animals dying.

[Bluetinkerbell]

I am also vegetarian for ethical reasons. I definitely wouldn't be able to kill an animal myself, therefore I decided to become vegetarian.
It is not because I don't like meat/fish, because I do, although sometimes it is hard to remember what it tastes like.
But yes, I would like to know about expense, I decided to become vegetarian when I was still living with my parents, so never had to buy my own meat/fish.
If I would decide to stop being vegetarian, I would only buy locally, organic produced meat/fish.
Sometimes I do wonder if me being vegetarian, makes a difference, IYSWIM?

[quietlyafraid]

A friend of mine had been vege for about 15 years. She recently stopped as she was having a few problems with her health that she just couldn't seem to resolve and because she was finding going abroad very restrictive when it came to eating and culture. She does still eat mainly vegetarian food, but she does now eat meat on occasion.

[worraliberty]

I am also vegetarian for ethical reasons. I definitely wouldn't be able to kill an animal myself, therefore I decided to become vegetarian

But could you take a newborn calf away from its mother and listen to the mother screaming all night for it?

Could you slaughter the calves that have been taken away?

If the answer is no, and you're not a vegan...you may as well eat meat because otherwise you're not really making sense.

[ViviPru]

Seconding faverolles and Elderberries

I don't eat meat because of the reasons in their posts. I am not fundamentally opposed to eating animals. In principle, I would start eating meat in the way faverolles friend has, so I',m not about to start questioning you for considering eating meat again.

What I do find difficult to fathom though is why after 11 years of choosing a particular lifestyle, you are asking other people for the reasons behind that choice?

[ViviPru]

x post after you posted OP

[ItWasABoojum]

I'm was vegetarian for 10 years, then vegan for 2, and switched to pescetarian when I thought further about my choices and why I'd made them. For me, it's largely an environmental decision - pastoral farming is just much less efficient and when limited resources are available I feel that eating a mostly vegetarian diet is more sustainable. I'll now eat responsibly sourced fish, limited dairy, and even occasional meat if I'm happy with the way it's produced - for example, I'll happily eat wild-caught rabbit or venison. So that might be a way to go - limit your meat intake, and make sure you know where it comes from and how it's killed.

Above all, dogmatism is never helpful. Eat what you feel is right for you, morally, physically, and financially. If that means you can't call yourself a 'proper' vegetarian, so be it.

[Elderberries]

Ahh well I can't help you with the cost side of thing. Also I'm not sure that being vegetarian is necessarily cheaper. My husband and I are veggie (as are small children) and we have huge shopping bills because we buy expensive organic and poncy foods!

[SparklyCloud]

worraliberty totally spot on. What you said here is what made me finally turn vegan :

"But could you take a newborn calf away from its mother and listen to the mother screaming all night for it?
Could you slaughter the calves that have been taken away?"

The dairy industry is not as far behind intensive farming in the cruelty stakes as most vegetarians believe it to be.

[Elderberries]

Yes Worral I agree totally. I have found it so difficult to take the final step into veganism. Every now and again I feel sick at myself when I get the milk out of the fridge. I can't believe humans are so cruel to animals.

[Bluetinkerbell]

thanks all! I found the different views very interesting and good to hear different stories.
I think I just needed reminding of why I am vegetarian. I think I would find it difficult to be vegan, but I will be more conscious in the future of the dairy I will buy! :)

[minxofmancunia]

I am vegetarian have been for 25 years, I find it's cheap, makes me a creative and resourceful cook and I've been slim and young looking all my life .

I do it for ethical reasons, I buy organic milk and cheese but is this necessarily ok?? Or do I need to source it from somewhere else other than the supermarket. Since having dcs I've slipped into bad habits with food buying out of convenience and would like to know where too buy ethically produced dairy. eggs I'm good for, the man opposite's daughter has a farm where all the chickens and properly free range and I get them from him.

[ItWasABoojum]

Minx - no dairy is 100% ethically sound from an animal rights POV, but organic is a much better option - for one thing, you can guarantee the 'surplus' male calves haven't been shipped off to veal farms.

[SparklyCloud]

Minx, by nature of what the dairy industry does to female cows, there can be no ethically produced dairy... makes mummy cow pregnant by artificial insemination, takes baby away straight after birth, makes udders heavy and sore by only milking twice a day...there's more - see here :

www.peta.org/issues/animals-used-for-food/dairy-industry.aspx

I will say though if you are looking for an alternative, that UNsweetened soya milk is far better than sweetened,in tea it is hardly any different to dairy.