Do people really eat meat for every meal?

[CurlewKate]

There seems to be a post every day about the difficulties of catering for a vegetarian guest. I'm an omnivore and I do love meat, but probably only eat it 3-sometimes 4 times a week. And if a guest was a vegetarian I would have no trouble cooking a nice meal without meat-either a family staple or something posher. So do people really eat meat for every meal? And if so-why? Apart from anything else, meat costs a fortune!

Gently, I eat naff-all meat, only fish, and DH eats meat 2-3 times a week, and many people I know don't eat meat every day, and none of us are from a 'low-income/deprived background.' What a bizarre thing to ask/suggest!

I don't whether to PMSL or actually cry at your comment. WTAF? 😆😢

My Mum’s ex partner did and he died from a heart attack at 50. He would have a bacon sandwich most mornings for breakfast or a full English, lunch would be a meat sandwich of some kind and he always had meat with every evening meal.

I’ve been a vegetarian since I was 12 so I obviously find it very easy to make veggie meals and can’t imagine eating or cooking meat.

@BitOutOfPractice I don't actually know anyone at all that has meat at breakfast routinely. Very occasionally, as a treat, but never as a matter of course. And the same with lunch, most (non vegetarian) people around 50/50 meat, but quite a few non vegetarians would rarely have meat at lunch. And this isn't necessarily for budgetary reasons, or even for health reasons - it's just easier not to have to cook meat all the time.

@SweetBirdsong historically, meat has been more expensive. Increasingly so the further back in time you go. Growing up the quality of the meat varied in some meals for that reason. Tofu came to the west in a big way during the oil and cost of living crisis in the 70s for this reason, cheap and healthy source of protein to support lower consumption

Antibiotics and drugs enabled factory farming and cheaper meat relatively recently. Before then, nonhuman animals couldn't be densely packed, for health reasons.Antibiotics suppress diseases, allowing them to be squashed into smaller spaces. Some of them are too fragile now to be outside lot. They're bred this way to lower costs.

That's paraphrasing what I learnt from a book on regenerative farming, so it's not veggie propaganda. The authors of both books farm and eat animals, they're just a little bit less brutal

So that makes you completely unable to imagine that others do @DilemmaDelilah ?

I rarely eat meat for breakfast. About 30% lunch. Probably 90% dinner (if “meat” includes fish.)

but the OP’s wide eyed amazement is a bit silly.

Actually @BitOutOfPractice your comment to the OP was that she knew full well that lots and lots of people eat meat at every meal. My comment was to say that I do not know lots and lots of people that eat meat at every meal, and I am not surprised if the OP does not either.
I am sure that there are some people that do, but I don't know any.

You said you wouldn't go to the OP for dinner if she didn't cook meat and described vegetarianism as a "preference".

Do you also consider kosher/halal a "preference" or the vegetarianism/veganism practice by other world religions as a "preference" or do I need to subscribe to a deity to have food ethics respected?

There are some for whom its a lifestyle/fashion thing that can be rebadged as "flexitarian" when convenient. For most its an ethical choice and we don't drop it for personal convenience. I've never found a shortage of people willing to eat vegetarian food and the only person in my life who expected meat from me was my late FiL who was raised to expect meat at every meal and to believe in his own utter rightness on any and every issue.

I try to eat as much as possible, I'm healthiest on a keto diet. Reality is difficult though as the world runs on carbs, so for home cooked evening meal i manage it but lunch is patchier and breakfast even worse as I'm rushing in the mornings. I tend to rely on eggs.

I doubt if many people eat meat for breakfast, lunch and supper. Apart from those who live on McDonalds.

i have porridge for breakfast, usually cheese and biscuits for lunch and then meat or fish for supper, or a cheese omelette.

@DilemmaDelilah

I definitely used to as a child / teenager in Europe, in a (still) much poorer country.
Most people there did as well.

My family (who work in healthcare there) still do.
It wouldn't be fried, but it would contain meat and eggs.

Don't eat much meat - once or twice a week , say three times if you include fish

Too much meat and i get sluggish , lack energy , and I get vegetable cravings

Even if it didn't make me feel bad , the climate change crisis would be enough to change my habits

I'd have said no...but then there quite often will be a little bit - like lentil and bacon soup rather than just lentil.

Or might have a bit of ham in an omelette.

Eat a lot more fish these days, so can go a whole week and be eating fish rather than meat.

But a big piece of meat, like steak or chops...is really quite rare.

Oh my, I did say it tongue in cheek!! But seem to have caused offence. My main point being that most people are fairly flexible in what they will cook for others, whereas some people on this discussion don’t seem to be.
For the record I will enjoy any type of food cooked for me!!

@aswarmofmidges not being sluggish was something I noticed early on when I gave up meat. Weirdly I used to enjoy it, as a sign of being full. I guess because it was a familiar feeling. I can feel full without it now, and I like that more. It's possibly linked to our diet not being used it, we evolved a long time with limited access in large quantities and that sluggish feeling might be a symptom of us not coping. It's got to be unhelpful if we suddenly needed to run from a predator

Exactly the same here. I don't really differentiate in my head between main meals with meat it and those without. We batch-cook a lot and I'd say maybe only 2 or 3 weeks out of every 4 will be meat-based. It's not a deliberate proportion, it's more what we feel like eating that week. If we've had a very meaty week then the following week will probably be more veg-based.

Also, we have higher standards for the meat we buy in terms of quality and ethics so tend only to buy from trusted butchers rather than supermarkets, which inevitably means buying less.

Never really understood the carnivore hissy fit of being "forced" to eat vegetarian food at weddings, events etc. You mean just... food. Or do you think an aubergine curry has vegetarian cooties in it.

Meat or eggs almost every meal. I feel healthier and have more energy when I eat this way.

often it’s a largely veggie based meal with an egg or two, but the egg is essential

I blend the chickpeas and also add either ground almonds or blended cashews to my curries after experiencing the same problem

I cook meat or fish for most evening meals. One of my dc is vegetarian so a lot of the time I cook a vegetarian meal with meat on the side. I find it easy to cook ‘wet’ veggie meals eg bean chilli, veg curry, lentil bolognese but less easy to replicate meals with a piece of meat which is what dp and my other children would prefer. The younger two in particular aren’t very keen on sauces or mixed up foods. Eg last night we had pork steaks with various sides and I grilled some halloumi for the vegetarian dc but I struggle much beyond that!

Yes - every dinner. Have 2 adult DC & H so I cook from scratch every night - kids take left overs for lunch. Buy 5% steak mince & chicken and have steaks most Fridays. Tried to introduce a 'meat free' night couple of months ago and it didn't go down well, however both DC are in training for some events coming up so they are counting their protein intake.

We eat a few meat-free dinners a week but I still struggle to feed veggie guests. 90% of the veggie main meals we eat day to day I wouldn't serve to veggie friends, let alone everyone else. I did mexican once and that was a disaster, the veggie kids ate plain wraps and grated cheese and wouldn't touch the rest. Others will roll their eyes if you serve mushrooms (apparently everyone gives them mushrooms all the time) or they have an aversion to beans or lentils or tofu. It is certainly not the case in my world that "everyone loves chickpeas".

In contrast most meat eaters are happy with chicken, beef or mince based meals, and a mushroom- or black bean-hater can navigate through odd bit in a Bolognese or beef burrito and still enjoy the meal.

Looking through my last few meal plans, weekly main meals have been -
Week 1 - 5 meat, 1 veggie, 1 meal out
Week 2 - 5 meat, 1 veggie, 1 fish
Week 3 - 3 meat, 3 veggie, 1 fish
Week 4 - 4 meat, 3 veggie
Week 5 - 5 meat, 2 veggie
Week 6 - 4 meat, 2 veggie, 1 fish

So, no, not all our dinners are meat, but the majority are. We choose meals based on what we fancy and cooking time available, not meat/veggie/fish, nor cost. We use a whole range of different meats.

Breakfasts are mainly not meat, but we will have the occasional sausage sandwich or bacon roll.

Lunches tend to be leftovers or soup or a sandwich or a salad, so could be meat or fish or veggie.

I must admit, I find it difficult to host vegetarians, as most veggie meals are not the "special" ones. Meat and fish dishes tend to have more wow factor to me - veggie dishes tend to range from "meh" to "pretty good for a meal without meat". There isn't a single veggie dish that would feature in my top ten favourites for example (or even my top 20).

We only eat veggie at home and my parents seem to struggle with the idea so when we visit them it is a lot of meat substitutes like fake chicken dippers and veggie sausages. But my kids aren't used to that. We eat a lot of lentils, beans, egg, chickpeas. I'm sure it is cheaper and healthier but I am mindful they get enough protein, that worries me. We do eat fish once or twice a week too, which helps for protein, and personally I eat a boiled egg in my salad almost every lunchtime.

My dad has eaten nothing but meat for over a year. (Meat includes animal products for him so includes eggs and dairy). That and salt!

I know this is an old thread, but it’s interesting thinking about what veggie / non veggie meals we have.

I find it quite easy to do “nice” veggie meals, especially now the kids eat a lot more veggies and pulses than when they were littler and pickier. It’s a fair bit harder to do vegan though, as I tend to like cheese or egg as part of some of these meals.

Top favourites that we’d have as a nice meal for ourselves or guests:

Veggie curry (endless possibilities and permutations)
Baked eggs with veg type thing (shakshuka, spring greens, other mix of veg and spice, various combos of lemony, Middle Eastern spice, herbs etc)
Stir fry or pad thai or something like that, with silken tofu (everyone has discovered they actually like it now so it’s an easy addition)
Noodle bowls with a broth and veg on the top (we usually have with fish or something but it’s easy to leave out)
Veggie lasagna (roast veg etc instead of meat - we often do one veggie and one meat lasagne when hosting big groups)
Roast Mediterranean veg type thing with nice spices / herbs, with feta and couscous or similar
Any number of veggie pasta dishes
Spanish omelette
Risotto (pea, mushroom, lemon / leek, squash)

All of the veggie dishes that you quoted are everyday family meals to me. Perfectly nice, but I'd not consider them special enough for a dinner party.