AIBU to become vegetarian?

[comoneileen]

I recently came across post on Facebook about cruelty in the abattoirs.
Just thinking about it make me feel sick.
We have dogs as our best friends. They share our beds and become full family members.
Meanwhile pigs who have a very similar and playful character are being slaughtered for meat. More than 900 million farm animals are killed for food each year in Britain (www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/aug/28/fsa-4000-breaches-animal-welfare-laws-uk-abattoirs-two-years).

I have dairy intolerance and so has DD. And she is intolerant to soya too.
It is going to be very complicated to feed us on vegetarian meals and get a balanced diet! AiBU to become vegetarian?

I decided to become a responsible meat eater and reduce my meat consumption but due to the limits of my budget I still buy cheap meat and wonder what kind of cruelty was used against this animal killed for my dinner. And doing this does not feel enough.

I went vegan about 3 weeks ago and honestly I have eaten nicer food than I have in years, becasuse it requires a bit more thinking outside the box you don;t just eat your normal go to food. In those weeks my dh and dd's have eaten a lot less meat than they would normally as I do the cooking.

"we are responsible for the disappearance of so many animal species."

Do what you're comfy with, but eating no meat is not going to stop habitat destruction or global warming. Our insatiable appetites for cheap food, energy, travel and housing are driving the habitat loss.

Two things that are vegan that I really like are falafels, or any other similar type of spicy vegetable/pulse patty thing - served with salads, hummus and flatbread. I could probably live on that sort of food.

Also an amazing pizza I had on holiday in Gozo that had fried potatoes, roast vegetables, olives and capers on it. When I ordered it I didn't notice there was no cheese but it was so delicious, I didn't miss it. Of course vegetable and/or pulse curries too.

I'm not vegetarian and don't really intentionally cut down on meat, it's just that I have quite wide food preferences and find that many of the things I like don't include meat.

YANBU

It's really not difficult these days. The dairy intolerance will make it trickier eating out, because some (generally cheap) restaurants only offer cheese-laden veggie options, but I've literally never been somewhere that couldn't cook me a suitable meal.

The biggest mistake people make when going veggie is to replace all meat with cheese (these are the ones who come on threads like this talking about how unhealthy they felt being veggie), so you've neatly sidestepped that!

Good luck to you, OP.

One thing I'd just like to draw your attention and that's Cruelty Free toiletries, cleaning products etc. Not much point in stopping eating animals if you still buy stuff that's been tested on them.

There can be an argument for eating meat. There can be an argument for using medicines. There is surely no argument for allowing animal suffering so you can have shiny hair.

I'm lifelong veggie, two DC also lifelong. Never had any problems.

Much more understood than when I was a child. She will just have to only have jam sandwiches at parties.

I was vegetarian for over 20 years (from age 10) until I went vegan this year. I feel awful that I never went vegan sooner. Dh and the children are all vegetarian but we do have our own pet chickens and only use dairy free spread/milk. They probably eat 80% vegan. YANBU make the change you

No idea why I put you on the end

lol yourname + you, but it would be rude of course!

I like HFW Veg Every Day book. Has some really tasty good ideas. Not vegetarian but I do try and buy higher welfare meat and want to eat more vegetables!

I just recently turned pescetarian because meat physically repulses me, always has even when I was eating it. I would get half way through and feel sick, could never eat the rest so I was wasting my money.

But a part of the repulsion would be that I would consciously think about how the animal was killed too.
I do think you should give vegan a go, you could still eat eggs and things you enjoy.
Just eliminate the things that don't appeal to you.

I went veggie at 13. Well, what I did was stop eating meat. After 6 maths my periods stopped and I became anaemic, I remember because my Mum though I was pregnant. I then did a bit of research and stopped living off cheese and crisps and was a very healthy veggie! I was the only veggie in the family, so me and mum used to make up a vat of ratatouille which I ate on top of everything! It's really easy and yummy :)
Good luck with your endeavour!

Fantastic step :) I doubt you'll regret it! It's fab knowing you are not a part of that aborrhant industry and the environmental impact is horrendous.

As others have said best to supplement with b12. We've been vegan for 19 years now and find it easy. You don't have to be all or nothing, just do your best, eat healthy, don't be afraid to experiment , be kind to yourself, Google or ask what you don't know and have fun with it!

Are you going to make your dogs vegetarian/vegan too?
Genuine question btw, not being goady

Good question, our household's veggie credentials are severely affected by us having cats. DH is so anti-dog, though, that even he's happy to take that hit!

It's your life, eat what you like. It only becomes morally wrong when a parent forces their dietary choice upon a child who is not grown up enough to make their own decision.

But I would say though that if you truly believe it is cruel to eat meat, you should do it properly and become vegan. Why is it acceptable to eat fish but not pork, why is it ok for animals to be bred for their milk and eggs but not their flesh?

Thanks for answering RiverTam most of the vegetarians/vegans I know don't have any pets or only herbivore pets.
Someone I know on FB tried to have a vegan cat but the cat became very ill and died (not due to diet!) a couple of months after she got it so not sure how successful she was.

It's your life, eat what you like. It only becomes morally wrong when a parent forces their dietary choice upon a child who is not grown up enough to make their own decision.

Every single parent does that. It's no more moral to choose for them to eat chicken than it is to choose for them to eat broccoli.

Notso well, as your friend found out the hard way (why on earth didn't she look into this??) it is lethal for cats to be vegetarian. I do know several veggies with cats, though.

WLF all parents do this. FWIW DD has been veggie all her life, she's now 6 and it's her choice. She's perfectly fit and healthy, I did a lot of reading up before weaning. Vegan I would hesitate with for a young child.

A vegan diet is also perfectly fine for a child.

YANBU. I stopped eating meat 18 years ago and fish 16 years ago. Give it a try.

Don't have a dog now, but the last one would eat version too. I had to pick up much more when that was the case.

I don't eat meat because of the cruelty, but I haven't found an acceptable alternative to milk or an edible vegan cheese - if anyone can suggest a cheese that doesn't taste like soap please do.

There are plenty of alternatives to meat, experimenting with them is interesting. I always have a block of tofu in the fridge and lots of fresh and frozen vegetable based things to hand, jars of pulses etc. and I check labels before purchasing because there is no point in avoiding animal cruelty if you are going to buy palm oil.

Previous.....Violife cheese substitutes are probably the best I have come across. Unsweetened almond milk is very palatable:)

If you are concerned about the ethics of meat production, you really need to look at eggs and milk too.

It's not enough to eat free-range or organic eggs - because only hens can produce eggs, male chicks in the egg industry are killed at 1 day old.

same with milk - the male calves are killed.