about vegetarians?

[iwastooearlytobeayummymummy]

Now if you a vegan, respect to you and your choice. You have obviously considered the whole food chain as it works in the UK and set out your stall.

If you don't like the taste and texture of meat, or can't afford it, well, fair enough.

If for religious reasons your diet is a manifestation of your belief, I understand.

But if you don't eat meat because you don't like the idea of eating baby animals,but you continue to use dairy products then I just need to know why? Are you ignorant or just sentimental?

Agree with Annie. If that was your argument, why not phrase it in a vegan, and not veggie context?

"Are you ignorant or just sentimental? "

Is a very provocative statement. Many, in fact most people, who eat dairy products are aware of thier origins and what happens to the 'source'. Many people buy as fairly and ethically as possible (within budget, and so on) as possible to avoid any unecessary suffering.

A quote from Wikpedia
"Chickens may live for five to eleven years, depending on the breed.[12] In commercial intensive farming, a meat chicken generally lives only six weeks before slaughter.[13] A free range or organic meat chicken will usually be slaughtered at about 14 weeks. Hens of special laying breeds may produce as many as 300 eggs a year. After 12 months, the hen's egg-laying ability starts to decline, and commercial laying hens are then slaughtered and used in baby foods, pet foods, pies and other processed foods.[14] The world's oldest chicken, according to the Guinness Book of World Records, died of heart failure when she was 16 years old.[15]"
So as it happens, some of the egg-laying hens do get eaten after slaughter, but I know that some don't.

Just curious really, as I don't understand why 'ethical' vegetarians don't choose to eat locally sourced humanely produced meat instead. Rather like Seashore.

BTW I did say I understand choosing not to eat meat because you don't like the taste etc.

Sigh Really didn't want to get drawn into this but...

DH is a vegetarian and I am not. I do get frustrated with him because he was a meat eater until he moved in with an ex-GF who was a veggie and he said that she made life so awkward (not letting him keep meat products in the fridge etc) that it was easier to become a vegetarian. So not through ethical or taste reasons, just to keep a harpie quiet

Fast forward four years into our relationship and DH decides he will begin eating chicken/turkey again, which he does for a few months and enjoys. Then I become pregnant and during my spell of morning sickness, I cannot bring myself to eat/cook meat or fish. DH also goes back to his veggie ways.

Now DS and I eat meat i.e lean poultry and fish in moderation and it pisses me off no end when I think "ah, I can put a nice chicken casserole in the slow cooker whilst we go about our business and not think about supper until tonight" then I remember "except I will have to make separate thing for DH" Grrrr. It costs a fortune too. We have to buy his ridiculous Quorn products (which I don't get BTW. If you're a veggie, stick to nut roasts ) which cost a small fortune. I can never cook a nice leg of lamb because what's the point for just me and a 2 y/o? He's not precious about avoiding rennet/gelatine or other by-products of animal death. I'm sure he's doing it to make some sort of point, which is what I used to do when I was a teenager. FFS I can see him salivating when I roast a chicken. Just stop kidding yourself, DH.

Oh I'm all in favour of vegans. Because when the apocalypse comes and we are reduced to cannibalism, we should eat the vegans first because they will taste better (things that don't eat meat are tastier than things that do, on the whole). So given that it might start raining hammers any day now, the more vegans around, the better.

Lol SGB. Would they be tastier though? Less fibrous because of the lack of protein consumed?

fluffy, do you know if any of the slaughtered chickens go into pet food?

I wholeheartedly agree with you Oojimaflip.
Today at work my colleague said she felt like crying when she and I quote
'saw the bubba baby lambs in the field and realised they would have to die'

As she tucked into her cheese sandwich.

I think many of the general
public are ignorant about the realities of food production, and have lost the connection between plate and farming.

Nice SGB.

OP, I'm in the sticks so it's cheap for me to eat organic but in the city (where most folks are) it's usually way to expensive for most.

Tbh if you have so little to concern yourself with this evening, why not just relax maybe read a good book instead of annoying everyone here?

Are you a T?

All the (small) dairy farmers I have known have kept the male calves out on grass over the summer and off to market in the autumn. They do not fetch a big price being smaller dairy varieties but then they have cost very little to raise.

If I were to buy everything organic it would x 2.5 my food bill per week. And there NO way we could afford that. So I make the best choices available, within our budget

To each their own, I guess! I used to be a vegetarian as a teenager- oddly enough until I started working with farm animals and understood better how the whole thing worked. Now I have no qualms about eating responsibly sourced meat. But I have no axe to grind with vegetarians.

YABU

As a dairy loving pescatarian I am aware I do play a part in the animal 'cruelty' industry

BUT

I have not eaten meat for 20 years not because animals are cute but because
i have a great healthy and varied diet without it
i dont want to contribute to cruel animal factory farming in a BIG WAY

You are saying 'veggies - you are either vegans or hypocrites' whereas i know i can say my diet has led to less (rubbish factory life and then) death over the past 20 years than it would have done if i ate meat.

btw what I do hate is that many people who do eat meat have no connection to the fact its is a dead animal at all!

Perhaps your real issue OP is with your work colleague who happens to be vegetarian.

You ought to concentrate on that relationship instead of trying to hang your anger on the whole of vegetarian-kind.

Same here, Valpolicella

I buy a whole chicken once a week so I can afford organic for that but organic chicken breasts that I use for stir-fries/currys etc are very pricey so I just buy the ones that have the freedom food/ RSPCA stamp on the label.

If we are supposed to start eating organic, old Gordon needs to do something to make it economically viable for those of us who can't necessarily afford it.

Iwastooearlytobeayummymum - any plans to come back and apologise for your rudeness? I think you are stirring it just for fun and need to learn some manners.

OP,... bull calves, tup lambs, cock chicks, billy goats..etc etc I would say that most vegetarians are ACUTELY aware of the fate of animals that are non-commercially productive, not ignorant of it!!

Mind you FFS some of you poncy lentil eaters need to get over yourselves. The OP has handed you an excellent opportunity to expound upon your views and why you're RIGHT and all that, and all you're doing is whining?

I feel I should declare my colours as a non vegetarian, and non organic consumer.

I am also from along line of farming stock so have always understood the realities of meat and dairy production.

But I can't help but despair at the general ignorance surrounding the issues of dairy eating vegetarians.

As I see it the decision is mainly based on a sentimental view of livestock.

BTW Seashore currently reading 'Stuart a life backwards' what are you reading?

Elle, exactly. I can buy one organic chicken per week and stretch it out for 3 meals (with a huge fuck load of planning -which I don't have the time for!!). OR I can buy cheaper non organic, crappier cuts of meat (ie sausages, mince etc)

So what to do? DS obv needs regular protein, doesn't eat 'alternative' protein' so I need to maximise the amount he gets.

I work. I can't be cooking rissoto from leftover chicken (it would be well past DS bedtime!), or curry, or whatever.

Fact is, good meat is expensive. It never used to be this expensive when we had real butchers on every high street. And here upon lie peoples probs...If we had butchers, and people used them. Meat wouldn't be so expensive. It never used to be

I will stop eating animals when they stop eating each other.

sorry if I don't respond very quickly, i'm a crap typist.

YOU are the ignorant one OP dismissing a whole swathe of the population because of some narrow view of vegetarians which you have constructed.

Young, arrogant, ignorant.

Bye.