Nothing with a face ! Are you vegetarian ? (MN roll call)

[hub2dee]

I was just wondering who on MN may be veggie (and for how long)... add any other comments you want to make

I'll begin:

15 years

dw - pescetarian (I think that's the correct term - no meat but eats fish) - 17 years

Comments - we find it brain-numbingly easy, an easy choice IYSWIM. Wondering how we will handle meat / fish and dd (currently 19 weeks)...

Over to the rest of you !

Winnie, QE - read your posts about the kids being veggie. Seems to me that the only thing we can do is explain to them what meat is (without going too far into the gory details) and then answer their questions.

My ds got quite confused when he realised his Grandad eats meat. He asked if the pig that made the ham sandwich would go to heaven and if his Grandad was horrible because he ate meat. It was quite hard explaining that we believe it's wrong to eat meat but we still love Grandad!

witchycat, I've been there
Ds has a habit of pointing at peoples shopping baskets and declaring in superior tones (very loudly) 'yuk... we don't eat meat do we mummy, we love animals'
Dd managed at six to get my mum buying free range eggs with similar comments (I'd been trying to get mum to buy free range eggs for 13 years previously!)

Unicorn I will see if I can find it, it was years ago I need to see if I can for this year.

Unicorn I will see if I can find it, it was years ago I need to see if I can for this year.

was veggie from the ages of 13 to 22 now at the ripe old age of 34 i am not veggie have tried many times to go back to veggiedom but the carnivore in me always gives in plus dp is a meat and 2 veg sort of guy (balks at the sight of a corgette or aubergine ) and i havent the time to cook 3 diff dinners every night !
would love to be a veggie again will probably get back there some time (well maybe a 90 % veggie meat on special occasions) e a cheating one

i do buy locally farmed organic meat though which has got to be better than supermarket stuff in plastic

I've been vegetarian for 23 years, and was very strict vegan from age 18 to 29, but started to drink milk, and eat cheese when pregnant with DD1. Kids ate no meat for first 18 months to 2 years, but now both eat meat. One loves it, and one not keen, but will not eat enough decent veg food for me to let her stop completely, so eats meat 1/2 times a week.

I buy ready roast chicke, and can cook mince. Wont cook anything I have to touch, so tends to be very plain.

I also don't wear leather, but kids do have leather shoes.
Recently had problem getting iron suppliment as allare coated in gelatine which I will not knowingly eat. (Am pg)

I went veggie about 18 years ago, started eating fish again about 3 years ago but don't eat very much of it as I don't really know what to do with it.

I cook organic chicken for dd but no other meat although I do wonder whether I should do. I'm not bringing her up to be veggie, I think it's up to her to make her own choices when she's older.

I don't think there's anything wrong in eating meat per se, but feel distinctly queasy about how animals are treated in an intense farming environment. Theoretically this means I could eat organic/freedom food meat but I'm just not keen on the whole idea of eating corpses.

I bought some lamb burgers (good quality from local farm) for dd the other day. I had a sneaky bite just to see what it was like - vile. Unbelieveabley greasy and stinky, bleugh, won't be doing that again!

I am a vegetarian and have been for all of my life (29 yrs) apart from the odd taste of chicken as the years have gone on to see if i still hate it, i do!

I don't eat meat or fish as i hate the taste and can't stand the smell and look of it. I'm not very good with eggs either, hardly ever have them.
My Ds does eat meat although i do find myself sometimes just wanting to give him veggie food because it would make me feel better, but i think he should have it until he can decide for himself.

veggie all my life
mum veggie
mil/fil/bil1/bil2/sil/ all turned veggies
ds1/ds2 veggie - ds1 now 10 is veggie by choice.
very easy to do - even with dh being a carnivore

We are all meat eaters but I do cook vegetarian meals (DH is not keen on them at all). As humans are omnivores, I do not see anything wrong with eating meat but I would like to see a more humane approach to the rearing of animals.

On the radio yesterday, a woman phoned in and said that we should not eat meat at all(programme was discussing Jamie Oliver's TV show). I wondered how she felt about animals in the wild who kill other animals for food, about sealife whose source of food is other form of sealife etc? Birds who prey on other animal life? Domestic cats that attack birds and rodents?

Interesting to read the comments about people not wearing leather. Items like shoes that are not made out of leather tend to be made out of man made materials (happy to stand corrected)that usually originate from oil which is derived from plant, mineral deposits as well as dead animals!! I wonder if these people would be prepared to give up the use of their cars, heating oil, air travel, plastic buckets, plastic toys,(in fact anything plastic, esp credit cards ) because they were derived from something that was once living?

I wonder what would happen to the countryside if everybody stopped eating meat? Would we still see cattle, sheep etc grazing on the hills and how would the farmers support them if they were not receiving any revenue from selling them as food?

I'm not knocking vegetarianism because everyone should do what suits them but I am questioning the logic behind some of the reasoning.

I wondered when we'd get a post like that. We don't need to justify our choices, just as meat eaters don't.

Yes, animals kill animals. Fact of life. They can't exactly open up a packet of Pringles when they're hungry . They have no choice; I do.

The fact that plastic shoes may not be ethically perfect doesn't mean that I don't have the right not to want leather shoes or leather car seats - the ecologically and idealogically sound shoe doesn't exist; if it did I would wear it, but in the meantime I have to wear something on my feet, and my choice is not to wear leather. I don't eat meat, and I don't want it on my feet.

No-one ever questions the logic behind meat eating, yet veggies get this kind of thing thrown at them all the time. If I wore leather shoes, someone would come and slag me off for not being a "proper" vegetarian; we just can't win.

Not knocking you, speedymama; just sick of being treated with suspicion for my choices.

I was not knocking, just asking . By the way, I respect anyone who is prepared to defend what they believe in. More power to you girl!

Nearly didn't press post on that one actually; prepared to defend my choices is one thing but starting a scrap is quite another

spededymama - We try our best to buy eco friendly products. There are loads of veggie shoes made from recycled tyres and hemp fibre which is a renewable source.I total agreee with WigWamBam about animals hunting other animals- it is instinctive and they don't know otherwise. I choose to be vegan, the same way you choose to eat meat.The great thing about veggie products is that alot are very eco aware and friendly.

Mummyvicky, hunting animals is instinctive to humans as well but intellectually we are more evolved so we are able to exercise choice through the decision making process.

I don't want to appear as a know it all but tyres are made from rubber which is derived from oil. They are not biodegradable so I question their eco-friendly credentials.

I'm glad you mentioned about choice because I respect your choice just as I would expect others to respect mine. Respect for an individual's choice should extend to everyone, including animal activists who harangue others who choose to wear fur (I'm thinking about PETA)or those carrying out medical research that may or may not include animal testing. I wonder if PETA ever attack the Inuit tribes for wearing fur?

Anyway, time to sign off and tend to my twins .

Thank God we evolved then !
Surely to turn used tyres and bicycle inner tubes into shoes is better than burning them or putting them into a landfill? If such a long and wasteful process goes into producing rubber- it's important we make the most we can from it by reusing it once it's life as a tyre is over.( to create recycled rubber they "chip" pieces from tyre and reform the chippings)
Ive been in hundreds of why veggie debates..and they never end because peoples views are so different. Each to their own and all that !

Have been a veggie for ages...and I love it. It is the best way to annoy meat eaters at a dinner party. They get terribly antsy when you aren't one of "them".

Recycling rubber tyres has to be a good thing - the rubber is there, it already exists, if it's not recycled then it just gets put into landfill or burned, causing pollution either way. As I said before, it might not be completely ecologically or idealogically sound but it's the best we can do at the moment!

With regard to the comments about animal activists and the fur trade - as far as I can see there aren't any animal activists on this thread, just some vegetarians - none of whom has criticised or questioned meat-eaters.

I've never realy felt the need to defend my choice. I originally gave up eating meat because I don't like the taste or texture ( so I also dont eat the meat substitute stuff ). I was 12, and it took me that long to discover that you don't have to eat meat to be healthy.
I later decided I didn't want to consume other bits of dead animals, and if I can find what I think is a reasonable alternative, I take it.
I try not to force my opinions on others - my kids have only recently noticed that I don't eat meat at all, and they are 5 & 6.

Boyf & I are both meat-eaters, although I only eat chicken & turkey (organic & free-range). DS is a veggie and will be until he's aware of where meat comes from and can make his own decision.

The rest of my family are veggies, and I grew up a veggie, but started eating meat when I was 18ish. TBH, I don't like the fact that I eat meat, but it seems like a lot of hassle to give it up entirely when boyf is a committed omnivore. Instead I just use the substitute quorn & Beanfeast for us when I can.

Obviously my veggie upbringing has influenced me - the idea of feeding DS meat or fish makes me shudder. It'd be a lot easier if I did, but I can't do it!