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Original poster

Who thinks vegetarians are cranks?

108 replies

unicorn · 12/07/2005 16:10

only asking to glean opinion (not start a war!)

I was under the misguided illusion that being veggi was no longer a particularly interesting issue... yet I had a gang of adults gang up on me yesterday simply because I asked if there were going to be veggi burgers (as well as the usual stuff) at the school summer fair!

Why on earth do I need to justify my eating habits/choices to anyone?

OP posts:
WigWamBam · 12/07/2005 20:07

Haem iron is only in meat but there are other good sources of iron, and people who bring their children up as veggies are usually pretty aware of the need for a balanced diet. Sometimes there can be a shortage of Vitamin B6 but again, with careful planning and an understanding of what you're eating that's not normally a problem.

gigglinggoblin · 12/07/2005 20:12

sorry qe, i took it that you actively wanted them to eat meat and were upset at dp for not respecting your views. didnt understand why someone would be upset that their kids were not meat eaters, so i dont think i did understand your post (am blonde, accept full responsibility )

Original poster
unicorn · 12/07/2005 20:36

www, the other parents hadn't even considered it.

I checked how many veggie burgers there would be and there were blank looks - then a general lets have a laugh at the veggies (someone, trying to be helpful said.. well there may be a few mums who'd eat them!!!!!)

I was amazed actually..

For info I am simply a non-meat eater, not out of any strongly held views, but because I don't like it!!!!!

I wouldn't expect someone who didn't like it, to have salmon, because 'that is what we all eat'

Why do people get so threatened by something just slightly different?

OP posts:
fisil · 12/07/2005 20:48

On our 1st date dp told me he was veggie, and I replied "you freak". Apparently this was one thing that made him like me - he found it refreshing compared to the usual "oh, for how long?" or "is that because you don't like the taste?"

We always ate veggie at home cos to me it is more important that we eat together than what we eat. However, I now have 2 sons, so we have meat sausages cos veggie ones are yucky. Otherwise it's all veggie cos throughout my adult life I've lived with dp and so only know how to cook veggie!

I hate holidays with dp cos we have to chose the restaurant rather than going into a restaurant and chosing off the menu!

And I agree with QE about the "veggie but eat fish" thing. Really gets me. A friend rang just before his wedding to say "would dp like the veggie menu, which includes fish, or the vegan menu?" So I replied that dp was veggie, which means that he doesn't eat fish, but that he definitely wants the calorie laden chocolate pudding. It really annoys us that being veggie is somehow a lifestyle choice which includes eating really healthily and being really skinny. For the record, ds is overweight, loves pizza etc. and his favourite hobby is shooting people on his PS2!

logic · 12/07/2005 21:45

While I'm sure it is possible to be healthy from a veggie diet, it is difficult - especially for a small child because they need so much iron and protein to grow and develop. I know this because my HV gave me a list of iron-rich meat-alternative foods to try with ds and blimey, you have to eat tons of anything else in order to compensate.

assumedname · 12/07/2005 22:01

I've been vegetarian for 30 years and I agree with logic re the iron and protein.

My dh eats meat and our 3 dd's eat meat. I'm glad they do.

They can make an informed choice about not eating meat when they also know how to eat a balanced vegetarian diet.

ThePrisoner · 12/07/2005 22:04

In an effort to explain to people who really don't understand what a strict veggie is, I explain "I don't eat anything that has a mummy, breathes air or swims" (there's more, but have to watch Big Brother ...) ... then I get the "so you eat chicken then?"

I give up!

QueenEagle · 12/07/2005 22:33

assumedname - how did you deal with you being veggie and your dh a meat eater whan you had kids?? Did you start them off as veggie then let them decide when they were old enough or let them eat meat from when they were tiny?

"I don't eat anything with a face" is dh's motto ThePrisoner!

Hulababy · 12/07/2005 22:34

I don't eat meat. I do eat fish. i don't eat meat as I don't like it - haven't eaten since I was about 13.

DH does eat meat however, aas does 3yo DD. I also cook nearly all our meals, including the meat ones.

CarrieG · 12/07/2005 22:37

Re: fish eaters calling themselves vegetarians, I've posted before that 'I'm a pescatarian' tends to attract the comment 'Really? I'm Taurus...'.

I agree I'm not entitled to call myself a vegetarian - but if someone's eg. sorting out the menus for a staff meal, it's far simpler if I say 'I'll have the vegetarian option' - if someone asks whether I'm a veggie, the answer is no, I occasionally eat fish.

Tbh if I was making a decision NOW, as opposed to 20 odd years ago when I gave up meat in revulsion at what I'd learned about intensive farming, I'd probably eat organic meat & avoid sea fish...

As for ds, he's eaten meat in babyfood & when offered to him by family & friends - he loves the stuff. He can make his own mind up later about the ethics of eating it or not...

marthamoo · 12/07/2005 22:41

I'm astonished that anyone thinks vegetarians are cranks any more - they're ten a penny, surely! I wouldn't bat an eyelid if someone told me they were veggie - certainly wouldn't demand to know why, and it doesn't faze me in the slightest if I invite a veggie for a meal (we eat vegetarian meals on a regular basis anyway). Unicorn, where on Earth do you live that veggies are so unusual - the moon ?

CountessDracula · 12/07/2005 23:16

I seem to remember fishfinger getting rather overexcited when some were coming round to her house for a bbq a year or so ago....

SenoraPostrophe · 12/07/2005 23:18

lol. I used to be veggie. but I got better.

ThePrisoner · 12/07/2005 23:29

... and I get really annoyed when I assure people that I would rather take my own food at the lovely barbecue they've invited me to so as make life easier ... but they insist that it's no trouble ... and you arrive to find some lovely-looking vegetable kebabs sizzling snuggly between the chicken drumsticks and bleeding steaks ...

QueenEagle · 12/07/2005 23:37

Oh yes - that happens so often.

Even my ds and dd complain at school if the dinner lady uses the same spoon to dish out the meaty option as the veggie one. They get looked at like they have just ordered poo on toast.

spidermama · 12/07/2005 23:37

LOL absolutely theprisoner.

BadHair · 12/07/2005 23:41

Plenty of veggie stuff at our school bbq - headmaster doesn't eat meat.

ThePrisoner · 12/07/2005 23:54

I met a lady who was extremely strict about her veggie food - no gravy spoons, no touching stuff on barbecues, no carnivores to breathe anywhere near her sprouts etc. She was, I thought, vegan - as she also refused eggs, milk and so on.

And then she tucked into some salmon.

I plucked up courage to ask her how she could be SO strict, and then eat a fish???

The answer? "I won't eat anything that has breathed air". A new one on me!!

assumedname · 13/07/2005 00:15

QueenEagle - started dd's on meat as part of a normal diet after weaning.

I have no problem with them eating meat and in fact, prefer it as I know they're getting enough iron etc. I also think it's easier for parties, school dinners etc.

HappyDaddy · 13/07/2005 08:18

ThePrisoner, fish breathe air though. Plants breathe air OUT so don't they count, too? What a flake.

I think that anyone who is so bothered about what others are doing need to get a life.

lilaclotus · 13/07/2005 08:26

"ok, you're a vegetarian, so you do still eat fish and chicken"... been told that numerous times.

monkeytrousers · 13/07/2005 09:23

I've found that people don't like veggies because they think it's a tacit criticism.

This would seem to belie a deep-seated sense of guilt in the ranter, however. I think the lady (Gorgon Ramsey??) doth protest too much!

I lived in Italy for a while and they just have no concept of vegetarianism. You ask for something veggie, it comes and it plainly isn't, so you ask if that's meat and they say .."Oh, just a little..!"

tarantula · 13/07/2005 09:32

havent read far down the thread but am PMSL laughing at that women in the Prisoners message. I didnt know that milk breathed or eggs for that matter. Plants breathe same as we do and fish cant survive in deoxegenated water. Oh dear that is the funniest Ive heard in a long time.

Chuffed · 13/07/2005 09:52

This is really interesting - and as a vegetarian who eats fish - it really is the easiest way to explain it. After 12 yrs I still get asked why but have found it far more accepted in society than it used to be note veggie burgers at McD's - would never have happened 10yrs ago.
I grew up on a farm pretty much ate meat until visiting 'cadavar land' as we called it while at uni and have never eaten meat since - well have not eaten things that looked like 'human' muscle that includes things like swordfish and chicken as it has arteries and things in it which put me off. Totally different reason I know.
dh is a meat eater but for ease of cooking we tend to eat vegetarian unless out for dinner then he will order something. dd will later choose whether she wants to eat like mummy or daddy later at the moment she eats organic meat/chicken occasionally.

monkeytrousers · 13/07/2005 09:58

Would still never go to a burger bar. Pretty pissed off with Quorn about their hook up with McDonalds actually,

'Veggie food giant sets up stall in abattoir' shocker!!
!