Vegetarianism; why bother?

I can honestly say I'm not a hippy, but I don't disagree with anything hippies believe in or fight for. Just keep in mind that I don't mean this in any disrespectful or offensive way; I just don't understand.

Why bother with vegetarianism? I have realized that if I stop eating meat, my family will continue; we will still be buying the same amount of meat, thus we won't be lowering demand for meat. I don't dispise the taste of meat, and I'm not about to protest against it.

Even if you aren't lowering demand for meat, what other reasons do you have for being vegeatrian?

Kaptin

 

I turned vegetarian 3 years ago. My sister followed my example about a month after I first started. We live with our mom and our younger brother, and by our turning vegetarian the amount of meat bought by our family has decreased immensely.

I'm a vegetarian mainly for 2 reasons:

1) I don't want to support the meat industry. Even if my mom and brother still eat meat, they're the ones supporting it. Not me. It makes me feel better knowing that I'm not encouraging it.

2) The idea of having a carcass in my mouth grosses me out.

 

I can understand that because both of those are personal reasons. The thing that confuses me is that some vegetarians don't eat meat SOLELY because they think they are lowering demand for meat, thus saving animals, even if they aren't. This is the case in my family (which I failed to mention before) my sister is a vegearian. Her (only) reasoning is that she is saving animals because we buy less meat, lowering demand, etc. When in fact, we don't buy any less meat then if she ate it too. She has no personal reasons for it; she doesn't hate meat, she isn't against it on any other level. It bothers me...

Kaptin

 

hey there kaptin, health and well being is a HUGE reason though your sis may not have noticed it, she is probably much healthier and energetic because of her decision. you know the recommended serving size of a slice of meat is 3 ounces, even then it isnt healthy id ont think, but tell me, where can you find a slice of meat that small? fact is, most dead animal takes a ton of energy to digest,is loaded with cholesterol, saturated fat, antibiotics, hormones and is a very big cause of disease and cancer in this country.
and if you continue eating meat, you will probably be eating it at restaurants, and in your house later in life etc etc and contribute and be apart of something incredibly immoral and uncesessary that has a lot of negative effects on the world i think.
perhaps if you went veggie, your family would buy smaller portions and you and your sister would make a little dent in the indsutry but an important one nonetheless.

 

Ouch. You shut me up.

I'm not sure I want to get into a debate over this, I was just wondering what other reasons people had for being vegetarian. I don't entirely believe the fact that meat is 'unhealthy'. It's how the human race evolved. But again, I'm not up for a debate.

The fact that set me off was how many vegitarians sole reason was to save animals, grain required, etc. when they actually weren't. I am aware that becoming a vegetarian is far better for the environment, but it brings me back to my first point; even if I did stop eating meat, the demand from out family wouldn't decrease. We would not be impacting the industry. If my whole family were persuaded to give up meat, it would certainly make a difference. This unfortunately is not the case.

Kaptin

 

Meat doesn't taste good? Maybe that's just me.

 

sounds like you are copping out and making excuses....

how the human race evolved, possibly, but not where we should be evolving towards today, even einstein argued vegetarianism is a key to human evolution today....if you learned a little more though, maybe you COULD persuade your family... meat really is not very healthy for you, lol, do the research yourself, the information is there....you still CAN make a difference, regardless of how small it is, it feels good to make it.

 

Perhaps its because my family has health problems and I don't want to be one of them, eventually suffering a heart attack in my mid-30s shortly after having surgery to clean out clogged arteries. I dont know.... I like to live without having to take heart and pain pills everyday.

Also, my dad and brother are immune to pretty much every antibiotic known to man. I'm sure that living off of chicken and cow and animal milk had nothing to do with that.


...why is this in the environment forum again? I don't think I know anybody who's a vegetarian for environmental reasons.

 

i am partly vegetarian for environmental reasons among a handfull of others, you know it takes like 30 pounds of grain and 100 gallons of water to make like onepound of beef and only 10 gallons to make a pound of grain... which is partly to blame for famine, incredibly inefficient and unecesary stuff...the meat industry is also responsible for about 90 percent of soil erosion in this country, a lot of waterpollution, and a lot of greenhouse gases from all the methane(which is one of the most efficient greenhouse gases at trapping heat) the estimated 86000 pounds of crap create a second...

 

Aye, and we used to run around naked and just poop on the ground too.

 

Good post, Kaptin. I can tell you're a logical thinker, because your point makes sense (nihilistic as it is ). But I look at it this way... vegetarians (who do it for global/environmental reasons) are like voters. I assume you vote, right? Well, your single vote doesn't make a difference. No president ever won an election by 1 vote. But you vote anyway, because you are asserting your position, and you are contributing your own microscopic opinion to the election. Whether you, the individual, make a difference is irrelevant. Eventually a difference can be made by the collective whole. Whoa my head hurts.

 

*raises hand*

I still haven't cut fish from my diet -- I eat locally caught wild fish once or twice a week -- but, my reasons are environmental and social.

We are approaching a population of 7 BILLION people on the planet. We cannot feed all of them in the manner that most Americans eat.

Waste run-off from pig farms and the like pollutes bodies of water, including reservoirs that supply drinking water. Many bodies of water contain huge dead zones caused by algal overgrowth.

Others have already cited the huge amount of resources that animal husbandry requires.

Fast Food Nation, while not a vegetarian book, touches on a lot of the problems with factory farming. I'd recommend it, it's a good read.

 

Just some people, as did I before I unconverted, just don't like the idea of eating organisms. ...then I based it on my health.

 

How about he inhumane conditions in which the animals are kept. I can't say that I'm totally vegetarian. I don't have a problem consuming meat. I have a problem supporting an industry that injects steroids, growth hormones, and god knows what else into them, while keeping them confined in small stalls, and even crippeling them sometimes so they won't exercise (toughens the meat). Cows, like all animals, are subject to emotional reactions to their environment. Yes it's been proven that animals suffer depression just like humans do. If you understand what depression is, you'll know that there are natural chemicals released by the cow in a depressed state that stay with the animal upon slaughter. Anyway...to make a long story short...The shit they do to the animals fucks them up. You eat the fucked up animal...you get fucked up too.
That being said. I do raise free range chickens, and consume free range eggs, chicken etc...but unless it's a naturally raised, free range, happy animal. I'll pass

 

My main reasons are the ecological consequences of a meat based diet...but you're right, most people don't do it specifically for those reasons.

 

I'm not a vegetarian or vegan and I also don't eat beef and don't buy corporate meat and meat filled with chemicals and raised in inhumane conditions. I tried vegetarianism, but it made me weak and sick, and I din't enjoy it.
Who's to say vegetables don't feel pain. I consider myself an envionmentalist. As far as some issues are concerned I am pretty radical, but I find radical vegetarianism to be insulting. Life feeds on life, and we could be consuming our meat in a much better way. I am oppossed to sport hunting, but subsistance hunting, had we stuck to it instead of domesticating animals would have still made the most sense. Now things are so fucked up we can never go back to the hunter gatherer lifestyle. As I reduce and become more concious of my meat consumption (for political reasons and environmental reasons) I am still aware that all life on this planet is connected, and certain relations exist between species that are not right or wrong, but just are...

 

Hey Raven, I talked to a doctor of naturopatic medicine one time, and the weakness that you feel when you switch cold turkey is an adjustment that your body has to make. vegetables digest much faster than meat, and you're a lot hungrier in the beginning. I know that feeling well. I go for a month or more at a time without eating meat, then when I do I feel really heavy. I understand what your saying about the connectedness of everything. A vegetable is a living organism that has been proven to respond to music, soothing or angry voices, and positive or negative thought directed toward them. We like to tell ourselves that eating one life form and saving another is "right", but it's mostly to placate our conscience. Anyway...there is no right, or wrong in either as long as it's done responsibly. For the record...I do think vegetables and fruits are much better for you than meat. But we all have our preferences.

Peace

 

Kaptin, your logic is like people who say "Why vote? One vote won''t make a difference." Or say "Why recycle? What difference does a few cans and bottle make?" It does, it adds up. My 16 yr old is veg*n and our meat buying is definately cut down. (I used to be, I'm not going to go into it, but I do think veg is the best.) I notice the difference in the amount we buy and use. Every little bit helps.