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Old 08-01-2012, 10:15 PM
 
Location: Conejo Valley, CA
12,460 posts, read 19,997,870 times
Reputation: 4365

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Quote:
Originally Posted by TexasHorseLady View Post
If you, as a vegetarian, make an issue of either everyone being vegetarian or someone else going to extra trouble to prepare you a special meal, then, yes, people are eventually going to be irritated with you and think you're doing it to be high maintenance.
A special meal? What does that even mean? If you invite vegetarians to your household and don't provide them with reasonable options.....the issue is that the vegetarians are "high maintenance" and not the rudeness of the host? Funny how that works.

This is just my point, if vegetarians allow you to step on them everything is fine, the minute they assert themselves a bit people have a problem.

Quote:
Originally Posted by TexasHorseLady View Post
I'm also well aware, actually living with animals that are raised for food, that it is possible to do it while giving them exceptional lives from birth to death (everything from good food and water and companionship of their own kind and room to roam to back rubs and the occasional beer) and that an animal that is frightened when slaughtered releases adrenaline,
Oh yes, I remember you. You're the lady that lives next to a breeder and pretends that the living conditions of the breeding cattle (they are the ones you want to stay alive....) represent the living conditions of a beef cattle (who you want to slaughter at 12~18 months).

Why do you continue with this? Beef cattle don't live exceptional lives, they live miserable lives. All to supply you with something that isn't even good for you to begin with.....

Regardless, I think my previous interpretation was accurate. You think vegetarians should passively pick away at some vegetables like some child and never assert themselves. Personally, I don't confront people about it, I will just stop attending their events or just eat before I come. Oddly, eating before you come seems to annoy people as well....

Last edited by user_id; 08-01-2012 at 10:32 PM..

 
Old 08-01-2012, 10:29 PM
 
11,151 posts, read 15,787,591 times
Reputation: 18844
Quote:
Originally Posted by fireandice1000 View Post
I'm currently the only vegetarian in my family and sometimes I get crap for it. I'm also the only one not on some medication or vitamin supplements or any of that other crap. My parents will offer me chicken to eat and I turn them down all the time simply because I don't eat the stuff anymore. Cheese crackers? Same thing; no, I don't want cheesy crackers with the pig guts in them. Sometimes when I turn down stuff they make a big deal out of it. Does anyone here think that family members sometimes get too emotional over your choice of being a vegetarian?

^^ This ^^ is the topic of the thread, folks -- let's please get back to that.

Thanks!
 
Old 08-02-2012, 08:08 AM
 
Location: The Hall of Justice
25,901 posts, read 42,551,934 times
Reputation: 42767
My husband and I stopped eating meat in January, and we don't live near any family, so there hasn't been too much of an issue. My father quit eating "red" meat (mammals) when I was 12, so that side of the family has had decades to get used to having something for my dad (and eventually my mom) to eat. They eat poultry and fish, though, so Thanksgiving and Christmas haven't been that big a deal--there's always turkey or some other main dish.

This Thanksgiving will be different for us. My in-laws, who do eat meat, are coming to stay for a few days, and I will not be cooking a bird for them. My husband and I eat outside of their comfort zone (lots of dark leafy greens, which my father-in-law generally hates, for instance), so preparing several days' worth of meals including Big Turkey Thursday will be a challenge. I have had to entertain out-of-town guests for a few Thanksgivings in a row, and I admit that I am a little tempted to make some miserable concoctions out of mung beans and tofu just so they won't come back next year. :gasp:

On my mom's side, one cousin and her family would say something--trying to be teasing and lighthearted, but not really funny. They always say something about my parents' diet when my parents visit them. My mom will cook to help out, and they don't care for "weird California food" like rice pilaf or raw spinach. I think they would die of starvation at my house ... tonight we're having leftover roasted vegetables with quinoa and shredded kale.
One of my other cousins on that side would be very supportive. She and her family are organic granola yoga hippies (whom I adore).

My husband and I have not made any grand announcements to family or friends, so many do not know. We have just told people who ask or when it's relevant, like when the next-door neighbor invited us over and we couldn't eat the ham sandwiches. (No big deal, though. I trotted back home and came back with salad and fruit.)

OP, I'm sorry your family does not support your choices. I hope that you keep your comments about "pig guts" to yourself, though. That would make most people defensive and hostile, and that doesn't help anything.
 
Old 08-02-2012, 04:45 PM
 
Location: San Diego
50,059 posts, read 46,599,133 times
Reputation: 33904
Quote:
Originally Posted by JustJulia View Post
My husband and I stopped eating meat in January, and we don't live near any family, so there hasn't been too much of an issue. My father quit eating "red" meat (mammals) when I was 12, so that side of the family has had decades to get used to having something for my dad (and eventually my mom) to eat. They eat poultry and fish, though, so Thanksgiving and Christmas haven't been that big a deal--there's always turkey or some other main dish.

This Thanksgiving will be different for us. My in-laws, who do eat meat, are coming to stay for a few days, and I will not be cooking a bird for them. My husband and I eat outside of their comfort zone (lots of dark leafy greens, which my father-in-law generally hates, for instance), so preparing several days' worth of meals including Big Turkey Thursday will be a challenge. I have had to entertain out-of-town guests for a few Thanksgivings in a row, and I admit that I am a little tempted to make some miserable concoctions out of mung beans and tofu just so they won't come back next year. :gasp:

On my mom's side, one cousin and her family would say something--trying to be teasing and lighthearted, but not really funny. They always say something about my parents' diet when my parents visit them. My mom will cook to help out, and they don't care for "weird California food" like rice pilaf or raw spinach. I think they would die of starvation at my house ... tonight we're having leftover roasted vegetables with quinoa and shredded kale.
One of my other cousins on that side would be very supportive. She and her family are organic granola yoga hippies (whom I adore).

My husband and I have not made any grand announcements to family or friends, so many do not know. We have just told people who ask or when it's relevant, like when the next-door neighbor invited us over and we couldn't eat the ham sandwiches. (No big deal, though. I trotted back home and came back with salad and fruit.)

OP, I'm sorry your family does not support your choices. I hope that you keep your comments about "pig guts" to yourself, though. That would make most people defensive and hostile, and that doesn't help anything.
Yep, my niece is on some kind of mission to anger every family member with words like, cruel, inhumane, etc and wants to lecture everyone every time we get together. Come to think of it she doesn't get invited to any family get togethers now.
 
Old 08-02-2012, 07:31 PM
 
Location: Central Texas
20,958 posts, read 45,189,088 times
Reputation: 24737
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dark of the Moon View Post
Since you're not vegetarian, I don't even know how you can really answer that question, since it's not an issue you have to face. (Being a "Very Very Picky Eater" just isn't the same thing.)
Having done the vegetarian thing AND having been a Very Very Picky Eater in my lifetime, I suspect that I'm in a better position than you are to say that yes, they are very much the same thing as far as this goes. Except that the Very Very Very Picky eater tends to have more constraints on what they can/will eat at a meal with the rest of the family or eating out.
 
Old 08-02-2012, 07:33 PM
 
11,151 posts, read 15,787,591 times
Reputation: 18844
Quote:
Originally Posted by TexasHorseLady View Post
Having done the vegetarian thing AND having been a Very Very Picky Eater in my lifetime, I suspect that I'm in a better position than you are to say that yes, they are very much the same thing as far as this goes. Except that the Very Very Very Picky eater tends to have more constraints on what they can/will eat at a meal with the rest of the family or eating out.
I'm still a Very Very Picky Eater (concurrent with being vegetarian).

I win.


BTW: The veg*n part is more difficult.
 
Old 08-04-2012, 04:39 PM
 
Location: On the edge of the universe
994 posts, read 1,587,241 times
Reputation: 1445
Quote:
Originally Posted by TexasHorseLady View Post
I think it might vary depending on several factors (one of which being, of course, how open your family is in general), but if you don't insist that a special meal be prepared for you when everyone else is NOT a vegetarian, and you're not judgmental yourself about those who aren't vegetarian (though "pig guts" does sound like you might have some leanings that way, maybe it's just your family is judgmental and you came by it naturally), then I can't see why anyone would have a problem with what you eat or care one way or the other, as long as you're really healthy. If your health is being impacted (and I've seen many a vegetarian who claimed to be healthy when they were clearly anything but, just as I've seen healthy vegetarians), I can see your family getting emotional, of course, because they love you. But other than the caveats mentioned above, there shouldn't be issues.
Well, I did explain to them that most cheese products have pork in them and they asked me if I was a Muslim or something (I'm not). No, my health is not being impacted in any way. Well over 99% of the people in this state eat a meatitarian diet and it shows; their health is poor, they're slow, and they have almost no energy. It's just the sad truth out here. I make my own meals which are actually easier than making the traditional American fare.
 
Old 08-04-2012, 06:33 PM
 
Location: Volcano
12,969 posts, read 28,274,821 times
Reputation: 10755
Quote:
Originally Posted by fireandice1000 View Post
Well, I did explain to them that most cheese products have pork in them and they asked me if I was a Muslim or something (I'm not).
Sorry, but this is just not a truthful claim. Other than a clearly marked cheese and bacon blend, it appears highly unlikely that you could find any cheese in any normal grocery or supermarket in the US which contains pork.

And here's the thing... having been deeply involved with various vegetarian communities of differing beliefs for over 20 years, I've heard a lot of stories from people about conflicts with their friends and family and occasionally even strangers. I'm clear that one of the things that causes stress and conflict between vegetarians and omnivores, especially family members, is when a vegetarian makes exaggerated or confrontational claims, as I believe this is.

Fact checking the claim, cheese makers start their process by curdling cow, sheep, or goat milk with a small amount of an enzyme preparation called rennet, which causes the solids in the milk to separate from the liquid. Originally rennet was mostly derived from cow's stomachs, or sometimes sheep, although vegetable rennets and rennet cultures have now replaced them in many places.

Still, a lot of traditional cheese types are still made with animal rennet, yes, although major cheese companies like Kraft and Sargento have publicly stated that when they do use animal rennet it does not contain pork products. As further evidence, Kraft makes a number of cheese products, like Philadelphia Cream Cheese, which are Certified Kosher, and kosher foods cannot contain any pork.

Also, most cheeses now contain the information on the label whether they were made with Traditional (animal) rennet, or vegetable rennet, so you can check for yourself.

I wish you well, and I wish you luck, and I recommend you stick to talking about your own personal positive experiences with vegetarianism, whatever they may be, rather than referencing claims like this which are clearly not true.
 
Old 08-04-2012, 07:50 PM
 
Location: Philaburbia
41,733 posts, read 74,692,347 times
Reputation: 66672
Quote:
Originally Posted by fireandice1000 View Post
Well over 99% of the people in this state eat a meatitarian diet and it shows; their health is poor, they're slow, and they have almost no energy.
Statements like this might be why you're getting "crap" from your family. Congratulations on being healthy; that's fabulous. But I hope you don't say stuff like this to your family; mostly belittling other people's choices isn't usually wise, but also because you can't possibly have proof to back up such a sweeping claim.
 
Old 08-05-2012, 08:58 AM
 
Location: Austin
4,103 posts, read 7,000,491 times
Reputation: 6743
I know it irritates my mom but I try to explain to her that I just can't digest meat and dairy without turning my body into a mess. I try to take things I can eat. My sister has been great. She looked up vegan recipes and tried them out, and I was very grateful.
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