I just can't date a vegan (Asian, guy, call, interested)
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I completely agree with you, max's mama, but I'm trying to provide a counter-argument for those who find themselves at the mercy of militant vegans and vegetarians. This has happened to me a number of times, as I travel in fairly liberal circles; a lot of family members and friends are vegetarian or vegan, and every family get-together turns into a dietary minefield as these people bleat about there being "nothing they could eat". They proselytize and preach, and if you humor them for 5 minutes or more their conversation is a broken record about the disgrace of your Thanksgiving turkey or Christmas ham. I had a neighbor whom I considered a friend, was a member of PETA, she used to drop her kids off with me at all times of the day. Once we were having lunch and I offered one of her kids a ham sandwich. That woman quit talking to me that day and gave me the cold shoulder from then on.
Actually "75% of my closet" or maybe even more are recycled and reused items from Goodwill, and the rest are local (LLBean from Maine), but yeah, sure, though I'm sort of a realist when it comes to import-export and see that as a benefit of a world society.
Yay for those vegetarian air miles and that HUGE carbon footprint.
(whereas you can get local chicken, beef and pork at your hometown butcher)
What about our friend, the quinoa (and I do like quinoa)? Well, you can try growing it yourself, but you need a lot of space for each plant, it needs pesticides (bugs like the leaves) -- bad, or you can see if there's any genetically-modified quinoa starter-- bad!
Or you can get it in the store, and the most popular brand, Inca, is grown in the Andes! Viva los air-mile-os!
Wow, it sure is time-consuming being a well-nourished vegetarian. Not to mention the preaching, for some that's a full-time job.
OP's girl friend was probably trying to buy organic apples; one reason organic is so expensive is that grocery-store acceptable produce usually comes from far away -- yay, carbon footprint. If you think the answer is to go to your local farmers' market, a lot of the farmers there will tell you whatever they think you want to hear -- that's what one of my local farmers (in Maine) at the farmers' market told me, and he said that "any farmer that tells you that his corn is grown without chemicals is lying through his teeth."
So there you have it, vegetarians and vegans -- lots of choices to make.
'No meat' means your legumes and veggies have to be grown by somebody under any conditions they can make something grow. If you buy organic, those air miles can be extreme, and the food expensive. You can join a co-op like I did, but the 'farm days' are limited, and you need your personal car to get there (burning foreign oil). You can grow it yourself -- get some pots or plot out a garden. Build a compost bin or heap. You will battle slugs, early blight, late blight, all kinds of pests, and many garden centers will tell you good luck getting tomatoes without Miracle Gro (chemicals), with the time/opportunity costs, cost of products and starters, you may find that the 'organic, home-grown' is the most expensive and disappointing option of all, and that's coming from me, an experienced organic home gardener.
Vegetarians and vegans who think they are choosing meat-less for health reasons really should take a hard look at where their food is coming from, what substances are used in the growing process (atrazine, DDT substitutes, 'night soil' are all very common), and the effects of their choice on sustainability, as the monocultural environment is anathema to an ecosystem (see: bananas, soybeans).
And if you think you are choosing the vegetarian lifestyle for "moral" reasons, please consider for one moment what would happen to all those farm animals if everyone in the world suddenly became vegetarian. They would be released into the landscape to frolic around (eating your veggie garden)? I don't think so. Feel free to consider what is the most likely scenario -- mass euthanasia for 'humane' reasons, and for no common good (except maybe your 'moral' reasons).
If everyone went vegetarian just for one day, the U.S. would save:
? 100 billion gallons of water, enough to supply all the homes in New England for almost 4 months;
? 1.5 billion pounds of crops otherwise fed to livestock, enough to feed the state of New Mexico for more than a year;
? 70 million gallons of gas–enough to fuel all the cars of Canada and Mexico combined with plenty to spare;
? 3 million acres of land, an area more than twice the size of Delaware;
? 33 tons of antibiotics.
If everyone went vegetarian just for one day, the U.S. would prevent:
? Greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to 1.2 million tons of CO2, as much as produced by all of France;
? 3 million tons of soil erosion and $70 million in resulting economic damages;
? 4.5 million tons of animal excrement;
? Almost 7 tons of ammonia emissions, a major air pollutant.
My favorite statistic is this: According to Environmental Defense, if every American skipped one meal of chicken per week and substituted vegetarian foods instead, the carbon dioxide savings would be the same as taking more than half a million cars off of U.S. roads. See how easy it is to make an impact?
P.S.: When I said I was a vegetarian for health/moral reasons, I never elaborated or said that I consider my choice of lifestyle superior, please tell me where I started preaching about vegetarianism, I never did so far, but some carnivores like you just open their dirty pie hole to attack vegetarians like myself, which is when I love giving it back.
I completely agree with you, max's mama, but I'm trying to provide a counter-argument for those who find themselves at the mercy of militant vegans and vegetarians. This has happened to me a number of times, as I travel in fairly liberal circles; a lot of family members and friends are vegetarian or vegan, and every family get-together turns into a dietary minefield as these people bleat about there being "nothing they could eat". They proselytize and preach, and if you humor them for 5 minutes or more their conversation is a broken record about the disgrace of your Thanksgiving turkey or Christmas ham. I had a neighbor whom I considered a friend, was a member of PETA, she used to drop her kids off with me at all times of the day. Once we were having lunch and I offered one of her kids a ham sandwich. That woman quit talking to me that day and gave me the cold shoulder from then on.
Actually "75% of my closet" or maybe even more are recycled and reused items from Goodwill, and the rest are local (LLBean from Maine), but yeah, sure, though I'm sort of a realist when it comes to import-export and see that as a benefit of a world society.
And you seem to be a militant meat eater, someone that goes around hunting whatever you can find and eat it, are you one of those? no one here indulged in militant vegetarianism, atleast i didn't so far, I merely said that I can't stand those that criticize my choice of lifestyle which I indulged in for ethical/moral/health reasons, did you ever care to ask me what those were? Nope, you merely made an assumption that I considered my choice of lifestyle a superior one although I never did say that until you started attacking me personally and asking questions based on my choice of lifestyle.
And if you are one of those fools that consider all the meat you eat to be coming from your local state or town, you are beyond the means of a sensible discussion, and for someone as deluded as you are, it's a waste of my time even trying to explain where it comes from. Ignorance could be your best friend in that case.
I completely agree with you, max's mama, but I'm trying to provide a counter-argument for those who find themselves at the mercy of militant vegans and vegetarians. This has happened to me a number of times, as I travel in fairly liberal circles; a lot of family members and friends are vegetarian or vegan, and every family get-together turns into a dietary minefield as these people bleat about there being "nothing they could eat". They proselytize and preach, and if you humor them for 5 minutes or more their conversation is a broken record about the disgrace of your Thanksgiving turkey or Christmas ham. I had a neighbor whom I considered a friend, was a member of PETA, she used to drop her kids off with me at all times of the day. Once we were having lunch and I offered one of her kids a ham sandwich. That woman quit talking to me that day and gave me the cold shoulder from then on.
Actually "75% of my closet" or maybe even more are recycled and reused items from Goodwill, and the rest are local (LLBean from Maine), but yeah, sure, though I'm sort of a realist when it comes to import-export and see that as a benefit of a world society.
You offered her kids a ham sandwich inspite of knowing that she's a member of PETA and perhaps a vegetarian, did you even bother or care to ask her whether it would be okay with her when you decided to feed her children some pig meat? A lot of meat eaters I know myself have an allergy to products that are pork based, and shun from eating ham and related products, you displayed incredible ignorance and lack of concern by asking them to eat that piece of ham without even bothering to check whether they ate it as part of their regular diet or not.
No wonder she cold shouldered you, I would have done the same, and the fact that you are seeking to justify your ignorant behavior speaks volumes about you as a person. I wouldn't want to have someone like you as my neighbor, fact is, no one would with that kind of "let me rub it in your face" behavior.
And you seem to be a militant meat eater, someone that goes around hunting whatever you can find and eat it, are you one of those? no one here indulged in militant vegetarianism, atleast i didn't so far, I merely said that I can't stand those that criticize my choice of lifestyle which I indulged in for ethical/moral/health reasons, did you ever care to ask me what those were? Nope, you merely made an assumption that I considered my choice of lifestyle a superior one although I never did say that until you started attacking me personally and asking questions based on my choice of lifestyle.
And if you are one of those fools that consider all the meat you eat to be coming from your local state or town, you are beyond the means of a sensible discussion, and for someone as deluded as you are, it's a waste of my time even trying to explain where it comes from. Ignorance could be your best friend in that case.
That reminds me of my cousin. He doesn't realize slaughterhouses exist. He thinks the farmer waits until the cow dies of natural causes.
This was after I told him I saw a slaughterhouse in Nebraska.
I'm not a vegetarian, but I don't eat meat very often. It's just a preference.
I don't see anything wrong with vegetarianism, but I think veganism is over the top.
That reminds me of my cousin. He doesn't realize slaughterhouses exist. He thinks the farmer waits until the cow dies of natural causes.
This was after I told him I saw a slaughterhouse in Nebraska.
I'm not a vegetarian, but I don't eat meat very often. It's just a preference.
I don't see anything wrong with vegetarianism, but I think veganism is over the top.
Yes, and I don't go around criticizing people's choices of diet, as I said, I dated women in the past who were omnivores and I never had any issue with that, although I always imagined all the blood they ate in their meat being in their mouth while kissing them , I still never preached anyone about the benefits of being vegetarian or the contrary, I dont' think I need to, people make their own choices, and sensible people do them for a good reason, it's only the kind of people like this "birdinmigration" I have an issue with, who think it's their right as a carnivore to come and attack and criticize vegetarians for their choices in diet and lifestyle.
That reminds me of my cousin. He doesn't realize slaughterhouses exist. He thinks the farmer waits until the cow dies of natural causes.
This was after I told him I saw a slaughterhouse in Nebraska.
I'm not a vegetarian, but I don't eat meat very often. It's just a preference.
I don't see anything wrong with vegetarianism, but I think veganism is over the top.
Why would you think it's over the top?
If I weren't so addicted to dairy (I live in Europe and their yogurts, yummmm) I'd be one in a minute.
The amount of chemicals that go into dairy is unbelievable.
Why would you think it's over the top?
If I weren't so addicted to dairy (I live in Europe and their yogurts, yummmm) I'd be one in a minute.
The amount of chemicals that go into dairy is unbelievable.
Because not only does it dictate what you can eat to an extreme extent, but it also dictates your lifestyle. I gave an example of how vegans can't use leather. The fact that I'm sitting on a leather chair means I could never be a vegan. Not that I'd want to be a vegan anyway.
As for the diet, vegans go to extreme extents and it appears there are very few food they can eat.
I don't eat meat very often so I think I could handle being a vegetarian. But vegan...no way.
Last edited by city_data91; 04-17-2011 at 10:03 AM..
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