Vegetarians: Why are you one?

[gym rat]

Originally Posted by Lilybeans

I have really noticed no difference in my health or the way I feel.

I have noticed alot of changes in my body: Chlos was 229 and now it is 169. My blood pressure was 180/140 and now 122/82. My weight was 154.4 and is now 118.6. Also, I have more energy as well .

[need4Trees]

Gym rat, that is such wonderful news, Really!!! Good for You!!! I love working out and eating good "real" foods!

I Never get sick. I have gone 2 years or so without getting sick. i do get headaches sometimes but they are from stress. I really try to incorporate healthy foods, such as raw fruits, veggies, nuts etc rather than "healthy" boxed choices! I enjoy making my foods, but don't always do that, I do however prepare my foods to take with me for the day like grabbing fresh easy foods... fruits, veggies, a nutritious bar/shake, soy, almond etc, types of milk.
I have lost weight and i feel great! But I did choose this lifestyle for health first, it has been and will be about animals first! the great health is a plus!!!

[arsbadmojo]

I'm not a vegetarian, but I'm eating far, far less meat.

I've made some rare exceptions, but I'm now only buying meat from the folks that raised it. There's grass fed beef and pastured chickens at the Farmer's Market, and the best dang eggs you'll ever eat.

I've learned too much about CAFO's - agribusiness, E.coli, oil, subsidized corn, nitrate runoff, sustainability, monoculture, HFCS, globalization, fast food, cruelty, hormones, antibiotics, what goes into cattle feed, automated meat recovery systems, the USDA, irradiation....I'm done. Just...done. Here's the white flag; throwing in the towel and dropping out.

If it means no more .99 cent cheeseburgers I'm perfectly fine with that.

If it means my grocery bill just shot up 200% and I'm going to have to make some very tough budget choices, so be it.

[megh]

I not actually a vegetarian. Although... I joke and say that I'm a "vegetarian in training". However, my husband is and I, myself, eat very little meat. (And I never beef). On the rare occassions that I do end up eating meat, it mostly has to do with laziness - just because its sometimes easier than coming up with or seeking out vegetarian alternatives. I definitely don't ever crave it though. Even when I was much younger, it grossed me out and if I ever helped prepare food that had meat in it, I usually couldn't eat it after it was cooked. I would get sick to stomach and I swore I could taste the raw meat smell which made me gag. Or even if I didn't help prepare it but I started to think about the meat and what it was and where it came from as I was eating, I would get sick.

My husband on the other hand is a interesting story. He is now vegetarian and been for almost a year. When we met 11 years ago, I'm not sure if knew what vegetables were! haha... His family inherited and now operates a small cattle farm (only about 80-100 head) in the midwest and I don't think his parents (or mine, for that matter) would ever understand the concept of vegetarianism. His dad is an incredible hunter and outdoorsman and growing up my husband's family pretty much ate whatever his dad shot that week - rabbit, squirrel, deer, etc. (true story... yikes!!!) Over the last several years, my husband and I have become a lot more active with our environmental efforts - not like protesting - just simply making a concerted effort to green our own lives and household in any way we can. So, for that reason, we do a lot of reading and research on eco-friendly/ sustainable living. My husband started to discover what a huge HUGE impact animal farming and commerical fishing has on our environment. Basically the whole process of raising animals for food, slaughtering them, and producing meat for sale is incredibly wasteful, pollutive, and destructive to the environment. Then when you factor in the way farm animals are treated and kept - its quite disturbing.

Also.. on another note.. there is a lot of research linking over consumption of meat to many medical issues - certain cancers, heart disease, etc. Humans, despite what many people think, were not meant to eat as much meat as "we" do. The whole "meat and potatoes" mindset has really only come about in the last century or so. It used to be that meat was a "luxury" or something that was eaten in small quantities and infrequently. But as the industrialized countries became wealthier and wealthier the average person / family was able to afford meat on a regular basis and thus started the modern day trend of meat as the main dish and it has just kind of spiraled out of control from there. People who think they can't get enough vitamins and minerals from a vegetarian diet just are not doing their research. There are so MANY iron substitutes - spinach, beans, tofu, etc. And many of these are better sources of minerals because the body is able to process and absorb them easier than those found in meat.

Sorry.. I kind of went off on a tangent, but the more and more I learn about it, the happier I am with our decision and our lifestyle. We also have a 3.5 year old son and I am so happy that he has learned to love vegetables. He really never asks for any meat products but he does definitely ask for veggies all the time - broccoli, carrots, peas, hummus. That, more than anything, makes me really happy. I can't say for sure, if I will or won't eventually stop eating meat all together... but I can definitely say that we will never go back to eating meat as much as we used to, or grew up accustomed to.

[tkdmom]

Originally Posted by Roma

I'm a vegetarian because I can't imagine eating anything that was alive. I love animals so much. I save them, I don't kill them.
I don't drink milk because I don't like the way they treat the cows and I couldn't imagine having a machine hooked up to my breast like what they do to them.

Me too !

[kindaclumsy]

I became a veggie in my pre-teens because I thought it would be cool and different. Since then I have educated myself and have a better understanding of my beliefs. I realize that "you are what you eat" isn't just a cute phrase it is absolutely true. The way we go about harvesting meat is also a travesty, not just on life but also on global ecology.

Here are my reasons:

1. Health - being a veggie lowers your risk of heart disease, diabetes, and cancer.
2. Cost - I get 20lbs of fresh, local organic produce delivered to my front door once every two weeks. It costs me $25. 20lbs of meat (not even organic) would cost something like $50!
3. Ecology - agri-business practices have caused devistation to ecological systems (salmon, tilapia, beef).
4. Life - Humans have manipulated animal populations enough. I don't want to contribute to these practises.
5. You Are What You Eat - Feedlots feed animals a fast food diet basically. Huge agri-business farms grow food that bears a faint resemblence to the same food 50 years ago. I want to eat food that is good for me, not corn and pesticides.