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I have been a vegetarian since I read "Lord of the Flies" in Junior High. It was the first time I made a connection between "the animal" and what was on my plate. I have never eaten meat since. I am 45 now and have never missed it.
Location: Chapel Hill, NC, formerly NoVA and Phila
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I stopped eating meat when I was 13 years old because I felt sorry for the animals, and the thought of eating something that was alive disgusted me. I am now 42 and haven't gone back, nor will I ever. I took a bite of a hamburger once about 15 years ago. My husband is not a vegetarian nor are my children. They know why I don't eat meat but I don't like to force them to eat my way because I hated that my parents forced me to eat meat when I was younger. (I would have stopped sooner had they let me - I begged them not to make me eat meat.)
Well, unlike a lot of people here, I didn't really have a choice in the matter. My dad had health problems because of meat and chose for his children to be vegetarians. I resent it a little bit,and I guess I could eat meat if I chose to. Meat has never been a part of my life and the thought of it makes me gag. Plus, I get tired of the question, so how long have you been a vegetarian? I've been asked so many times I want to tell them to go **** themselves. It sucks being at a BBQ only being able to eat the salad. So, it amazes me when people convert to Vegetarianism. It's like I can understand when people stay in a religon that only makes sense to them because they were raised in it. But, when people convert to a religon that they never had a affilation with growing up puzzles me. To each their own.
Wow, this is the first time I have heard someone raised vegetarian say that they resented it. I know several lifelong vegetarians and they are all grateful to have never had meat. I guess if you aren't doing it for ethical reasons, I would wonder why you are bothering to continue to abstain. I "converted" to vegetarianism because after I found out about factory farming, I either had to give up meat or have difficulty sleeping at night. I am raising my children vegan, as I mentioned it is for ethical reasons not health which I think is easier for kids to understand. They know that we don't eat meat because it's the flesh of dead tortured animals. If as they get older they want to eat meat that is their choice, however, they will have to purchase it themselves as well as clean up after themselves. I really don't think they will do this though.
I use to be a vegetarian because meat as a child would make me sick. I would constantly get car sick, randomly get sick during the year. Once i stopped eating meat it all went away. I started eating meat because I didn't know how to do it right on my own, so it was better for me to eat meat and get proper nutrients then feeling healthy. Ironic? I say it like this because I was getting to a point of having no muscle, where I couldn't open a bedroom door.
So, it amazes me when people convert to Vegetarianism. It's like I can understand when people stay in a religon that only makes sense to them because they were raised in it. But, when people convert to a religon that they never had a affilation with growing up puzzles me. To each their own.
vegetarianism isn't a religion though, and it's not really comparable to a religion. i mean, maybe for a few people it is, but not the majority. there are logical reasons behind becoming vegetarian that may or may not even have anything to do with ethics. religion is about faith, which is basically the opposite of logic. and even when vegetarianism is about morality, morality is not an analog to religion in my opinion. i don't murder people, not because i'm religious, but because i personally feel it's wrong. i also try as much as i can not to support industries that are harmful to animals, humans, and the earth. again, this is my personal morality and the reason i'm vegan.
i don't really understand why you're still vegetarian if you don't have any real reason to be and don't seem to like it. it seems MUCH stranger to me for someone who was raised vegetarian to stay vegetarian for no particular reason, just because they're used to it, than it does to independently come to the conclusion that it's wrong or unhealthy to eat meat and you're not going to do it.
I've been a vegetarian off and on for the majority of my life. Now I'm going vegan--for my health, for the health of the planet, for the lives of the animals.
Human beings are NOT obligate carnivores. We have a choice. Why so few are willing to make the right one is beyond me.
I've only been a vegetarian for about a year, and I really struggle with it. Meat does not make me sick, and if I smell Chick-fil-A I have to literally flee the situation or I will order those dang nuggets.
However, when I became educated about how the animals are treated before they are killed, about how we waste our nation's farmland in order to raise more cows so that people can have steaks in one sitting that equal more than the suggested amount of red meat for two weeks, about the weird crap that goes into processed meat, about the hormones that are pumped into birds and cows....on, and on, and on.....
Well, honestly I felt like a big fat pansy if I didn't stop eating meat. I mean I still crave burgers and pepperoni pizza, but why should I feel entitled to that sort of meal when it comes at such a price. It has been hard though. My husband is not a vegetarian, and I am not the type of veg who feels the need to convert others. In fact, most of my extremely southern and deer hunting family doesn't even know.
how long have you been one and when was the last time you ate meat? does it disgust you or something?
Well, I use to be a vegetarian, but went back. But I am going back starting today. I am doing this to be healthier and don't like the way animals are treated. I don't attack people that eat meat, just don't like how the animals are killed. I feel there should be a more humane way to put the animals down that is painless. That is why I am going back to not eating meat. I am also in the future wanting to be vegan due to me not being able to eat diary anymore. I am not against milk, but my body can't process it. So, that will be my next step.
i don't really understand why you're still vegetarian if you don't have any real reason to be and don't seem to like it. it seems MUCH stranger to me for someone who was raised vegetarian to stay vegetarian for no particular reason, just because they're used to it, than it does to independently come to the conclusion that it's wrong or unhealthy to eat meat and you're not going to do it.
I think people who are raised vegetarian will have problems in starting to eat meat just like that one day. I, for example, am 24 years old, and raised a strict vegetarian. Even not considering the ethical/health reasons, I cannot contemplate eating meat (just grosses me out).
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