i am vegetarian and..

[patty (candelia)]

this deer head hangs in my bedroom.


i'm starting this thread so that the luffly documentary thread stops being polluted..
i don't know if it's a good idea, as said, each one has its own point of view and arguments,
depends on how stubborn you are

so well, here you can now all debate...

[jay]

i don't think zurich80 ventures into this section, i'm afraid.

[stentorsrevenge]

I am vegetarian and I eat vegetables.

[Flangelus]

I'm with Bill Bailey on this one. I'm a 'post-modern vegetarian'.
I eat meat ironically.


I couldn't be assed to make up my own witticism there.
I do, however, have no problem with vegetarianism, and I eat so little meat these days that I often feel that I could become vegetarian with minimal disruption to my normal eating habits.
Healthier meals for the win!

xox
gb

[helwin tins]

That deer head is fucking creepy.

[Alicia Marie]

I can't understand why anyone would want animal heads hanging on their walls, unless it's to scare off everybody else, which I suppose is a fair enough reason. They're terrifying, the way they just stare at you with no life in their eyes...

[helwin tins]

Hanging any part of an animal corpse on your wall seemed pretty bizarre/macabre to me.

[allison]

i really dig taxidermy. unfortunately the only dead animal heads/parts i can afford are like the shitty flea/maggot/AIDS ridden pieces with missing ears and eyes. there's a shop down the street from my apartment which has loads upon loads of taxidermy heads and full animals, too. they've a lion, even.

anyway, i'm vegan and i routinely wear a rabbit fur coat and leather boots. i think using an animal to make something physical, that will last, is a much more practical use of an animal than making a hamburger or something. i should mention i'm not vegan for the sake of the animals, but that's another thing...

[helwin tins]

Yeah, but at least with wearing leather and fur there's a logical reason for it... Taxidermy seems so morbid, even disrespectful to me (even though I'm not much of an animal fan)

[mimicry]

I'm a vegetarian and I think that's an interesting conversation piece.

My vegetarianism stems from not wanting to support the factory farm system.

[helwin tins]

Surely interesting conversation pieces come in non-cadaver form though?

[Tasha]

I'm a vegetarian, been one for about 2 years, and mainly because I don't want to support poor treatment of animals (like battery hens) and also partly for environmental reasons. I make sure that the milk, eggs etc. I have come from well looked-after animals. I don't have a problem with people who eat meat or wear leather, I just have a problem with people who are cruel to animals.

[TiaraStripes]

I'm a vegetarian and I'm okay with second-hand fur/leather
It's beautiful and there, don't waste it, just don't make more right?

[obeseguy]

It doesn't make any difference. Whether you're vegetarian or not, you're fucking the world in so many different ways in the course of your everyday life that it hardly matters which animal byproducts you choose not to consume.

For a start, milk. When a dairy cow gives birth, the calves are taken away after a few days so that the milk can be sold. Female calves can be kept alive, as they will produce milk, but the males will either be killed or exported to veal farms. (That's in the UK, I guess in other countries you can just turn them straight into veal without the expense of exporting them). So yknow. Baby cows died so you could soak your Coco Pops in their mothers' breastmilk.

And even if you steer totally clear of any food involving animals, it's worth considering the environmental impact of large scale crop production. Diverse habitats are basically bulldozed to make way for massive monocultural swathes of profitable plants. Any wild animals living there will be killed when the crops are harvested. And then there's pesticides and GM and god knows what else. (And yes, an awful lot of these crops go to feeding livestock, consult the McCartneys and PETA and other wafflemongers for figures I guess, they're probably right).

I'm not saying that anyone is wrong or should change their diets. Personally I tend to prefer eating vegetarian/vegan food anyway. But don't get preachy and don't try to kid yourself that fewer animals die because of what you eat.

[Ana]

im not a vegetarian, and i got immensly irritated when my friend became one by watching one of those documentaries about battery hens. i know this is how some people adopt the diet, but she did no research into her diet change and just ate eggs and chips and became very ill because she didnt like other veg. and everytime me or my other friends ate meat she would sit and glare at us. i have no problem with vegetarians, everyone has the freedom to eat and believe how they want (my sisters friend is one because she simply dosent like meat). but at least let my have my opinion that i want to. i know that my mum buys meat only from butchers who raise their own animals in a healthy happy enviroment and killed in a humane way. personally i think the whole battery raising chickens is disgusting, not one animal deserves to live like that. however we do eat meat in our household, but go out the way to source it from a decent supplier who respect their produce. after all, the animals make their money.

[scarredbyfallout]

Pretty much covers how i feel about it. I haven't eaten meat since i was about 12 (roughly 10 years ago), yet i have no problem with wearing the 30 year-old leather jacket my step-dad gave me because it's too small for him. There's no harm in using what's there, so long as it doesn't perpetuate the production of more. I don't like the idea of farming many animals, or the cruelty they are often subjected too as a result of the industrial farming processes but i do realise that this is entirely an individual decision based on my own sense of morality and have no problems with people making up their own minds about it.

That said, there is one thing i do have a problem with: the attitude most people seem to have towards vegetarians. I've experienced all sorts of derision as a result of my refusal to eat meat (i tend not to tell people i'm vegetarian, but when you're eating in public it usually gets noticed) ranging from harmless but irritating jokes to, on one occasion, genuine threats of violence! Why do so many people have such a problem with this? It has no impact on anyones life but my own.

Edit: I just read the above post a minute ago, hehe. I know what you're saying, about the naive people who don't think about it and somehow think they can survive on things like egg and chips. It irritates me too. It's great that you go out of your way to ensure that the meat youeat is from animals that you know are well cared for and supplied by local farmers, the unfortunate thing is not everyone has access to that sort of produce. As a teenager it was not an option as i was basically in a situation i had to whatever it was that my parents bought, ie. typical supermarket fare, neither ethical nor all that tasty. now i'm living on my own, I still don't eat meat but for different reasons. the cost of local meat produce, at least in my area, is a little beyond my everyday meansa and anyway, i haven't eaten meat for so long that i don't actually want it anymore. I'm not totally sure i'd like it if i did either.

[Ana]

exactly, its ignorance really. vegetarianism covers such a huge percentage of the populations diet choice, veganism also that its something i dont even realise anymore. i think its interesting hearing about how people became vegetarians and their opinions about it but to be ignorant to the only side of the argument which is yours is silly really. bring up arguments which not need to be brought.

[scarredbyfallout]

Bump for the edit i made

[jay]

Jan 7, 2009 10:07:22 GMT Tasha said:

I'm a vegetarian, been one for about 2 years, and mainly because I don't want to support poor treatment of animals (like battery hens) and also partly for environmental reasons. I make sure that the milk, eggs etc. I have come from well looked-after animals. I don't have a problem with people who eat meat or wear leather, I just have a problem with people who are cruel to animals.

i agree with this (and i've nearly been a veggie for three years!), and i also stopped eating meat because it was giving me health problems. probably because like scarredbyfallout (sorry, i've forgotten your name) said, the meat my parents buy is local supermarket stuff, and not a very good quality at all. i believe our town only has one butcher. and they're on the verge of closing down.

i also agree with jess, there is no way me not eating meat has a direct impact on the world and the food industry, the fact of the matter is that it makes me feel a little bit better that i'm not encouraging battery farming, etc. i do know a little about the crop situation as well, but better food labelling is giving me the awareness as to what i'm actually eating and doing to the environment by choosing to eat it.

with all that said, i hate PETA. they just rub me the wrong way.

ETA: i also experience the hostility from other people when they ask if i'm a vegetarian and i say yes. i don't know why it's such a huge deal. i'm not militant, or even an activist in animal welfare (don't ever say animal rights, it's dumb) so it's not like i'm going to shove my beliefs down their throat... i've had people throw pieces of chicken at me in KFC while my boyfriend got a meal, i've had my best friend throw strips of kebab at me because apparently she knew i wanted it (i've never wanted a kebab, even when i ate meat i knew it was something to avoid at all costs)... people are so ridiculous.

[obeseguy]

Fewer animals don't die. You just don't eat them.

I think that's an extremely good and sensible way of doing things, I really do, it makes about 100% more sense than most half-baked vegetarian waffle, but not everyone can buy all their food from right on sustainable sources.

Yes, there has been progress, people are making better choices, but making 'ethical' dietary choices is still just opting out of the process rather than making any difference to it. No reason not to do that though. But it's not changing anything until the vast majority of people do so too. Which will be roughly never.