Any vegetarians / vegans / fruitarians / piscatarians?

[leashedForLife]

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Mother Jones mag wants to know why -
LINK: Tell us why you quit meat

Was it a sudden revelation, a growing distaste, a search for eating cheaper?
All 3? - something else entirely?

For me it was a car-accident, followed by 2 different antibiotics in under a month - together, the 2 wiped out my friendly flora, & I was in real trouble. I dropped 14# in 10-days flat, & felt AWFUL. Everything i ate went in my mouth, & out the other end, mostly undigested.
For 2 years, i put live microbes on everything i ate B4 consuming it, & to this day, I can't eat meat-fats; they cause Godawful diarrhea [even overindulging in veg oils can do it - if the chef drops my French fries into oil that's not up to temp, & they are greasy, I usually won't get out of the restaurant B4 the fries are out of me; in 20-mins, zip!, gone].

prior to the accident, I'd cut my meat consumption to sustainable & clean, no CAFO stuff, but since '84, I eat only fish, & that's not often; cold-water wild caught, sustainable fisheries.

How about U?... When did U go meatless?
- terry

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[JudyN]

I became a vegetarian in my early 20s. I'd thought since I was a child I probably should be vegetarian, but it took me till then to give it a go and to my surprise, it stuck.

My grandparents were farmers, though by the time I came along they just had three cattle which I'd watch my grandad hand-milk every day, and an orchard of hens - I'd collect the eggs in a wicker basket lined with straw and was delighted if I found a broody I could stroke before encouraging her out of the nest box. Their farm was my favourite place in the whole world and sealed my love of animals. My uncle bred pigs and reared turkeys, and I'd often see big flat boxes with 100 day-old chicks in each, including one or two that had died and had been trampled underfoot. When I was about 10 I made myself follow my uncle and watch the whole process from him grabbing a turkey by the neck to it ended up in the kitchen for my aunt to dress.

I've been through a couple of phases of eating 'happy' (free range, organic etc.) meat, and eating fish, but at the moment I'm just not keen on eating any form of meat. But I'm not claiming any ethical high ground - I wonder if there's more animal suffering involved in dairy farming than meat farming (you can only kill an animal once but you can deprive it of its calf many times) but I'm so darn fussy I've not found a milk substitute I can stomach and as for vegan cheese...

Also if I was vegan, I'd end up eating a lot more imported food, possibly contributing to the destruction of wildlife habitat - there's no easy answers.

Healthwise, I've never noticed a link between my health and my diet, but a lot of people find differently.

 

[Teddy560]

I've been a vegetarian my whole life as my Mum brought us up that way not at all forced, just a way of life. I just don't see meat as food having never eaten it... I just look at it and think why would I eat a burnt body lol (sorry.) My children and husband do eat meat though.

 

[leashedForLife]

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My 1st-ever pet was a Rhode Island Red hen from our laying flock. That was when we lived in N'east Philthy.

[Next one was a too-young kitten, dumped by some heartless *#%$@! on our farm, in Bucks Co.]

@JudyN - did U send Ur story to the link at Mother Jones mag?
I'll go back & mark it "link", so it stands out...

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[Flobo]

I was always a bit picky about meat but my quitting moment was finding a bunch of animal rights leaflets in a phone box at the age of 12, intensive farming, vivisection etc...stopped eating meat that day, rapidly assured my mum that I would start eating and liking more veg and never looked back. I went vegan 2 years later. Nowadays I would say I am a 'liberal' vegan as opposed to radical! If products have a bit of whey or free range egg in I don't worry too much and if I crave a bar of chocolate I will eat it, but as a whole my main diet is still vegan. And it is much easier to maintain that these days than back in the early 80's that's for sure!

 

[leashedForLife]

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chocolate is vegan, unless it has added animal ingredients - milk, honey, etc.
[Anyone who puts bacon into chocolate is IMO just depraved. Those ppl need help! ]


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[Flobo]

I've been a vegetarian my whole life as my Mum brought us up that way not at all forced, just a way of life. I just don't see meat as food having never eaten it... I just look at it and think why would I eat a burnt body lol (sorry.) My children and husband do eat meat though.

It's interesting you saying that as I brought my daughter up on a vegan diet until she was old enough to choose, she is still vegetarian and like you I can't see her ever eating meat and she and her friend are going vegan next week to see how they get on.

 

[Flobo]

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chocolate is vegan, unless it has added animal ingredients - milk, honey, etc.
[Anyone who puts bacon into chocolate is IMO just depraved. Those ppl need help! ]


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That's right but I crave the real gack chocolate bars that have very little cocoa in and definitely milk, and maybe bits of crunchie or toffee or biscuit, or caramel..! The proper bad stuff

 

[Teddy560]

It's interesting you saying that as I brought my daughter up on a vegan diet until she was old enough to choose, she is still vegetarian and like you I can't see her ever eating meat and she and her friend are going vegan next week to see how they get on.

My Mum isn't a vegetarian anymore haha. Me and 1 other sibling are vegetarian, one is a pescetarian (but only eats fish occasionally) and one eats meat occasionally.

 

[leashedForLife]

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I LOVE chocolate - the darker, the better! - no added milk, thanks, just 65%-&-up cacao.
I have some luscious 85% cocoa bars... mmmmm.

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[Flobo]

My best mate who went veggie/vegan at the same time as me is now also a confirmed, born again, meat eater and has been for the last few years!! One of her daughters is still veggie and the other also now eats meat.. I do rib my mate about it (excuse the pun) but that's coz I feel it's my duty, but I believe each to their own, (my husband also eats meat and worked for a butcher for a while..)and as I've said before I have ferrets, a dog and a snake, so....

 

[Josie]

I really like Quorn but I'm not vegetarian. Trying to trick Oliver into eating it is a challenge though.....

Our friends have recently turned vegan and I constantly forget what they can and cannot have - went we went to stay with them it was harder to find a restaurant that was vegan friendly than a restaurant that was dog friendly!

 

[leashedForLife]

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in comparison to Tidewater Va, the Boston-metro area is heaven for vegies & vegans - there are entire restaurant menus that cater exclusively to vegan & veg folks!
Instead of choosing a cheap, undersized, overpriced iceberg-lettuce SIDE salad with a pale-pink, crisp slice of half-ripe tomato & a single cuke-slice, I can have entrees again!... it's so exciting.

In Va, i often ordered the veg of the day [steamed broc, or mixed-veg out of a bag from the freezer - cut green-beans, cubed carrots, GMO corn] or just 2 baked potatoes, as there'd be nothing else to choose from.
Here, i can get Indian, Mediterranean, French, Thai, & all of them have vegan & vegie options on the menu, plus some are veg-only entirely. It's a different world.

Of course, i am on a strict budget & don't get to eat a meal out, for now - my new job won't start till this Thurs [day after tomorrow], but I plan to go out to celebrate, when i get my 1st pay deposited.

- terry

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