or expensive to be vegetarian? what about vegan? is it healthy??? and why do vegetarians think its so important that i stop eating meat???
i can only speak for myself, but i think alot of veg*ns agree that animal exploitation is the primary reason for stopping the consumption of animal products. its such a huge deal, such an evil practice that is going on everyday and i just dont understand why more people dont ever think about it and take action....as author jeff masson put it "its common sense" (to stop exploiting animals) its not expensive, atleast not for me...probably more inexpesive as i spend more money on buying food at the grocery store instead of eating out all the time. and if you do it *right* it can be VERY healthy....but that's all in the foods you choose to eat, not just about swearing off animal flesh. it def NOT hard.....easiest thing ive ever done...mostly because it was important to me and to the animals that i do it. i wish i had done it way sooner....i cant ever imagaine eating meat again.....it's not food. drumminmamas example of a "lightbulb on a plate" puts it well. today i had ordered veggie fried rice from the local chinese place and somehow a strand of pork or something was in it and i immediatley starting gagging.
I wouldn't call it "hard", but it is a change. Especially depending on your current lifestyle. When I first became vegetarian I didn't do enough research and ended up being prolly just as, if not more, unhealthy than I was before -- I was basically eating salads (lame salads), pizza, french fries and a lot of other stuff that just wasn't going to give me the nutrition that my body needed. Since than I have become vegan and to answer your other question -- I've never felt healthier. Since cutting dairy out of my diet, I no longer have allergies, I don't snore, and I haven't gotten sick or a even a mild cold -- whereas I used to get sinus infections CONSTANTLY in my youth. I've always been an avid runner and one of things that my high school coach used to stress to me (in his ignorance) was that if I stopped eating meat, I would lose my muscle and my stamina -- this was SUCH a load of crap it makes me laugh. I've improved leaps and bounds since going vegan. Which is not to say that not eating meat will make you faster or stronger, but it sure as hell won't make you weaker or slower. All in all, it's a choice that you have to make. Not because your friends are doing it, not because you think it'll make you more "hippy", and not because you want to lose some weight. There are a TON of awesome reasons to become veg/vegan, but if you're not really comitted to it, it can be harmful.
You can't say that all vegetarians want you to stop eating meat...I'm vegetarian...I don't care. It's really your choice and personal business. Also, it's not expensive or unhealthy if you know what you need to eat. And I'm not advising anyone to live completely off of Ramen noodles. THAT'S unhealthy. Everyone needs to know what their body needs to function. Calories provide energy, calcium is good for your bones, etc. You can't be a healthy person if you just want to lose weight. Be who you want to be, not who others think you should be. You have to be comfortable with who you are. Know your strengths and come to terms with your faults.
No, can't say I've had any trouble with finances or motivation. If anything it's cheaper because meat is expensive, relatively speaking, and you're less inclined to eat out. Which is obviously very good for me as a student. After 25 months I've noticed no negative effect on my general health. Not a huge positive change either mind. It depends from what point your starting from, my omni diet was fairly healthy anyway. So that's fine by me. It wasn't a difficult change. I just put some thought into it and couldn't come up with a single reason why I should eat meat, and didn't even want to any more. So just stopped.
It was not a hard change. I come from a family who didn't eat a lot of meat anyway, so I just reduced that little to zero. Expensive? well, I'd rather say it's a lot cheaper. You don't need to eat tofu everyday, I barely eat it at all. My Man is an omni, and I sometimes prepare meat for him, and I have the feeling, that meat products are making the shopping cart more expensive. I mean a 500 grams package of steak costs about 2,50 € and the same amount of beans 50 cents, and that is what I cured the meet munchers with, and it worked extremely well.
it was less hard then it looks sometimes. It isnt too expensive. As natural food stores expand and get more branches i think it'll get even less expensive. But if you dont like beans or tofu or mushrooms or vegetables you cant really do it and be too healthy. I dont think I'd be a vegan because that looks really hard and i don't like soy milk very much.
I found it pretty hard at first, not to stop, just to know what to eat! But since bein veggie my palette has definitely changed... for instance, i used to hate mushrooms when i was on an omni diet, but i started to try them more in veggie food n now they r my favourite food! N in simple things like salads u start to really get the flavours from all the different vegetables, like ur mouth is more sensitive to subtle flavours! mmmmm, im gettin hungry just writing this, gonna have to make some food soon! Think u should definitely give it a try tho, it's well worth it, n thats not even mentionin any of the ethical side of it, thats just the taste!
I stopped eating meat (and dairy and eggs) for four reasons: 1. For the animals. The abuses in factory farms are unspeakable, and I cannot support that kind of cruelty. 2. For the environment. Meat production is inefficient. Using modern factory farm methods, it requires a great deal of grain, a huge amount of water and leaves behind a massive amount of fecal waste that pollutes the water table, the soil and any ponds, streams, lakes and rivers in the vicinity. 3. For people. Those unfortunate people forced by circumstance to work in the meat industry are highly exploited. 4. For my health. I don't know that a well-planned Vegan diet is necessarily any healthier than a well-planned omni diet. There are advantages and challenges to both. But I do know for certain that I am healthier, much healthier, as a Vegan than I was as an overweight fast food junkie ignorantly munching down the Standard American Diet. Being a Vegan has given me the opportunity to think about the choices I have regarding my body. I make much better choices today. It is fairly expensive for me to be Vegan because I have a good paying job, a husband with a good-paying job, and I don't have children. So I tend to purchase organic foods, locally produced foods, foods that haven't been genetically modified and foods that come from smaller companies rather than huge conglomerates. In other words, I am quite picky. However, you can eat very healthy as a vegetarian or vegan and eat more cheaply than you do as a meat eater because meat is relatively expensive, and staples like beans and rice are very cheap. If you are interested in exploring a vegetarian or Vegan lifestyle, I would recommend that you purchase "Becoming Vegetarian" and/or "Becoming Vegan" by Brenda Davis & Vesanto Melina. These present balanced looks at the health benefits and risks, and they dispel some common meat-eater and vegetarian myths. For a look at the meat industry's effects on our economies and our peoples, check out "Fast Food Nation" by Eric Schlosser. Mr. Schlosser is not a vegetarian, and his book is both fact-based and entertaining. For a look at the many facets of vegetarian/vegan lifestyle and what issues attract people to it, John Robbins has written two excellent books, "The Food Revolution," and "Diet for a New America." Robbins has a tendency toward exageration (IMO) but he does a very good job of discussing the issues. If you disagree with or don't understand the tactics of AR groups like PETA, check out "Dominion" by Matthew Scully. Scully is a republican, and he discusses animal abuse issues in the meat inductry and elsewhere from a faith-based premise. This is a very moving book, even if you aren't religious.
Great list of reading material, mrsshf! John Robbin's "Diet for a New America" is what kind of "shocked" me into becoming a vegetarian in highschool.
we chanced our life-style just a couple of months ago my daughter wanted to be vegatarian ,so i started to cook differently it was all new for us but we feel better then ever now we eat all vegatarian and it is not more expensive then when you bying meet all the time also we shop only in biological stores,the taste is so much better from greens and other things we happy we made this change in our lives,because of our daughter (sorry for my bad englisch by the way)
Is it hard? No. Not for me anyway; but for anyone who doesn't feel the way I do about animals, or about their bodies etc. might have difficulties with it I suppose. I really believe that there has to be some sort of inspiration/motivation behind going veg to make it last. Is it Expensive? It depends on what you buy. Yes, the organic products are more costly than regular produce and such; but I would say they are well worth it. To me, from what I have seen, the most expensive products are those that are premade/frozen. But that goes for ANYTHING premade/frozen, meatless or not-- If you're used to munching on frozen dinners and go vegan and buy frozen vegan dinners they aren't any more expensive. When you buy the replacements such as mock meats and replacement sour creams and butters and such, those are a bit pricey but they last forever with me-- I don't scarf them down so it never becomes an issue with money. If you have a Pick N Save near you, you'll notice most of their vegan options are very low in price. I get great deals there Is being vegan healthy? that's a big fat YES. I may be a bit biased, but I do believe it to be true. I believe it because I see it in myself, that I am more lively and healthier than I ever was before --- I'm not always so tired and I don't get sick half as often as I used to--AND WHEN I do, it seems that it doesnt last half as long as it used to either. My immune system must be 10x stronger-- for example: a couple years ago I gauged my ear piercing and it got infected; I took it out as soon as I noticed the infection occurring, and it got worse--so bad that my lymph node started swelling and I had to go to the doctor to get it treated. THEN, just a couple weeks ago, I tried re-gauging my ear; It started to get infected again [I have super sensitive ears] and I took it out, and I was worried I'd have to see the doctor again, but when i woke up the next morning it was all cleared up...perfectly. Maybe it was just luck, but I like to think it's because I'm healthier now. Or maybe the vegan diet itself isnt what is healthier, but the fact that when you go vegan you become more concious and aware of what you're putting into your body-- you become to feed yourself things that you need instead of junk. To me, when I ate meat and other animal products it seemed much easier to indulge in junk than it is now-- there IS vegan junk food, but I'm just so much more aware of what I feed myself now that I don't ever feel the need to eat any unneccessary crap. Why do veggies tell you it's important? Well, it's not my thing to go out and tell omnivores to stop eating meat or other animal products; but I can tell you why we feel it's important. It's important to us [most of us anyway, some people just go veg for health or other reasons] because we feel that it's cruel to exploit animals in such a way, and to use them at our own selfish discretion. To me, it IS selfish. To have so many alternatives, and with the research and knowledge out there on how to live a healthy vegan lifestyle it seems selfish to me to continue eating and using animal products just because "it tastes good" or whatever. Sure, it may taste good--- you may even think tofu or whatever else tastes like complete crap, I once did. But I realized my taste buds almost seemed to ADAPT. I just kept eating things that I never liked before because I knew it was better for ME and the animals, and in no time, those very foods that I used to think were disgusting became my favorites. The whole idea of using animals seems unnecessary to me. And greedy. And it especially bothers me when people feel that it's okay to just take another creature's life time after time without even THINKING about the fact that animals feel too...physically and emotionally. They get scared, and they strive to survive just as humans. That's my 2 cents and take it or leave it, I dont expect everyone to feel the same as me ---
the animals being exploited issue is the very reason that when i DO occasionally eat meat, i only support local farms that use organic and humane methods. i respect vegans and vegetarians, but i don't feel the lifestyle is really for me. i have only ever run into one or two vegans who were "militant" about it...and they didn't realize that they weren't going to convert anyone being self-righteous and high and mighty about their beliefs...
its the easiest thing in the world to do..just stop eatting meat..simple as that..after being veg 22 years or so i cant even imagine eatting meat..i accidently did twice & got so ill.. as for reasons..once you start you'll begin to realize theres thousands of reasons why its right..& you'll find the few that are most important to you personaly
hey soaringeagle, you must have gone veg about the time I did. I'm 36 with 23 years under my belt, and yes, slipping sucks! Tasyes Ok feels bad.
For me it was something I woke up and did. I had been reading a lot of information regarding vegetarian/vegan, factory farming, environmental inpact etc. and made the decision to believe it. Once that happened eating meat no longer made sense. So I don't. Knowledge, you either believe something or not. If you believe it you must make a choice.
It's not hard for me... I get sick just at the sight of meat, so.. The reason why I am a vegetarian is not only because of my love and respect of living creatures, but also because I hate the taste of meat, like I get SICK, I throw up. The thought of ingesting flesh and blood, and veins and nerves is just.. *almost throws up* And it's definitely not expensive... meat is the most expensive food! But even for people who like meat, it's not hard nowadays, with all these meat-like foods made out of soy. It just replaces it.
chicken was hard for me to give up. i did i havennt eatin meat in along time. actaaully i found out that the dounut i was eating had beef fat so i got rid of that but anyways.
