Anonymous wrote:It’s a glorified eating disorder

What is “glorified” about it?

I have been vegetarian for almost 4 years (started during covid shut downs). I do not miss meat at all. Occasionally I’ll smell bacon and think oh that smells good but even then I’m still not tempted to eat it. Every other meat I don’t like the smell so there’s not even that. The only thing I miss is having more options when I go out to eat w others. I don’t like mushrooms or eggplant either and a lot of times those are the non-meat options.

A doctor put me on a vegan diet (misdiagnosed) and I missed chicken wings more than anything. It was the first thing I ate after stopping the vegan nightmare.

It’s not clear, OP, that you’re actually are trying to be a vegetarian and for what reason. If you don’t want to eat certain meats, just don’t eat them. If you’re still willing and wanting to eat other meats, eat them. You don’t have to conform to a vegetarian diet if that isn’t your goal. You can simply eat what you eat without needing a label. I was a vegetarian and then a pescatarian for 10 years before deciding to eat meat again. The label was at best a useful shorthand when going to dinner parties.

I've been pescatarian for the past ten years, and I don't miss meat at all. I know that's not quite your question, but before these last ten years I would be vegetarian for 2-3 years before the cravings led to me abandoning it. I adore seafood and fish so much more than meat (all my favorite foods used to involve it), and I also found Beyond Meat products satisfy my rare cravings.

I also now know more about the meat industry, and I don't feel comfortable supporting it because of the animals' living conditions, environmental impact, and exploitative labor practices that sometimes involve underage workers (I'm a teacher so I care deeply about children).

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I've never eaten duck, veal, lamb or rabbit. Eat whatever you want that works for your body. Some people are vegetarian at home and eat meat at restaurants. Some eat meat once a month. Do whatever.

If you eat meat or fish outside the house you are not a vegetarian.

What? You are not a vegetarian if you eat meat or fish IN the house either.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I've never eaten duck, veal, lamb or rabbit. Eat whatever you want that works for your body. Some people are vegetarian at home and eat meat at restaurants. Some eat meat once a month. Do whatever.

If you eat meat or fish outside the house you are not a vegetarian.

Who cares. You don't need a label for your diet, and you don't need to hew to a strict dietary code. Eating less meat is a net good in the world, and if the purity police aren't satisfied - well, they never will be.

And I say that as someone who's been veg nearly all my life out of a love for animals.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s a glorified eating disorder

Really? Tell that to the 38% of Indians who are vegetarians.

Also a lot of Koreans and Buddhist are vegetarian. Honestly I only eat meat when my parents, who are of a certain Generation (cough BOOMERS) visit, because they simply cannot LIVE without meat at their 3 meals day.

I think meat eating is very generation-specific in the US and we will see a lot less in 20-30 years. My children willingly choose vegetarian options/faux meats.

As a life-long vegetarian, this is my hope. I have never pushed vegetarianism on my child or even talked about it, but I do put a lot of effort into cooking meat-free meals that are delicious enough that she doesn't miss the meat. When she goes out to eat now, she often chooses vegan/vegetarian options instead of always defaulting to meat. I hope that when she begins to cook regularly for herself and her family one day, she will cook and eat less meat, especially red meat, because she will have grown up being familiar with and liking meat alternatives.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s a glorified eating disorder

Really? Tell that to the 38% of Indians who are vegetarians.

Also a lot of Koreans and Buddhist are vegetarian. Honestly I only eat meat when my parents, who are of a certain Generation (cough BOOMERS) visit, because they simply cannot LIVE without meat at their 3 meals day.

I think meat eating is very generation-specific in the US and we will see a lot less in 20-30 years. My children willingly choose vegetarian options/faux meats.

I was a vegetarian for five years and there were definitely a lot of things that I missed. Especially missed it when traveling abroad and wanted to try different foods and experience different cultures.

I also don’t think that you need to be either vegetarian or eating meat all the time. I think you can reduce your meat consumption, but still eating it when you choose to and there’s something that is worthwhile or that you just really want. It doesn’t have to be all or nothing.

And if you’re worried about how your body will respond to me if you hadn’t had it in a while really don’t think it’s a big big deal. I didn’t meet for five years and when I went back to it I had no issues. And the first thing I ate was a cheeseburger.🤣

Anonymous wrote:It’s a glorified eating disorder

Your logic: not eating meat = under eating

Anonymous wrote:I've never eaten duck, veal, lamb or rabbit. Eat whatever you want that works for your body. Some people are vegetarian at home and eat meat at restaurants. Some eat meat once a month. Do whatever.

If you eat meat or fish outside the house you are not a vegetarian.

We eat a lot of vegetarian food. I go out of my way to eat additional protein to support my endurance sport habit and training. I get that through chicken and fish mostly, and yogurt and vegetables with good bioavailability of protein. One thing I’ve cut back on a lot is red meat in the form of beef. Other than a cheeseburger periodically, not much of a fan anymore.

Anonymous wrote:It is not an all or nothing option. You can be vegetarian 95% of the time or 80% or whatever you want but still have some meat on occasion if you want.

We are all vegan between meals!

Anonymous wrote:It’s a glorified eating disorder

Really? Tell that to the 38% of Indians who are vegetarians.