We realized that the raising, care, butchering and slaughtering of animals, combined with the horrific farming practices that are really lethal were something that just seemed normal and thar really made us think how society dictates norms in the face of all of it. We are so disconnected to the food on our plate, that it does seem like what it is. Compartmentalization. I was about 48 when I became a vegetarian and immediately never regretted not eating meat.

Until you slaughter an animal yourself, don't put it on your plate.

Secondly, there is so much illness from bad farming- animal waste runoff contaminating plants we eat, bad practices like poor feeding causing dusease like Mad Cow ( we lived right zwhere ground zero was for that in England- and yes, was eating meat then), hormones in meat and milk ( * wondering about all this earlier age cancers ?)
Lastly, the environmental impact is stunningly abhorrent.

You don't need meat. You really do not, and you will not regret giving it up. It's all old cultural norms, and we should know that by now.

I'm pescatarian, but I never ate any of these meats.

duck, veal, lamb, rabbit

I’d like to be a vegetarian because the idea of eating flesh grosses me out. Unfortunately, I just can’t, my body needs meat. The longest I went was one year and I ended up severely anemic. Yeah, the iron in spinach and almond’s doesn’t do it for me. Even fish alone doesn’t cut it. I find myself healthiest when I eat a wide variety of foods.

I wonder if you satisfied vegetarians have a different blood type or something. I’m type O+, the oldest cavemen type. What are you all?

I'm grossed out by meat. Don't want to eat animals. Disgusting.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As I get older I can't eat a lot of animals anymore. Anything like duck, veal, lamb, rabbit...Just cannot do it. But I still enjoy chicken, beef, and especially things like salami and prosciutto. If you are vegetarian, do you miss those things? It would make most sense ethically for me to stop eating it all, but I wonder how I will do and if I will miss it too much.

I sincerely do not miss any meat. I miss having more choices when I go to a restaurant or a friend/relative’s house and they are serving meat.

Same.

But at least most restaurants have finally moved beyond the steamed veg plate and those god-awful, rubbery mushroom-cap “burgers”

YESSS. I became veg in the 80s, and cannot tell you how many plates of steamed broccoli and nothing I've eaten in my lifetime at fancy restaurants. I never want another portabella on a roll as long as I live, either. I do miss the homemade bean burgers that a lot of placed used to serve - now it's Impossible this and Impossible that!

Omg agree with all of this!! I hate the fake meat stuff. Love love the bean burgers!!!!

Anonymous wrote:

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.

I hope this as well for my kids, who are omnivores but have started to lean more vegetarian.

I have seen a huge change in the US in the last ten years. Vegetarianism has gone way more mainstream. It’s wonderful.

Never. I have been a vegetarian since I was 15.

People used to mock me and say I’d miss meat or would need to eat meat when I was pregnant or would be anemic or whatever. None of that was true. I had healthy pregnancies and continue to be super healthy as I get older.

Never have I missed meat, even once. Sometimes the smell disgusts me even.

Anonymous wrote: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.

This thread is about vegetarianism not veganism. There is a difference.

There are good, scientific studies that show red meat and processed meats (prosciutto, salami, ham, sausages, bacon, etc.) increase the risk of colon cancer. They are known carcinogens. So, no, I do not miss eating that crap.

I don't miss meat. I miss the wider variety of textures and flavors that meat contributes to a diet. In most restaurants I'm limited to something fairly boring. Occasionally I'll encounter an incredible tasting menu or something with an array of new flavors and textures, but more often than not, I'm ordering the least exciting thing on the menu while everyone else is trying something new and flavorful.

Don't label yourself. Cut back on meat, buy local meat...but it really doesn't have to be all or nothing.

I tried out a vegetarian diet for a few months, thinking I would not really miss meat. I was fine with not eating meat-based meals, but I hated having to not eat things that have a little meat or animal products - soups, stir fry, adding meat broth for flavor.

So I suggest you just focus first on eating meals that have less meat. See how it goes.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As I get older I can't eat a lot of animals anymore. Anything like duck, veal, lamb, rabbit...Just cannot do it. But I still enjoy chicken, beef, and especially things like salami and prosciutto. If you are vegetarian, do you miss those things? It would make most sense ethically for me to stop eating it all, but I wonder how I will do and if I will miss it too much.

I sincerely do not miss any meat. I miss having more choices when I go to a restaurant or a friend/relative’s house and they are serving meat.

Same.

But at least most restaurants have finally moved beyond the steamed veg plate and those god-awful, rubbery mushroom-cap “burgers”

YESSS. I became veg in the 80s, and cannot tell you how many plates of steamed broccoli and nothing I've eaten in my lifetime at fancy restaurants. I never want another portabella on a roll as long as I live, either. I do miss the homemade bean burgers that a lot of placed used to serve - now it's Impossible this and Impossible that!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As I get older I can't eat a lot of animals anymore. Anything like duck, veal, lamb, rabbit...Just cannot do it. But I still enjoy chicken, beef, and especially things like salami and prosciutto. If you are vegetarian, do you miss those things? It would make most sense ethically for me to stop eating it all, but I wonder how I will do and if I will miss it too much.

I sincerely do not miss any meat. I miss having more choices when I go to a restaurant or a friend/relative’s house and they are serving meat.

Same.

But at least most restaurants have finally moved beyond the steamed veg plate and those god-awful, rubbery mushroom-cap “burgers”

Anonymous wrote:As I get older I can't eat a lot of animals anymore. Anything like duck, veal, lamb, rabbit...Just cannot do it. But I still enjoy chicken, beef, and especially things like salami and prosciutto. If you are vegetarian, do you miss those things? It would make most sense ethically for me to stop eating it all, but I wonder how I will do and if I will miss it too much.

I sincerely do not miss any meat. I miss having more choices when I go to a restaurant or a friend/relative’s house and they are serving meat.

Anonymous wrote: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.

And? What’s the point of your anecdote?

Every vegan or vegetarian does not secretly miss meat, or think that they’re living in a nightmare because they don’t eat meat products.