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Helloooo Vegetarians/Vegans

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  • JoyceHJoyceH Raw Newbie

    Yeah I’ve made peace with most everyone in my life eating meat. I will always respect others’ decisions to eat meat or not and do my best to not be judgemental. But at the same time, it’s nice to meet like-minded folks once in a while who share our ideals. For me it’s refreshing

  • Maybe Im a bit hypocritical, but as much as I feel everyone should choose their own diet, I still will never understand how people can consider themselves a moral when they eat meat or drink milk, in a broader sense. I know there are many families who are poor and must hunt for food or steal what they can, but in a much broader society, those who eat their meat and drink their milk that come from factory farms I believe have no defensable position, especially since the vegan/veggie diet is so widespread now that its easy to eat that way just about anywhere you live, without causing purposeful harm to other beings.

    My brother was the one who helped me go vegan about 7 years ago. About 3 years later he started eating meat again. As much as I love him and always will, I know there is something inside me that makes me sad when I see him eat meat, especially after knowing what he knows about the industry. I get sad when I see friends and family eat meat. Even when perfect strangers eat meat.

    Everyone is judgmental of things in their own way. I guess I dont see the broad reason why meat needs to be eaten at all.

  • troublesjustabubbletroublesjustabubble Raw Newbie

    Hey jkd-wow, I’m really really impressed with your conviction and sensitivity. I wish I could feel that way. Instead of feeling sadness I’m just grossed out. Whenever I have to eat meat(and I know I don’t HAVE to but I do for my family) I feel bad physically and the longer I am high raw the more I resent meat but it mostly just because it was a body once and that messes with my head. I respect the fact that other people eat meat but I don’t care for it. I hate our system of large corporations and the cruelty that goes on and the disconnect they create by making sure the meat doesn’t resemble the animal and I want to do my part.

    I have a great respect for you jkd and I hope to be more like you one day.

  • WinonaWinona Raw Newbie

    jkd i feel the same as you do about factory farming! I love caring for animals, and to think that millions of them are abused to become food for folks who have plenty of veg to eat.. well that’s just sad. I feel really bad for the animals.

    The type of meat eating is OKAY with me if folks hunt their food or avoid factory farming, because it would greatly restrict the amount of meat eaten – most people i’ve asked, are NOT willing to kill an animal to eat it. if they can and will do it, AND give the animal a good life, then i think that’s a much better choice than factory farming.

  • JoyceHJoyceH Raw Newbie

    troubles – in regards to this thread, you’re like a bad rash that keeps on coming back. No, I’M ONLY JOKING . Of course you’re welcome here! :-D

    If you’d like to learn more about farm animals, the Humane Society is a good resource. Maybe spend time on a farm and get to know the animals that are killed and eaten. Farm animals love their young, they have feelings, emotions, social orders, etc just like our beloved house pets. Check this out if you wish:

    http://www.hsus.org/farm/resources/animals/

    I’m also a firm believer in that humans also absorb the violent death, tramma, stress, terror, suffering of an animal’s death when eaten. Maybe this is a bit ‘out there’ but hey, that’s just my own personal belief.

    Say no to meat, say yes to that nice big pint of Harvest Ale. You’ll feel a lot happier ;-)

  • troublesjustabubbletroublesjustabubble Raw Newbie

    Joyce-ouch.

    Seriously, I don’t have to come on here if you don’t want me to.

    gotta love the ale. I eat meat rarely but sometimes for me it is unavoidable and I’m not willing to alienate family for food. It’s unreasonable to me. Maybe some day they’ll get it.

  • beanybeeganbeanybeegan Raw Newbie

    I am sure there are other foods we really don’t like to eat. I don’t like okra or cilantro, and don’t eat it. My DH doesn’t like custard or most vegan foods. Yesterday, I sat in the car with DH while he ate a Whopper burger meal.No big deal. If I went to another’s house, I just would not eat the meat or other cooked foods, just like I wouldn’t eat okra, or anything with cilantro in it. The thing with family and friends getting together is the fellowship not necessarily the food. When you have food in your mouth you aren’t suppose to talk any way.

    I do think the more we “educate” ourselves about meat and the cooking of meat. How it effects our animals, our body and those around us, then we can really make the right decisions not only for us, but the world at large.

    It is a well known fact that when animals know they are going to be killed their muscles and whole body will stiffen up (fight or flight syndrome) thus holding in their bodies all the toxins and chemicals used for the fight or flight syndrome. When they are bled these toxins and chemicals will not be in the blood but in the meat the person will be eating.

    For those who do eat meat. Have you ever raised and then killed an animal to eat? Animals have likes and dislikes, personalities, thought processes. Have you aver seen the terror in there eyes when they know they are going to be killed?

  • iknikn

    Trouble, You are most welcome here!!! If you eat meat becasue of social commitments, that is absolutely fine. It is your choice and nobody should judge you for that. I found myself eating some cooked foods too, because I didn’t want to hurt somebody’s feelings. She went out of her way to make a vegetarian dish for me, and just didn;t have the heart to tell her that I don’t eat cooked food anymore. So I ate it, and it was really good. And I really appreciated her efforts for making it for me.

  • JoyceHJoyceH Raw Newbie

    ikn – just curious, would you have eaten the dish if it had meat in it?? (not judging, just curious how we might all handle this situation gracefully as vegetarians). I too would eat a cooked vegetarian meal if someone made it for me.

    beany – thanks for your post! I even believe animals have souls (sorry if that’s stepping on toes). When I look into my cats’ eyes, I see and feel so much love from them. I really need to believe that if there is an afterlife for humans then animals will be there too. It’s actually consoling for me to think that when all these poor animals die, there is an afterlife for them too: the rainbow bridge :-)

    and I swear, I’m not on drugs ;-)

  • I am a beegan i guess. i waffle about eating honey or not. But my stance on eating is that I eat as raw as I can, as organic as I can and as vegan as I can, in that order of importance. I usually drag around a big bag of food with me so ive always got a piece of fruit or cut veggies to nosh on so Im not stuck without. I absolutely will not eat meat or dairy though- no exceptions. Eating is always a personal thing. Some people get nervous to eat in front of me, like im going to scold them for having a burger or something. I think we lead by example- people will find their way to what makes them happy. Whats the point in being raw, vegan or vegetarian if youre not loving it?

  • JoyceHJoyceH Raw Newbie

    Anyone seen the 2007 movie “Year of the Dog” with SNL’s Molly Shannon. It’s about a woman who turns vegan and rescues all these dogs and gets involved with PETA issues. It’s really cute and funny and I highly recommend it. There were a few times I got teary eyed. It’s definitely something you can find at your DVD movies store:

    http://www.yearofthedogmovie.com/

    Hey troubles – really and truly I’m only joking. If you lived close by, I’d say, hey let’s grab a pint after work! Want me to delete that post? I’m probably not as funny as I sometimes think I am. Playing music in pubs in Ireland for a solid year turned me into a monster. Luckily people at work laugh at my stupid jokes and desperate attempts at comedy :-)

    Well I better log off, and get my TPS type reports done so I can have a pint soon!! Happy friday!!

  • iknikn

    JoyceH – No, I wouldn’t. But I think there are different reasons for being vegetarians. If it doesn’t bother her, than who are we to judge her choices? I guess, what I am trying to say, that there are social pressures and everybody has set their priorities and limits differently. It doesn’t bother me if somebody calls themselves vegetarians and still consume fish or meat occasianly. In the large picture, it doesn’t matter.

    Anyway, I agree with you on transferring bad karma, or horror, or whatever we call it, through eating animal flesh. And I am sure both my dog and cat have souls!

  • troublesjustabubbletroublesjustabubble Raw Newbie

    oh don’t be silly Joyce. Of course I don’t mind:) Just wanted to make sure that you weren’t really annoyed. I don’t want to annoy you but I think I do alot.

    TPS reports. Now I feel like going home and watching Office Space. ha

  • ikn. I disagree. In the larger picture it does matter. If people go around calling themselves vegan and vegetarian to their friends and family, and turn around and eat meat because someone cooked it for them special, then they shouldnt be calling themselves that at all, as it gives those that strive to stay in those lifestyles a bad image and name.

  • I’ve pondered whether to jump in on this or not… I think we all get very passionate about certain things, and what we consume is one of them. I try to be passionate about things without damaging my relationships in the world. So with that in mind…

    I don’t fit in a box outlined by vegetarian or vegan or anyting else really. My food choices are based first on health, then on other things. I don’t eat dairy because it’s not good for me. I have no humanitarian philosiphies about it. Some meat sometimes is personally good for me, so I choose to eat it. I don’t ever consume packaged foods, or anything containing a chemical name of any sort. So I prefer to eat food that is in it’s natural form, with no processing done to it at all. I’ve come here because the mainstream world doesn’t eat “real” food unless it’s wrapped around something with meat or gluten in it, usually both. So I’m just a person who wants to be healthy and make good food choices. I’m not one of the people that Joyce was really speaking to, but I just wanted to throw out there that there are probably others like me that are here because there are a great group of people with lots of good ideas and thoughts and amazing recipes and conversation! And we don’t all have to have the same philosophies in order to enjoy that…

  • Vegetarian for 20 years, vegan for 6 months, 90% raw for 3 months.

  • angie207angie207 Raw Master

    I don’t buy leather any more. I don’t buy factory-farmed animal products, for my son or myself. I blow mosquitoes off my arms when they’re biting me. I talk to the squirrels, grasshoppers, etc. in my garden and ask them if they could please go find another place to live & lay eggs (grasshoppers) so I can have some food, too. I have raised my own animals, using them for meat after treating them well & giving them a good life, but I feel more peaceful not depending on destroying another life to extend/improve mine. The last time I ate meat, it was out of desperation because I hadn’t had enough of the right foods to get adequate nutrition, and even though I knew that the meat had provided what my body needed at that time, and that the cow had been treated well during its life, I was sad! That motivated me to start seeking ways to make sure I don’t find myself in that position again. I found a vegetarian food-based supplement that gave me a lot of what I needed, and I am making sure I always have plenty of greens. I am also looking at raw recipes using quinoa, because I feel intuitively that it has some of what I will need to stay healthy without eating meat. I don’t talk to people about this change in my attitude, because like some of you have said, they tend to think I’m telling them what to do or not do. I told my mom about my decision to pass up buying leather sandals (comfortable and on clearance really cheap) because I decided that I can’t justify killing an animal to cover my feet when there are so many other options available. She just thought I was weird, so I don’t really bring it up any more. I didn’t grow up this way. I have been eating for my health without making it an ethical issue, until this year. These feelings are all fairly new to me.

  • beanybeeganbeanybeegan Raw Newbie

    For the last few nights I have taken my dog out for his walk. On the porch is a black beetle carrying his dinner down the stairs. On the lawn is a salamander, I assume, looking for his dinner. My dog looks, sniffs, and then continues on to do his business. Now I or my dog could kill the beetle and the salamander but their life goes on, so tomorrow night we may meet again.

    We are examples to those around us. I did not kill the beetle or salamander. My dog saw my reaction to these small creatures and so he copied my actions. It is the same with those we come in contact with. When it comes to our way of eating we need to be examples. Not drill sargents nor wimps. I have to be on guard at all times. I know my family and others are waiting. Once I had cooked beans. Some said, now we can get back to normal and suggested the foods they wanted me to make. What a lesson! No more cooked foods for me. There is a saying. You will know them by their works. So, others will know me by my works, my action, and hopefully follow my example.

  • I am trying to be vegan, but occassionally have cheese or chicken. My husband is a brewer for Drake’s Brewery so I was a beer drinker. I have been trying to avoid gluten too so I have just had a taste when he tries something new. I was a vegetarian when I was 11 for about a year. I read about River Phoenix being vegetarian and believed it to be a better way to live life. But I was young, without any guidance and support decreased over time (my mom and brother tried it with me for a few months and then started eating meat again. I was picky and did not eat the right foods. I started to get stiff joints and my family insisted I eat meat. I gave in although I did not like the idea of eating meat. Over the years I learned about how many non-food items have animal products in them. As an adult I stopped thinking about any of it and just ate what I wanted. When my daughter was born, she did not want to eat any meat. This brought up the old issue of mine of how to get enough protein. So she ate a lot of cheese. Then I found out she was intolerant to casein (and gluten) and had to remove that protein source. I read a lot about nutrition and tried to get protein into her by sneaking it in (beans or protein powders). As she got older I explained that humans eat meat, just like other animals eat meat. I felt the whole time that it was an awful thing to say. She kept asking questions and by the end I felt that humans sounded like monsters. Now she eats some meat but I have been trying recently to expand her diet to more nutritious foods (and raw). My husband is a big meat eater. He does not like the idea of animals suffering but has turned off that consciousness (as mine was before). My biggest concern with my daughter is that she is not healthy (leaky gut syndrome from toxic overload that caused autism). She is so thin and I am constantly trying to load her up with calories. We are finally testing her for food intolerance through a blood test and she is eating dairy again for a week. My husband still does not believe she has an intolerance and thinks she needs to eat milk and cheese again. He does not want to supplement calcium and we have tried to get natural sources of calcium in her but it is not enough. So the test will set this straight. But at her age with her pickiness and autism it would be hard to get enough vitamins and minerals on a vegan diet. My husband wants to get away from the minority regarding food (why he wants to get away from the gluten/casein free diet) and move back toward the food pyramid. It gets harder and harder to make my point.

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