Meat Eating

[see ya]

I used to be pretty anti-vegetarian because I'd had a lot of run-ins with vegans that were very annoying and pretentious, but I've calmed down a lot. I've even had a few thoughts about trying the lifestyle just to see how it would work out for me now that I mostly buy my own food. I doubt it would stick, but who knows. My reasons would probably be more health- and self-discipline-related than anything, though.

As for not eating meat for environmental reasons, I know just one person going vegetarian wouldn't make much of a difference, but still a person may know they're not changing anything by themselves, but still feel like they don't want to contribute to the massive effects that huge amounts of livestock have on the environment. And, like Watershed said, a larger number of vegetarians would mean that demand for livestock would drop, therefore reducing their numbers and allowing them to be raised more humanely and have less impact on the environment.

 

[Dannichu]

I used to be pretty anti-vegetarian because I'd had a lot of run-ins with vegans that were very annoying and pretentious, but I've calmed down a lot.

Every vegetarian I know, without exception, loathes PETA.

ETA:

A question for people who eat a lot of organic/vegetarian/synthetic meat/etc products - does that food cost a whole lot more? That unfortunately is an issue I could see with going that route. I'm a cheapass. :[

I haven't found it that way at all, but I guess it depends on what kind of meat you're used to eating - the cheapest sausages you can buy (the ones made from, and I actually read this on the ingredients list, "beef connective tissue" and "mechanically recovered chicken") are quite a bit cheaper than Linda McCartney's vegetarian sausages, but they are, in turn, much cheaper than the sausages made from parts of animals most people would consider edible, and definitely cheaper than sausages made from animals that were treated ethically before sausagedom.

Basically, I think fake!meat is more expensive than the cheapest meats you can buy, but still cheaper than the better-quality, more "ethical" meats.

Plus, Tesco's 99p macoroni and cheese is suitable for vegetarians :p

Cheap (and healthy!) vegetarian/vegan foods:

• Stir fry - works as a full meal, takes like three minutes to make (literally all you need is a wok, spoon and plate), costs about £1 to make if you're frugal; you can buy packs of stir-fry veg in supermarkets that you just open and fry, or make your own from stratch (I like the packs because they come with beansprouts and sometimes even baby sweetcorn :p)
• Soup - there's a massive selection of these you can buy, often incredibly cheaply (Sainsbury's 17p tomato soup!), though making your own isn't too hard
• Hummus - like Watershed said, it's an excellent replacement sandwich filling, and a great snack with crackers.
• Coleslaw - Ridiculously easy to make (onion, cabbage, carrot, mayo, bam you're done), goes with pretty much everything (SO good on a baked potato!), and you can make loads and keep the rest for later.
• Curry - you can use just vegetables, or add in fake!meat; you can get jars of curry sauce for like 50p. I make a mean curry, but fail miserably at the rice bit.
• Rice - mix in vegetables and egg or whatever you like, and it can be a very filling meal. If, uh, you can cook it.
• Pasta - pasta is such an excellent base for a meal; it fills you up, so it's perfect for students without time/money to make lots of meals. And it's so flexible; you can make something as basic as spaghetti (you can get decent-sized packs of spaghetti for like 30p) with cheese or fusilli with chopped tomatoes to, uh, the stuff they serve at Italian resaruants (I haven't quite reached that stage yet)
• Cereal - in my first year of uni, I lived off cereal. It's the quickest, easiest "meal" to make in the world, often vegan friendly (you can use soy milk, too - even if you don't normally like the taste, cinnamon, chocolate and other-flavoured cereals make it pretty much impossible to tell anyway) and while obviously it's not good to eat for every meal of every day, cereals are fortified with vitamins, so you're getting something good out of it.
• Beans on toast - the ultimate British student food, it's so cheap (~25p) and easy (literally two minutes) to make, and perfect for vegetarians/vegans because of the high protein levels.
• Casserole - the thing I love about casseroles is that you can throw in just about everything you find in your cupboards so they're different each time - I like to use a base of tomato soup, chopped root vegtables (potatoes, carrots, swede), handfuls of lentils (again with the protein!) and maybe a can of baked beans. Best thing to do is make loads at once, and then you're sorted for meals for the rest of the week.

And those are just the dishes based on vegetables/carbs - there's lots of complaining about the meat alternatives in this thread, but if you don't mind them (I personally don't, though they're a little dry (they don't have lots of fat, so they won't fry on their own) so it's worth adding a little extra liquid to a dish you're making with them (I like adding red wine to a bolognaise sauce :3)) then you can make just about every dish a meat-eater can and you're not limited at all.

...and, uh, thus endeth the cookery lesson.

(sorry about that, I got carried away ><)

 

[Minish]

I agree with the point Butterfree made earlier -- the problems with meat consumption is about the way we use animals to get our meat, rather than meat itself.

I eat meat; I'm actually known in my family for being 'quite a meat-eater', but that's mainly because I'll eat pretty much anything, and whatever my mum makes, I'll probably wolf it down with no fuss whatever it is (unless it's cheese or butter/margarine which I will adamantly refuse to ever eat no matter what). So yeah, I could probably be a vegetarian pretty easily, even though I like the feeling of eating meat and would probably miss it a lot.

However, my sister's a very fussy eater and it's just a whole lot easier for my mum to make whatever she can that night. Maybe I'll become a vegetarian or at least a semi-vegetarian when I leave home, but for now, there's no way I'm going to make it a fuss for her. Yeah, it's a pretty flimsy reason, but hey, I'm only going to be at home for another year.

...wow, I can actually remember when I was a kid and going to McDonald's was the biggest treat ever. One word: ew.

And... I'd also find it pretty hard to live without tuna sandwiches/rolls/subs/whatever. ;-; Oh, tuna. How I love you.

 

[Esque]

I'm not a vegetarian or a vegan, no. But I, like many others here, still live with my parents. I only know two people still living with their parents (around my age) who are vegans (I don't know any vegetarians), and their parents are also vegan so there isn't meat or dairy or anything like that in the house for them to eat anyway. I know that I could be a vegetarian (I could never do vegan) if I really tried, but my family has chicken or fish almost every time we have dinner. There are a lot of different ways to cook a chicken, or a fish, and at the very least make the most of the animal we're eating(a single chicken can last us three dinners - we're a family of 6).

I know killing animals is unethical. I personally am not an advocate for animal rights, but I know a chicken farmer personally, and I know someone who used to be a chicken farmer. I also know a kid who raised ducks for 4-H. The people who I know who raise(d) poultry treat(ed) their animals in a manner that is/was not inhumane(I checked). I believe that animals should be treated well (reasonable amount of living space, fresh air, good food), and not kept inside.

I am currently more concerned about the way dairy animals are treated. I have nothing to say about beekeeping (I already told you I could never be a vegan), but cows that are raised for milk are effectively tortured. Also, fresh milk that hasn't been processed is both a) a heck of a lot tastier than the kind you get at Kroger and b) better for you. It can also be used to make your own cheese and cream and stuff.

Maybe when I move out I'll go vegetarian. Food selection isn't an issue, besides, in my opinion, fruits and vegetables taste pretty good. Especially if you steam the veggies then maybe dip them in dressing. Also, cauliflower can be made to taste incredible.

Baked Cauliflower:
Preheat oven to 400
Slice your cauliflower. Each slice should be about 1/2 inch thick. The slices will look like two-dimensional trees.
Place cauliflower on cookie sheet, with each cauliflower not touching the other cauliflower.
Sprinkle a little bit of olive oil and pepper on top. If you want any other seasonings, feel free to add them.
Bake (at 400 degrees Fahrenheit, idk for celcius) for 10 - 15 minutes.
Taste the amazingness that is baked cauliflower.

 

[see ya]

Every vegetarian I know, without exception, loathes PETA.

It seems everyone outside of PETA hates them. That's a lot of the reason I've become much more accepting of vegetarians.

Oh, I forgot my dad loves to barbecue. The temptation to try the vegetarian lifestyle became that much harder, lol.

 

[Minish]

Oh, I forgot my dad loves to barbecue. The temptation to try the vegetarian lifestyle became that much harder, lol.

Ah, that's something I forgot... my dad is crazy about barbecues and it's kind of a special thing for me, him and my sister to have one together when we go to see him...

 

[departuresong]

I agree with the point Butterfree made earlier -- the problems with meat consumption is about the way we use animals to get our meat, rather than meat itself.

Unfortunately, most of us don't have Iceland's energy-efficient conditions. Maybe if you live in Iceland and have access to Iceland-raised meat it's fine, but really, there is a ridiculously large population to feed and if you aren't fortunate to live near an area like that, you're definitely still harming the environment by eating meat.

Ah, that's something I forgot... my dad is crazy about barbecues and it's kind of a special thing for me, him and my sister to have one together when we go to see him...

I like barbecues too!

 

[Esque]

I think most of us just gave up on vegetarianism in favor of barbecue.

 

[departuresong]

You can be a vegetarian and still enjoys barbecues, though.

 

[Esque]

This is very true.

 

[surskitty]

Vegetarian barbecue is even more delicious than meaty barbecue, though.

 

[Esque]

...
They... they...

THEY MAKE VEGETARIAN BARBECUE?!

 

[surskitty]

Eggplant, garlic, kabobs... there are a lot of things you can do on a grill that function quite similarly to barbeque that don't involve meat.

 

[Dannichu]

Plus you can cook Quorn sausages and burgers on a barbeque exactly the same way you'd cook actual burgers and sausages.

 

[see ya]

I know of the existence of vegetarian barbecues (hell, I've been to them before, and yes, it's friggin' wonderful), but still, my father knows how to season and prepare chicken like a master. It's a hard habit to break...

 

[Blastoise Fortooate]

It's a hard habit to break...

I know, right? I mean, I'm probably going to be semi-vegetarian when I grow up because I won't be bothered to cook meat correctly. I'll still eat it when others cook for me though, as I do now.

my father knows how to season and prepare chicken like a master.

My mother makes pulled pork to die for. Want to trade?

 

[Elliekat]

Well, I personally would like to be a vegetarian, but I'm 15. My parents practically shot me when I said something along the lines of "I wonder what it would be like to be vegetarian?" so when I go away to college I'm probably going to be vegetarian.

I LOVE all vegetables. Even kale. <3
But I like shellfish too much. That's going to be hard to give up. :(

 

[opaltiger]

Well, I personally would like to be a vegetarian, but I'm 15. My parents practically shot me when I said something along the lines of "I wonder what it would be like to be vegetarian?" so when I go away to college I'm probably going to be vegetarian.

I LOVE all vegetables. Even kale. <3
But I like shellfish too much. That's going to be hard to give up. :(

Strictly speaking pescetarianism is probably healthier than vegetarianism.

 

[xkze]

For whatever reason, I can't stand red meat. It just doesn't work for me. I don't have any sort of moral issue with it, I just don't like the taste of it.

Chicken is pretty great though.

Really I'm kind of a grain person. Does grain fall into the category of vegetable?

 

[departuresong]

Grain falls into the category of "not meat."