What do you feed yourself?

[Slothbear]

How many of you are

Carnivores?
Carnivores with the exception of red meat?
Pescetarians?
Vegetarians?
Vegans?

What are the reasons for your choice?

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[sofficat]

Haha! Interesting post. I'll start-

When I was 11 I found a book about slaughterhouses and I decided to become a vegetarian. Over the next few years I weaned different animals out of my diet (beef and pork first, followed by chix and turkeys, then fish). By 9th grade I was a complete veggie and I've never looked back! I did it very gradually because I didn't know what I was doing. I'm the only one in my family that has this lifestyle, so I had to educate myself. I did have my mom buy free range chickens while I did eat meat in those middle school years. So it started as a animal rights thing, but then when I learned about the veggie lifestyle, it became about health, too.

 

[dyachei]

I'm an omnivore. I like eating all sorts of meat, and when I don't, I certainly feel the effects of not getting proper nutrients (I guess I don't eat enough peanut butter/soy type things).

 

[PiddlingFish]

Vegetarian making the transition to veganism.

I stopped eating turkey when my grandmother died on thanksgiving when I was in the 8th grade. It was out of grief, but it turned into a realization that I didn't want to eat animals. Very slowly, I cut out beef, ham, etc. Chicken was the last thing I gave up, which I find funny now because they've become the species that I care about the most.

I never liked milk to begin with, so that has been easy to avoid. Ice cream and milk mess up my stomach, so if I can remember how painful that is, it's easy to keep it out of my diet. Cheese doesn't affect my stomach the same way, so it's harder for me to avoid. It's really the last thing keeping me a vegetarian. I use a great egg substitute that works great in baking, so I haven't had many problems with that.

My family has a flock of pet chickens that we gather the eggs from daily, so if I really want some kind of a thing with real eggs, I'll use those.

 

[ShelterGirl]

Omnivore here. I was a vegetarian for 3 years but didn't have the discipline to do it properly and got sick and gained weight. Too much peanut butter and bread, I suppose.

 

[Poke]

Omnivore.. I like my BW3's!

Vegetarianism doesn't appeal to me in any way, shape or form. I'm a really picky eater and not keen on my veggies. I don't view it as an animal rights issue, as long as it's done humanely (and even opinion on that varies). Sometimes I avoid redmeat, but that's just because after a while, I get sick of chewing it.

 

[freyamaxine]

I'm a vegetarian. I haven't been eating red meat for about 7 years and fish and poultry for about 3 years (I am 20).

I remember once on a car trip from Adelaide to Melbourne my family stopped at a petrol station and there was a trucked stopped that was transporting pigs. Also as a child my father had a friend that owned a pig farm, I being about 5 or 6 started having a massive hysterical crying fit of sorts not wanting to go in (it smelled really bad).

It wasn't such a hard thing for me to stop eating red meat. My dad used to feed me way too much of it when I was really young, and I hated it. When my mum and dad split up we didn't eat very much meat at all (lots of lentils). Red meat also makes me feel very nauseous and the smell of it cooking is horrid!

 

[julieDVM]

i love meat. i would never give it up.

 

[sofficat]

I'm an omnivore. I like eating all sorts of meat, and when I don't, I certainly feel the effects of not getting proper nutrients (I guess I don't eat enough peanut butter/soy type things).

That is kind of an odd thing to say. I guess from my point of view you are admitting that meat is the base of your diet (not a bad thing) and that you get no other nutrients from other food (kinda is a bad thing). Nuts, soy, tofu, fruits and veggies should really be a huge part of an omnivore's diet (ok- maybe not tofu so much... or soy. just because meat eaters tend to avoid those). Anyways, when you stop eating meat for a little bit and get malnourished, it probably means you are not eating correctly while eating meat. Does this make any sense or am I just offending you? I bring this up because I hear a lot of people say things along the lines of 'I never eat veggies...' and when they ask me what I eat regularly people seem 'weirded out' that I actually consume a lot of fruits and veggies. Since the tiny top of the food pyramid is meat and that is what many people eat most of, that concerns me. Again, sorry if this doesn't make sense or is offensive.

 

[sofficat]

For you veggie people, are your significant others also veggie? If you don't have an SO yet, would you dateget serious with a omnivore? Just curious.

My hubby is also a veggie and I don't think I could be with someone who eats meat. Is is SOOO nice not to have any meat in our house ever! (minus the dry cat food.. but it's salmon )

 

[dyachei]

That is kind of an odd thing to say. I guess from my point of view you are admitting that meat is the base of your diet (not a bad thing) and that you get no other nutrients from other food (kinda is a bad thing). Nuts, soy, tofu, fruits and veggies should really be a huge part of an omnivore's diet (ok- maybe not tofu so much... or soy. just because meat eaters tend to avoid those). Anyways, when you stop eating meat for a little bit and get malnourished, it probably means you are not eating correctly while eating meat. Does this make any sense or am I just offending you? I bring this up because I hear a lot of people say things along the lines of 'I never eat veggies...' and when they ask me what I eat regularly people seem 'weirded out' that I actually consume a lot of fruits and veggies. Since the tiny top of the food pyramid is meat and that is what many people eat most of, that concerns me. Again, sorry if this doesn't make sense or is offensive.

I certainly do eat other things. But i can tell when I'm not getting all those essential amino acids (that I've been told by nutritionists are found in peanuts and soybeans). I eat veggies and enjoy them, but i will never give up meat. You weren't offensive at all, I was vague when I said that.

 

[AuburnPreVet]

I'm a vegetarian as well. I've had a few incidents with meat -- once recently in a small local food establishment that seriously had nothing that wasn't cooked with meat except straight up lettuce... and once when a friend cooked for me. Aside from those types of situations I'm pretty strictly veggie...

I don't make being a vegetarian a credential for a potential SO... I'm picky enough as it is... it would really limit my genetic pool.

 

[Slothbear]

My SO is veggie too, and I like not having meat in the house. I guess I'm a slightly atypical veggie -- I LOVE LOVE LOVE the taste of meat. Sausages with mustard? Yum? Big ole juicy bacon double cheeseburger? Yum! I really miss these foods occasionally, but fortunately there is great veggie sausage (Gimme lean is good for my periodic sausage cravings) and lots of other wonderful veggie food and, well, this will sound incredibly corny, I think of vegetarianism as one small way of limiting the amount of suffering* in the world, 'cause there sure is a lot these days. Also, several members of my family had heart disease. One more "also" - dried beans are a heckuva lot cheaper than steak!


* There are some decent meat options these days -- other than the act of slaughter, truly free-range animals live pretty good lives for the most part

 

[freyamaxine]

For you veggie people, are your significant others also veggie? If you don't have an SO yet, would you dateget serious with a omnivore? Just curious.

My hubby is also a veggie and I don't think I could be with someone who eats meat. Is is SOOO nice not to have any meat in our house ever! (minus the dry cat food.. but it's salmon )

My SO is an omnivore. I am pretty lucky though in that he is very accepting of me being a vegetarian. Whenever we eat at home we always eat vegetarian (unless it is something like a sandwich and he might have some ham in his, or he is having a meat pie and I am having a vegetable pie). He however eats meat whenever we go out. I refuse to kiss him before he cleans his teeth after eating meat!

My house mates are also vegetarian. So meat isn't really kept in the house (unless you count the really old stash in the freezer which I keep telling him to throw out).

 

[Kara31191]

Haha. My italian family would kill me if I went vegetarian!

 

[JerseyisCutest]

.

 

[birdvet2006]

I'm an omnivore. I was a vegetarian during high school and the first couple years of undergrad. Then I realized that I had no adverse feelings to eating meat, and I missed my steak - so I became an omnivore again.

Since then, I showed beef cattle (even had a "Beef: It's What's For Dinner" bumper sticker at one point) during undergrad...and took a meat class (required for my an. sci. degree). During vet school in the UK, it's required that you actually spend a week in a slaughterhouse (abattoir). I did so - it was not bad, and I feel everything is done humanely. I'd be happy to work in a slaughterhouse if the job just didn't get so repetitive and boring so quickly. I feel that the slaughterhouse vets are doing the animals and the public such a great and important service.

I am always amazed that vegetarians are able to go through the required slaughterhouse visits to be a vet in the UK. Even more amazed with the vegans.

 

[thereservoirdog]

The only thing I don't eat is duck, since they can fly. Wow that sounds silly lol

 

[KingTut]

Meat, so so so tasty, Im a bodybuilder so basically i eat a butload of meat. Usually like half a chicken or a couple steaks, but i never leave my fruits out either. I could eat, in a day, about two to three kilos of fruit a day. Veggies, they dont attract as much, but i am willing to eat veggies with certain things like potatoes, rice and spaghetti. Sometimes i wonder how a person can really just eat veggies. And from that i have a question, why do some vegans eat fish and eggs? Are they not meat, or is it some type of question. Being a vegan takes a lot of discipline and self control.

Beans, Beans good for your heart
The more you eat the more you fart..............
Peace to the worlds..............
TuTuT

 

[PiddlingFish]

why do some vegans eat fish and eggs?

They're not vegans.

 

[Electrophile]

I really recommend everyone read The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan. Seriously my favorite non-fiction read of 2007. I'm a choosy omnivore. I get the majority of my meat (about 80%) from either the local farmer's market where the meat is humanely raised grass fed/pasture raised or from the university meat lab where at least it is local and is not trucked halfway cross country. I get 100% of my milk, eggs, and honey from local farmers who again pasture raise their dairy cattle and chickens. My dogs also get a lot of their meat (as I'm a raw feeder) from these sources. What's odd is that ever since I made the switch this last year, I'm not really ever sick. Usually I get a cold in September when everyone comes back during school and one during finals week in December (and sometimes in May). Haven't gotten either yet. *knock on wood*

 

[VAgirl]

OK, here's a question that I've been trying to find an answer to for a while now. Everyone is down on corn in diets (I'm not talking about household pets here, or other carnivores; I'm talking about cattle and people, mostly). This is also a huge theme in "The Omnivores Dilemma." But what I can't seem to figure out is why corn is "bad." What's the argument for grass-fed beef being better? I get the sense that it's not just about conditions in which the cattle were raised (roaming pastures versus more confined). Because you could theoretically grain/corn feed cattle who are not penned.

I've done some reading in high frutose corn syrup, but what ended up finding was that all the really nasty issues seem to be due to the "high fructose" aspect. No mention of the corn aspect.

So can someone explain this to me, or direct me to some sources that would be helpful? Thanks.

Oh, and I'm an omnivore. But I don't cook meat very often (I'm just not very used to doing so, and I don't really cook very often anyhow) and I like to sub tofu into certain dishes (especially asian foods!).

 

[Electrophile]

Basically, we have to keep in mind Darwinian medicine: what had the animal evolved to eat? Domesticated cattle came from Eurasia, corn comes the New World. They are grass eaters and their rumen is made to break down fibrous roughage, just like bison in North America and wildebeest in Africa. I believe another point made in The Omnivore's Dilemma is that the corn of today is vastly different than corn just a few hundred years ago. Not to say that they would *never* eat grains like wheat or corn in earlier pastorale societies or even further back in their ancestory (I'm sure they'd just love to break into a wheat field every now and again), just not every single day for the rest of their lives. Critters like rodents are better at eating grains, but they need other stuff too.

 

[VAgirl]

Electrophile--interesting points, but they still don't answer my question. I've been hearing a lot of claims that the consumption of cattle that have been fed on corn/grain is inferior to the consumption of cattle that was grass fed. Or that eating so much corn (as corn is found in many, many food stuffs now, in one way or another) is somehow bad. But why?

For the corn-fed meat: if cattle didn't evolve to eat so much corn, then perhaps it isn't ideal for them. But how does that get passed along to us (or does it)? And if there are any impacts on humans from eating corn-fed animals, what are they and are they necessarily bad things?

For humans consuming so much corn: what ill health effects does this cause?

This is the variety of information that I cannot seem to find.

 

[Electrophile]

Sorry, I'm coming from this from a evolutionary perspective, not necessarily an animal science or biochemical or medical or whatever perspective. As far as on an evolutionary perspective, those would be the reasons: if an animal (human or otherwise) eats food that it has been designed to eat for many thousands if not millions of years, that is most likely the sort designed for somewhat optimum health. Probably the extreme examples are animals like koalas. They must eat eucalyptus. The other extreme would be something like rats: highly opportunistic omnivorous rodents which can eat most anything (but perhaps shouldn't necessarily).

Honestly, I'm trained as a biologist, not as animal science person, so some of this I don't know other than the little I've read. However, in The Omnivore's Dilemma (and I don't have my copy on me, so this is kind of off the cuff), he makes mention that part of the problem with the corn is that it makes the meat fattier , which of course is problematic to human health for obvious reasons. I *think* it basically said that corn is energy rich in calories, but poor in nutrients compared to grass. In addition, grass fed animals have much higher levels of CLAs, vitamin E, and other important nutritional factors. So I guess it makes sense that any animal not consuming its optimal diet will not yield as good of quality of meat nutrition wise. It's a case of just because an animal can eat it, doesn't mean it should. Kinda like my raw fed, minimally vaccinated dogs, I guess. They're pretty much never at the vet.

This site does some compliations of scientific papers comparing grassfed/pasture raised animals with grain fed/confinement type housing:

http://www.eatwild.com/healthbenefits.htm

 

[VAgirl]

This site does some compliations of scientific papers comparing grassfed/pasture raised animals with grain fed/confinement type housing:

http://www.eatwild.com/healthbenefits.htm

Awesome, thanks! That's the kind of info I've been looking for (at least in part).

 

[chris03333]

I am always amazed that vegetarians are able to go through the required slaughterhouse visits to be a vet in the UK. Even more amazed with the vegans.

I was amazed that the vegetarians/vegans at our undergrad made it through meat science class

As for me I am an omnivore. I usually eat mostly chicken, but do eat red meat/pork sometimes also.

 

[chris03333]

Sorry, I'm coming from this from a evolutionary perspective, not necessarily an animal science or biochemical or medical or whatever perspective.

From an animal scientist perspective, non pastured bovine are not just fed corn, there is TONS of proven science in formulating the diets. And IF the bovine is 100% feedlot fed, it is ....a dairy cow(Very high percentage to almost all beef cattle do get pastured part time), and it is supplemented with grasses that would get in pasture.

The issue most people are aiming at when they talk about pastured animal/free range etc is animal welfare, not nutritional. They tend to throw in the nutritional to strengthen their argument. Is it true? depends on what pasture (geographically) maintenance of the land, contents of the soil, etc.

Some people say there is a difference in taste, I would not know that one...

 

[biienemaja]

I used to have a pet rabbit when I was 15 or 16. Muemmel lived in a cage in the garden and I took care of him every morning before I went to school. One day I came home, went into the house through the garage and there I saw Muemmel dead, without fur, hanging from the ceiling. Totally traumatized I walked into my room. The following Sunday he was cooked for Sunday lunch. As Muemmel was cooking in the oven I had to make potato dumplings. Breathing was hard because the entire house smelled like cooked rabbit. My stepfather thought it was hilarious about how upset I got that he killed my rabbit. He even placed the head of my cooked rabbit on his place such that it faced me while having lunch. That's when I became a vegetarian.

 

[rexosaurus]

I'm an omnivore. I love food, all kinds, especially the kind that swim. I cannot say that I am a picky eater, and honestly (maybe it is out of character for a wannabe vet), I have never thought so much about where exactly my food comes from before joining SDN. Perhaps because I have never been around large animals (I would love to, just no opportunity), I have never actually thought about it. One thing, I refuse to it is fois gras (did I spell that right?) No animal should ever be force fed so that their liver becomes fatty.

 

[ShelterGirl]

Rexosaurus brought up an interesting point - I don't do foie gras either, and won't eat veal because of the pens, or lamb because they're so young (yes, I'm aware that chickens and other animals are young when they are sent to slaughter, but they're not *that* young as far as I know).

 

[silverelf]

i am also with rex on the fois gras point, and i don't eat veal unless i know its been humanely raised. otherwise, i don't have a problem with eating meat. i do, however, have a problem with vegetarians who don't eat meat because "its inhumane and awful" and yet they eat eggs. WHEN BATTERY CAGE CHICKENS ARE ARGUABLY THE WORST-TREATED OF THEM ALL. grr. that one really annoys me.

 

[sofficat]

I used to have a pet rabbit when I was 15 or 16. Muemmel lived in a cage in the garden and I took care of him every morning before I went to school. One day I came home, went into the house through the garage and there I saw Muemmel dead, without fur, hanging from the ceiling. Totally traumatized I walked into my room. The following Sunday he was cooked for Sunday lunch. As Muemmel was cooking in the oven I had to make potato dumplings. Breathing was hard because the entire house smelled like cooked rabbit. My stepfather thought it was hilarious about how upset I got that he killed my rabbit. He even placed the head of my cooked rabbit on his place such that it faced me while having lunch. That's when I became a vegetarian.

that is one of the most twisted things i have ever heard!
out of total curiosity, how did he kill it?

 

[PiddlingFish]

Rexosaurus brought up an interesting point - I don't do foie gras either, and won't eat veal because of the pens, or lamb because they're so young (yes, I'm aware that chickens and other animals are young when they are sent to slaughter, but they're not *that* young as far as I know).

Most intensively-reared chickens are slaughtered at about seven weeks of age (42 days) when they are still baby birds (a chicken's natural life span can be 10 years).

 

[WhtsThFrequency]

For the corn-fed meat: if cattle didn't evolve to eat so much corn, then perhaps it isn't ideal for them.

To be honest, cows evolved to do ok (not necessarily *do super well* but certainly survive) on pretty much anything due to the wonderul array of rumen microbes. One large animal vet around my school said once that you could keep a cow alive on a diet of newspaper and molasses...because basically the bugs make everything the cow needs (I am sure that was an exaggeration, but it is interesting to think about).

Re: veal -i thought most intensive pen raising was now banned? Am I wrong? I'm a big proponent of food animal production and medicine (and try to clear up the large amouint of misconceptions that are out there concerning modern large-scale farming operations) but I honestly cannot condone things like veal crating, sow crates, and a few certain intense poultry facilities.

 

[Electrophile]

Rexosaurus brought up an interesting point - I don't do foie gras either, and won't eat veal because of the pens, or lamb because they're so young (yes, I'm aware that chickens and other animals are young when they are sent to slaughter, but they're not *that* young as far as I know).

Incidentally, any sheep under 1 year of age is considered "lamb," so it's really not that young compared to a lot of species. Over a year is mutton, but someone correct me if I'm wrong. Grass fed lamb is excellent!

 

[thereservoirdog]

Rexosaurus brought up an interesting point - I don't do foie gras either, and won't eat veal because of the pens, or lamb because they're so young (yes, I'm aware that chickens and other animals are young when they are sent to slaughter, but they're not *that* young as far as I know).

I would rather have animals slaughtered young than old, it's better than making them live years and years in cages or pens.

 

[LittleBit]

I'm definitely an omnivore, although I believe that it's very important to realize that the meat you are eating did come from a live animal at one point. I think Walmart & other grocery stores make it easy to disconnect and just think that meat came from pretty plastic packages.

I worked with Heifer International for 2 summers and took care of their pasture poultry for 1 of the summers. That was the summer that I decided I was not fit for the poultry industry I hated broilers so much after that summer that I refused to eat chicken for about 6 months. A lot of my friends were confused by that choice, but I really just wanted nothing to do with chickens for a while after that (but I am more than happy that some of my classmates want to go into the poultry business, since that means that I can even further separate myself from those birds).

 

[Hollycozza]

Do you guys have many faux-meats in the US? I love Chinese-vegetarian-mock meats especially, eg Vegetarian Sweet and Sour Pork and Vegetarian Lemon chicken and Vegetarian Rosted Mock Duck, etc

My SO is veggie too, and I like not having meat in the house. I guess I'm a slightly atypical veggie -- I LOVE LOVE LOVE the taste of meat. Sausages with mustard? Yum? Big ole juicy bacon double cheeseburger? Yum! I really miss these foods occasionally, but fortunately there is great veggie sausage (Gimme lean is good for my periodic sausage cravings) and lots of other wonderful veggie food and, well, this will sound incredibly corny, I think of vegetarianism as one small way of limiting the amount of suffering* in the world, 'cause there sure is a lot these days. Also, several members of my family had heart disease. One more "also" - dried beans are a heckuva lot cheaper than steak!


* There are some decent meat options these days -- other than the act of slaughter, truly free-range animals live pretty good lives for the most part

 

[Hollycozza]

All these sentiments amuse me, we vegetarians aren't somehow made delicate and unable to cope with things, eg we obviously get through dissection classes etc.

I spent a week at a pig abattoir and it was fine. I was quite impressed in fact, it was all very humane............

I was amazed that the vegetarians/vegans at our undergrad made it through meat science class

As for me I am an omnivore. I usually eat mostly chicken, but do eat red meat/pork sometimes also.

 

[Hollycozza]

Rexosaurus brought up an interesting point - I don't do foie gras either, and won't eat veal because of the pens, or lamb because they're so young (yes, I'm aware that chickens and other animals are young when they are sent to slaughter, but they're not *that* young as far as I know).

Broiler chickens are slaughtered between 35 and 42 days, so they are pretty young. I'm making no judgement on that, just FYI!! Whereas your youngest lambs in Australia at least (world lamb capital) would be 4 months +

 

[freyamaxine]

Do you guys have many faux-meats in the US? I love Chinese-vegetarian-mock meats especially, eg Vegetarian Sweet and Sour Pork and Vegetarian Lemon chicken and Vegetarian Rosted Mock Duck, etc

I love Vegetarian Duck

Did you ever go to Camy's Shanghai Dumpling restaurant down Tattersalls Lane when you lived in Melbourne?

I am a big fan of these vegetarian nuggets and schnitzels that you can buy at the IGA, I think the brand is tivalli. Also the sanitarium roast.

 

[freyamaxine]

i do, however, have a problem with vegetarians who don't eat meat because "its inhumane and awful" and yet they eat eggs. WHEN BATTERY CAGE CHICKENS ARE ARGUABLY THE WORST-TREATED OF THEM ALL. grr. that one really annoys me.

I refuse to buy cage eggs.

I however buy this brand of barn laid eggs that are vegetarian (that is what the packet says, meaning that they are not fed meat).

 

[chris03333]

All these sentiments amuse me, we vegetarians aren't somehow made delicate and unable to cope with things, eg we obviously get through dissection classes etc.

I spent a week at a pig abattoir and it was fine. I was quite impressed in fact, it was all very humane............

I think you missunderstand. This was not a slaughter type situation. This was meat science. In the lab we basically took the carcasses and cut them down to retail size. The class portion talked about slaughter, USDA inspection, grading, meat quality...The lab portion is what I was referring to.

 

[biienemaja]

that is one of the most twisted things i have ever heard!
out of total curiosity, how did he kill it?

I was not at home when he did it. He must have slit the throat. The head was still on the body. That was about ten years ago and I remember it as if it just happened recently.

 

[Slothbear]

OK, here's a question that I've been trying to find an answer to for a while now. Everyone is down on corn in diets (I'm not talking about household pets here, or other carnivores; I'm talking about cattle and people, mostly). This is also a huge theme in "The Omnivores Dilemma." But what I can't seem to figure out is why corn is "bad."

For one, corn products have more omega 6s than other types of processed foods, like canola oil. Omega 6s promote the formation of Group 2 prostanoids, which tend to be more pro inflammatory, and thus, worse. Omega 3's on the other hand, are the precursors to group 3 prostanoids which have a weaker inflammatory and clotting potential (one reason why people living exclusively on marine creatures tend to have pretty high risks of aneurisms)..

Also, beef fed on corn has less Omega 3 FAs in their meat, which means it is a little more pro inflammatory than it could otherwise be.

 

[Hollycozza]

I think you missunderstand. This was not a slaughter type situation. This was meat science. In the lab we basically took the carcasses and cut them down to retail size. The class portion talked about slaughter, USDA inspection, grading, meat quality...The lab portion is what I was referring to.

Nah, someone else said it about abattoir visiting too. If you can dissect dogs, do PMs etc, you could cope with doing meat science, or at least, I could.

 

[rexosaurus]

no offense to your stepfather, but that is deranged. why would anyone inflict such emotional harm on somebody?! (not to mention the poor rabbit)

I used to have a pet rabbit when I was 15 or 16. Muemmel lived in a cage in the garden and I took care of him every morning before I went to school. One day I came home, went into the house through the garage and there I saw Muemmel dead, without fur, hanging from the ceiling. Totally traumatized I walked into my room. The following Sunday he was cooked for Sunday lunch. As Muemmel was cooking in the oven I had to make potato dumplings. Breathing was hard because the entire house smelled like cooked rabbit. My stepfather thought it was hilarious about how upset I got that he killed my rabbit. He even placed the head of my cooked rabbit on his place such that it faced me while having lunch. That's when I became a vegetarian.

 

[Foofur]

I started volunteering at a vet clinic when I was 12. The first question I asked the vet was "Do I have to become a vegetarian?!" - and she laughed at me! (I was 12, give me a break!)

When I met my SO he was a vegetarian and I was not. I convinced him to eat chicken again so we ate meat. Then when I started vet school (this fall) something inside me changed. I have not eaten meat in 3 months. Some classmates and I ordered a pizza a week ago and my half was meat free (so I thought). I bit into some ham and I was grossed out!

I used to be a hardcore (like rare streak, bacon every morning) meat eater... I do not even know what happened!

I am almost a vegan except that I love my cheese and chocolate to much! I never ate eggs to begin with and I acutally like soy milk better!

One thing that is challenging is that the veterinary profession NEEDS there to be meat eaters. Think about the large animal vets. If the whole world became vegetarian or vegan there would be a loss of jobs for the large animal vets. Not that this would happen, but still. I feel guilty not eating meat because it is not supporting my profession. Then on the other hand, there is the animal rights debate!

*sigh* I just like my soy burgers better

 

[Slothbear]

One thing that is challenging is that the veterinary profession NEEDS there to be meat eaters. Think about the large animal vets. If the whole world became vegetarian or vegan there would be a loss of jobs for the large animal vets.

I understand where you are coming from, but isn't this a like saying eliminating crime would be a bad thing because then the cops would be out of business?