I'm thinking of becoming a vegetarian.

[Teoka]

I used to be quite into this subject I've been against animal rights and related ideas/movements for years.

1. You can love animals and still eat meat. Saying otherwise is like saying "You can't have morals and be an atheist." It's disgustingly generalized, and I'm sure you can pick out many exceptions. I'll give you one - me. I love cats and dogs and have spent five years studying dog training. I am for animal welfare, but not animal "rights."

2. It's not "proteins" you need to worry about. It's getting enough animal proteins and vitamin B12. Animal proteins are part of what we run on and B12 helps with brain development (or something related to neurons).

But all-in-all, it's your life, do what you will. Just whatever you do, don't be moved by graphicly violent PETA-esque ads. Things die, big deal. Chances are it looks worse than it really is, like Kosher slaughter. When the animal's throat and jugular are slit, the blood loss is so rapid they lose consciousness almost immediately.  

[CaprinaePsi]

Well I'm not a vegetarian/vegan, but I think I can help.

About your dad; find out what he thinks about vegetarians. Bring the subject up without exactly asking "what would you think if I was a vegetarian/vegan." Talk about current events or just comment on something you read (That has nothing to do with PETA (aka the People Eating Tasty Animals).

On being vegetarian; the way I see it, as long as the animals aren't being tortured or put in any kind of pain (mental included), and as long as animal rights are respected, it's okay to eat meat (including fish). I'm against the assholes who use chainsaws to cut the heads off of living pigs, and who inject chickens with growth hormones. If doing what we can to make sure animals aren't put in needless pain means having to go without meat for a while, then that's something we'll need to accept.
In addition, if I found a way to live a healthy life without meat, I'd be more willing to try it. This doesn't mean I'd avoid meat entirely, just that I'd eat it a lot less.

On nutrition; that's something I can't talk about, I'm no nutritionist.


As for veganism; see "on being vegetarian," but with a little more "HELLZ NAH" to it.  

[D i v i n i t y]

I'm actually not sure where I stand on the issue o_O
I mean I love the taste of meat. I do have some vegetarian friends and some of them are vegetarians because they don't like how the animals are cruelly treated so we can eat them. I asked her "How come you think it's wrong? I mean a cheetah absolutely tears apart a gazelle when it kills it right? Do you have a problem with the cheetah eating the gazelle?"
And she replied "No, it's natural."
So I basically asked her if she would eat meat if it was killed in a more humane manner and I think she wasn't sure. I was quite polite to her when asking these questions though. I wasn't trying to get her cornered and be all "HAH! Meat is better!" or anything; I was just curious about her lifestyle and views on meat-eating is all. I don't know... I mean it seems natural to me.. I know we can survive without meat but does that mean we shouldn't eat it at all since the animal suffers pain? I mean many animals suffer pain in nature and it's normal. We, however have advanced so much and it's simply too easy for us to get our meat and stuff... I'm sure back in the caveman days, it would probably seem more humane if a human hunted down a tiger with a spear and ate it... That's just my opinion. If anyone has very convincing arguments about why I should become a vegetarian, could they please private message me? I'm real curious and I'm extremely ill-informed about the matter and I am sort of lazy...  

[=X-Sparker + AquaKiller=]

Sanguvixen

If you are not clearing forest for eating raising animals for the consumption of thier meat, than you are clearing forest to grow crops.

And making paper, and using the exotic
wood to make cupboards and tables and chairs,
and expensive extravagant luxurious wooden flutes.

People in Africa aren't starving because we use their food
to feed ourselves. They're starving because even if big
countries sent in tons of aid, the airplanes get raided
and ultimately the dictators seize all the food and let
the people die. It's not that they don't have food (they're
raising the food, hello), but because they're forced
to give up the food they raised to the dictators.

And the 1 billion cattles making methane? Yeah, imagine
how much gas HUMANS produce each year. Why don't we
just start limiting our population? (I'm being sarcastic, if
you can't tell)

But that's just me. And I'm not saying being a vegetarian
is a bad thing. It's just that if you are using these reasons
to justify your cause, I'll start shooting them down.

But hey, if you just said, "I just want to be a vegetarian,
just because I want to." Then fine. I don't really care. Honestly
it's your life, your choice, not mine.

 

[Raticiel]

I'm doing my best in order to not eat them. I don't want, but it tastes good. They're friends, not food, they're friends, not food...

For no other reason than this: I love them and I hate the way people treat them while transporting and raising etc.

I was strong enough to not touch meat for a few months, I got slimmer and it never harmed my health if my vegetarian diet lasted for 1-2 months. I know many people who are declared vegans and vegetarians for many years and it never harmed them.

But I know some people can have problems if they don't eat it, it depends on your condition.

I was just thinking and it made me doubting the idea of refusing to eat meat, because I simply can't resist milk and eggs stuff. I don't like soya stuff at all. When I see poor cows in such claustrophobical places it makes me want to cry for them...

Rousseau, my dead but always alive within me, dear husband, said that eating meat makes you agressive, so we shouldn't wink that's the spirit!