"In-your-face Vegetarians" (My first rant!)

[General Ludd]

I've always heard people complainging about "in-your-face vegetarians" who force their views on other people. But, in all my life, I have not met a single vegetarian who has tried to force their views on me. Since becoming a vegeterian. (about 4-6 months now, I think it's been) I have noticed that it's quite the opposite. Every time you mention you are a vegetarian, someone's going to come up with a smart-ass remark or give you odd looks.

A perfect example are the vegetarian recipe threads that have been posted here on apolyton, there's always more "duuur, eat a steak" posts then there are with actual ideas.

I used to wonder why there where those ridiculous meat-substitutes like veggieburgers, or tofurky. Since becoming a vegetarian, I've learned that it's so non-vegetarians can feel comfortable eating with you.



This, of course, does not apply to everyone - only the close minded and ignorant.

[Dis]

eat pork chops

seriously though what are your reasons of being a vegetarian?

[Kramerman]

mmm... steak...

[Imran Siddiqui]

You've never met a single vegetarian that tried to force their views on you? Which part of the country are you from? I've met plenty of people that tell me how cruel it is to eat animals (then again North East college campuses have many PETA members).

[Nubclear]

But, in all my life, I have not met a single vegetarian who has tried to force their views

SAYS THE ONE WHO BANS MEAT!!!

[Tuberski]

More importantly, why would a vegetarian force their views ON avegetarian?

ACK!

[Dis]

I admit I have never had a vegetarian force their views on me. But of course I don't hang out with vegetarians . There might not be any vegetarians in my city. My city is a city where we indulge in the earthly delights. And some of those delights are women and meat, not necessarily in that order.

[Spiffor]

I have plenty vegetarians in my class. Only one of them was slightly pushy (she sometimes talked about it when we were eating together) but stopped shortly.
Often, vegetarians talk about it only when I ask why they became vegetarians. But again, I know many German girls, and vegetarianism is somehow the norm among them

[Boris Godunov]

Originally posted by Imran Siddiqui
You've never met a single vegetarian that tried to force their views on you? Which part of the country are you from? I've met plenty of people that tell me how cruel it is to eat animals (then again North East college campuses have many PETA members).

I never have, and neither has anyone I know. Your experiences aren't universal, ya know.

I'm mostly vegetarian (the only meat I eat is fish), and I get crap all the time like Osweld points out. My mom thinks it's a personal thing against her just to make her meal planning difficult...

[General Ludd]

Originally posted by Dissident
seriously though what are your reasons of being a vegetarian?

Both ethical and poltical.

The conditions in factory farms are immensely inhumane, and aside from being torturous to the animals the conditions are also a breeding ground for diseases in meat. Factory farms are what has turn un-cooked meat into a biohazard.

Factory farms also cause an immense amount of pollution, the animal waste produced from cattle greatly excedes the amount produced by humans (and I do mean greatly - I have read estimates that are as much as 130 times the amount of humans for the USA) this all goes into the enviroment untreated, and has been known to kill off all the aquatic life in places which it is dumped.

The anti-biotics and growth hormones that are used so that the animals can live in such atracious conditions bring around "super germs" that are resistent to drugs. These drugs are also in animal waste and run-off, and contaminate the enviroment and possibly even our drinking water.

Meat farming is immensely inefficient. 40 percent of the total world's grain harvest goes to feeding cattle, but a single hamburger is equal to ten loaves of bread, and the grazing land needed for free-range animals can bring more yield with crops. Much of the grain used to feed the cattle are imported from places where people are too poor to afford food, and are starving to death. It is estimated that if everyone adopted a vegetarian diet, our current food production would be enough to sustain a population of 10 billion people.

Worker's conditions are almost as bad as the animal's. Workers in slaughter houses have some of the most dangerous jobs in the world, succumb to all sorts of injuries. Many of them (in the USA, atleast) are illegal immigrants that are loured to the job with foreign advertisements and can be easily exploited.


It's also quite healthy. (especially when weighted against the disease-filled meats)

[Tuberski]

Originally posted by Boris Godunov


I never have, and neither has anyone I know. Your experiences aren't universal, ya know.

I'm mostly vegetarian (the only meat I eat is fish), and I get crap all the time like Osweld points out. My mom thinks it's a personal thing against her just to make her meal planning difficult...

I can't believe you are so rotten to your mother. Aren't all gay men former "mama's boys"?



ACK!

[Boris Godunov]

Originally posted by Tuberski


I can't believe you are so rotten to your mother. Aren't all gay men former "mama's boys"?



ACK!

I could fill pages and pages with the nuances of my relationship with my mother. I will spare you.

[DinoDoc]

Re: "In-your-face Vegetarians" (My first rant!)

Originally posted by Osweld
But, in all my life, I have not met a single vegetarian who has tried to force their views on me.

Never met any PETA members, have you?

[Tuberski]

I'm glad you understand me, Boris. And thanks for not sharing them, I don't understand nuances, I live in Texas.



ACK!

[Spiffor]

I have yet to find a Vegetarian who says "eating meat is cruel". The closest I've seen (and it's a sound argument) is "the way we raise cattle is uselessly cruel". Maybe PETA members are a caste of stupid veggies ?