To Be Vegetarian or Not?

I think if you enjoy eating meat and doubt being a vegetarian then you are clearly doing it for the wrong reasons. I second that notion when you say you only stopped eating meat because you think it’s wrong.


I don't eat red meat and never have- for me it’s beyond my ability to eat it. I don't do it because I think it’s wrong or selfish, or because it’s trendy or green. I don't do it for anyone else and I don't seek anyone's approval.

Your doubt and need for approval or advice is clearly due to the fact that your heart isn't in it and you are doing something that doesn't make you happy. You're life is too short to be fighting over something that is really very trivial. (I’m sure people will bash me for saying that but the truth of the matter is humans have been eating meat for thousands of years and we do not want for it)

The only advice I have for you is to not rush head on and order a steak your first night off the rabbit food diet. I’d take it slow with some meat broths first before you dive into eating meat or else you could get very sick.

That is partly true, but whenever I think about eating meat or someone offers me a burger, I can't bring myself to eat it. I feel guilty for the animals.

I personally am a vegan because of the health benefits. When I stopped eating meat 5 years ago it was mainly because of the way the meat was processed, the whole thing just grossed me out and I didn't see the point in eating meat. Since then my reasons for remaining vegan have CHANGED. Now the reason I do not eat meat even though I can get local grass fed, is because with the risk of cancer in my family, diabetes, high cholesterol, being overweight, and heart problems I feel this is the best PREVENTATIVE measure I can take. Also I don't like the taste of meat anymore. According to my doctor I am in perfect health, my bad cholesterol was so low they could not even measure it. My BMI is good and I rarely get sick.

If you are not eating meat because you feel pressured to be a vegetarian that is the wrong reason. I believe humans can eat meat wisely, example sticking to grass fed, local meat that DOES NOT come from a slaughterhouse. Watch FOOD INC. If you have questions about why slaughterhouses are so bad.

If you are curious about the health benefits of remaining vegetarian here are some good websites to look at. The most important thing is to make sure you are getting a balanced diet.It is possible to live without meat and be healthy. You just need to look at your WHOLE diet, if you give up meat but guzzle soda it doesn't really make a diff.
http://www.benefitsofvegetarianism.com/vegetarian-health-benefits.html
http://www.vegetarian-nutrition.info/updates/vegetarian_diets_health_benefits.php

http://www.benefitsofvegetarianism.com/vegetarian-health-benefits.html

Not to bash PinkWeeds but while humans HAVE been eating meat for thousands of years. The QUALITY of the meat we are eating has seriously gone down. Thousands of years ago meat was not full of hormones or grown the way it is today.
My suggestion if you decide to eat meat is to stick to organic meat that is local and grass fed. It has been proven that if the average slaughterhouse cow is given a diet of pure grass for a week before slaughter the level of toxins goes down almost 90%.
If you do not want to eat meat because of the way they are raised/killed but do not want to remain vegetarian I seriously recommend that you educate yourself on how to be a compassionate omnivore. Good luck!

This explains the difference between organic meat and conventional
http://www.wellnesstips.ca/organic%20meats.htm
This one talks about hormones in meat today.
http://www.preventcancer.com/consumers/general/hormones_meat.htm

Thank you Felicity The articles are really interesting and helpful I still have not decided though, I guess it will take a while longer to figure it out...

I am fully aware of how harmful hormone injected meat is for human consumption. But the idea of not eating meat because it’s wrong or unnecessary is ridiculous. I wonder by whose standards it’s wrong to eat meat. And the part of it being unnecessary is completely untrue. Animals were meant to be eaten; if they weren’t then all animals would be herbivores. Furthermore, consider how diseased and out of control the animal population would be if there wasn't some management of it. It would be very much like the way the deer population in the US is right now. Or the stray cat situation around the world is at the moment. And if we just killed animals to keep the animal population down consider what a waste it would be.

The whole purpose of eating meat can easily be explained in the Disney song ‘The Circle of Life’.

But I disagree about the quality of meat having gone down as time has gone on. That is a total misconception. While many farmers do try to pump up their livestock with hormones to amplify the taste as well as the quantity of meat and those are harmful in degrees for human consumption. They also give their livestock the necessary vaccinations needed to prevent the animals from carrying diseases that are passed on to humans. We see in the news about mad cow disease that cropped up a few years ago and how they quickly pulled the infected meat off the market. Cases of salmonella in eggs recently cropped up and those were also quickly recalled. Imagine if we had no way to treat the livestock for these diseases, or if we didn’t even know what they were or how they were getting spread. We’d have an awful lot of sick and dying people on our hands.

Consider the witch hunts happening in England and America in the 1500-1600s, a lot of scientists now agree that a great deal of the hysteria and hallucinations that were happening at that time were attributed to mold growing on the wheat at that time. It wasn’t really until the 20th century that meat became widely available. In previous centuries there were only 2 major social classes, upper class and lower class- and the lower class widely outnumbered the upper class and couldn’t afford to eat meat.

I would say in all, the quality of meat is about the same as it ever was. We have less diseased meat but more hormones. One could kill a person in a matter of days while the other would take a lifetime before someone would die from it- but at least we can live past the age of 45.

I think it's wrong by my own standards - but only if it is the "wrong" meat. I think I will start eating a bit of meat as long as it is organic and pasture fed

I'm not a vegetarian, though I cook many vegetarian meals. I will not eat red meat, it isn't healthy for you and for me, it makes me very sick. I will eat chicken and fish and have chickens that lay me beautiful large brown eggs!
I don't think its "wrong" to eat meat, and if you like it, eat but don't over do it! :o)

I won't eat fish because of the over fishing problems and damage that has been done. I will eat meat but I don't know what or when, kinda hard to make the leap :s

I recently decided I wanted to go vegetarian for health reasons. I love burgers and fried chicken and lots of meat based meals and foods. I tried some of the meat alternative veggie products and was totally grossed out. I decided to forgo the wanna be meats and accept and make veggies good in their own right. But I also looked into what it is that I had been eating. What I found wasn't good. Steroids, Antibiotics, Force feeding and inhumane conditions. Since I do still buy meat and eggs, though I don't eat them but my son does. I only buy free range chickens, and eggs by free range chickens as well as pork and beef raised free range with out antibiotics or steroids. As well as cheeses from the same free range source. It's super expensive, but completely worth it. It's healthier, and gives me peace of mind that I'm feeding my son what I would eat if I could.

Think about what they put on vegetables now. Its not just meat with a degrading quality. Like, apples for example, about 10 years ago, I couldnt eat an apple without it goin brown, but I left one sitting on the bench for half an hour, and it was only just starting to go brown...

I am a vegetarian, because I think what the animals go through before being eaten is horrible, and the idea of eating something that was just mooing disgusted me...

I went vegetarian for a few different reasons, and I'm very happy with how I am. I don't feel right eating animals - if someone else wants to then that's up to them, but I don't like the idea of it. And it's for the health side. I dunno, I'm just in it now and don't see any point in changing.

The only advice I can say is try not to drive yourself crazy over it...if you fancy eating some meat then give it a go and see. From my experience, lapsed vegetarians go crazy for meat when they allow themselves to eat it. Last time I tried to eat meat, I threw up and it was black. Put me off it. Like PinkWeeds said, just be careful getting back into it if you decide to.

But I mean, you could always be a vegetarian most of the time but then let yourself have the occasional bit of meat or fish? I used to think in black and white terms about it but now I think that you can still have those morals and occasionally just admit that you're human.

I keep changing my mind and the furthest I have got to is to eat a gummy bear which gave me tummy ache and the thought of biting into a dead animal isn't appealing but I will see how it goes - thanks for all the advice

the thing with consuming meat is that that meat was once an animal...maybe not so intelligent, but still able to feel and certainly created of energy...it helps me to think of that unwanted negative energy, even more than the health or anything