Be a vegetarian this Easter!

[torridon]

Hi Robbie,

Vegetarian is the way to go. I am sure 50 years from today there will be many more vegetarians world wide than now.   

You don't have to become a complete vegetarian all at once. First restrict the types of meat you eat and the number of times a day. Then slowly cut it down further.

50 years from now, maybe all the meat on the meat counters will be lab-grown.  Would you eat that ?

[Sriram]

50 years from now, maybe all the meat on the meat counters will be lab-grown.  Would you eat that ?

I have lived my entire life (very satisfactorily) eating rice, wheat, pulses and veggies. Why would I eat some lab grown 'meat'....whatever that is?!

[Bubbles]

50 years from now, maybe all the meat on the meat counters will be lab-grown.  Would you eat that ?

What a huge impact that would have on the world we live in.

No more sheep or cows, in the countryside grazing.  You would lose so many places which only look like they do because of the grazing of sheep.

Exmoor all those places only look like they do because they have been grazed by sheep for hundreds of years. All that would go if the meat industry went, it would be a different looking country.

A lot of militant vegans seem to forget it's farmers who keep and look after these animals and lots of them are not really wild but get fed, which costs money.

Plus the farmer goes out and finds them in snowy weather, gets a vet if his animal has trouble giving birth. No one else gets out of bed in the night in snow to make sure the sheep are ok. 

Doing away with meat wouldn't just mean these animals would disappear from the countryside, but that our countryside would change, other animals wildlife would lose their habitat.

For some reason militant vegans seem to think farmers will keep these animals as pets, they won't. It costs time & money. ( I've had this argument with animal rights people before,  they naively think the farmer is going to carry on keeping these animals, or that they can be turned loose, most have no idea how much care they actually require)

Most of our wild scenery would change, we would have a different kind of landscape.

For example, Exmoor is only Exmoor because it has been grazed over hundreds of years by sheep. Same in Wales, except in some places people complain it's over grazed by sheep.

Having grown meat has its positives, but it will also impact our ecosystem, our wildlife, our countryside.

Picture this , replace every field of cows and sheep and their spring lambs, with fields of yellow rape seed, field on field of purely crops, all the same.

Crops are sterile environments for wildlife, deserts of often inedible plants.

 Is this what people want?

No more spring lambs frolicking in the sun?

No more moorland?

It might not impact the scenery in India, but it will ours.

[Harrowby Hall]

That is delightfully pastoral, Rose, but it is rather painting the same picture of bucolic theme park England that the Bexiteers love. Nostalgia isn't what it used to be!

Modern stock farming does not take place on heathland and moorland. It is becoming intensive. Read my comments in #8 about the landscape of France. Miles upon miles of maize being grown for cattle feed with very much few cattle actually being seen.

You are correct about the evolution of our landscape - but I think that commercial pressures are removing animals from areas where they ranged widely to places where costs can be better managed.

[ad_orientem]

Vegetarianism and veganism are just fads. Most who abstain from meat and animal products are just holier than thou wankers who love the smell of their own farts. Until hell freezes over I'm eating meat.

[Rhiannon]

Vegetarianism and veganism are just fads. Most who abstain from meat and animal products are just holier than thou wankers who love the smell of their own farts. Until hell freezes over I'm eating meat.

You really are an utter dipstick sometimes.

[Rhiannon]

That is delightfully pastoral, Rose, but it is rather painting the same picture of bucolic theme park England that the Bexiteers love. Nostalgia isn't what it used to be!

Modern stock farming does not take place on heathland and moorland. It is becoming intensive. Read my comments in #8 about the landscape of France. Miles upon miles of maize being grown for cattle feed with very much few cattle actually being seen.

You are correct about the evolution of our landscape - but I think that commercial pressures are removing animals from areas where they ranged widely to places where costs can be better managed.

Yes, I agree, I don't think vegetarianism/veganism would have the appeal that it does were this not the case.

[Robbie]

Farming is kinder here than it used to be, there is far more concentration on animal welfare and that means emotional welfare as well as physical health.We see cattle grazing, pigs rooting and lambs in fields everywhere in the British countryside and hens are no longer battery farmed. I never buy any imported meat (inc.Danish bacon), poultry or eggs and use organic milk.Read all the blurb on packaging about the seller's commitment to animal welfare. I'm not giving myself a pat on the back,just stating facts, have always believed animals should be respected, they serve us after all. Most people I know do the same and thankfully such goods are not as expensive as a few years back.

It's not a perfect system and undoubtedly there are still abuses but we're getting there. Friends from the USA tell me animal welfare is not considered at all there and it's bad in other countries.

Yet I still eat animals  .

No I wouldn't eat lab produced meaet, there's plenty of fruit and veg.

Ad-orient. what you said is ridiculous& put quite bluntly,vegetarianism is not a fad. It's a healthy diet.

I find vegans a bit too evangelical about their beliefs, vegetarians take it as far as they can.

Having eaten me roast gammon yesterday(& have plenty left in the fridge, may give it all up from today on). Two extra large F/R boiled eggs fro breakast today, unfortunately cooked them too long so were hard. I've tons of fruit and veg so am going to give it a whirl.

Wish me luck.

[floo]

Whilst a vegetarian lifestyle can be reasonably healthy, I don't think a vegan one is, especially if it is inflicted on children.

[ad_orientem]

You really are an utter dipstick sometimes.

I think you are sometimes too but on this point I'm spot on, pal. They're fads, like lactose and gluten free products. Mosr just jump on the band wagon and feel smug about themselves.

[Robbie]

No you're not ad-orientam. Vegetarianism is healthy if we eat sufficient variety of fruit & veg, better than clogging up digestive system & arteries.

[ad_orientem]

There is nothing wrong with eating meat. Be a vegetarian or a veagan but don't pretend to be morally superior because you ain't.

[Rhiannon]

I think you are sometimes too but on this point I'm spot on, pal. They're fads, like lactose and gluten free products. Mosr just jump on the band wagon and feel smug about themselves.

No, people with gluten and dairy allergies need free-from products or risk serious illness. Just because they are fashionable now doesn't mean that the products themselves are a fad.

As for vegetarianism and veganism, it's a matter of principle for many, preference for some, but not a fad, although it may have been once when it was new over here and I guess some teenagers might use it to annoy their parents. I certainly don't feel smug because I still eat dairy and wear leather.

[Rhiannon]

There is nothing wrong with eating meat. Be a vegetarian or a veagan but don't pretend to be morally superior because you ain't.

Did I say there was anything wrong with eating meat? Go back and read my posts.

[Nearly Sane]

There is nothing wrong with eating meat. Be a vegetarian or a veagan but don't pretend to be morally superior because you ain't.

Except there are those vegetarians and vegans who do think it is morally wrong, and since you make an absolute statement from your personal morality, you justify them feeling superior subjectively.

[BeRational]

I think you are sometimes too but on this point I'm spot on, pal. They're fads, like lactose and gluten free products. Mosr just jump on the band wagon and feel smug about themselves.

I agree.

Why do vegetarians want to make some animals Extinct.

If currently eaten animals are not eaten then they would all be exterminated. Where would they live?

These animals are not wild, plus we would not have the space for them as the farms instead grow other stuff in their place.

[Rhiannon]

I agree.

Why do vegetarians want to make some animals Extinct.

If currently eaten animals are not eaten then they would all be exterminated. Where would they live?

These animals are not wild, plus we would not have the space for them as the farms instead grow other stuff in their place.

From my pov I accept that vegetarianism will always be a minority diet, although most people would benefit from eating a diet that is partially vegetarian. It's also more sustainable in terms of animal welfare and land and water usage for people to eat less meat and dairy.

Those who would have us all go veggie/vegan hold the view that livestock suffer so much that they would be better off not existing. I think that this is true of intensively farmed meat and dairy but not true of traditionally reared free ranging animals.

[Robbie]

Ad-o vegetarianism (& veganism), may be a fad for some but that can't be true of Hindus for example and not true for many who find the diet healthy. As long as no-one preaches about it I fail to see a problem & i don't like people who act morally superior about things like that.

Regarding wheat and gluten free diets they are marvellous for people with severe digestive problems like coeliac, IBs and others. It may be' fashionable' at the moment but the upside to that is more variety and cheaper wheat and gluten free food & is healthy too.

Nothing wrong with eating meat tho', just better for our bodies to limit meat intake.

[ad_orientem]

Please don't get me wrong. I would happily eat leass meat and spend more on it if I knew more about how it was farmed etc. As humans I just don't think we csn moralise about diet. Even eating vegetables is the taking of life, albeit vegetable life.

[Nearly Sane]

Please don't get me wrong. I would happily eat leass meat and spend more on it if I knew more about how it was farmed etc. As humans I just don't think we csn moralise about diet. Even eating vegetables is the taking of life, albeit vegetable life.

Saying that eating animals is right, is moralising. Would it be on for you to eat dog? How about human?

[ad_orientem]

Saying that eating animals is right, is moralising. Would it be on for you to eat dog? How about human?

I said there is nothing wrong in it. A subtle difference.

[Nearly Sane]

I said there is nothing wrong in it. A subtle difference.

Too subtle not to be moralising.

[ad_orientem]

Too subtle not to be moralising.

Not too subtle at all, except for the dim.

[Nearly Sane]

Not too subtle at all, except for the dim.

deciding enter something is not wrong, and thinking you are correct, is moralising

[Bubbles]

Saying that eating animals is right, is moralising. Would it be on for you to eat dog? How about human?

Saying about being vegetarian is moralising.
People are entitled to say eating meat is right If others start moralising about just eating vegetables.

It's hypocritical to accuse meat eaters of moralising,  given the subject of this thread is moralising on the behalf of vegetarians.