h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

well I always had a bit of a problem with meat first I stopped eating offal, then I stopped altogether, a lot was to do with the way amimals were/are treated, I always used to say we're susposed to eat meat, now I feel that yes but, not the way we eat it now and the fact we don't need to eat it now

being overweight I decided on a vegi diet.
after a 1 stone weight loss over a 6 week period I then thought
of the long term affect of this change of eating habit.

was it vanity-----------yes & no
the "feel good" factor -----------yes
enjoying my food ---------------yes
thinking more of what I was eating and the effect that saturated fats
had on my body made me feel that it was a wise decision.
I think a lot more about food ,where it came from, how it is processed
and how and where it is sold.
being a cancer patient,I have found that being "food aware" is a form
of control of your future ,to a certain extent.

well sorry to hear you have cancer, every so often I have a go at improving my health, and becomming vegi was one as was the reasons I said before, the more I read about the effects of food on your health, the more, want to eat better.

also i want to lose a little weight.

well now we have almost all the reasons for becoming vegi! i did so last new year, after reading 'practical ethics' by peter singer (famous for his book 'animal rights'). i had often felt that eating meat was in some way wrong, but until i studied philosophy i could not justify this. whether you would call me a proper vegi is probably a matter of debate, as i eat fish (sorry!). my reasons for this are a bit complicated. depends on moral ideas of 'replaceability' and of weighing up interests. i would recommend anyone read peter singer's book, it is excellent.

A few years ago I adopted a pagan lifestyle and religion and decided that eating meat was rather hypocritical in view of my outlook on life. I admit I ate fish for a while, but one day I was in a park by a river and saw a young boy catch a fish. He was going to release it but the poor thing was flopping about and I realized that, cold blooded or not, that fish wanted to live just as much as anything else and I don't eat anything 'with a face' now. I live in America and find that most people over here really do not understand why I am doing this. Or offer me food and tell me to 'just pick out the meat,' forgetting that it has meat juice all over it. YUK. Oh well, each to his own....

I've always known it was cruel, but society is so good at dressing things up and brainwashing people, it wasn't till last year at a family barbecue when I was surrounded by great bigs slabs of dead cow (why call it beef? it's only disguising it) that I actually gave it up. I haven't eaten meat since. Had to give up wine gums, as they contain boiled horse.