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

I don't see anything wrong with Vegetarianism/ Veganism, except when people try to change me to become vegetarian. It's like religion. i.e it's your choice and your belief.

I don't find that to be a logical conclusion at all. I've been vegetarian and a meat eater and I enjoy them both. Some of the best meals I've had have been vegetarian. Anyway, I find when people make arguments like the whole breathing/bacteria, plants are alive too, worms feel pain thing it just indicates that for whatever reason they're threatened by people who are vegetarian.

That's just my observation. It is in no way a personal attack on anyone.

I'djust liketo mention that I'm an onmivore not a 'meat-eater'.

Eat what I need and don't kill for sport. Unlike cats.....

I'djust liketo mention that I'm an omnivore not a 'meat-eater'.

Eat what I need and don't kill for sport. Unlike cats.....

It's just up to you, isn't it? As long as you don't try to convert others, its completely a personal thing. I eat veggie food at my veggie friends' houses, and meat at my omivourous friends' houses.

Oblongomacultus, I don't worry that I will kill microbes by my continued living, because by staying alive I'm protecting countless other microbes who otherwise would have to consume my remains (along with all the toxic chemicals that surely exist therein!). I don't think you would wish to consume my remains, and I'm sure, neither would they. May I long protect my microbial friends from this!

"Cows are artificially inseminated these days so if a calf is born it's for a reason"

The reason being that cows don't produce milk unless they've recently had a calf. Female calves can be raised as the next generation of milk producers. Male calves are useless to a dairy farmer and are therefore disposed of.

Attempts to predetermine the sex of the calf produced by artiifcial insemination are as yet no more successful than chance.

At some point, you've got to make consessions to reality. I don't eat cow, sheep, pig, chicken, fish, anything. On the other hand, I do wear leather shoes. I tried to wear chuck taylors, but they hurt like hell, cost $90 a pair and fell apart after two months. So I wear the dr Martins I used to wear before I went veggie six months ago. I'm not too uptight about leather. An animal is farmed for it's meat, the leather is just a leftover bit. (In NZ anyway). The skin would just go to waste otherwise. Leather is almost recycling in a way, you're preventing waste, and not condoning the death in the first place. If I buy leather I expect to get decades of wear out of it, which is why I only wear my docs. Heck, Gandhi wore leather sandals. If I was already dead then I wouldn't care what happened to my body. I've seen human skin leather before.

The second point, being vegitarian isn't a fashon statement. I couldn't really find a good enough excuse for eating meat. If I could I wouldn't be veggie, it's ruining my health. I'm a physical wreck, with evey bone and muscle showing. Yet I allow it to happen, of course!

Oh, smeggit, I'm a bit late for the "leather" topic arn't I? Sorry, I didn't see there were three pages of data.

And, yes, I think the "microbial" argument is made by people threatened by vegitarians. I used to be, untill I became one. I think my Dad is a bit threatened by my vegitarianism, he's an animal lover but sees vegitarianism as, I think, something unessisary and overly soft. He agrees with my hypothesis of guns being a "penis extension", saying hunters are pathetic, killing for fun, but farmers are fine, killing for their job. I can't get the point, I think he sees vegitarians as big softies. Overly gentle or soft people are threatening to many. *sigh*, Imagine if he knew I was bisexual...

"If I could I wouldn't be veggie, it's ruining my health."

Then you really should start eating properly! You're not in that condition because you're eating veggie, but because you're not eating a balanced diet. Read some books, get some advice, but whatever you do, *eat properly*! Rice, pasta, beans, lentils and of course, plenty of fruit and vegetables. That's one thing about being vegetarian - it's hard *not* to eat 5 portions of fruit and veg a day!

(I've been veggie all my life and I'm perfectly healthy - I never skip breakfast and I cycle ~100km a week to work and back!)

I'm not a veggie but I don't think that we should encourage the big corps to mistreat animals. Demanding the cheapest meat products from supermarkets forces the animals the the farmers who look after them (or not) to the bottom of the heap.
I try to only buy free range, organic food and from independant producers - although you do have to be careful as many of the large meat producers have 'jumped' onto this seamingly easy to rip off section of the market.
I'm not easy to rip off but I would only like to eat happy and healthy meat. I don't eat a lot, but a happy and free Deer that then gets killed and used for food isn't a problem to me. It's better than a Cow that has spent 2 or 3 years getting pregnant, having its calfs removed too soon, kept in poor conditions, pumped full of durgs to keep the milk flowing and then rewarded by death and becoming 'cheap' burgers isn't the kind of thing I want to eat.

There's a company that specialises in organic, cruelty free milk from Jersey cows and the milk is totally unlike the usual Freisan stuff. You can taste the happiness, if you know what I mean

http://www.vegetarian-shoes.co.uk is an excellent site for the discerning non-leather wearer, this is where I get my shoes

Do you vegetarians kill flies and other 'pests'? Of course I'm not asking as a group!

Personally I don't, I just can't bring myself to do it! I do have fly spray but never use it as I feel really guilty if I do

Then why keep the spray?

I dunno!

I usually can't be bothered killing flies. Unless I see one at my work, because I work in a supermarket and insects are a BIG hygene issuse. Then, I swat them out of the air with my bare hands. (I'm a ferret after all -quick.)

*glares at HPB*

Not like cat?! Is that intended personally?!





ahem.

I don't kill insects, there're among my favourite animals. Incredible creatures (flies are actually very very clean, it's just what they've eaten last has nasty bacteria in), has anyone read Empire of the Ants?
I try not to kill anything if I can help it. If I find myself absentmindedly pulling up grass I'll make an effort to stop it. Why kill when you don't have to or need to?

To the 'the same number of animals are killed whether you're veggie or not' camp, this is untrue. By reducing the demand you reduce the supply.

To those who say our teeth are the teeth of an omnivore - I beg to differ. They are the teeth of an opportunist. A mainly vegetarian diet (as with all monkeys) and a very rare piece of meat (every month?) when you come across one.

Meat is actually quite bad for you. A vegetarian lives roughly seven years longer.

And whoever said at least it's easy to eat five portions of fruit and veg - is it? I have to make such a damn effort! I am the laziest vegetarian in the galaxy. I subsist on pizza, takeout chinese, and those delectable Heinz beans and (veggie) sausages inna tin

Unethical milk - I agree but I always make an effort to buy organic happy milk. And I appreciate the efforts of people who try to buy organic happy meat (as we call it) as the true brutality commited towards animals happens while they live. Though the killing is rarely humane at least it will be a relatively short time in their lives.

And to the dude who said I kill my own meat, fair enough. If you need to kill to stay healthy, strong and alive then do so with respect. If theres one this I hate to see it's people kicking around half eaten hot-dogs.

Veggie advocates - Leonardo Da Vinci, Leo Tolstoy, George Bernard Shaw, Mahatma Gandhi, Isaac Bashevis Singer (Nobel Prize winner), Albert Einstein (Nobel Prize winner), Janet Jackson, Mr. Rogers, Clara Barton, k.d. lang, Paul McCartney... Did you know Benjamin Franklin ate tofu?

Yey, another person who struggles to meet the five a day target!