To Be or Not To Be Vegetarian
I have a feeling that this will spark quite a few people. Well the question is … To Be or Not To Be Vegetarian? As of now, I’ll eat anything that is edible (in any country). Well here’s how it all started. I was on the metro and I took a seat. Somebody had left a flyer (pamphlet) on the seat that I picked up just because I was so eternally bored. I started looking through the pamphlet and the pamphlet was apparantly advocating the advantages of being a vegetarian. It had pictures of animals in closed confined places, it depicted chickens in cages all crammed up and some convincing facts. Did you know that some of these animals don’t even have enough room to move … most of their lives. The fact that just really got to me was the picture of a pregnant chicken in a cage with no room to turn. That’s just inhuman! The pamphlet also mentioned some stupid stuff like how much of our produced food these animals eat up and crap like that but that didn’t get to me at all because the meat industry in conjuntion with the agriculture industry is virtually driving our economy! Its how millions of people feed their hungry children every night and bring home enough money to keep themselves warm in the winter. So anyways, the confinement of these animals got to me because I am mildly claustrophobic (scared of closed places). That made me consider trying to be vegetarian. However, there ARE some companies that treat their animals humanely before they are slaughtered for their meat. I do not see myself giving up meat immediately just because my diet is dependent on meat products. However, I was thinking … Isn’t there a middle way? Ok, maybe I won’t eat actual meat but can I eat meat flavored products like say chicken noodles or something. Another option could be to restrict the number of days in a week on which I would eat meat. It is a hard decision and needs a big commitment. I don’t know … To Be or Not To Be vegetarian?
May 14th, 2003 at 10:51 am
Wow, I didn’t think our convo yesterday would spark such a deep thought, lol. Comeone, giving up meat cold turkey (dont know how to put it any other way) isnt bad, and pretty easy to do. I was able to.
May 14th, 2003 at 10:57 am
Hey Pranav, Wow! such a big dilemma, if you came to me earlier I would have helped you. I have been a vegetarian since I was born, and trust me vegetarian food is really good too especially if you eat Indian food. Also, think about where those animals live, how they are killed, their blood and flesh and all their dirty crap that you eat…ewwwwwwwww. Well eating meat for me is as bad as eating a human being, can you imagine doing that? Hope this might help you decide to be or not to be a vegetarian!
May 14th, 2003 at 10:59 am
yea, those kind of comments and images being put in my head also aided in the process of giving up meat.
May 14th, 2003 at 4:45 pm
Vishal, I was in deep thought already when I talked to you but you pushed the trigger I guess.
Anu, Your description for some reason does not disgust me as I know that when I cook my meat or my brother or dad do, they clean the fat and the blood clots off the meat and I eat clean meat. Its just a wonderful taste … you should try it before making a judgement. No offense, but I would prefer to rely on someone who knows the joy of eating meat and then they decided to quit.
May 14th, 2003 at 5:28 pm
Hope this helps: If you can eat a chicken (approx. weighing 15-20 lbs) or a cow (don’t know how much that weighs) then why not start eating smaller things which are much less harmful, like cockroaches, worms, caterpillars, mice, and other forms of pests and rodents?
May 14th, 2003 at 6:44 pm
ami, these insects make good pickles but the problem is that they do not have enough mass on them to eat … we can’t eat bones or hard stuff … which is why people prefer white meat. Also, it is not feasible enough for companies to grow cockroaches because not a lot people eat them just because you have to eat a lot of them to fill up the tummy.
May 15th, 2003 at 9:26 am
Great to see that a little flyer can go a long way. I always thought they do nothing but waste paper. I was born vegetarian, started eating meat in about 10th grade, basically open to anything that moved, and quit by my sophomore year in MD. I guess, that makes me more credible in your veiew than people who have been non/veg all their lives. Trust me, it isnt hard at all. And you will feel good about it, and well, ahem, it will be ‘humane’ act towards those who dont share our humanity. Trust me dude, Taco Hell…my bad, Bell rules!
July 2nd, 2003 at 6:48 pm
A VEGETARIAN, U STUPID IDIOT