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I truly do not want this topic to get heated, I am genuinely curious to know your opinions.
I am a vegetarian and have been for a very long time. I stopped eating meat because I love animals, all animals, as much as I love humans and the thought of eating one sickens me. I can't understand what anyone thinks is the difference between not eating a dog/cat/bunny and not eating a cow/chicken/pig. They're all precious lives and I don't understand the distinction. I have had this discussion with my meat eating, animal loving fiance and he always ends the conversation here because he can't/won't answer. I wonder if you guys could?
I ask you please to refrain from saying such stupid things as, "if god didn't want us to eat meat he wouldn't have made them taste so good." and the like. I find those comments offensive and infuriating.
I love animals, but I love meat more. Meat is good.
Besides all of that... I mean, I know not everyone agrees with my opinion but I'll lay it out there anyways. The meat I eat was bred and born specifically to be eaten. That's their entire life, it's what they're born for. It's not like butchers are going to family farms and killing the "pet" animals for meat, they're breeding animals specifically for that purpose. And to me, that's the difference. I don't like eating meat that my family has hunted and killed, because to me that's cruel (to take an animal out of the wild and eat it), but to eat something that had no other purpose in life than to be meat? That's fine to me.
Also, I don't like any of the protein alternatives. I hate peanut butter, tofu, soy, all of that.
thats honestly a good question. i do not eat pork, but i do eat chicken, turkey, fish, and red meat very occasionally. and i LOVE animals. i guess i just feel like we are supposed to eat meat, like it is part of the circle of life. people have always survived "off the land" which not only includes nuts, berries, and plants, but animals as well. its the food chain, and we are at the top of it. same reason that cats like to hunt mice and sharks eat fish and big mammals eat smaller mammals . i dont really have any other answer...and i dont think eating meat takes away from my love for animals and all of gods other creatures...
I guess for some people it might just be natural instinct since humans have been omnivores for so many centuries. I guess eating meat doesn't bother me because I realize that even animals do it in the wild. I suppose that going along the lines of natural instinct people may find think that eating a dog or cat is wrong because as a domestic pet they are no longer seen as part of our natural food chain.
While I do eat meat I don't agree with some of the methods that have been used to kill the animals over the years.
ETA: I also wanted to mention that there are probably just as many reasons for people to choose to eat meat just like there are many reasons people chose to be vegan or vegitarian. My Aunt chose to be vegan for religious reasons not for the animals.
I also love plant life, but I recognize that I have to meet my body's needs and I love me more than I love animals.
If you feel like your love of animals means that, for you, you don't eat any animals, I respect that.
@Gingersnap: You don't think that factory farming is kind of worse than hunting? I am a veg and I do. At least hunted animals get to live some semblence of a "normal" life that doesn't involve living in a space that is so crowded that there is not even enough room for the cow to turn around..... I don't understand the logic.
I get that many animals eat meat, but no other animals eat meat the way that we do. I think with our ability to make objective decisions, it's even more cruel what we do.
ETA - Helenberrycrunch - I am not going to get all vegan preachy here, haha... but you should look up some information about how eating meat doesn't necessarily meat your bodily needs any more than plant based food. In fact, quite the opposite.
@notarobot I do see your point of view, but no it's not worse to me. I do think they should be killed much more humanely than they probably are though.
@peasantsong: Who's to say that animal's can't make objective decisions? We don't know what they think or how they think. And biologists are really only in the infancies of studying social infrastructure among animals. I'm not meaning this to be offensive or rude. Just a thought.
ETA: I guess I could see how you would feel that way since we have the abilities to make alternative foods. Like I said before I think that it is just instinct and taste. I think some people might not feel badly about eating meat because it is hard to link an adorable face with a cold slab of meat. I know when I look at meat my brain automatically goes "meat = food" rather than "meat = oh that used to be a cow"
Humans evolved with canine teeth and small cecum (what other mammels use to store enzymes to digest their high plant fiber diet), we were made to eat meat. And yes, I see a huge differnce between my pet and a cow raised for meat. I do think that livestock farming for meat should not be cruel, but if we as a species weren't intended to eat meat, we wouldn't have a body (or appitiate) made for it.
@FloretteLiz: you're absolutely right! I fully believe my cat can make very objective decisions... haha! But since we don't KNOW they can and we do know we can, I still stand by my argument. I don't think eating animals would be as bad if we didn't factory farm them like they mean nothing.
i'm not going to say "if god didn't want us to eat meat he wouldn't have made them taste so good." BUT, God did put animals (and vegetation) on the earth for us to consume. there is no arguing that certain animals (such as cows and pigs and chickens) are here to sustain us. they serve no other purpose on this planet. they graze and eat all day. even our teeth were made to rip and tear and eat meat. this is basic biology.
i don't agree with HOW they slaughter animals. i believe there are many more humane ways to do it than how it is done. i also don't believe in excessive hormones used to speed up their growth.
also, our bodies need certain vitamins and minerals to sustain our health that are provided through meat of animals. God created the perfect environment for us to thrive as humans, and included everything we need to sustain ourselves. he accounted for everything and provided us with the perfect balance - plants, animals, etc.
it's OK to disagree with this, or feel that it is cruel to eat animals. i love animals, but i also understand the tree of life and the biology behind it. it's very logical and rational.
i certainly don't judge people based on what they choose to eat, nor do i think they are "animal haters" if they eat meat. there are a lot of organic farmers that raise their livestock organically and slaughter more humanely than others, too.
i eat meat, maybe 1-2 x/week tops, because i exercise and need proteins to keep my muscle lean and healthy. i don't prefer the taste of tofu or many other sub-proteins and would have to eat a gallon of cottage cheese to equal the amount that comes from 1 chicken breast!
I think that being top of the food chain lets me eat what I want.
I love plants- they are living things, and I eat them too.
I don't criticize what vegans or vegetarians eat. Why do they feel the need to critique my eating habits?
This is one of those useless arguements that will go nowhere, like Christians and Buddhists arguing about religion.
@chasesgirl: ummm... that is not a very firm argument you stand on there... just because we HAVE canines and we are ABLE to eat meat doesn't mean we necessarily should. My question was why do animal lovers eat meat if they love animals so much. Not how can humans stand to eat meat.
Hmmm...I love meat. Born and bred carnivore here (well, omnivore, but whatever)--I strongly dislike how animals are treated, and at the same time, have tried Vegetarianism and it simply doesn't agree with me--I actually gained more weight! My body is not set for pure veg. And lets fave it, it's part of "the circle of life"--if we don't eat meat, there will be an overpopulation of animals, etc, and screw up the food chain. I'm not even going to touch the meat factory and how that affects the environment. I hunt, so does most of my family--I eat hunted game as often as I can get my greedy little hands on it. It's just normal.
EDIT: I also love animals. But the animals I love are not going to be eaten--even if I lived on a farm, they're there for food, one way or another. I don't really understand where you're coming from: think about it: If no animals were killed from this point forth, the world would be overrun with beasties within a year!
I love love love animals and appreciate they are all precious. However, there is a food chain. Animals eat each other and plants, it's just natural.
@ijustrockout: Perfectly put, thank you.
I was a vegetarian for 7 years. There's certainley nothing wrong with not wanting to eat meat, but one can't argue biology.
@julies1949: THIS! I honestly don't care what other people put in their mouth, well as long as it isn't human. And there are studies that show (I wish I remember where my bio prof found the study) that plants DO react to painful stimuli. So who is to say that we just don't understand the way plants hurt like we assume animals do when we eat them?
@notarobot I think her argument is reasonable and definitely enough to stand on. (for someone who didn't want this to get heated, you're certainly going about this the wrong way)
i eat meat because i like it. plain and simple. same reason i eat salad... i like it. im not one of those people who overthinks it.... animals are bred and killed to be human food... i guess its just the circle of life. i know that protein is nutritious and good for my body and humans were made to consume protein... so thats how it is. i can totally respect people who are vegetarian or vegan but i could never do it. i do love animals.... trust me my dogs are like my children/.... but i dont have pet chickens or pet cows so i guess the emotional attachment isnt there and i just dont get worked up about it :)
I was a vegetarian for ten years, but one day my body started telling me it needed meat again. As much as I would have loved to continue not eating animals, my health comes first.
Eating meat just seems the more natural way to eat than excluding it entirely. There are a lot of species that are either omnivores or carnivores. It's no more wrong for a human to kill a cow and eat it than for a tiger to kill an antelope and eat it (IMHO). That's just the way the food chain works. You're either eating the dinner, or you ARE the dinner. On the rare occasion that a predator kills and eats a human, they don't feel bad about it at all. The rest of the animal kingdom doesn't bring ethics into eating. They just eat. Vegetarianism would feel too artifical for me.
I do love animals but I don't love them as much as I love people. Non-humans are just not on the same level. They have dignity, but it's not human dignity. Obviously it's different if it's an intelligent animal like a dolphin, but honstly if it came down to either killing a dolphin or starving to death I would kill the dolphin and eat it. It would suck at the time to do it but I would have no moral qualms afterward.
ijustrockout: God also made adam and eve vegetarians so that we could all, animals and people, live a peaceful existence, (Gen. 1:29-30) and (Gen. 2:19-20).
@peasantsong: Well, by the basic principles of microevolution, if the ability and need for meat hadn't been important for humanity for millienia, then we wouldn't still have them. And we would as a species have adapted to a plant based diet, which, as a species we haven't. Science is a pretty firm foundation for an argument.
@peasantsong: I am well-educated in nutrition and "quite the opposite" is not true. It is possible to get dietary requirements from plant sources, but not always advisable and certainly not a superior method.
I eat meat because I love plants so much I can't eat them... lol no seriously I do love plants I just hate the taste of veggies. I loooove animals but they are just soooo tasty! Food chain of command! XD
Look guys... I am sorry if I am coming across as heated! I am definitely not feeling heated. I am just trying to understand your thoughts because I still don't.
@peasantsong: with all due respect, those are the semantics of arguments that vegetarian propaganda are riddled with.
if you read further into the Bible, after the great flood:
Genesis 9:1-3 says: "Then God blessed Noah and his sons, saying to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth. The fear and dread of you will fall upon all of the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air, upon every creature that moves along the ground, and upon all the fish of the sea; they are given into your hands. Everything that lives and moves will be food for you. Just as I gave you the green plants, now I give you everything."
Saying you don't want it to get heated is silly, this topic is obviously going to bait people. There's no point in asking for opinions if you're just going to automatically shoot them down, no wonder your fiance doesn't want to discuss it. Oh, and this is coming from someone who is a vegetarian also. But I generally avoid this topic, it's pointless.
@peasantsong: My point exactly. Why do you think that the Bible is the authority? What about the teachings of other religions? And why do you selectively quote only the verses that meet your needs?
@peasantsong: i respect your stance on your choice and really support people, like yourself, that act on behalf of animals. it's very altruistic. everyone has a choice, and you really cannot fault people for doing something that is completely natural, that God himself intended for us to do, that biology trumps by our design.
personally, i just like to agree to disagree. i'm not a "last word" type person.
@peasantsong: Oh and also, on many, MANY parts of this planent, dogs, cats, rabbits, guinea pig, all sorts of animals are food.
@Wonderstruck: Why should I not shoot the arguments down if I disagree or have a counterargument? Just because I disagree doesn't mean that I am feeling angry.
@peasantsong: I think that what you are saying may not be coming off objectively through us reading your comments. Unfortunately tone can't be translated through these boards so we have to use our past experiences to tell us how you are meaning to sound. I think that from the way you worded some of your posts people may think that you are trying to push veganism a little too much rather than trying to understand what we are all saying. Some of what your saying sounds rather argumentative instead of curious. You may never understand why we eat meat, but that's fine as long as we all respect each other's decisions.
I eat meat mostly because I'm lazy and selfish. I'm not placing those judgments on anyone else--- but for me? Thats kinda it. I was a vegetarian for a few years for the same reason as you-- I love animals and I felt like I shouldn't be eating them. But it was really hard. I hate cooked veggies and I'm a really picky eater in general. I ate a LOT of processed foods... and really not very healthfully at all. And I like meat. It tastes good. So I backslid. I've tried to be vegetarian again a few times but it just never lasts. There are just so few all-veg meals I enjoy (especially when out at restaurants) that it seems like such a burden. So I have just become super lazy and basically (to be totally honest) placed my own comfort/ease of living above my belief that it really is wrong to eat animals. Which is why I feel guilty (obviously) that I eat meat. But not guilty enough to stop doing it.
@peasantsong: You asked for opinions, to which everyone is entitled, then you go out of your way to say these opinions aren't correct. Why did you bother asking in the first place?
UGH to these kinds of topics...no matter what anyone says does it really matter? It always ends the same from what I have noticed, the veg/vegan never finds anyone's answer suitable since its not in line with their train of thought on the matter.
1.because I like the taste of cooked muscle.
That's it.
Im hoping for a day where we all decide to just eat three nutritional supplements a day to survive, that way I will stop having to explain my choices to people whom feel they are truly confused on why others eat meat.Its simple Human animals (no matter how evolved we are) have eaten meat so in some raw level we want it. It would explain why vegans/veggies eat products that look and taste like meat.
On that note I just got done reading all these other responses....Its like pro choice/ pro lifers trying to convert each other....it never ends well and noone really understnads the other any better
I've been going back and forth with this for a few years, starting with much of the same reasoning that you offered. In the end, DH and I have ended up cutting way (way, way) back on meat consumption at home (maybe a couple of meals a week and never as the main entree). We eat locally sourced, humanely raised meat.
Here is an explanation I found in a blog that I read:
http://www.chicken-tender.com/2010/11/heart-change_11.html
If you're really looking for honest answers to this question (and not to just vent about your FI's refusal to take the discussion farther), I encourage you to read it. (If you need to save time, start with the section labled "Pork vs. Tofu," though the first paragraphs give great background about the author's choices.) The author explains herself much better than I could and her reasoning falls closely in line with mine.
I don't take the choice to eat meat lightly; it is something to which we've given good thought and that I think everyone needs to honestly consider for her or himself. I do think too many don't consider the ramifications of their meal choices. Personally, I refuse to support factory farms with animals pumped full of antibiotics and treated inhumanely. I think it is short-sighted and irresponsible for people to ignore these things or think they're wrong and continue to support the practices with their purchases. Chicken breasts at 99 cents a pound are tempting, but I think the benefits for both humans and animals are well worth the added expense of "good" meat.
I'm sure this will never fully justify the decision, but maybe it can shed a little light? I really do think the blog entry explains things very well and can add interesting insight.
As a vegetarian I have watched omnivores say things like "I love animals" and then chow down on a big hunk of flesh, and had the opportunity to reflect on their actions for nearly a decade.
The answer to why this is, is – Species-ism (think Racism but on a much bigger scale). They might feel that they “love animals” but they also think of themselves as “more important than animals”. If on average 95 animals a year need to be penned up, tortured and murdered to feed their hungry belly, that’s ok in an omnivores mind – because they honestly believe (to their very core) that they are more important than those 95 animals (per year).
Species-ism is displayed in all of human-kinds interactions with animals.
Watch the movie Earthlings which explains it better than I ever could. (You can watch it on Youtube).
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