<p>hmmm....i'm somewhat of a moral vegetarian(veal etc...).....but let me say this....for those who dont think that we should eat animals........you can't deny the food chain....something will eat them anyways.....so as long as we are not cruel or exploititive its ok to eat meat in my book</p>
<p>YAY!!!! I'm a vegan, too! I became one about seven months ago after having been a vegetarian for seven years. I became a vegetarian when someone told me what is in hotdogs. I went vegan for because of issues that I have with the meat, dairy, and eggs industries after volunteering at an animal rights organization for a few months. I recently restarted an animal rights and environmental club in my school (but most of the members eat meat and are only there because they are friends of mine:o). I love "meeting" other vegetarians on the web. I remember seeing Vegangirl on another website about a year ago and admiring her for being a vegan. So thanks Vegangirl!</p>
<p>I've always wondered why people turn vegan. Can anyone explain the argument to me? Why do you not eat eggs and dairy?</p>
<p>For me, I find that the dairy/egg industry is just as cruel if not crueler than the meat industry. In this case, not only is the animal eventually going to be slaughtered for meat, but it's going to be forced through a much more painful ordeal first than your ordinary beef cattle. If anything, the treatment in factory farms is preferable. At least then the animals don't suffer for as long. If you're vegetarian on animal rights grounds, you should look into the way dairy cows and egg laying hens are treated. That's not to mention the incredibly disgusting chemicals that find their way into our dairy products and eggs. What's more, most milk has a surprising amount of pus in it, since the cows it's taken from are so full of steroids that their udders drag against the ground and get infected constantly. </p>
<p>I could go on and on with this, but that should give you an idea.</p>
<p>Wow! Thank you for completely grossing me out! haha. I didn't know about that argument. Where I used to live though, we used to have fresh milk and eggs, nothing commercial. Would you be against that?</p>
<p>you can't deny the food chain....something will eat them anyways.....so as long as we are not cruel or exploititive its ok to eat meat in my book</p>
<p>I can see where this would be a logical argument, but I don't agree with it. Here's why-
First of all, maybe this isn't the case with the meat you eat, but the vast, vast majority of animals slaughtered in this country for food are raised in factory farms, which are by their nature both cruel and exploitive. Not only to the animals either. Most of those places are worked by illegal and very poor immigrants, and the meat industry has the highest rate of injury of any industry. The wages are god awful, the work is hard, and it's incredibly dangerous. Then to top it off the companies are willing to do near nothing to better conditions, so the cycle continues.</p>
<p>Second of all, the argument for staying within the "food chain" is based on the fact that the food chain ensures the "natural" order of things. However, just because something is the natural way for things to happen doesn't make it the ethical way in my book. One could argue that it's natural for a woman to have a child every year from age 13 to menopause, but that doesn't mean it's the right thing to do. Or maybe it's "natural" for the strong to survive and the sickly or ill to die, but you don't see many people advocating that view. I don't think the food chain can have the last word in this ethical dilemma simply because our position as rational agents allows us to step back from the "natural" order of things and contemplate decisions on a higher level.</p>
<p>vegan girl, do you eat a lot of tofu and soy? because i've tried some of that stuff and find it rather awful.</p>
<p>I didn't eat eggs, because I'm allergic to eggs, also I never really liked the taste of milk. I didn't gradually become a vegan over time, I just stopped eating meat, I didn't suffer from any side effects,other than losing weight rapidly in a short amount of time. Everyone's body systems are different, my body just took to being a vegan instantly, while it can take others a little bit longer, because some people suffer from headaches, dizziness, and etc.</p>
<p>I eat a lot of vegetables, tofu (fried, because I find the raw tofu not so appetizing),I drink soy milk (only the plain flavored silk soy milk), but I eat lots of carbs (only wheat type carbs and brown rice, none of the processed stuff).</p>
<p>Thank you for the info, trader.</p>
<p>Soy and tofu rock. Thats all I can say in their defense! lol. Try looking up recipes or something because I don't know anyone who eats tofu plain! bleh...</p>
<p>yea....thats what i mean by moral....they shouldnt be raised like that...fishing or...well u know what i mean........is a diff matter..................btw we'd have to resort to canibalism if that many babies were being produced!</p>
<p>vegan right here. :)</p>
<p>I was interested in becoming a vegetarian, but I loved meat/cheese steak sandwiches. Then I discovered products such as Boca and Morning Star - so easy to become a veggie then. I honestly can't tell the difference, but my friends say you can. I don't know, all I know is I love that stuff. They also have some vegan options, too.</p>
<p>Yeah, I've tried Boca and MorningStar. I prefer MorningStar's spicy black bean veggie burgers, but I don't like any Boca burgers, because it tastes so much like real meat, that I cannot stand to even taste it.</p>
<p>Everyone always told me I should try the spicy black bean, and I just bought them this weekend. Hmm, maybe I shall go try them now...</p>
<p>I've never tried those vegetarian substitutes...so expensive!!!</p>
<p>Lily, I personally don't care much for the idea of using animals for food in any context, but I'm not morally opposed to eating eggs/dairy that were raised in a way that is for sure humane (it's just often hard to be sure). </p>
<p>I eat some tofu, mostly in stir fries and things like that. The cool thing about tofu is that it really has no flavor on it's own, so it soaks up whatever you add to it really well. Soy milk is pretty much my life. I usually have two or three glasses a day...I love the stuff. I don't think it's too hard to avoid tofu/soyish stuff and still be veggie though. There are a ton of processed foods that are "accidentally" vegan, plus your usual pastas, beans, rice, soups, etc. I don't really suffer from a lack of variety in my diet, and when I do it's my own fault because I'm just lazy :)</p>
<p>lol my cousin tried becoming vegan, not bcuz she felt sry for the animals but because apparently she was convinced that all vegans were tall or something. she's not very short, but its her family's fault, quite frankly, always teasing her. anyway she became a vegan 4 roughly two days before switching back to meat.</p>
<p>Morningstar is really good but really expensive :D I like meat, my dad just buys it the veggie subsitutes sometimes :)</p>