Hi, this is my first steemit post.
TL;DR: A while back I stopped eating meat. I don’t eat meat because I don’t like killing animals or causing suffering. But I eat leftover meat because throwing it away would require other vegetarian food to be prepared instead. I eat meat whenever it would create more suffering not to. And that’s okay.
What is vegetarian?
Part of the problem here is the label. I use the word vegetarian because it’s easy, but it’s not wholly accurate. Here’s the dictionary definition:
“A person who does not eat meat, and sometimes other animal products, especially for moral, religious, or health reasons.”
Sometimes people feel sorry they asked me questions because I fail to predict that they weren’t bargaining for a long answer. It’s way easier to say I’m vegetarian than to explain all this, or even say a few sentences. And part of the reason I’m writing this is so I can send people here when they want to know more. But usually “vegetarian” is enough until they see me eat meat.
Growing up
I grew up raising animals. Not on a farm or for a living, but my parents had a pet farm. I shared the duties with my brother of watering and feeding the animals every morning. Breaking the ice in the water barrels in the winter so they could drink, moving the grazing fences in the summer to longer grass so they could eat. I gathered eggs, scooped poop, made compost, and held the sheep still when sheep shearer came.
Sometimes a lamb would come of age, or 20 new chickens would get fat, or the piglets would grow up and became all…bacon-y. And my dad would shoot it, or we would hire someone to butcher it. I never killed anything bigger than a fish with my own hands, but I felt like I did.
One time I watched 3 men hung our chickens on a clothesline from their feet, then beheaded, plucked, and froze them. They sang a song. A Jamaican folk song. Their chicken-butchering song. The chickens who I broke the ice for every morning before school…their bodies thrashed, the clothesline swung. Each head laid on the ground, beaks and eyelids opening and closing for a few seconds.
The chicken meat was always tender and juicy, the uncured unsmoked bacon was to die for, and lamb chops with mint jelly…om nom nom. I knew I didn’t like helping to create suffering or watching animals die, but I had never thought of a life without meat.
The change
When I was 20 I read the first few chapters of Eating Animals, and started meeting more vegetarians. I realized that abstaining from eating meat was a thing that people did, and many people had different motivations for it. Up until now I had been largely told vegetarianism was a phase kids went through to spite their meat-loving parents.
That fall I transferred to a new school, where the dining staff went to incredible efforts to cater to the food preferences and needs of the students. Not only was there a great variety of both meat and vegetarian and vegan food, but they would also hand-prepare custom meals for people with specific needs.
Vegetarianism was on my mind and now vegetarianism was an easy thing to try. So I tried it. And after forgetting about meat for a while, every time I looked at meat, I felt the same emotions that I felt looking at the chicken heads on the ground, and I don’t like feeling that way.
I still eat meat
I do, however, still eat meat. When I order a veggie burger and the waiter brings a beef burger instead. When someone doesn’t know I’m vegetarian and has already prepared and served me meat. When meat is left on the table and will go to waste if I don’t eat it. All of these are situations in which I’ll eat meat — and enjoy it!
This is because the reason I don’t eat meat is that I don’t like to kill animals or create suffering. If I send back the burger, deny the meat that has been served to me, or let the leftovers go to waste, I am in effect creating more suffering. I or someone else has to prepare other food, resources are spent to prepare it, and the meat that the animal has literally died to produce goes to waste.
One of my friends pointed out to me that this fits into my view of “Act based on the consequences of your actions rather than the action, ie, abstaining from meat, itself” (her words). I thought about the actual reason why I don’t want to eat meat, and didn’t worry about it not fitting into anyone’s established idea of what something can or should be.
To me, letting meat go to waste or refusing it when it has already been prepared is the largest insult to that animal. It’s saying “you died and that’s not good enough for me”. It adds insult to injury, and flies in the face of the entire reason I became vegetarian.
When I wasn’t “vegetarian enough”
One time, I went to a meetup for vegans and vegetarians in my area. We were discussing restaurants to go to as a group and planning a potluck. A lot of us were new to the group and someone suggested we all describe when we went veg and why. There were many stories, some people from birth, some for religious reasons, some just because they didn’t like the taste. But everyone was very solidly either vegetarian or vegan.
When we got to me, I fumbled through explaining that I had been doing it for a year, and how I used to raise animals, and that I still ate meat when it could create more suffering not to. Some people were appreciative, some ambivalent, someone even said they sometimes did the same.
But there was this one guy, a hardcore raw-food vegan (which means he doesn’t eat meat or dairy, and doesn’t cook his food). He made noises of disapproval and shook his head. One of the group leaders asked him why he seemed upset. He said “I mean that’s just not…So you eat meat, but you call yourself a vegetarian?”. I replied yes, and he scoffed, shook his head again and made noises of pain and agony.
Later one of the attendees gave me a ride home, and told me not to worry about him, because he’s a jerk. And he was a jerk. But seeing him have such a vehemently different view helped drive home how different everyone’s view could be, and how personal those views were.
So what?
Sometimes there can be serious consequences eating one way or another depending on cultural and social context. And many people don’t have the luxury to choose. But if you have the option to try something different, and are nervous about what others might think, just remember:
- Steve Jobs was vegetarian except for sushi.
- Lea Michelle from Glee is vegan except for cheese.
- The Buddha told his followers that they could, “…eat pork, chicken and fish if the monk was aware that the animal was not killed on their behalf.”
So if you want to try eating differently in any way, know that while some people will hate you, most won’t. And while I haven’t struggled or suffered because of my food preferences, many people have, and in my experience many of those people are supportive and happy to talk.
If you have a feeling or idea about food, try it out for a bit! No matter what the change is, you might be surprised how you feel about it after you actually try it. And if you want to change back to whatever you were eating before, no worries (I have tons of friends who were turned back into meat eaters after suffering through tofu-bacon 😷).
I don’t hate you
I love meat eaters. Most of my friends eat meat. The person I’m dating loves meat (and often tries to get me to eat it 🙄). You respect who I am and I respect you.
This is a privilege
It’s an incredible privilege to afford the luxury of choosing what kinds of food to eat. This is how I feel about food now, maybe I’ll feel different later. And I’m lucky that I get to choose.
Thanks for reading! I’d love to hear anything you have to say in the comments. What are your experiences with food like?
Please, dont call yourself a vegetarian or associate yourself with that lifestyle if you still eat meat
https://img1.steemit.com/0x0/https://ipfs.pics/ipfs/QmYRsgA5xKc9KzAWLj5QZi2eFFeNrEz79UPmM3UepXdM4s
lol
You need to change your #tags nonhealthy, nondiet, nonvegen, nonvegetarian, nonsence,
I do not eat animals, but do not consider myself a vegetarian. Why do I belong to someone and like to be called? Be yourself and all!
Lower animals can't comprehend the concept of rights. Because they don't have a conceptual faculty. This is the reason they don't have rights. You can kill animals and eat them with good consistence because they don't have rights. The requirement for having rights is that you can understand the concept and live by it. It's a moral concept.
Lower animals? you mean a sentient being that does not speak the same language than you?
No. I am distinguishing between animals with and without a conceptual faculty. Lower animals don't have the ability to conceptualize because their nature does not facilitate it. As opposed to higher animals like humans do.
i do eat meat because if all humans stop eating meat the number of animals will increase to the point where its very dangerous , same as humans if the human population reach 10 bn there will be massive issue with food shortages and poverty , that does not mean we should kill humans lol , but control over everything is a key point.
Your comment is ridiculous and short sighted.
" if all humans stop eating meat the number of animals will increase to the point where its very dangerous"
Show me some evidence for this statement.
"same as humans if the human population reach 10 bn there will be massive issue with food shortages and poverty "
Enough non meat food is produced on a yearly basis to feed the whole twice over.
"that does not mean we should kill humans"
Why not? meat is meat isnt it,or do you have a problem with eating something that could be dangerous if the population gets out of control?
Exactly. Tried many diets for "moral" reasons in the past- until I found myself in a 3rd world country, middle of nowhere, relying on my hosts to hunt for and feed me. Who was I to reject their offering of meat (sustenance) they've been consuming for centuries? Choose of food/diet IS really a luxury.
Definitely, @natof9. I've experienced this too.
I did the one-week vegan challenge last year. It wasn't too bad, to be honest. The worst was the reaction from friends and family. It did give me a greater respect for vegetarians/vegans in general, although I still can't stand it when a vegan says something like: 'you are eating murder on a plate'.
I love your approach regarding meat. If it comes to you in a way causing it to go to waste. You will eat it. That's brilliant and respectful.
Thanks @exyle! Yeah, it can be tough to explain. I'm glad you tried a change and weren't afraid to stick to it for a week in spite of their reactions.
There's these militant vegetarians and vegans, which want to shove down your throat how great they are all the time, trying to school you, calling you out for not doing it right, treating you like a traitor, with the intention to make you feel guilty. I'd be calling myself a vegetarian, but I'm not a monk. I never buy any meat, but when something mouthwatering comes to the table I really enjoy it sometimes, happens rarely, less than once a month. I also think its vital for the body to have a piece of meat sometimes, depends on the blood type as well. I've been brought up a real bad carnivore, and it seems to be deep down in my DNA, my metabolism was perfectly adjusted to it for most of my life. I love eggs though, but aside from that I'm mostly on raw foods, no cheese, almost no milk. Sometimes I just love a glas of milk or a hot chocolate with cream. Just call me what you want.
Mmmm, eggs! I'm glad you eat what you want. It can be tough and alienating when someone vehemently accuses you of being "bad" for eating a certain way. Keep rocking what you like to eat 🤘🏻
I stopped eating meat, even though there is nothing wrong with it. The problem is we have literally set up slaughter houses just to kill animals for food. We eat way TOO much meat. We eat meat for every meal. When people ate meat 1000's of years ago they only did it in seasons. Part of the season they would eat meat and then they would switch to vegetables. So I would say if you want to eat meat you should have to hunt for it or farm it.
Yeah it's a lot! A lot of people forget that meat prices haven't risen proportionally to other goods. In the past 50 years the prices of houses and cars have risen ~1500%, while meat hasn't even risen 100%.
While I do respect and appreciate your reasons for eating meat in the situations you do, I must agree with @plantbasedjunkie. You are not vegetarian, so don't call yourself that. You're maybe selectively vegetarian or perhaps predominantly vegetarian if you must use that word. However, using the word on its own denotes you don't eat meat. You do, and that's disrespectful of those who are 100% vegetarian to the full extent of the word.
This does present a unique opportunity, though. What if you create a phrase or movement all of your own? Like "Plant-based Omnivore" or "Opportunistic Omnivore." It gives you a chance to explain and spread the word.
Like I explained in the post, I've tried saying those things before, and they almost always lead to "oh, what's that?", and when I start to explain, the person quickly loses interest. Of course, if they ask why I do it or what it's like, I tell them. And if they see me eat meat and ask, I tell them. But otherwise, I don't risk wasting both of our time.
Good idea! Maybe a whole new one-word term is needed.
Maybe you can turn this into an "elevator pitch" (like startups create) that gets people interested in hearing more, then tailor the explanation to hold peoples' interest. If it seems like eyes are still glazing over, edit again. Sounds like you're really passionate about this, so I'm sure you'll get it down to the perfect engaging speech.
Oatmeal cooked with Beef Boulion (which is an artificial taste) can be used or made into a paddy and cooked the same way as hamburger paddies. Same great taste really, and an inexpensive option for the vegetarian out there looking for options.