Carnivores or Vegetarians?

[Tigerhair]

I am interested in how many people eat meat, and how often...

[Guest]

with over half our meals tigerhair we tend to have stews,hotpots and casseroles in the week so a little meat with lots of veg saturday night is treat night so the kids like to have pizza and chips and we have a roast on sundays yum

[manxminx]

did it again t'was me

[Muddypause]

Well I've not eaten meat for probably over 25 years, but I am of the growing opinion that it is quite impossible not to consume it in some way. Rabbits are killed to enable us to have carrots; pigeons are shot so we can have wheat; fish and bones are used in fertilizers; slugs are whacked to protect the salads; anyone who consumes dairy products are implicated in veal production and there is an imminent cull of badgers proposed on the grounds that it will protect cattle from the spread of bovine TB.

And it is difficult not to buy a decent, durable pair of boots or shoes that don't have some leather in them. And belts. And there are still some woodworking applications that require animal glue for best results - I bet my acoustic guitar uses it. And drivers that use pump grade bio-diesel in their cars may be using fuel derived from animal fat. Wine may have used fish products for fining, and some fruit juces use animal products in their preparation (even if the end result is pure fruit juice).

In my motorbiking days I made the decision to wear leathers - it was a conscious value judgement that I valued my own skin above the life of a cow.

I expect this sort of list could go on for a very long time.

I seem to have over-answered your question.

[Millymollymandy]

I don't know what to vote for! I eat meat sometimes, more often in winter than summer. So in summer I could tick "I rarely eat meat" - cos I've got so many fresh veggies to eat! Oh well if I think about it I have eaten meat every day this last week in some form or other - salami in a sandwich, some lardons in an omelette..... so it all adds up. Perhaps I should class myself as 'I eat meat quite often but in very small quantities'!

[Tigerhair]

Stew, I see your point... in response...

My bosses (vets) are convinced that bovine tb is not spread by badgers and a vegetarian friend of mine once said, perhaps naively, that he didn't think there was anything wrong with him wearing leather, etc, because they were waste products of the killing of animals, which would otherwise be thrown away. He said if he kept animals and one of them died for another reason, he wouldn't have any problem eating it (if it was OK to do so!). Arent' slugs protected now in some way - there was talk about them not being killed by salt and pellets, etc?

I personally try to only eat free-range, organic animals that have had some sort of "life" - I would prefer to eat home-reared ones - I am lucky in that respect as I know plenty of farmers who keep this way. And it's local too.

[Shirley]

A conscientious carnivore... like yourself Tigz.... eat happy meat.

[Shirley]

You might find this interview between Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and Andrew Linzey to be interesting. I read it last year in the paper and am pleased to have found it again.

http://www.apria.com/resources/1,2725,4 ... 23,00.html

[ina]

And there are still some woodworking applications that require animal glue for best results

I believe paperbacks are held together by glue that's made with some animal derivative - which makes reading a bit difficult for vegans!

I have no problem with animal products, although I don't eat meat or fish. I stopped eating meat when I started becoming conscious of how it was produced, and back then (that was in London) I didn't see an alternative. Now I simply don't like it anymore, and I know that my body can't digest it properly, either. But I've always worn leather ( yes, I was a biker once, too...), and have a sheep skin in bed. And I must admit that I don't restrict myself by drinking vegetarian wine. I'm sure I occasionally eat cheese made with "proper" rennet, too.

[nick]

I eat meat every day - usually one that we have raised ourselves.

the list of by products could have added

gelatine
lipsticks
beef and chicken stocks

and an interesting one I read about in the paper recently - perfume (from the substance that whale belch up) to make it smell nice

wouldn't you rather eat a product that is natural (and has been treated humanly) than one that is filled with additives and preservatives

[Shirley]

and an interesting one I read about in the paper recently - perfume (from the substance that whale belch up) to make it smell nice

wouldn't you rather eat a product that is natural (and has been treated humanly) than one that is filled with additives and preservatives

Bleuch to the whale belch.

And a BIG FAT YES to eating natural and humanely treated products.

[glenniedragon]

I became a veggie when I was a kid, so is my Dad. My Dad worked for an animal feed company and he rapidly became a veggie in the 70's after seeing what went into the feed, and when I was old enough to understand I stopped too (I'd be about 10). My Mum and brother carried on eating meat so I wasn't forced or anything. Having been a veggie for over 25 years I can't face putting meat in my mouth (I never liked fish after seeing sewage outfall pipes on a summer holiday!) but for my kids I give them 'happy meat', and I make sure that they know where it came from by visiting and buying from farmshops (one really good one near me does Bison and Venison) they also eat veggie stuff too as cooking two meals everyday is a bit much! I too wear leather, eat cheese, drink milk and many other activities frowned upon by some of my 'stricter' vegetarian friends. So I am a veggie in action but not nescessarily in intention (does that make sense?) so I ticked the veggie vote, but I really needed a 'vegetarian, but' vote!

kind thoughts
Deb

[Libby]

Carnivore here too.

Organic usually, or at the least, free range.

[ina]

So I am a veggie in action but not nescessarily in intention (does that make sense?)

It does, to me! I specialised in livestock production at uni, and work with livestock - people often ask me "how can you, as a veggie"? I can quite well; I don't mind the animals I look after being eaten eventually, but I make it my responsibility to give them as good a life as I can before then.

[glenniedragon]

Exactly Ina, its the 'Life' bit thats important, making sure the animals are treated with dignity and respect in life. I do have some friends down here who are both strict veggies and are bringing up their kids so, they were outraged to see me cooking chicken breasts for my carnivores- 'How could you?' the very idea of even cooking meat was more than they could cope with. The only meat I can't touch is liver- I have to have plastic bags on my hands and my eyes closed, oh maybe that should go on Andy's what to do with a bread bag thread!

kind thoughts
Deb