Is it bad to be a vegetarian?!
Answers: I would never be a vegetarian. I think its really selfish, picky and inconsiderate. I mean, people starving in Africa would never be able to choose to be a vegetarian; they'd die of malnutrition. Anyone who can afford to be a vegetarian is really spoiled in my opinion. Do you think people should take what they're given in life and not complain, or always get exactly what they want?
I think western strict vegetarians are spoiled, "trendy", and hypocritical. Flexitarian vegetarians on the other hand take what they are given in life ... including some meat . . .we are less hypocritical, less preachy and "normal".
i can see why you think that most people say its better and wrong one of my friends was going on on how i should be shot for eating veal but no being a vegetarian is not wrong just dint be smug about it you know
Starving people in Africa would never be able to choose your diet either.
Being a vegetarian isn't more expensive than being a meat eater, but yes, we are spoiled in the west on the whole, whatever diet we choose to follow.
Did your mum always insist you clean your plate and think of all the starving children, by any chance?
Oh, and can starving people in Africa afford these:
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;...
Being a vegetarian is a choice. It is neither good or bad. I choose to eat meat, but do on occasion eat meat free meals.If you eat a balanced diet with protiens from other sources besides meats, you should be fine.
I don't agree at all. When you go to the store or a restaurant, you get what you want. If you want meat, buy meat. If you want veggies, buy veggies. Maybe veggie-eaters think meat-eaters are selfish. What about people who don't eat pork? Are they selfish? This is not a logical train of thought.
We're not talking about getting fancy clothes or cars or houses. If you always have to have the best, the brand name, the newest, maybe then you're spoiled. But if you choose to eat vegetarian it's nobody's business but your own.
No.
People who have options should be allowed to choose.
Those same people in Africa don't have a computer so, you should give them yours.
i think that kind of misses the point entirely.
yes, there are people who have no choice in what they eat. and if you are up against a wall, then it's understandable - you do what you have to do to survive.
but i believe it is the *responsibility* of those of us who are privileged enough to have the choice, to make choices based upon not only our animal needs but our ethics. it is far more efficient to eat produce directly than to feed it to animals, then slaughter the animals and eat them. not to mention that eating the produce directly does not contribute to high methane levels and the clear-cutting of rainforests to make room for more meat animals. further harming the planet to support our meat habit, when we are in a position to choose to do otherwise, is morally reprehensible - we are choosing to be wasteful of our resources in a way that harms the planet and makes it even harder for the people in starving nations to produce the food they need in the ever-increasing deserts of the world. choosing to eat meat when we do not need to eat meat indirectly makes it even worse for those starving people of the world.
i think it's pretty selfish, inconsiderate and lazy for people to mindlessly eat meat when they don't need to, and to continue to support this system of wasted resources and needless violence against fellow creatures when they are in a position to say NO to such things and make more ethical choices.
I am a vegetarian, and for the most part it is neither selfish, nor picky, nor inconsiderate. Quite the reverse actually, in the context of our society. I don't do it for any idealogical reasons, simply because it makes perfect sense in our society: it's easy, it's healthy, it really does mitigate animal cruelty and a host of environmental problems (think water wastage, global warming, deforestation, land degradation), as well as freeing up huge quantities of grain for the starving. When you eat 1 serving of meat you have probably just consumed 20 peoples' servings of grain! (Some people argue that it's not the same grain, but that's only because it's grown specifically for animals; without the meat industry the land could be freed up to grow grains suitable for humans.)
If we shouldn't be vegetarian because the starving in Africa can't, perhaps we should extend that principle to all areas of our life: abandon our worldly comforts, money, houses, health care, education etc. - what right do we have to those things when many Africans don't have them? Why target an ethical practice that is actually doing something good for the world?
Being a vegetarian is actually cheaper. Meat is among the most expensive foodstuffs you will find - even with the heavy subsidies that the government gives to the powerful meat industry. (Without them I'd bet meat could reach $50/kg!)
Spending less money on food means you have more to spend on other things (and maybe to send to the poor in Africa whom you mentioned!)
Hey, do read my entire answer, because I took the time to read your question, and I think this will really answer your question.
What we vegetarians eat in the states in no way takes food out of the mouths of starving people in Africa. Are you serious? In fact, it takes 16 pounds of grain to make a single pound of beef - why don't you eat the plants instead, so that the other 15 pounds go to starving kids in Africa?
It is in fact more selfish to waste the hundreds of gallons of water and thousands of pounds of grain it takes to raise a cow from infancy until it is ready for slaughter, just for a few pounds of meat. In fact, the losses are so staggering, that if the food used to feed the cattle in the USA ALONE was sent to Africa instead, there would BE no hunger in Africa.
Have you done any research to support your claims? I have.
Information in this question pertains to the massive losses to the environment just to make a pound of beef:
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;...
Have you ever looked into what the meat industry does? Read this book about the way the food industry manipulates the government in America and see if you feel it is MORE selfish to support the very corporations responsible for many of the atrocities commited within our country, or if it is LESS selfish to stop supporting the meat and dairy industry:
"Food Politics" by Dr. Marion Nestle, PhD
Or how about the reasons WHY I became vegetarian? Why don't you read here, where I answered such a question. Tell me if I am selfish now:
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;...
And of course, there is my personal life.
I served in the US Army, while my husband served in the US Marines. I was vegetarian then (and now) and he is also almost exclusively vegetarian. My husband was almost killed by an explosion, he lost his vision for 3 months and still only sees black and white. Parts of his jaw and skull had to be reconstructed.
Are we selfish now? We fought for this country. While I was 91W (health care specialist) and mostly spent my time caring for injured soldiers, my husband was actually in the line of combat.
Oh, how about my current profession?
I am a mother and I am working and going to school fulltime so that I can finish my requirements for my major, which is to be a labor/delivery nurse or ob/gyn, depending how far I will go - I tend to go ob/gyn. Wait - am I selfish if I am studying to be an ob/gyn?
I am studying to be one so that I can go to impoverished countries in need of doctors and humanitarian workers, specifically so that I can help out in Darfur where women are routinely raped as an act of warfare and die as consequence of poor conditions and no access to medical care? Am I selfish now? Please, you have no right to judge me or call me selfish.
Maybe we are selfish, we shouldn't have done squat for anybody. Maybe I should be like you instead and judge people online.
Spoiled? Eating meat everyday is spoiled. In Africa if you slaughter the goat you dont have a goat anymore. Meat in non-spoiled cultures is rare and special. You are black, pot- your pal, the kettle.
There's nothing wrong with being a vegetarian. We live in the United States and if someone doesn't like meat, that's not selfish. They can't help if they find a slab of meat unappealing.
Life is a struggle for everyone. No one gets exactly what they want in life. Be thankful you live in a country where you get to make your own choices and not have people chose for you.
WOW... I have been vegetarian for 10 years now and I can safely say that I have never heard anyone say this before!!! I am not sure that this question deserves an actual heartfelt response so I'll just ask this in return:
Do you live in a house? Starving people in Africa don't have a house to live in. You should feel so, so selfish...
Again, wow...
I have read what you think, and now you want to know what people think.
Well, I am a vegan and this is my take on what you said:
I would never be a vegetarian.
Well, to me that means that you have a very narrow point of view in your reality. You have boundaries that are very distinct and you prefer your reality to be defined by those boundaries (thus the word NEVER is in your vocabulary).
You go from stating that you WOULD never be a vegetarian, to a FORCED never be a vegetarian with an example of a starving African. There are also many people in Africa that eat vegetables and that is only what they eat because meat is very expensive. Only the rich Africans, not the starving ones or the refugees, can afford meat. You know the charity scenes where they are sending aid to starving children in Africa, and what do you see? They prepare a gruel (a porridge of grains/rice) for them to eat - no meat in there! Also in my opinion, malnutrition is because they don't eat anything! not even vegetables or meat! and they also have to contend with disease (like Aids, Malaria, and Cholera) that make them malnourished. Not to mention people running around killing other people, or even killing the people bringing in the gruel and medicine.
Who can afford to be a vegetarian?
You are also making assumptions that many vegetarians eat only expensive processed food. Not so. I eat organic too (even more expensive!) and make alot of my own meals (making it less expensive). It is just 30 minutes of cooking, plus 30 minutes of slowly enjoying my meal, so that it is an hour out of my day to nourish my body the right way (my choice of eating healthy and helping the planet and everybody else in the world is by just eating vegetables) per meal (some meals like a sandwich are only ten minutes though).
A vegetarian is really spoiled.
You must have had a negative experience with a vegetarian. Not all of us vegetarians/vegans think we are better than other people with their own choice of eating. Now some of us are passionate and outspoken about not killing/murdering life, in which animals are included, but spoiled would not be my choice of words. Perhaps, annoying would be better for you. Probably like this answer is for you.
Good GOD!
You could have asked that in a much less insulting manner .
I think many people, especially Maggie, have addressed your starving in Africa point.
I wish to address your "Anyone who can afford to be a vegetarian is really spoiled in my opinion"
How on earth can you justify that ? Meat (and dairy ) is incredibly expensive. I am a student, and my food budget as a Vegetarian/Vegan is much much lower than that of the meat eaters in my house. I can do a large filling meal for 60-70 pence ( 1 dollar 20 /40) , if they want a large meat meal its several pounds ( 1 pound=2 dollars). Vegetables are much cheaper than meat. Even the so called Veggiemeat is cheaper than meat.
So I am spoiled ? right. ......
I really cant think where you get this idea that a vegetarian diet is somehow expensive. The only idea I can come up with is brainwashing.
I hope you read all the answers here, and maybe reconsider some of your opinions expressed here.
Actually, starving people in Africa wouldn't be able to afford YOUR diet. You are the one that is spoiled. I also find it funny you call us spoiled when you omnivores eat the exact same things we do, you just purchase and eat animal products ON TOP of that. As I said in response to you in another obnoxious thread, people in third world countries don't have houses, so why do you? Your logic is astounding. It's sad you can admit we have choices, yet you can't think for yourself on anything. At least i'm doing something. You don't do anything.
I'm not a vegetarian either, but you sir are an idiot for your rudeness.
It's called freedom to choose.
Being a vegetarian has nothing to do with being selfish, picky or inconsiderate, i am half and half wish i could go whole, lol. It has a lot to do with being healthy. Commercially produced meat, chicken and dairy products are filled with chemicals and hormones to make everything bigger, fatter, etc;, etc; don't you ever read the papers. I bet a lot of the people in Africa are vegetarians , not from choice but from necessity .
Nah,its not bad.You should really give it a try. ;)
Why don't you go play with your Zune, you f*ckin hypocrite.
Eat a hamburger, save a starving African.