posted
Okay, so I eat fish. I don't eat red-meat or any other meat. What are some alternatives that supply iron and all those other good things I miss out on by not consuming meats?
------------------ Follow your inner moonlight, don't hide the MaDdNeSs...
Posts: 56 | From: Land of Oz | Registered: Jun 2002
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posted
Two words: fortified cereal. This coming from someone who tries to stay away from processed foods as much as possible. I hate taking vitamins, though, and in the States at least, we have a cereal called Total which luckily has 100% of the recommended daily intake for iron. I notice that on my periods I tend to feel sluggish unless I'm careful about it.
BTW, I'm pescatarian, too. ;] I just don't think I eat enough fish for that to count as far as iron goes.
posted
Last time I checked, chickens weren't vegetables, but here's the vegetarian etymology:
Pollo = chicken Lacto = milk Pesca = fish Ovo = eggs
So, you can be an ovolactopollo-vegetarian, or whatever.
(And a vegan is someone who doesn't consume any animal products. Some people include wool, honey, and leather in this definition. But it's kind of like virginity, everyone has different definitions.)
[This message has been edited by lemming (edited 10-09-2002).]
posted
Another FYI on that note: recently, the phrase "vegitan" has been coined and begun to be used for those who consume a vegan diet, yet don't necessarily keep fully vegan as far as other lifestyle issues, such as wearing leather shoes, for instance.
But you can't be a vegetarian and eat any sort of meat, save diry products (as ovo-lactco veggies do). Three cheers to you if you eat mainly vegetarian with chicken or fish or other meats only occassionally, that's a much better diet than the standard American diet anymore, but it isn't really a vegetarian one unless you say bye-bye to all the meaties and fishes.
------------------ Heather Corinna Editor and Founder, Scarleteen
My epitaph should read: "She worked herself into this ground." -- Kay Bailey Hutchinson
Posts: 63358 | From: An island near Seattle | Registered: May 2000
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aww, i think it's cheating if you eat chicken, but call yourself a vegetarian. i mean, c'mon! when was the last time your sowed chicken seeds and saw chickens starting to sprout out of the ground?
i mean, is it so dirty to call oneself a carnivore, that ppl will try any technicality to avoid it?
</rant>
------------------ "Things are only fragile till they break."
Posts: 12677 | From: Los Angeles, CA ... somewhere off the 10 | Registered: Jul 2000
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posted
I agree, but I don't like to call myself vegetarian no matter what, because there are all sorts of things associated with that word.
I won't eat an animal unless I'm sure that I could kill and prepare it myself, these days. So fish is okay, and shellfish are practically like vegetables, but chicken is off.
But I know people who go by the "beady eye" rule - things with beady eyes like chickens are OK to eat, or whatever, and people that are simply doing this for health and splurge on a little chicken now and then. I think maybe the "vegetarian" word is too vague. "Vegan" is still pretty clear, though.
posted
I know some people who use "demi-vegetarian" to refer to people who will, say, eat fish but not animal meat.
Posts: 6944 | From: UK | Registered: May 2002
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posted
One of the problems I have with people who call themselves vegetarians but still eat animals like chicken, fish, cows etc...is that it confuses the issue and makes life difficult for people who are strict about their vegetarianism.
Waiters and cooks at restaurants tend to take you less seriously when you order a soup asking if it is made with an anmimal based broth for example. The cook says, "Yeah, my cousin is a vegetarian but she eats chicken so this soup is fine for them." kind of thing. This happens a lot.
------------------ -Scarleteen Sexpert
"Glad to have a friend like you, And glad to just be me" -Carol Hall
quote:I won't eat an animal unless I'm sure that I could kill and prepare it myself, these days. So fish is okay, and shellfish are practically like vegetables, but chicken is off.
I think that's a way I go about it too. I think its a good way of defining what you eat and don't eat.
------------------ Follow your inner moonlight, don't hide the MaDdNeSs...
Posts: 56 | From: Land of Oz | Registered: Jun 2002
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posted
Just a little niggle on that, as something to think about.
When I was still eating dairy products, and eating fish on rare occasions, I tended to think about it that way, too.
But.
There's a difference between killing or farming yourself and what happens to animals when they are killed/caught or kept for mass consumption. A pretty big one, really, especially if you're not buying from indie farmers you know.
So, my thinking anymore -- for me -- is that were I willing to do that MYSELF and wanted to eat that stuff, it'd be one thing. And while I'm not eating eggs right now, our co-op does have a line on eggs from a farm where it's guaranteed that no hens are being forced to lay, so did I want one, okay, cool, I could get them from there. But otherwise....erm, different matter. A fish one catches, one at a time, kills immediately and eats dies in a very different way than those caught in huge nets and tossed on trucks to suffocate to death slowly.
No gulilt-tripping here. Just putting some...umm...food for thought out there, esp. if you're looking to be vegetarian or vegan. I just know that that thought process is on some level what kept me from going that way and it's not as simple as it seems. Really realizing that made the vegan transtion exceptionally easy for me.
------------------ Heather Corinna Editor and Founder, Scarleteen
My epitaph should read: "She worked herself into this ground." -- Kay Bailey Hutchinson
Posts: 63358 | From: An island near Seattle | Registered: May 2000
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posted
No, I do understand that, and I think about the way milk and eggs are produced all the time, honestly. (And I think it's pretty awful.) However, those are things which I can't avoid at this point; I'm on a very limited budget and rely to a good extent on my meal plan at the cafeteria. Some of our food choices really have to depend on what is possible and convenient, and I can't avoid them completely right now, much as I would like to.
As far as fish go...I have a very, very difficult time feeling too bad about eating them. This may make me an awful person, but I've killed enough fish in my life one way or another that I'm just cool with eating them. I think that humans are generally omnivorous critters, and were I okay with killing other animals myself, I wouldn't have any problem eating them.
Again, I think it's a bit like "virginity," we all have different definitions and reasons for our sexual activities, and none of them are particularly right or wrong.
quote:Originally posted by lemming: But I know people who go by the "beady eye" rule - things with beady eyes like chickens are OK to eat
Um, what?!? I've never heard of this "beady eye" rule. And what does the beadiness of an animals eyes have to do with whether someone will eat it or not??
(Just curious)
[This message has been edited by Zanney (edited 10-11-2002).]
posted
Zanney, Personally, I think it's stupid, but it's like saying you won't eat cute things but if you don't like it or think it's attractive it's okay to eat it. If it has eyes like a rat, eat it, if it has eyes like a dog, don't. Seriously. I've met more than one person who's described their eating habits to me this way. But, you know, whatever. It's not my life. I'm sure some people think my eating rationalizations are stupid. ;]
Posts: 3156 | From: Austin, Texas | Registered: Jun 2000
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posted
To go along with the "beady eye rule" I know people who refuse to eat seafood because the don't know how often the shellfishes clean out their shell. My friends mom has an interesting perspective on vegetinarism as well. She believes that if god didnt want us to eat animals, he'd make them run faster. That's just her opinion though.
------------------ "Only the foolish would fear Foxfire." Kolbrun; Juniper order
Posts: 117 | From: Washington | Registered: Jun 2002
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posted
I noticed this started out with respect to iron in your diet. I just thought it might be good to remind you that caffiene decreases absorbtion of iron into ones' body. I don't remember if there was a "good" reason but when I was in high school - I was told to have my iron tablet with a glass of orange juice.
About being a vegetarian - I find it extremely hard to do. I was raised on a farm that raised cattle for the purpose of petting and then some time later butchering. It became a simple fact in my life, feed the animal and it feeds you. Although when an animal's body was dumped in our freezer I was reluctant to eat it.
Last summer I tried the ovo-lacto vegetarian thing, but my dad is quick to criticize and I easily give up. I think it is an awesome choice that you've made and maybe one of these days I will have a diet worth mentioning.
quote:Originally posted by Zanney: Um, what?!? I've never heard of this "beady eye" rule.
Just passing through here, I noticed the "beady eye" rule and it reminded me of something. I once worked with a woman whose big thing was that she would not eat "anything with a smile." So shellfish, ostensibly, were okay along with shrimp...but things like red meat were right out. I questioned how she could determine whether a chicken was smiling or not, and promptly had a pillow thrown at my head. So I left it alone after that.
And on a more personal note, I'm an unabashed carnivore and have no problem whatsoever with it. However, I do respect vegetarians and vegans for their commitment to what they think is right. Both of my brothers and one of my sisters have become vegetarians over the past three years, and my youngest brother (now a sophomore in college) has gone stricly vegan within the past year. Over the course of going out to eat with them and dating a vegetarian, I have found out just how difficult it can be to find vegetarian food. I understand that it is a lot easier now than it used to be, but it's still pretty difficult. I suppose I take for granted the fact that I can look at a menu and just sort of order what I feel like eating. For true vegetarians that is a much more difficult practice, and I've gotta hand it to them for sticking to their beliefs in the face of inconvienence. Most people in such circumstances would just give up.
quote:Originally posted by Gumdrop Girl: aww, i think it's cheating if you eat chicken, but call yourself a vegetarian.
I was catching up in this forum the other day, and I came across this thread, and Gummy's quote got me thinking. I've noticed that a lot of my friends have done exactly what she's talking about (calling themselves a vegitarian while still consuming chicken, fish, and the like).
Personally, I tend to think how chic a vegitarian and vegan lifestyle has become. When I was still eating red meat (I no longer do so, but I just can't get off chicken and dairy. No more leather-based clothing products though. Whoo-hoo!) I often got critisized by my pseudo vegitiarian friends. When you say you're vegitarian, however, even if you don't stick to the full diet, a lot of people (at least of those I hang out with) suddenly seem to view the "vegitarian" as a god of health and all things related. I honestly think that has some baring on whether or not people refer to themselves as vegitarian or vegan while they don't necessiarily hold fast to the strictness of their diets.
Posts: 712 | From: Michigan, US | Registered: Oct 2001
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quote:Originally posted by foxfire: She believes that if god didnt want us to eat animals, he'd make them run faster.
While I'm personally fine with people eating what they choose to within limits, I gotta say that that doesn't seem like the best tack to adopt. After all, we can catch people even more easily than some animals some folks eat. Ack!
As far as the chic-factor of vegetarianism or veganism, I have to be plain and say -- despite spending most of my life vegetarian -- that I'm not sure that's such a bad thing. Sure, it can be annoying, but on the other hand the majority of Americans really consume too much meat and dairy (especially factory-farmed meat and dairy) as far as their health and other issues go, so if feeling cool gets folks to cut back a little initially, or even period, I think it's a good thing.
Certainly we can think of many, many things which have been considred cool to do which have been a lot less beneficial.
------------------ Heather Corinna Editor and Founder, Scarleteen
My epitaph should read: "She worked herself into this ground." -- Kay Bailey Hutchinson
Posts: 63358 | From: An island near Seattle | Registered: May 2000
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