Am I The Only Vegetarian Here?

[Deep_Sea_Rain]

Never even thought to ask...just curious...I've been veggie for a little over 13 months now, with eventual plans to become vegan (when my economic circumstances allow).

[Bob]

i sincerely doubt it

[Planetary]

Thread closed.

[kaiser soze]

yes you are - now make me some meatloaf

[Helvete]

It's funny how veggies and vegans argue that meat was a rare treat for people only until this last hundred years or so as it was generally quite expensive, yet now it's more expensive to NOT eat meat!

I question why you want to become a vegan?

[MC Moot]

cosmo is a the veggie gourmet queen of lost angels...she used to blog (http://notpopular.com/blogs/vegancooking)...I went about 30 day's without eating beef...then this weekend I had a amazing burger...then I got really ill,wicked upset stomach...so it's down to pork,chicken and seafood for me...

[Adam]

I'll be 10 years veggie come this december, it's a milestone I'm quite happy of even though it kinda means nothing.

I used to LOVE meat though but then morals got in the way.

Cosmos is vegan I thought, I wish I could, I'm jealous that people are but I'm too weak (from not eating meat for 10 years).

[MC Moot]

Good news for Adam!

"Pickman’s Chicken Farm Is Now Cruelty-Free."

By Zack Poitras


We would like to announce that Pickman’s Chicken Farm is now a cruelty-free chicken farm.

Since our humble beginnings in 1994, Pickman’s Chicken Farm has prided itself in providing free-range, organic chicken. We’ve never used antibiotics or hormones, and no pesticides ever touch our soil or feed. Now we are pleased to add “cruelty-free” to that list. Our chickens will not only be fed well, they will be treated well. No more inhumane slaughtering. No more senseless torture or deceit. No more efforts to debase the chickens and make them feel poor.

We’re making improvements daily. The creaky rope bridge leading to the coop has been replaced with a ramp. In the past we would have greased the ramp to watch chickens fall on their dumb faces. Today? No grease. The pit of spikes under the bridge has been covered with a large board.

In the coop, the trap doors situated over a vat of acid have been nailed shut. The thin glass panel separating the chickens from our fox pen, painted over. We’ve removed the hanging chains, guillotines, and rakes hidden beneath a thin layer of brush. The live video feed from our slaughterhouse has been disabled. When the chickens leave the coop, we no longer replace their nests with big rocks painted to look like nests.

We’ve put an end to the pranks. No more waking the chickens with a squirt of orange juice in the eyes, apologizing for our actions, wiping their eyes clean, and then, just as they are about to fall back asleep, squirting them in the eyes again. We also stopped gluing tiny beards to their beaks.

The chicken feed is now free of fake chicken eyeballs and little pebbles.

Chickens shall no longer be dangled from high places nor lashed to our feet prior to mashing grapes for our Pickman’s Vineyard Signature Merlot. How this new rule will affect the wine’s unique palate, we’ve yet to discover. But it’s a risk our lawyers say we must take.

In the old days, we used to pluck a chicken down to one feather a couple weeks before killing it, just so its chicken friends could see what a ding-dong it is. That’s over now.

We’ll no longer put a chicken in a maze and slaughter it as a reward for solving the maze. And no more surprise firing squads, where we’d make chickens execute another chicken by shoving a wing in the trigger hole and tickling their bellies. (We are currently researching how to kill chickens humanely, and will follow suit.)

The decision to become a cruelty-free chicken farm was not easy. After all, chickens are lazy, stupid creatures that naturally deserve creative sadism and excessive poking. Humiliated chickens, especially the ones covered in maple syrup and rainbow sprinkles, evoke the purest form of human laughter, and there’s no telling us different.

Unfortunately, our unbridled joy at chicken hazing started to negatively affect our business, and change became our only option. There had been complaints from the parents of children who visited the farm on a class field trip, no doubt a result of our encouragement that each child find a chicken to punch in the back of the head. A few grocery stores also took up issue after a few pounds of chicken gizzards showed up black from the chickens’ forced addiction to cigarettes.

If only because we have to, we nevertheless embrace our new philosophy towards chicken treatment, and are proud to join an elite class of farming. If you’d like to see the Pickman’s Chicken Farm’s already substantial improvements, we invite you to stop by anytime. I recommend paying us a visit this Friday, when we’ll be firing goats out of a hydraulic cannon into a big lake.

:D

[cosmo105]

I've been vegan for 7 years and vegetarian for 3 years before that. Yay!

As far as money goes, I love certain veggie meat substitutes like gardein, but only buy them when they're on sale (which is pretty often). Otherwise I just cook with a lot of beans, tofu, and tempeh. Veggies themselves unfortunately add up at the cash register :\ There are lots of great blogs out there on how to eat super cheap as a vegan, though. Bulk beans and grains are your friend.

[Deep_Sea_Rain]

I'll be 10 years veggie come this december, it's a milestone I'm quite happy of even though it kinda means nothing.

(y) Congrats man...that's quite an accomplishment!

[MC Moot]

"I like rice...Rice is great when you're hungry and you want 2000 of something..."

[Deep_Sea_Rain]

I've been vegan for 7 years and vegetarian for 3 years before that. Yay!

As far as money goes, I love certain veggie meat substitutes like gardein, but only buy them when they're on sale (which is pretty often). Otherwise I just cook with a lot of beans, tofu, and tempeh. Veggies themselves unfortunately add up at the cash register :\ There are lots of great blogs out there on how to eat super cheap as a vegan, though. Bulk beans and grains are your friend.

Thanks for the tips cosmo...that's quite a feat also. Can I ask your opinion on the whole "white rice is bone bleached" issue? Is it true or merely a rumor?

I prefer saying "I don't eat meat", rather than vegetarian. Vegetarian conjures up all sorts of images, in my mind at least, of people who only eat lettuce.

My rule is anything that can be obtained from an animal without ending it's life is safe. Animal products that are obtained cruelly are also out.

I only buy rice cheese, rice milk, and eat almost exclusively cage free/no hormone/vegetarian fed eggs that unfortunately cost an arm and a leg. I stay away from gelatin (lots of yogurts and candy contain the stuff), and many soups that are made with stock (essentially animal carcass broth...bleh).

I stopped eating meat because of how much I care about animals...I had already stopped when I saw this (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yW3gunMSCu4) film. It really reaffirmed things for me...definitely give it a watch if you're able to.

[Helvete]

Would you continue (or restart) to eat meat if you reared the animals yourself in a humane way and only slaughtered what you needed as and when? I'm not suggesting you start a smallholding, but just wanting to know your feelings towards animals that are still eaten, yet cared for in a much greater way than in the mass production factories we have now.

[cosmo105]

Adam - I don't know about white rice. I know most white sugar is processed that way.

Helvete - I personally probably couldn't. For me it's not just about factory farming, but the thought of benefitting from the pain/suffering/death etc. of another animal. I just couldn't do it. I love animals :o

[MC Moot]

I think the strongest argument for a vegetarian or vegan diet is based in environmental impact and sustainability...the moral or ethical stance has little bearing on my end decision...personal health more so if anything...I grew up near and around both the commercial fishing industry as well as cattle trade…so my perspective is altered if not altogether bias...Truly it is the impact on the environment that is rapidly becoming unsustainable…with everything from methane displacement, abattoir effluent leeching into ground water, poor feed practices, genetic tampering , waning and disappearing fish stocks ,new and aggressive strains of bovine, swine and poultry virus…etc,etc...generations to come will have to change our current consumption patterns drastically as we near critical mass... so bring on the BBQ and don't procreate unless you’re gonna raise a productive and proactive veg head...

[JoLovesMCA]

I don't eat that much meat but it's not because I don't like it, it's just the calories are insane. I think Morning Star products are great. I love the meat crumbles and I often substitute that for my meat. ;)

I do however boycott any company that I know mistreats their animals. I don't eat at KFC or buy Tyson food products either.

[Adam]

You actually have to blame the beastie boys for my vegetarianism. As back in 2001 I got into Buddhism (although not now) because of MCA "fanboy copies idol" and part of an experiment was to give up something so I choose red meat, the next week white meat and never looked back.

It's a mixture of everything to do with the meat industry for me along with it takes so much extra land to produce 1kg of meat to 1kg of grain for example (although don't know the ratio off top of my head) . Also there is a passage in The Art Of Happiness that goes on about how although some buddhists do eat meat it is because they have to as nothing grows on the sides of the biggest mountains in Tibet but they give their chicken the best life and kill them themselves. I couldn't kill anything myself - I have to let spiders go and will just move slugs to another side of the garden if near my plants. Most flies I have to let live too.

I am lucky enough to be able to eat well without resorting to the direct killing of an animal - I'm not a pet lover by any means (to me pets are just carbon intensive poop machines but that is a whole other rant) but I don't want to see any living creature come to harm - I totally get dairy farming has it's issues that can almost be as bad as meat and I'm conflicted with that but I'm doing my best in my ignorant middle class suburban white bubble :D

edit: to touch on the monetary price of being veggie, I can't say it costs any more. But I bet finding cheap protein is hard for a vegan. Can't remember who but Tour De France have their first vegan rider this year. He'll be taking on probably at least 5000 calories a day so it'll be interesting to know his diet.

[M|X|Y]

Presuming it was 'safe'...

Would you guys eat beef/fish/chicken meat if were "grown"/cultured ?

http://www.livescience.com/3904-free-beef-proposed.html

http://bit.ly/nzE6QV

[MC Moot]

Friends don't let friends eat farmed fish! (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Friends-Dont-Let-Friends-Eat-Farmed-Fish/334090953178)...aquaculture,outside of some mussel production operations, is highly inadvisable...

[M|X|Y]

But those fish farms involve growing whole, living, sentient fish.

The links I posted are about growing meat with no animal...

So would you?

[Helvete]

To be honest, despite all these years of being an aggressive meat eater and hating up those who aren't, if I could, I would go vegetarian. I wish the whole world would do it. Truth is, I can't. I enjoy eating too much, and I literally hate vegetables. I don't eat a single one. I wouldn't want eating to become a chore about giving my body enough nutrients only.

I would end up eating only potatoes and pasta. Then I'd probably die or get really unhealthy.

[taquitos]

14yrs vegetarian, 19 years since ive eaten pork. i was vegan for like a week once

[M|X|Y]

for most of you not eating meat is related to not making anything/one suffer?

[M|X|Y]

oops wrong thread

[Adam]

Helvete - haters gonna hate but you can't hate someone because of a life choice they've made, no matter how insignificant that choice is. Or is it those that protest at the omnivores you dislike?

I talk about vegetarianism here because this is the partly the source of inspiration to become veggie and of relevance to the crowd - I seek information from and are happy to give information to fellow veggies.

In my real life, someone wouldn't know I was veggie until after a couple of meals together AND notice I never order meat, or I order the one non-meat dish off the menu. My current girlfriend didn't notice until about three meals in and then asked, it's a part of me that is habitual it doesn't register to me or most people the difference.

Just don't hate other peoples decisions, be it food, religion, sexual, political... makes everything else you may say invalid :cool:

[ToucanSpam]

I have a question for the vegetarians and vegans participating in this thread. Please do not take this as a hostile question or meant to be anything but an honest inquiry:

Do you believe yourself to be more morally upright/just/superior than people who choose to eat meat?

I ask this because a few vegetarians I have interacted with are very adamant about being "more right" or "morally superior" because of their choice not to eat meat and I find that argument frustrating. I recognize that obnoxious people like that tend to alienate others from vegetarians but I'm curious to hear from more rational, intelligent people who can articulate better than the jerks I have encountered.

Personally, I respect people who have made the decision not to eat meat and I understand their choices. I have attempted vegetarian meals before and some of them are quite good, but I don't think that I am going to make a full transition.

[Helvete]

Helvete - haters gonna hate but you can't hate someone because of a life choice they've made, no matter how insignificant that choice is. Or is it those that protest at the omnivores you dislike?

I talk about vegetarianism here because this is the partly the source of inspiration to become veggie and of relevance to the crowd - I seek information from and are happy to give information to fellow veggies.

In my real life, someone wouldn't know I was veggie until after a couple of meals together AND notice I never order meat, or I order the one non-meat dish off the menu. My current girlfriend didn't notice until about three meals in and then asked, it's a part of me that is habitual it doesn't register to me or most people the difference.

Just don't hate other peoples decisions, be it food, religion, sexual, political... makes everything else you may say invalid :cool:

I don't hate them anymore, and is wasn't really hate per se. It was more 'why the hell would anyone want to be a vegetarian, that's mental!' It was just, I couldn't understand them. If anything, I admire them now.

[cosmo105]

I have a question for the vegetarians and vegans participating in this thread. Please do not take this as a hostile question or meant to be anything but an honest inquiry:

Do you believe yourself to be more morally upright/just/superior than people who choose to eat meat?



No way. Veganism is a deeply, deeply personal decision for me and something I care about very passionately. Up until recently I felt weird even wearing shirts that said "vegan" on them, actually, because I am so paranoid about being associated with that type of vegan. It's something I'm really proud of, but I don't want to brand myself as an asshole before people even speak to me. Usually the people that are like that were assholes already, and veganism is just another avenue for them to feel better than everyone else. Believe me, I know many of them, and I do NOT associate with them.

I know that my diet is a pain in the ass for my friends and family, waiters and cooks, and I always thank people profusely when they go out of their way to accommodate it. I think my loved ones all know by now where I stand on it, and the fact that I'm enthusiastic and positive about it instead of being judgmental and antagonistic toward them has made them much more accepting and understanding about it. (One or two still gives me shit about it, for NO reason, and my other family members are sick of it too. :rolleyes:)

I don't feel that I'm better than anyone for my decision in the least. As I said, I personally can't reconcile eating meat with my own feelings about animals. Do I wish the whole world would go vegan? Yes, of course. But that's not my decision to make, nor do I think that they aren't "advanced" or something because they don't feel the same way I do. Maybe they aren't aware of the extent of the damage that factory farming does to our environment, or the inhumanity of the treatment of the animals. Maybe they aren't aware of what a Western diet does to their bodies. Do I think they would make the switch if they were aware? Maybe. But I don't think that PETA's whole "shove awful footage in your face and guilt you into it" methods are really the right way to do it (though I do think that people should be more conscious of where their food comes from in general).

Would I ever force my beliefs on others? Never. (My boyfriend's not even vegan - he's vegetarian, which is a nice bonus, and I cook the majority of our food but never bat an eye when he orders cheese or eggs when we go out to eat. I've dated omnivores and vegans alike, and it doesn't really matter to me. I've even cooked meat for an ex that was too ill to cook for himself. I AM A GOOD GIRLFRIEND.) I instead share awesome vegan food with people just as an act of kindness (and sneakily replacing animal-sourced calories with plant-based calories) and let them come to their own conclusions about the potential awesomeness of a vegan lifestyle. You catch more flies with agave than with vinegar, and by being enthusiastic and inviting you can show people instead of telling them.

I love being vegan. It keeps me healthy, dodging the death sentence of my genetics, and has introduced me to countless friends, and I've made a career out of it. I love making vegan food and sharing it with people. I think that passion is more infectious than being a dick.

[saz]

Do you believe yourself to be more morally upright/just/superior than people who choose to eat meat?

I ask this because a few vegetarians I have interacted with are very adamant about being "more right" or "morally superior" because of their choice not to eat meat and I find that argument frustrating. I recognize that obnoxious people like that tend to alienate others from vegetarians but I'm curious to hear from more rational, intelligent people who can articulate better than the jerks I have encountered.

no.

they're just being obnoxious.

i stopped eating beef two years ago in order to maintain a much more healthier diet and plan on eventually being a vegetarian.

[jackrock]

What if the meat was produced in vitro?

[M|X|Y]

"in vitro" like this

Presuming it was 'safe'...

Would you guys eat beef/fish/chicken meat if were "grown"/cultured ?

http://www.livescience.com/3904-free-beef-proposed.html

http://bit.ly/nzE6QV

No killing of animals. Concievably less the product of suffering than what gets a box of strawberries into our fridges.

[cosmo105]

What if the meat was produced in vitro?

At this point, probably not. It's also the health issues for me. Heart disease and other related metabolic disorders run rampant in my family history, and I find that veganism works very well to keep my cholesterol low and my other stuff in check. I don't do well with animal protein, and especially not dairy. I'd probably be kind of freaked out by meat at this point anyway, which I never thought I'd say. It's just been too long and kind of grosses me out by now.

[saz]

meat grown from stem cells will be a reality in approximately 15-20 years, and our planet will be much better off without factory farming.

[ToucanSpam]

No way. Veganism is a deeply, deeply personal decision for me and something I care about very passionately. Up until recently I felt weird even wearing shirts that said "vegan" on them, actually, because I am so paranoid about being associated with that type of vegan. It's something I'm really proud of, but I don't want to brand myself as an asshole before people even speak to me. Usually the people that are like that were assholes already, and veganism is just another avenue for them to feel better than everyone else. Believe me, I know many of them, and I do NOT associate with them.

I know that my diet is a pain in the ass for my friends and family, waiters and cooks, and I always thank people profusely when they go out of their way to accommodate it. I think my loved ones all know by now where I stand on it, and the fact that I'm enthusiastic and positive about it instead of being judgmental and antagonistic toward them has made them much more accepting and understanding about it. (One or two still gives me shit about it, for NO reason, and my other family members are sick of it too. :rolleyes:)

I don't feel that I'm better than anyone for my decision in the least. As I said, I personally can't reconcile eating meat with my own feelings about animals. Do I wish the whole world would go vegan? Yes, of course. But that's not my decision to make, nor do I think that they aren't "advanced" or something because they don't feel the same way I do. Maybe they aren't aware of the extent of the damage that factory farming does to our environment, or the inhumanity of the treatment of the animals. Maybe they aren't aware of what a Western diet does to their bodies. Do I think they would make the switch if they were aware? Maybe. But I don't think that PETA's whole "shove awful footage in your face and guilt you into it" methods are really the right way to do it (though I do think that people should be more conscious of where their food comes from in general).

Would I ever force my beliefs on others? Never. (My boyfriend's not even vegan - he's vegetarian, which is a nice bonus, and I cook the majority of our food but never bat an eye when he orders cheese or eggs when we go out to eat. I've dated omnivores and vegans alike, and it doesn't really matter to me. I've even cooked meat for an ex that was too ill to cook for himself. I AM A GOOD GIRLFRIEND.) I instead share awesome vegan food with people just as an act of kindness (and sneakily replacing animal-sourced calories with plant-based calories) and let them come to their own conclusions about the potential awesomeness of a vegan lifestyle. You catch more flies with agave than with vinegar, and by being enthusiastic and inviting you can show people instead of telling them.

I love being vegan. It keeps me healthy, dodging the death sentence of my genetics, and has introduced me to countless friends, and I've made a career out of it. I love making vegan food and sharing it with people. I think that passion is more infectious than being a dick.

Thank you so much for this response, cosmo. I really appreciate someone taking the time and effort to share their opinion about this without getting abrasive. I dated a vegetarian for over a year and it was really frustrating to hear about being morally inferior yadda yadda this and that. I have nothing but respect (and admiration) for people who choose to live morally upright lives but when it becomes something that is ritually thrown in your face, it becomes a problem.

I wonder how effective it would be for a country like the United States or Canada to show kids today the different diets they can choose. I think there would be a lot of value in kids learning about a meat free diet younger because it would give them a better chance at a healthy lifestyle.

[b-grrrlie]

I've been a vegetarian for quite a while now. I was grown up with a health food fanatic mum, was mainly vegetarian when I lived in London '83-'85 (cause the food in Britain was baaaad...) and the last time I ate something that had lived before was sometimes in the really early 90's. I gotta admit Yauch's turning into buddhism about the same time as me has affected a lot.
I haven't turned vegan (yet), but I don't use leather or fur (as they have to kill the animal), and my use of dairy is limited cause I'm a little lactose intolerant. I grow a lot of my own veggies (being a gardener....) and use what nature offers for free (berries, mushrooms, loads of edible plants).

[Helvete]

True that the animal has to be killed to make leather, but it's more of a by product during meat production. I don't believe that any leather producing animal is killed solely for it's hide.

[Adam]

I wanna try being vegan now - inspiration thread!

David Zabriskie was the vegan Tour De France rider - I say was as he crashed out with a broken wrist on stage 9.

All you really say about is VEGANISM CAUSES WEAK BONES.

[fonky pizza]

I eat what my body tells me to eat, i don't like red meat, I love fish. When I eat a wild salmon, I thank the beautiful salmon for the energy it gives me but I don't like to eat animals too much, I prefer pizza:p

[Lyman Zerga]

ive been a vegetarian for almost half of my life now and i dont plan to eat meat/fish ever again

tried to be a vegan for a month but i dont like the taste of soy milk or other fake milk and i could never go with my family into a restaurant again but i look up to vegans and sometimes wish i could be one

[b-grrrlie]

Foxes, minks and chinchillas are killed only for their fur....

[Adam]

^yeah, I do agree if you're gonna kill an animal you might as well make use of as many bits as possible. Eat the fox, chinchillas and minx - make a nice soup probably.

[Helvete]

Notice how I only mentioned leather and not fur. My car is too nice with leather seats, and my Army boots have no choice to be leather so I'm set on that matter.

[p-branez]

I am very close to adam - I'm vegetarian for 10 years in a few months. For me, it's just a common thing - all my friends and family know so it's not a big deal. I really don't care what others eat.

The biggest thing I think about as a vegetarian is how it's become more socially accepted (I live in Midwest US). When I first stopped eating meat, I was about 14 and I remember getting the vibe from other people when I told them, like "what's wrong with you? Is everything ok?" And they were always so concerned about what I could/could not eat.

Now you can get tofu (or tempeh, and tons of those Morningstar, Quorn, and Boca products) at any grocery store, nearly all restaurants have some vegetarian option, and acquantainces don't say (like they used to), "OMG, that must be terrible to eat all salad" when I mention I don't eat meat.

[monkey]

I've been a vegetarian for 12 years now, with two small "meat moments" in the 12 years, and a really brave run of about 4-5 months of veganism. I most certainly do not feel morally superior to anyone, nor do I think my choice is something that everyone needs to follow. I think cosmo really hit the nail on the head with her response, i feel similarly in my situation. I don't like meat, makes me think of muscles (which is what it is...) and that idea just grosses me out. Biology class and dissections really did it for me.
I have had two meat moments, to my stomach's chagrin. One was a few years ago, at a friend's birthday party, I think I was sick and I honestly just CRAVED the lamb he was cooking. I never had that feeling before. That event was really difficult for me, because i had never felt such a strong craving in my life, and i tried to eat something filling, but the craving was very strong. i gave in, had about 4 or 5 bites of the lamb, and that was it. i later asked my doctor (because i actually had a really bad time for about 4 days with the bathroom :/) and he said that my body might have just had a very strong craving for iron or some other nutrient, and it just wanted to have that food. I have never felt that kind of pull before or since.
My second meat moment was done out of respect. I went to visit my family in the south of Chile, and they raise their own animals and the whole nine. For the entire week I was there, all i ate was salad and potatoes, but I know that it is customary there for the guest to be served one of two traditional meals: either a curanto (an earth-cooked seafood ensemble) or lamb. As it happened, they went for the lamb, and I felt that out of respect for my family, who put me up and fed me my "grass and potatoes" for a week, I had to try the lamb. All 2 bites of it. They even took a picture. I knew that this was a big deal to all involved, including myself, and I thanked not only my family, but I thanked the lamb and the earth for providing me with the opportunity and the food. It was a very surreal and holistic experience, in a way. Again, it's not something I am racing to try again. I do not find it "tasty", but I didn't think it was vomit-worthy either. It just was.
I have cooked meat for my family and friends, because I'm not opposed to them eating whatever the fuck they want. My mother has become more of a vegetarian because of what I've shown her in regards to the health aspects of being vegetarian, but neither one of us believes in pushing it onto others. I am not vegan because I am really picky eater, and eggs are one of the few sources of protein (along with beans) that I'm really truly into. As for dairy... the only thing with dairy that I really eat at this point is yogurt, and that's because the soy yogurts ive tried have not been yummy. *I would happily take recommendations here for non-dairy yogurts!* And ice cream, i love ice cream, even if it makes my stomach want to kill me.

[cosmo105]

WholeSoy is pretty much the only soy yogurt worth trying. Their lemon/lime flavors are fucking AMAZING. Stay away from Wildwood, shit is nasty. Trader Joe's sells some of their own private label - not sure who makes them, but they're very sugaryfruity. They're good, but WholeSoy is way better.

[Lyman Zerga]

i wish people would atleast eat just the asshole animals instead of the cute ones

[Helvete]

Yeah, that's not retarded.

[silence7]

I've invented a couple Morgan Spurlock 30 days tests for myself, although mine are pretty weak compared to his.

30 days - Vegetarian
I like to eat fast food, and it was a little rough adjusting, but most fast food places now have salads etc now. It really wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Could I do it forever, probably, would I want to, probably not. Carne Asada, and In-N-Out calls to me.

30 days - Eat only with chopsticks.
It was fun!

Next 30 days, no fast food.

[GreenEarthAl]

It has been 17.5 years vegetarian for me.

I feel very morally superior, not just to humans but to all carnivorous species everywhere. I was talking with a lion the other day about what a complete feckless asshole she was.

One of the most common questions our band, BloodThirsty Vegans, get is "How long have you all been Vegans?" and I'm the only vegetarian. We had one member become a vegan for two weeks before deciding it wasn't for her. We get a lot of people come up to us and ask us that in what seems like a prelude to a confrontation and then when they find out we're not vegans they suddenly like us. High fives all around and the like. I can't say I've ever really appreciated being appreciated for not being actually vegan.

I am actually very close to vegan.

And we're all very anti-cruelty. Can't say I actually meet to many pro-cruelty people.