r/Vegetarianism

I watched the new Hugh Jackman movie “The Sheep Detectives” last night with my boyfriend and bawled my eyes out several times. Don’t want to share any spoilers, but the movie has actually inspired me to stop eating meat. My boyfriend who’s a big meat lover even wanted to get vegetarian food after watching. We enjoyed some veggie burgers afterwards. I already try to follow a mostly plant-based diet, but this movie really makes me want to commit to full on vegetarianism. Has anyone else had a similar experience with a distinct moment that made you completely switch to vegetarianism?

Im glad im vegetarian as an adult but i resent my parents for feeding me meat from a young age.

thankfully i was a really picky meat eater early on, i wouldn’t eat anything outside of beef or chicken. so i never ate pork products, deli meats, bologna, or hot dogs.

I think I just want to go meatless but still enjoy eggs & some dairy (sometimes), but I don't wanna half-ass it. So many sources say different things. Also what would be some good, affordable meat alternatives that you would recommend?

Interesting article summarizing a lot of research on lack of public awareness of factory farming’s prevalence, cognitive dissonance, moral attitudes, etc. Gist I think is American attitudes are an outgrowth of both ignorance and human psychology, ie, the brain’s aggressive efforts to ignore or rationalize information that might require you to completely change your habits or outlook. Then few people see meat consumption per se (ie, in isolation from considering where the meat comes from, which most people don’t want to think too hard about) as a moral issue.

Proposal at the end is that the best thing to do now is push for more humane farming practices—incremental improvement focusing on things the public actually can be persuaded to care about. Notes the success of activism around cage-free eggs as an example.

Not to ignite a variation of what I’m sure is a well-trodden debate on this sub, but some musings…

Reminds me of the early abolition movement: arguments focusing on things like the trauma of crew members transporting slaves (yes, really—see the work of Thomas Clarkson) were more successful early on in persuading people who otherwise wouldn’t care to end the slave trade. Then focusing on the greed of slaveholding aristocrats—they’re taking white jobs!

Similarly, criticisms of factory farms based on corporate greed/concern for small farms seem to resonate with a lot of people. Environmental concerns work sometimes too, though there’s obviously already a lot of overlap between vegetarians/vegans and people who care about the environment.

Then health concerns are also frequently effective, and can be linked to the corporate greed angle—people understand that inhumane mass production tactics lead to lower quality, even dangerous foods. Think Upton Sinclair’s “The Jungle”—supposed to be about corporate greed and inhumane conditions for the workers (he portrayed horrific things happening to the animals, but even that was more about the working conditions for the humans), but what the public heard was, “oh my God, the way make our meat is disgusting, we need to fix that!”

Point is, people’s cognitive defenses activate when you make variations of the core “killing and torturing animals unnecessarily is wrong” argument. Rarely respond to new information or evidence by adjusting their outlook, just rationalize it in their existing frames. (Of course, I doubt this thread would exist if that was universally true—this is just a general observation.) The article notes even IVF and using marijuana are far more likely to be seen by Americans as morally wrong than eating meat.

Then again, I’m not aware of a successful “treat the slaves humanely” movement (which, to be clear, I’m not saying would’ve been the right approach). I think this was tried in England, but the slave plantations refused to follow the rules, so then that helped cement that abolition was the only solution. Don’t know about anything comparable in the States. This is far from a perfect historical comparison.

I’ve recently decided to switch to a more plant based diet for ethical reasons. While minimizing animal suffering was apart of why I’m making changes, the more important portion to me is the negative environmental impact of the meat industry.

For the past few days I’ve been eating a pescatarian diet. In another world I’d be vegetarian, but I’m an athlete and getting protein is very important to me. I guess I could manage being vegetarian with protein powders and what not, but because I have IBD, my gut health is another major concern of mine.

All this to say, although I haven’t consumed other types of meat the past few days, I’ve had a pretty significant amount of seafood. Maybe 2x a day. To be clear, I do believe that fish can experience pain, so that’s not what I’m asking.

What I’m trying to get at is, with how often I’m consuming fish, is my environmental impact functionally the same as an omnivore? I understand mass fishing is a major polluter, and though my original intention was just to reduce harm where ever I can, I’m starting to wonder if this really is harm reduction at all.

I think I might be interested in becoming vegetarian, especially after thinking about how awful the idea of slaughter houses are. I wanna do more research on stuff like that before I decide if I wanna try out being vegetarian so if yall know any trustworthy articles please lmk!

First off I want to give a huge thank you for the multiple people who have recommended this book bc it’s absolutely amazing but it’s gotten me thinking abt a few things and I wanted to get some other perspective of people who are currently vegetarian and/or plant based on this.

I am currently someone transitioning into vegetarianism.

A great part abt this book that I enjoy is that it doesn’t shy away from the truth on BOTH sides. I like to hear perspectives from as many angles as I possibly can.

There’s a section in the book where I got to the author’s conversation he had with a retired factory farmer. And I really like how she emphasized her distaste for suffering but also put into another perspective about how there is a greater demand of meat produce all across the world more than there ever has been in all human history.

Considering that there are 8.3 billion people in the world, family farms would not be able to feed this many people. The way that animals are produced into food for humans through factory farms itself is a horrible issue. It kinda makes me think as someone who’s still explaining vegetarianism — would not eating meat really change anything? And I don’t mean that in a way that I’m trying to ignore its harm but also more so understand my own personal purpose.

I feel like the extremist views of “all who eat animals are evil” is just as bad as the extremist view of “we were born to eat meat.”

The more I delve into this topic the more complex and nuanced I realize it is. It’s not an “if this then that,” but just layer u keep peeling again and again.

Another thing that I really would like explore that the factory farmer emphasized was this (and I’m paraphrasing here): Why does the want for the taste of meat justify the act of killing animals? For example, there would be judgment, criticism, or disagreement for people who choose to kill animals or decapitate them for the showcase of art simply because want too or like it. (TW for the second example here): There would be the same distaste for someone is horny who chooses to r*pe another person out of sexual desire simply because they want too.

It got me thinking abt want/desire vs necessity in different scenarios.

Anyways I just wanted to get some opinions if you all had any.

Please be kind,

Thank you ❤️

Firstly I'd like to preface by saying I'm a teenager who has very little control over the food brought into our household. My mother is (as I've recently discovered) a low effort pescetarian (she really doesn't care past actual meat), I've been vegetarian since I was about 7, my younger brother eats meat.

I'm autistic with a limited diet as it is, and recent anxieties around whether or not foods are *actually* vegetarian has me not wanting to touch some of the foods I usually eat and not wanting to try anything new at all. I guess I'm just looking for advice on how the labeling system works, and what to look out for when there isn't a label?

I guess my main concerns are cheese, how to tell, what to look out for (in the UK). Plus, are cheese dishes (for example a macaroni cheese ready meal, mozzarella sticks, etc) that claim to be vegetarian friendly actually using vegetarian cheese?

Any knowledge appreciated!

I understand that animals do suffer but I want to understand how and why to make my decision certain, I want to know how the meat industry works and how that affects farm animals. Thank you all

I've been thinking of going vegetarian for a while, however I don't like cheese and I don't like eggs, so I don't eat them. Would this make it harder for me to eat a healthy diet as a vegetarian?

Edit: thank you all so much for replying, it’s been really helpful reading all your feedback! 🙌

I posted here yesterday about some issues I have with eating meat so as to not be a bother. I thank you all for your responses as they got me thinking about what my root issue is.

I wasn't clear in what I wrote: I have eaten meat purely through my own choice because I wanted to fit in, to not stand out, to not "be a bother." I did this in my own home, cooking meat for my in-laws because they are meat eaters and then eating said meat myself (which left me feeling awful both physically and emotionally).

My truth is that I avoid speaking up for myself. I subjugate myself constantly, never wanting to rock the boat or stand out in any way. Yes, I'm a people-pleaser, but I'm also a chameleon, and this has been a lifelong pattern.

I'm 53 years old and have been dabbling with being a vegetarian since I was 21. There was a two-year span of time when I was fully committed, and it felt great. This was during the pandemic, and so without any of the usual social pressures I felt to fit in/go along, it was relatively easy.

I'm writing all of this because I need to make a public declaration. It's time for me to do this! I fully and completely believe that not eating meat is the right thing for me; it's what I genuinely want to do. My competing need to never speak up has harmed me for too long.

So, here I go. I have to accept that being fully committed to being vegetarian will require me to say no, or to accept "weird" meals of only mashed potatoes and other side dishes. I need to check my hang-ups and move forward, fully committing to what I know in my bones is right.

I'm very, very new to this sub, so please forgive me if this isn't quite right. I just wanted to share where I am and what I'm planning to do. Thanks for listening.

Also - finally: I'd like to use this new commitment as a springboard into healthier eating. I know I tend to lean far too heavily on cheese and meat substitutes, and look forward to finding healthier eating so I can lose some weight, too. My issues with food are deeply rooted and I guess the point I'm making (with too many words!!) is that I want to FINALLY start doing what's right for me.

I’ve eaten a primarily vegetarian diet for five years. I still lean on fish at times, but I feel much better when I don’t eat any meat.

My issue is that I’m a life-long people-pleaser and I find myself eating meat at certain social settings because I don’t want to be a bother.

I truly want to commit to being fully vegetarian because that what aligns with my morals and values, and there is no reason not to except for my own insecurities.

If anyone has experiences to share, I’d love to hear them.

it's honestly been making me sad all the stuff i can't eat. i just found out that poptarts have gelatin after eating a packet of them and now i feel sick to my stomach. i can't eat mcdonalds or KFC French fries because they contain beef and chicken, and my family eats out all the time so it'll be hard to avoid. i don't have much to eat at home since i just found out that a ton of the stuff i got from the store isn't vegetarian. can someone help me make a list of all the things that i may not know contains animal parts? thanks.

i've also been dealing with the issue of not being taken seriously since i've only been vegetarian for a few days now, whenever i tell someone i'm vegetarian now they say "how long," i say "a few days," and they laugh like i'm not serious about it. i really genuinely want to stop eating meat and stuff like rennet and gelatin but i've been feeling down recently and pretty invalid since i see people on this sub that have been vegetarians for 5, 8, 12 years.

A friend of mine found it interesting when I told them recently that I still purchase non-vegetarian cookbooks, and it's something I've never really sat down and considered. My point to them was that in so many instances I can just replace the meat in a recipe with an alternative (like Quorn for instance).

There are exceptions though, I would never buy a cookbook that is exclusively centred around meat (especially books about BBQing).

The title is dramatic only because it catches the eye. I don't think people who eat meat (I eat meat) are sinners anymore than someone who only eats plants (I too eat plants)!

I'm not vegetarian, but I've been forced to really pay attention to what I put into my body for health reasons, and honestly, I think all people should be aware of what it is they are eating, what it really means, where it is from and so on. I don't think it's right to separate the concept of "beef" away from the truth that you're eating a cow. The same thing, I feel, is also important is to know that the rice, or whatever plant you're consuming, didn't just spawn at the store.

That being said, I'm not here to attack people. There is an amount of separation between the food we eat (regardless of what foods we eat) and where it comes from, and what had to happen for it to get to your plate, that happens. More so as modernity, not so slowly, creeps up on us from the shadows. Just like some people don't think about the process of what is really going on to make that chicken into a nugget, the same can be said about things like oils, grains, and other 'rabbit foods,' as total meat heads my call vegetables. Again, I eat both. I am free of no sin, I am casting no stones. I'm here to ask a honest question.

All this preamble aside; I ask the vegetarianism community this:

I often struggle with the understanding that the things I eat, regardless if plant or animal, the effects it has. Yes, I know the bacon (I'm not actually a fan of pork and avoid it mostly), steak, buffalo wings, etc., was once an animal that had to be killed for me to consume it, no I'm not happy with the environments they have likely lived in before this, or the act of taking a life so that I may eat something that I didn't do so myself. Respect for what you're eating is my biggest issue when it comes to animal products, but that's a conversation for another thread.

But what do you *you* do, or think about when it comes to the issues of vegetarianism? It's no secret that a lot of land has to be destroyed all around the world to sustain the growing demand of food. Fresh water consumption, deforestation, monoculture (OK Google is it monoculture or mon-oculture I can't be wrong both times!) etc. GRANTED the impact of these things is WAY less than say the beef/lamb/dairy/pork industries and a lot of the plant farming that is done is just to feed said industries, but it's no hidden secret that there are a lot of 'sins' when it comes to farming (plant) foods for human consumption as well.

Again, this isn't an attack on anyone, we live in a very grey world where we have to make grey choices for our grey selves. And, food is no exception to this. Hell, unless for medical reasons, the difference (from what I understand) between Vegetarianism and Veganism is the moral grey zone. What you're ok with putting up with. I'm not trying to attack inconsistencies or insecurities, I have them myself, everything is not ideal in this unideal world. I just want to know how everyone deals with their nonideal choices in a world that forces us to make constant nonideal choices for our un/nonideal selves. Where are your lines in the sand, I guess is what I'm asking?

I go super out of my way, i.e. more then just looking for the fair trade logo on a bag/box, when drinking tea to try and find companies/sellers that grow their leaves, and have farms that have modernized in a way that makes sure that the farmers and their help are payed fairly for the work they are doing. Or aren't from a company that does/have done evil (I'm LOOKING AT YOU Celestial Seasonings!) But at the same time, I don't have the time, or energy to do so with every. Single. Thing. I. Eat. Or feed my family. It's hard enough to just keep up with basic politics, let alone the nuance of every farm/food that I indirectly/directly interact with in life.

Please share what you think! I'm not asking for a war zone here, just a conversation about what you're comfortable with and maybe why, even if that 'why' is simply a: "I'm too fucking tired dude." Because, brother, I feel that tiredness in the marrow of my bones. Either way, I hope you find your new favorite dish and enjoy your day. ❤️

https://www.reddit.com/r/Outdoors/s/ZLLkFxV6Th

Removing bison from wild lands to make room for cattle and the meat industry devastates recovering wild lands and negatively impacts native plants and wildlife. We need wild lands to remain wild, and bison play a major role in restoring depleted land and in conservation.
Please help by contacting to appropriate agencies and supporting the American Prairie Foundation.

I've been veggie for just over 6 months now. Life's been great. It's greatly improved some of my health issues and I'm happier because of animal welfare and environmental issues (my two reasons for turning vegetarian, the health issues improving is just a bonus)

When I told my family i wasn't going to be eating meat anymore so when I'm home from uni I'll be eating vegetarian (I said I'd cook my own protein and just have the veg and pasta/rice etc) I got some silly comments

The main one was 'you're defying nature'.

I wish at the time I hadn't been so taken aback. I was sick with the flu but if I'd been more spritely I'd have hit back with my usual comments of 'if eating meats so natural why do we need slaughterhouses to murder the animals, predators can kill prey with their paws/teeth why can't we etc' but I just sat there baffled.

Luckily my partners family is all veggie except one of them, so when I'm there there's none of those comments.

What if any comments did you guys get