There are a lot of open minded people on this forum so here comes my question:

Do you eat meat? With restrictions? Why? Why not?

Lots of love !

I eat very little meat.

I find factory farming to be immoral.

I believe the American indians had a proper balance. "Thank you brother deer for the life you gave."

10,000 chickens crammed in a warehouse with 2x2x2 cages is simply not moral to me...therefore I can't support it.

However, I realize that I was born in this society. My actions alone do not result in even a single less animal being killed each year. Because of this realization I am not hardline with it. I also don't judge others. Every person is on his own path and has arrived at his own awareness. I do however feel compassion for all beings, but animals especially....

Peace

no. I will put it bluntly..I dont believe meat and other animal products are meant for the human body. Our digestive tracts are much longer more like other herbivoires and nothing like the short GI tracts of other carniverous animals. I was sick and when I went vegan I got alot healthier. Of course I eat a super balanced raw vegan diet so that should be taken into account..I dont eat bread and tofu all day long.

I quit eating meat ~8 months ago. totally agree with both the above posts.
the meat-factory is immoral at every level, and tortures innocent animals for a tiny little organ called "tongue." Consumption of meat by the public further encourages and perpetuates more torturous treatments towards these animals. there's a "secret sacrifice" that most don't want to acknowledge; so they come up with a "rational justification." To me, such mistreatments towards these animals is just like the Holocaust on a mass scale, if not worse.
Furthermore, these animals are also turned toxic (for consumption) due to the numerous current meat-factory practices.
I also agree with jamie that animal products are not meant for the human body. raw foods are def the way to go if one wants to spiritually evolve faster
<3

I've been meatless for over 20 years. My wife and I gave up meat together, gradually- first the red meat, poultry a few months later, seafood a year after that. I work in a fairly macho industry (tattooing) and have been asked many times to explain myself. I've narrowed down my answer to something along these lines:

It's a form of environmentalism
It's a form of non-violence
It's a form of political statement
It'll also prevent me from having a heart attack at 47 like my grandfather.

We eat really well- we are not vegan, but eat only organic non-factory farm dairy, no refined flour, lots of live/raw stuff. Eating this way has helped us to better understand our relationship with the Earth. We are raising our daughter vegetarian, and if we do it right she'll feel it's a privilege, not a drag.

On the other hand, I don't judge carnivores.

Much seldom. This is a heavy food for me. I love the salads. javascript:insertsmiley(' ','/forum/images/emoticons/icon_rolleyes.gif'.

As a citizen of the 21st century living in a place where I have constant access to all the best botanicals the planet has to offer and stores full of cruelty free vegan products I see no need to consume the flesh of other sentient creatures.

Moar important than being veggie or vegan or a raw foodist or following any kind of strict diet is choosing clean food, food that is not full of toxic additives and preservatives, hormones and antibiotics, pesticides and industrial pollutants, etc... etc... etc...

Choosing unprocessed whole natural and organic foods, buying locally as much as possible, and supporting sustainable and ethical practices in food production and distribution is really a simple way to make the world a better place. It's better for your own health, it's better for the environment in general, and it sets a higher standard for all food producers.

This is a topic that is very close to my heart, thank you for hearing my little rant. I sincerely wish each and every one of you nothing but the best, tastiest, most nutritious food and long, healthy, haapi lives; you deserve it!

-Namaste

When I say this, I mean no attack on a vegan or vegetarian diet, other than to say that our digestive tracts are not so fantastic at digesting plants. I respect your dietary choices, and I have no doubt that you are healthier and happier because of it, but your digestive tract argument is a weak one IMO.

Another vegetarian here, and for the same reasons as stated. The places our meats come from are horribly disturbing.

Plus, I think that plants give themselves as food much more readily than animals. I also try to only eat fruits and vegetables that can be harvested without killing the plant itself(which is most of them), as plants are very much alive and prefer to stay that way when given the choice.

And, if you've ever seen Popeye cartoons or Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, then you know that eating vegetables gives you super powers!

vegan here. animal products make me feel ill. plants make me feel good. I eat a wide variety of stuff. I'm not raw though. Can't afford it, and I feel like I get the nutrients I need anyway.

I do eat meat,mainly because it is essential to the human body.Meat contains creatine,which is a nitrogenous organic acid that helps your body muscles build up.Moreover,recent studies at the University of Sidney imply that absence of creatine lowers your IQ roughly by 10 points.I do understand it is a horrible thing to do to an animal,taking the only life it has and especially under the condition modern farms raise them,but it is essential to my well-being and even if i sacrificed a little of my health for them,i bet not even 1 chicken would be saved...





The human body lacks of certain enzymes that allow the herbivoires' digestive tracks to break through the cell wall that surrounds the cell membrane,therefor it isn't capable of digesting plants.It has even been speculated by many respected scientist that the human diet should solely consist of meat and dairy products.Though not enough proof exists to support the later claim,it is a well known fat that you need both meat and plants for a balanced diet.

The same here, this is my 5th year! I've experienced an increased overall health and energy since eliminating animal products from my diet. Not to mention my skin... it's radiant!

Not to sound like a dick here but trust me,it's purerly psychological

If I ate only meat and dairy products I would be on the throne in the men's room for about 26 hours a day.. Yes I said 26 lol.. I try to eat only organic food and if at all possible taken from the land or raised free range. In a single year I'll go through around 20-120lbs of chanterelle mushrooms, 20-40lbs of oyster mushrooms(these grow all year where I am) and about 20-40lbs of other misc. wild mushrooms and edibles growing through out the year. Unfortunately, farm raised meat still creeps it's way into my diet frequently.

C_S

Humans are, and have been omnivorous for a very long time. That's just a biological fact.

Going veggie for reasons of conscience and as a form of environmentalism is commendable though.

I will eat anything nourishing and palatable...

Yeah, you're really dying inside.

What I meant mr. irony was that if you believe you are doing something good for your body,you feel better physically too even if in reality your metabolism has taken a turn for the worse

mushrooms

I eat meat out of lazyness and apathy. I am disgusted by many of the practices of the meat industry and have been for a long time so I do try generally to get dolphin friendly tuna, free range eggs etc... but at the same time I am living on the breadline (albeit a much higher breadline than other countries) and it is very hard to rival the cost/nutrition ratio of buying a whole chicken for £3.

As for the idea that humans arent biologically 'meant' to eat meat that can be refuted in a couple of ways. The most obvious being that we have meat eater teeth... but more importantly the fact is we evolved to where we are today as a largely meat eating species. Someone pointed out we have physical traits that are not in line with other carnivores and that was rebutted by someone pointing out we also dont have all the traits of a herbivore either, for example our teeth... ok so we are omnivores (sorry to the 'someones', I cant see the thread while I post in it on this phone and cant remember who posted)

Incidently a friend once tried to use our meat eating teeth (incisors?) as a reason why we are "supposed" to eat meat and why it is "wrong" to be a vegetarian and my response was that we also, in addition to our teeth, have a brain which has evolved to be able to understand the suffering of other lifeforms. We dont need to be a slave to the choices which led our ancestors to develope incisors (if that is even what they are called, lol.. the 'vampire' teeth). We are free to choose. I consider choosing not to eat meat as a more ethical path, even though it is not thd path I am taking at this stage.

I enjoy fish on a regular basis, possibly twice a week, red meat used to be a big thing for me, though i've drastically reduced my intake based on new information presented to me regarding cooked foods, and the properties of meat in general, enjoying a closer to raw and vegitarian diet for the most part, still, meat can be enjoyable in the right context.
I reccomend Eating For Beauty by David Wolfe, quite an interesting read.