General Chat

Daughter & her partner are living with me at the moment. She's been a vegetarian for 12 years, he's been a vegan for 15 years - an italian vegan who doesn't like pasta!!! Eldest daughter was a vegetarian until she got pregnant. I think they both 'turned' on animal cruelty grounds - I know my daughter saw a veal calf about the time she stopped eating meat- and was told off for giving it a drink!!. They will eat eggs - but only those from the local allotment, where we can see the choocks strolling around. They have cats - but there's no way they would expect THEM to be veggie - that would be cruel. I'm a carnivore, don't cook for them, but they sometimes cook for me. They use lots of herbs & spices - and as long as they don't use chilli (yuk!) it's not bad!!! maggie

I'm Vegetarian. I dont like meat, and if I can help it, nothing should die to help me survive.

I remember my daughter as a teenager deciding she was going 'veggie'........I said, Oh great, the only vegetarian who doesn't like vegetables..... got out the books, and made her dinners, which she pushed around on her plate......was really worried in case she faded away, but then I had phone calls from neighbours and family, saying she had been round, saying she was hungry, and they were feeding her......one time she was having a steak sandwich at my Sister's.......little moo.......

I don't like these people who say we should not kill for food, why, it doesn't matter what you eat you have to kill something to eat it. Even vegetables are living things which are growing to made seeds for there next generation to survive. I wonder if they have family trees lol

I am and eldest very near but rest of family.. Noooooo. I will cook chicken and bacon but nowt else, yes bacon IS tempting! Caz xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

more veggie info

We've been meat-free for just over 2 years now, for us, it has been very easy to live without meat..never once been tempted. I often cook meat at work for our clients and although i dont find the smell nauseating (like my daughter does) I can just about tolerate it.

I love quorn - partner is a veggie, but I couldn't forego my bits of pig. I've always loved all vegetables and you can get such super salad selections from the supermarkets as well. We usually eat veggie when cooking for 2, but if I'm on my own, i often do still have some meat. Jay

Whilst I think it's proably the best reason for becoming vegetarian, it is my experience that many people who become vegetarians on that basis only, do fall foul (no pun intended) more easily than anyone else. They tend to be the people that are lured by the aroma of a bacon butty! Whereas people who are more conscious about their health than animal rights issues tend to be thinking about their own health which is always far more immediate than an animal somewhere they can't see. Either way though, I'd give it ago. Try cutting back on meat first and try eating some meat substitutes like Quorn etc., etc.. to replace food with so it doesn't seem to alien or like your 'missing' out on food. Then start taking the opportunity to eat veg or fruit you wouldn't normally eat and seeing it as an culinary adventure. Eventually, it become second nature.

That's interesting..but as you said 'many people who become vegetarians through animal-rights issues often are the first to fall off the wagon'...that is probably what I'm like lol :-)

I've been a vegetarian for about 25 years. How well you stick to it depends on your diet in the first place and how well you adapt to change generally and also, to an extent, on your motivation for becoming a vegetarian. It's very easy to become a vegetarian now as there is so much choice in the way of 'substitute' foods. Back in the 1980s, things weren't so great and a lot of what you ate tasted like cardboard. Now-a-days, a trip to any decent supermarket will show you the how much is now on offer in terms of meat substitutes. I'm a big fan of Quorn myself, but like most of the meat subsitute ranges like Linda McCartney's etc., etc.. It's not just meat substitutes that have improved either. The choice of fruit and vegetables has changed dramatically now. I've found that many people who become vegetarians through animal-rights issues often are the first to fall off the wagon, as often, particularly in teenagers, that initial drive eventually recedes for other interests or when it becomes 'boring' and 'limiting'. That said, this was a big reason why both my partner and I - who weren't together at the time - became vegetarians and we stuck with it. On the other hand, I know *many* people that have radically cut back on red meat, and only eat white meat or fish occasionally; this is usually health-kick related. For most people cutting back is much easier than cutting out altogether. If you haven't already done so, I'd suggest doing this first for a few months rather than giving-up meat altogether.

It my mum's fault I am veggie. At that difficult age, I announced after a weekend away working in a kitchen that I had become vegetarian. My mother pandered to my fad and investigated receipes and products and supported me in my decision. Had she not perserved and if she had told me to go away and do my own cooking and food shopping I am certain that I would have got fed up and would not still be vegetarian today (20 years later!) I don't miss meat at all as there are plenty of alternatives. The only thing that occassionally gets me going is the smell of frying bacon. Karen

LOL Lynne My daughter will eat some fruit occasionally but isn't keen on anything that's good for her except yoghurts/yoghurt drinks

Julie One of my grandsons, aged 13 is a Veggie and he hates veg. He used to eat nothing but cheese & onion pasties but my son put him on a diet last summer and now he eats lots of healthy stuff - but still not veg - LOL!! Lynne

I'm a fussy eater so I couldn't do it and I'm not keen on veg lol :-)

Hi Lucia I have been a veggie for about 26 yrs, though do cook meat for hubby and the kids.. Cooking a bolognaise sauce at the moment for their dinner tonight. I wont tell the reason I went veggie but I was in the wrong place at the wrong time, I would love to eat meat but the DR said my stomach wouldnt be able to digest it now. Fit and healthy though or should that just be healthy??? Debs x

Lucia Methinks you must be hungry. Either that or you are obsessed with food - LOL!! I couldn't give up meat, I'd have nothing for tea (see your other thread). Lynne

lol :-))

My daughter announced the other day she was thinking of becoming vegetarian until I pointed out that she doesn't like vegetables lol. Juliexx

Was the friend who suggested this to you a chicken?