Views on veganism / vegeterianism

Does it really matter. Eat meat, don't eat meat. Consume animal products, don't consume animal products.I think each to their own, and its your choice, do not impose anything on anyone, eat what you like how you like it.

Would love to be vegan. Could quite easily give up dairy but meat is hard.

Probably never will though.

As long as you don't try and force your views upon me then I don't have any problem.

The ironic thing is that more often than not it's the other way around (carnivores trying to convert vegans or vegetarians back or making digs at them)

Do you think the whole world should stop the consumption of animal products?

I disagree. If you are struggling to cope being a vegetarian and someone sits next to you with a bacon sandwich it could be considered a bit rude (if there are plenty of seats else where)....

Yes, but she's talking about the really pushy vegans/vegetarians, not the ones struggling to not give in.

I don't think that vegetarianism or veganism is any healthier than an omnivorous diet. But I do think people generally eat too much red meat, way way too much red meat. Nothing wrong with eating fish and white meats though.

Meat eaters are 2x more likely to develop heart disease than meat eaters, and on average, vegetarian men and women live 9.5 and 6.1 years longer and vegans can live up to 15 years longer due to the healthy diet. Also processed meat has been classified as a 'definite' cause of cancer, can be as bad as smoking in some cases. Also having lots of fish can result in higher levels of mercury which can be damaging. White meat may not be as bad however a U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) study found that more than 99 percent of broiler chicken carcasses sold in stores had detectable levels of E. coli, indicating fecal contamination, basically your eating some poop and possible bacterial infections can be transmitted. So really any type of animal product is not very good for us tbh.

Meat eaters are 2x more likely to develop heart disease than meat eaters, and on average, vegetarian men and women live 9.5 and 6.1 years longer and vegans can live up to 15 years longer due to the healthy diet. Also processed meat has been classified as a 'definite' cause of cancer, can be as bad as smoking in some cases. Also having lots of fish can result in higher levels of mercury which can be damaging. White meat may not be as bad however a U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) study found that more than 99 percent of broiler chicken carcasses sold in stores had detectable levels of E. coli, indicating fecal contamination, basically your eating some poop and possible bacterial infections can be transmitted. So really any type of animal product is not very good for us tbh.

Meat eaters in general eat loads of red meat, which is what causes the problems. Processed meat is undeniably bad for you, I never claimed otherwise. Mercury levels in fish is ********, there are very specific examples of seafood where that is a risk, and it's weird stuff like shark and swordfish. If you're eating salmon, trout, tuna and haddock you're absolutely fine.

I could similarly point to the fact that many vegetarians are deficient in B12, heme iron and zinc amongst other nutrients. Saying animal products aren't good for us is horseshit, and it's the reason why people get pissed off with vegetarians and vegans. An omnivorous diet is absolutely healthy, if you aren't eating processed meat or red meat by the bucketload. Just because more vegetarians/vegans eat healthily - as they tend to be more health conscious - doesn't mean you can't eat just as healthily whilst eating meat. You're conflating correlation and causation.

At the end of the day numerous studies can be done, you could be a devout vegan but whats to stop you getting a random tumor, getting hit by a car or just dying naturally. I don't think the decision to be vegan or vegetarian should be based on things such as you can live '15' years longer. If the argument is Im a vegan because I believe animals have the same moral status as humans I can get down with that argument.

I think the environmental impact of the production of meat is too high to justify it. Especially beef, the amount of water used, methane produce, land taken up (and often rainforest destroyed) is ridiculous, the production of beef needs to be severely limited or all-but banned all together. Maybe something like a 300% tax on beef would be good, that money could then go on some carbon deal to encourage developing countries to conserve their rainforests by giving them a monetary value more than their value in wood.

(I am vegetarian at the moment by the way, and I have fluctuated between vegetarianism and veganism since I was about 12)

One thing that I would encourage however is the consumption of insects. If only more people would eat mealworms.