Why did you become a vegetarian?

iVillage Member
Registered: 02-13-2006
Why did you become a vegetarian?
16
Wed, 03-01-2006 - 12:33pm

I'm sure that someone on here has asked you this before/

For me I read an interview in a magazine about Moby. He mentioned in the interview that he was a vegan. He said that it didn't make sense to him when people ate a pig, but they didn't eat thier dog. The article just spoke to me and it all made sense. Instantly after reading that I gave up meat. It took years to stop the other animal products. I am going on almost 6 years on being a vegetarian!

Now let us know why you went veg!








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Avatar for finian
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-25-2003
Wed, 03-01-2006 - 6:36pm
The first time I went veg, back when I was a teen, was a mixture of I no longer liked the taste of meat and (as an out of control anorexic) it was a conveient excuse to avoid eating at times. This time, I went veg (as close to vegan as I can afford lol) after going to the vegan cooking class at a friend's SDA church. A mixture of health facts, reminders about how factory farming works, and an interest in cutting my food spending led to the choice.

love & light
Joelle, homeschooling mom to a 7yr old hydrogen molecule :D


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iVillage Member
Registered: 12-25-2005
Wed, 03-01-2006 - 8:38pm
Its all your fault Heather!!! lol well not only you!

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iVillage Member
Registered: 02-13-2006
Mon, 03-06-2006 - 10:15am

I know that you get some PETA newsletters, but have you ever looked at this website?
http://www.peta.org/accidentallyVegan/

Some of the things on the list are rather cheap. When I first came across this website, there were things on there that I was amazed were vegan. I love Liigi's Italian Ice! It made me so happy to find it on the list.








iVillage Member
Registered: 09-23-2005
Mon, 03-06-2006 - 11:47am

LOL! I accidentally became a vegetarian. Have you ever been REALLY hungry?? And you can imagine the food tasting so good. I won't say the name of the restaurant, but let's just say I didn't get the chicken sandwhich prepared the way I wanted. After sending it back 3 times because of mayo, I took a bite out of it and it was cold, hard and dry! So I went on strike from meat for the next 2 weeks- yes, that's how mad I was! LOL I had a friend who was vegetarian (born and raised SDA), so I ate grillers and then I just never looked back. I became a vegetarian when I was 14-15 and I've enjoyed so many benefits: my skin cleared up, my weight started to level out, I felt better about myself. I've enjoyed vegetarianism.

Chayil334

Avatar for finian
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-25-2003
Mon, 03-06-2006 - 12:04pm
Yeah I've looked at the list. thanks. I think I need to print it out lol. would help with shopping

love & light
Joelle, homeschooling mom to a 7yr old hydrogen molecule :D


Do You Homeschool???


please join me at our chat :)


Sunday at 9-11pm ET in the PP Sunroom
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Hope to see you there!!


Love and Light, Joelle

Homeschooling mom to a 11yr old hydrogen molecule.




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iVillage Member
Registered: 02-13-2006
Mon, 03-06-2006 - 4:55pm

That's the most interesting reason to become vegetarian that I have ever heard. It does make sense though. Congrats to you!

I think that would make for a great shirt "I'm on strike from meat. I'm a vegetarian."

What are grillers?








iVillage Member
Registered: 09-23-2005
Tue, 03-07-2006 - 10:13am

Yeah, cold, hard and dry isn't what most people expect when I tell them I ate a bad chicken sandwhich, they think I got food poisoning! LOL Yeah, I put things on strike when they make me mad. Poor service at a restaurant? STRIKE for the rest of the financial quarter! Poor chicken sandwhiches? STRIKE!

To answer your question Heather, morning star grillers are the brand name of kellog's soy veggie burgers found in most of your local grocers' freezer sections. (Wow that sounded so commercial LOL)

Continue to have a great day!

Chayil334

iVillage Member
Registered: 06-06-2003
Sat, 03-18-2006 - 1:58pm

haha...I can sympathize. Once when I was in high school I got chicken fingers that were raw on the inside....gross!!!!

My story (a little long):

A few weeks ago, I read a NYT feature on an aspartame study that found that 1900 rats exposed to the equivalent of 4 to 5 daily 20 oz diet sodas of aspartame and allowed to live out their natural life (instead of being killed at 2 years, which is standard practice in these studies...I'll elaborate on why that's scary in a second) had much higher rates of various cancers. Especially female rats, for which the statistical significance was even higher than for the male population. The article also delved into the politics and corruption behind the FDA review and approval of aspartame.

The two-year standard is very scary to me as it represents a human age of 53 years old. This does not seem to be an adequate cut-off to evaluate the safety of products for a population that routinely lives into its 80's and 90's. The study I read about, for example, saw most cancers develop *after* this two year mark.

That got me thinking about all the synthetic and "enhanced" foods we eat today. They've already determined that trans fats and high fructose corn syrup are far more harmful than their natural cousins, yet they remain on the market and present in most prepared foods. Why clam chowder needs corn syrup in it is beyond me. Anyway...nobody *really* knows what happens to a person who spends fifty years eating hormone- and antibiotic-laden beef and chicken, tomatoes with fish genes, and an array of sugar-free foods sweetened with chemicals. Knowing what I now know about how the FDA handled aspartame, I am very concerned that people have not thought these things through and reviewed them properly and have zero faith in the FDA's capacity to do so.

SO, that was my key motivation. A delicious vegetarian lunch at the Moosewood Restaurant, after which my blood sugar was perfectly fine, clinched the deal for me. In addition to avoiding the aforementioned pseudo-foods, I have stopped eating anything that walks on dry land, and will eventually move away from fish--maybe even dairy someday--as well once I get a handle on balancing my carbs and vegetarian proteins.

I am also disturbed by what I've read about meat production practices. I had felt that "free range" animals were at least treated humanely and looked for that label when I could find it. Now I find that this is an awful trick spun by the industry in many cases (which is also unfair to farmers, usually small ones, that actually do treat animals as humanely as possible). Additionally, I thought they killed them quickly...now I hear that little is done to ensure a quick and minimal-pain death. So that's another motivation to think about when craving a cheeseburger...

iVillage Member
Registered: 05-22-2003
Fri, 03-24-2006 - 6:29pm

It all started when I saw John Robbins' "Diet for a New America." It is an EXCELLENT place to start, and an excellent review/reminder for those of us who are already in this lifestyle. John Robbins is the son of the Baskin-Robbins founder. However, he rejected his inheritances due to his strong beliefs in the vegan lifestyle, and he has since dedicated his life/careerr/message to vegan awareness.

The only thing about the video is that it does not cover the seafood industry, something I've been meaning to learn more about. Therefore, I became a pescatarian (I do not consume mammals. The only flesh I eat is seafood). I do not label myself a vegetarian (even though most other people do) because seafood is still flesh, and labeling myself a vegetarian would be offensive and incorrect. However, the lifestyles are very similar, so it's easy for me to relate, and I am on my way to soon eliminating seafood once I have more information. Eventually (after college), I will become vegan when I can afford to do so. I also plan on gradually increasing my raw food consumption.

Anyway, seeing that documentary started the wheels turning in my mind. I had some friends who ate this way and decided to have long discussions with them about their eating habits. My weight has also stabilized in the past two years that I've been pescatarian.

Even more than all of the facts and information there is to learn about this way, it just feels right, deep down inside. At the heart of it all, it's not anything in my mind that keeps me eating this way. Sometimes you just take a deep breath and you know deep down something is right and good and true (at least for you), and at that moment you know it's wroth adhering to.

iVillage Member
Registered: 09-18-2003
Fri, 03-24-2006 - 7:04pm


These stories are so interesting and so different. I became lacto-vegetarian about a year ago. At the time it was for health reasons, I have a very busy life and my body just couldn't seem to keep up. I also read somewhere that there is fear in animals prior to their death. I'm a real believer in spirituality and, whether its just my imagination or not, if I can aviod transference of bad karma, I'm willing to take the chance. This past year has been a real awakening as far as food intake. Because I was eating more vegetables and fruit, I was gravitating to whole grains. My energy levels increased and I just felt lighter (physically and emotionally). The most prevalent byproduct of my new diet has been a renewed confidence in myself. I totally agree with j_love, in that it just feels right. I really feel like I'm doing something positive every day which renews purpose. This week I've been dairy and fish free which I hope is the beginning of a true vegetarian life.

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