I don't judge vegetarians

[BatUtilityBelt]

Today a vegetarian tried to make me feel guilty for eating animals and it had me thinking. Now I know the scientific justification I could lean on is that our teeth indicate we are natural omnivores. We have the means to process both meat and vegetation, so at worst, I am evolutionarily compliant. But my mind didn't stop there.

Many bugs inhabit the vegetation we eat. Some of those plants wouldn't even exist without the symbiotic relationship they have with those bugs. For an easily googled example, consider the female fig doesn't get pollinated unless a wasp climbs inside (and typically dies there). The fig dissolves the wasp, and we just don't see it. Other bugs just like to snack on veggies as freeloaders. Either way, we eat a lot of them without even realizing they're in there, and many are too small for us to see. They vary greatly in size and we only get grossed out when we see them. And yes, insects are animals.

Vegetables are also teeming with multicellular organisms even smaller than the tiniest insects, but they are animals as well. We just don't care because they don't bother us and we can't see them, so we don't think about them. There are far fewer of these on meats and dairy products than on or in fruits and vegetables.

So a meat and dairy consumer eats fewer animals than any vegetarian who consumes approximately the same amount of food. But I am not judgmental about them eating more animals than I do. That's not who I am.

[bc rich]

]

[Lamf77]

[andrewsrea]

I am a vegetarian, once removed.

I eat the stuff that eats the veggies!

[tonebender]

I have never understood the logic. A plant is a living breathing thing and we kill them (harvest) in order to eat them. I am not sure why it is considered so different. I no longer eat cows or pigs but I do enjoy a chicken, turkey or fish.

[toomanycats]

I've asked people who have this type of problem, "How do you feel about your immune system and killer T cells ceasing to do their job, which is killing?" One's moment to moment existence is dependent upon killing. If it stops, you die, full stop. Come to terms with it.

[Rollin Hand]

I just don't like veggies all that much.

[tlarson58]

I just don't like veggies all that much.

+1 - unless they are prepared for me.

[tonebender]

I love all kinds of veggies. I eat lots of broccoli, carrots, tomatoes (fruit), corn, and especially beans of all varieties. Many times all I have is veggies but most of time there is a small portion of protein. Even my snacks are either nuts or veggies. No sweets for me.

[Tonray's Ghost]

I love all kinds of veggies. I eat lots of broccoli, carrots, tomatoes (fruit), corn, and especially beans of all varieties. Many times all I have is veggies but most of time there is a small portion of protein. Even my snacks are either nuts or veggies. No sweets for me.

Aren't you worried about the insects and multicellular organisms? ()

[slowhand84]

Today a vegetarian tried to make me feel guilty for eating animals and it had me thinking. Now I know the scientific justification I could lean on is that our teeth indicate we are natural omnivores. We have the means to process both meat and vegetation, so at worst, I am evolutionarily compliant. But my mind didn't stop there.

Many bugs inhabit the vegetation we eat. Some of those plants wouldn't even exist without the symbiotic relationship they have with those bugs. For an easily googled example, consider the female fig doesn't get pollinated unless a wasp climbs inside (and typically dies there). The fig dissolves the wasp, and we just don't see it. Other bugs just like to snack on veggies as freeloaders. Either way, we eat a lot of them without even realizing they're in there, and many are too small for us to see. They vary greatly in size and we only get grossed out when we see them. And yes, insects are animals.

Vegetables are also teeming with multicellular organisms even smaller than the tiniest insects, but they are animals as well. We just don't care because they don't bother us and we can't see them, so we don't think about them. There are far fewer of these on meats and dairy products than on or in fruits and vegetables.

So a meat and dairy consumer eats fewer animals than any vegetarian who consumes approximately the same amount of food. But I am not judgmental about them eating more animals than I do. That's not who I am.

Honestly in my experience typically it's vegans that are more judgmental of meat eaters. I know a LOT of vegetarians and 90% of them will never say anything to someone eating meat to make them feel guilty or uncomfortable, but boy will the vegans often let them have it lol. I'm a big meat eater, my wife is 100% vegetarian, and we never have any issues respecting each other's eating habits.

The comparison you're making here is more than a little unreasonable though, because eating a microscopic organism that's present on a piece of romaine lettuce is far from the same thing as breeding pigs and cows specifically to slaughter them for burgers. You can't equate those two things, especially because one is an intentional decision and the other is something that no one can do anything about...you have to eat SOMETHING if you're going to survive, and obviously eating vegetables is undeniably more of a cruelty-free way to go than eating meat. There is also a huge intelligence difference between a cow/pig/etc. versus a microscopic organism/most insects, and that also plays a role in the way vegetarians think about this sort of stuff.

[tonebender]

I love all kinds of veggies. I eat lots of broccoli, carrots, tomatoes (fruit), corn, and especially beans of all varieties. Many times all I have is veggies but most of time there is a small portion of protein. Even my snacks are either nuts or veggies. No sweets for me.

Aren't you worried about the insects and multicellular organisms? ()

I am a lifelong motorcyclist. Bugs are on the menu like it or not.

[BatUtilityBelt]

Honestly in my experience typically it's vegans that are more judgmental of meat eaters. I know a LOT of vegetarians and 90% of them will never say anything to someone eating meat to make them feel guilty or uncomfortable, but boy will the vegans often let them have it lol. I'm a big meat eater, my wife is 100% vegetarian, and we never have any issues respecting each other's eating habits.

The comparison you're making here is more than a little unreasonable though, because eating a microscopic organism that's present on a piece of romaine lettuce is far from the same thing as breeding pigs and cows specifically to slaughter them for burgers. You can't equate those two things, especially because one is an intentional decision and the other is something that no one can do anything about...you have to eat SOMETHING if you're going to survive, and obviously eating vegetables is undeniably more of a cruelty-free way to go than eating meat. There is also a huge intelligence difference between a cow/pig/etc. versus a microscopic organism/most insects, and that also plays a role in the way vegetarians think about this sort of stuff.

You took it all Waaaay more seriously than I intended it. I just like the irony in vegetarians (or vegans) eating more animals, and I don't care for the tribalism from any particular perspective. If someone wants to only eat vegetation, that's fine by me. If someone wants to subsist only on eucalyptus, well that's koal too. If someone wants to eat meat, I don't care unless they eat people.

The brain size argument doesn't really float though. I've heard experts say brain size is primarily related to body size across all kinds of species. I've seen birds and rodents and insects all reason through situations, so I don't think brain size relates to food-worthiness.

[golem]

My sister and BIL are vegetarians. One thing they will never do is make you feel guilty for eat meat.

I'm pretty sure if you include the bugs animals eats, us omnivores eat even more animals still.

[BatUtilityBelt]

My sister and BIL are vegetarians. One thing they will never do is make you feel guilty for eat meat.

I'm pretty sure if you include the bugs animals eats, us omnivores eat even more animals still.

Well if you count those, you definitely have to count all the animal carcasses that plants eat.

[Tonray's Ghost]

My car claims to be a vegetarian, after all they do make Bio-Fuels from Dinosaurs

[Rollin Hand]

I love all kinds of veggies. I eat lots of broccoli, carrots, tomatoes (fruit), corn, and especially beans of all varieties. Many times all I have is veggies but most of time there is a small portion of protein. Even my snacks are either nuts or veggies. No sweets for me.

I have a friend who eats broccoli because he hates veggies, knows he needs them, and broccoli is nutritionally the best one.

He is notably an odd duck. And yes, he is an engineer.

[MichaelR]

Another thing about being a vegetarian is the extreme use of chemicals in the growing of these plants. Quite often I cant find organic vegies at the store or at least the ones I was after when I went to the store so I have to buy the pesticide filled kind. Even Organic farmers use chemicals just different ones which as not as long lasting as the non organic farmers. The only way to get truly Organic vegies is to grow them yourself or know someone that you trust who does. Of course meat also has its chemical use problems with the feed they eat unless you can afford grass fed which I cant. I just eat REAL food never processed food or at least damn little of it and I think its the processed foods that have made America fat and sick.

[Partscaster]

FWIW, I read an article that said rosemary (the herb) helps block cell walls from carcinogens associate with digesting red meats. So, thats a good herb to add to your meats. It might be helpful.