Are you a vegetarian?

[Sbane]

No. We evolved into omnivores for a reason.

Look, it's one thing to say you really like animal products so you eat them, but don't try and imply that we somehow need to eat animal products to survive. If you think so, please link me to the relevant research that brought you to that conclusion. And I don't mean to pick on you, since it looks like almost everyone else is saying the same thing. Hmm, maybe I need to reconsider my support for universal healthcare.

I admit I am weak. I will eat animal products at least a few times a week, if not more. But I think research has shown that an animal-free diet leads to better health. It is better than any pill. So I try and bake vegetables (frying them leads to a loss of nutrition) with some spices and eat it along with Dal (pulses, split peas etc cooked Indian style) and some whole grain roti or brown rice. If you consistently eat that diet, you will lose weight guaranteed and you will be healthier overall.

[Sbane]

So those here that are vegetarians, what is the primary reason that caused you to become one? Health reasons or treatment of animals? Or a mix of both?

[Sbane]

So those here that are vegetarians, what is the primary reason that caused you to become one? Health reasons or treatment of animals? Or a mix of both?

Ethical reasons...I'm skinny enough as it is.  Animals are tasty, but I'm not compelled by the ethical case for valuing human life so infinitely higher than animal life to justify eating 'em.  Honestly, I've met few people who don't concede that killing animals is an ethical grey area.  It seems odd to put taste preferences over such an ethical grey area...especially because I can't imagine why anyone with a reasonably diverse palate would be especially inconvenienced.  I don't think this is a cut-and-dry ethical issue.  I'm just surprised more people (maybe even most) aren't vegetarian.

I suppose "humane slaughter" is marginally preferable, but: 1) It doesn't address the main ethical issue; and, 2) I don't think many people are willing to put their money where their mouth is anyway.

It is a gray area, since obviously it is ethical for one species to kill another species for sustenance, but in our case, we can survive without eating meat. Furthermore, we are for the most part not living in hunter gatherer societies where animals provide us more "bang for the buck" so to speak. They tend to be high in proteins, but in today's society we can easily substitute that with plant products. In a hunter gatherer society you might not necessarily have that luxury as it might be too much effort to gather enough of those products, which tend to be small parts of the plants. In our society we can just run to the supermarket and grab a lot of vegetables and peas/legumes/beans and eat a balanced diet....or go to the drive-thru and get a double cheeseburger with bacon.

[Sbane]

Oh yeah, that too. Again, as someone who does eat animals but is trying to cut down on it, eating vegetarian makes a lot of sense from many angles. I just wish there was even more variety of vegetable products we could purchase here. Things like banana roots taste so, so good but I don't think I have ever seen them here. That is one thing I like about India, the vast variety of vegetarian options. All of them tasty (though many are fried so yeah).