Anxiety said:

those are so good! i don't discriminate, i love all food.

ReturnOfDOOK said:

Leave Bill out of it.....goddamnit, this is a no-spin-zone!!!!!

abierman said:

Anxiety said:

[Edited 2/28/05 16:42pm]

I have nothing against "vegs". It's the few that can't stand that people do eat meat and can't deal with it and shout out "Eating meat is murder!" that I can do without. I'm intolerant of intolerance.
[Edited 2/28/05 17:12pm]

Anxiety said:

omg, that looks sooooo good!

why do non-vegs hate vegs ?



It’s probably the subtle way they go about expressing their opinion.
[Edited 2/28/05 18:50pm]

Stupid bullshit like this:

http://www.igreens.org.uk/peta.jpg

or this:



(plus handing out leaflets with "your mother kills animals" to middle school children on school property)

or this:



There are the religious fundies....and then there are the veg fundies.
[Edited 2/28/05 18:56pm]

I think there's more hatred for non-vegs by vegs.

I personally don't care what people eat as long as they don't push their dogma into my face.

EvilWhiteMale said:

i've been a vegetarian for half my life. you'd be surprised.

Being a vegetarian makes alot of people with old money a little less rich.

lilgish said:

i agree that PETA goes over the top, and i think their methods severely compromise the reputation of folks who are vegetarian/vegan and/or folks who advocate for less cruelty to animals.

but to group all vegetarians in with radical activists is just like saying everyone who's christian is automatically a fundamentalist zealot who bombs abortion clinics for kicks.

i know lots and lots of really good christian people.

i know lots and lots of really good vegetarians.

i know lots and lots of really assy agnostics and athiests (and good ones, too).

i know lots and lots of really assy people who eat meat (and good ones, too).

WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN?!?

It was just an excuse to post a picture of morrissey

lilgish said:

i hate morrissey, but for other reasons.

Anxiety said:

Totally. I'm not even vegetarian but after dining regularly with veggie friends for many years my tastes have changed. I eat WAY less meat than ever, and when I eat with my family now and have the option to make choices about what we're eating you'd be surprised the flack I get from my family for it.
"What, are you some kind of vegetarian now???"
All I did was order tofu with broccoli when we got Chinese food. Or a veggie pizza. You'd think I'd announced I was now taking up ritual sacrifice as my new hobby.

the "dogma" really does work both ways, and the funny thing is, during the six years i lived in NYC, my vegetarianism hardly ever came up. the city was so diverse, and you had so many vegetarians and vegans and people whose religions demanded certain dietary restrictions, and people on particular diets and this and that and everything else, that everyone was just automatically sensitive to what other people ate, and it was generally a non-issue. just about any restaurant in NYC has decent vegetarian entree options. it's no big whoop.

when i moved to chicago, it became an issue again. my first couple of years here, it made me INSANE the way i'd constantly be reminded that my vegetarianism was "different" in this new city - co-workers and people i'd meet going out would act as if i'd just told them i ate car parts and light bulbs.

"don't you miss meat?"

"it doesn't matter if you ate just one hamburger once in a while, you know."

"you must get sick a lot."

"we don't have vegetarians in MY neighborhood."

"you'd starve to death the way we eat in MY house."

"i hope you like your tofu, because i'll be enjoying a nice thick juicy steak."

...and so on.

i think it's interesting that, if i were to say i couldn't eat meat because of my religion or because of some kind of allergy or medical condition, i probably wouldn't get a fraction of these comments. i guess the fact that i do this based on a personal commitment i made out of sheer choice is less commanding of respect.

whatevs. i won't be changed unless i change myself.

Anxiety said:

Surprised by what?

EvilWhiteMale said:

by the intolerance i've gotten from "non-vegs".

Yeah, this issue seems to be currently destroying a relationship with a family member of mine. I completely understand his distaste for the movement, but why that translates into this cloud of bitter hatred that hangs over us is completely beyond me. It's not something that I push on him, or ask him to participate in. . . he can eat whatever he wants, I don't give him crap about it. . .but I am really devalued as a person in his eyes because of my choices. It's really, really sad.

tackam said:

how long has there been this friction? my mom railed against it at first, as did my grandmother, but now it's 17 years later and i still ain't gonna eat their damn tuna noodle casserole and they've just come to accept it. my mom even tells me that because of me, she eats less meat. she still eats it - and that's fine by me if that's her choice - but it's good to know i've influenced her to do something that's better for her. hopefully that'll eventually happen with your family with a little luck, discipline, open-heartedness and confidence.

Being a vegetarian makes a lot of people with old money a little less rich. The Poultry lobby feeds a lot of negative press about free-range, organic, and soy/vegetarian non-meat products. The subtext of their press is that those growers are non tax paying anarchist and radicals ala James Nichols...the guy with the gun under his bed.

I'm a non-veg, but I don't have anything against vegitarians. In fact, I admire vegans. But give up Roscoes?

Anxiety said:

Thanks. It has been there for a while. I'm doing my best to just stay open to him.

I eat meat, but only in small amounts. I have nothing against vegetarians/vegans, it's just that every single justification for going veg has an equally good countering argument.

meow85 said:

and vice versa!

seriously, you have to do what's best for the way your body is wired. for me, my body takes really well to a vegetarian diet. i know some other people have told me they tried it and they weren't able to nourish themselves. i don't know what their diets were like - maybe some people have to be more mindful of the vitamins and minerals they put into their bodies than others, and i'm just lucky to be low-maintenance - but i'd never deny people the choices that keep them healthy, whatever they may be.

Anxiety said:

Everyone's gotta do what works for them.

I take a multi-vit, and omega pills to supplement my diet. If I don't, I am so unbelievably prone to getting sick. I eat small amounts of meat because that's how I was raised eating. If I eat more than I'm used to I start to feel nauseous.

man is there anything that people are not prejudged over this is getting ridiculous. what is this foodism?

Anx, do you visit teaNY? You know, moby's place? I know you're not a vegan like he is, but you're a veggie, you know, there is stuff for you there also.....What do you think of people like moby, who is almost militant when it comes to this. I personally can not stand him because he throws the dogma in your face (and not alone over that!)...

I am not cynical here, just wondering since you live in NYC also....

abierman said:

no, i used to live in NYC. i live in chicago now (and love to go to the chicago diner, which is a great vegan restaurant).

i moved before i had a chance to go to moby's restaurant, and the times i've visited NYC since i moved, i've never thought to go. when i was in NYC (and when i visit), my favorite veggie restaurant is angelika's kitchen on 2nd ave. and 11th street (i think?); though i can go just about anywhere in new york and have a good vegetarian meal...i didn't go to specialty restaurants that much, but i enjoyed them when i did.

what do i think about "in your facers" like moby? i dunno. as long as there are ted nugents in the world, i hope there will be mobys in the world. i think they're both obnoxious, but at least there are people out there screaming at the top of their lungs on both polar opposite sides of the issue.

honestly, i think for a person to really live what they believe, they have to not only educate themselves, but they have to visit the extremes of their beliefs, even if it makes them obnoxious for a while. some of us come back from those far-flung extremes and find a nice, comfortable, center from which to work. some people stay out there at the extreme. but i guess it takes all kinds to form a spectrum. ya know?

Anxiety said: