Soy Food Products for a Tofu-Based Thought: On Vegetarianism - Comments

Death_By_Dagger:

I am a vegetarian and I agree with many points of the article, but I do not agree with your view of not being a true vegetarian if you eat eggs or fish. You can eat raw eggs and fish naturally without getting sick. The rest of the animals humans eat however can not be consumed without first cooking it. Comparing ourselves to other carnivores you will notice that they can eat all kinds of meat without getting sick. Anything our intestines can handle that is not cooked we are supposed to eat, in my view. Of course the industrialization of the poor animals is wrong, but eating them is not. I will eat meat if I know it has lived wild, even though I get sick when I finish because I have not ate it for so long. Eggs cannot actually feel pain even though it is cruel to the mother. You may argue that killing animals in the wild is wrong, but without doing so they would become overpopulated and die slow painful deaths because of sickness. If you truly supported the view of animals suffering no pain I would like to believe you would be vegan. Life does not come without pain, especially when you fall prey to other animals, including humans. The wolves may not mass produce dear, but the dear still suffer. It is part of life. I'm not trying to be mean or rip your article apart or anything so please don't take it that way. It's very well written and accurate and I agree with it a lot.

Obviously there are very different kinds of vegetarians/vegans. The type you seem to portray is drastically different than mine and, no offence, but I find it just a TAD bit hypocritical and a little uninformed. But that's okay, I don't by any means, try to portray that I'm all knowing or anything like that. There's a lot of things I don't know about the food industry, hunting, vegetarianism and veganism. But I do want to inform you a bit more based on the points you've made.

You said that eating meat is a necessity because of the risk of overpopulation. This would be true if we continued to mass produce animals the way we do. However, if the mass production stopped along with the mass consumption, the natural order of the world would easily take over. Cows would be attacked by wolves, foxes, bears etc. and some would get away (hopefully) to continue their genetic line. Same goes for sheet, pigs, turkeys chickens and so on. So, just because our world has made a different way of population control based on our meat-eating needs doesn't mean that the animal kingdom wouldn't do the same thing with the ending of mass production.

You said that you eat eggs and fish because they can be consumed raw without getting sick. However, I'm sure you cook both of these foods since eating raw egg is actually bad for you since there is the ever present risk of catching salmonella from it, and it is actually easier for your body to digest (just like with meat) when cooked; and you need a license to cook sushi because without cooking fish, there is that salmonella risk again.

You referred to eggs as only harming the mother hen, when in fact those eggs are actually baby chickens. That's why cook books suggest that you crack the egg into a separate bowl first in case you get a bloody egg--a chick that was more developed them originally thought. I feel like arguing that eggs can't feel pain is the same argument for pro-life/pro-choice, and in all aspects of the area, I believe that vegetarianism/veganism is pro-choice and I would never try and convince someone into this lifestyle. I get that vegetarians eat eggs (I don't think I said that you aren't a true vegetarian if you eat eggs....). I understand that one. I don't understand the fish one. Fish have faces. Fish have active digestive systems. They are an animal and therefore should be treated as such, including "vegetarians".

Comparing ourselves with other carnivores, they also have the teeth meant for eating raw meat, which goes along with their digestive system enabling them to eat it. Human teeth, however, are meant to grind down plant food. We do not have the long, pointy teeth that our carnivorous brethren do.

I feel that eating all animals is wrong, but that's just because the way that I became a vegetarian is that I don't want to eat living creature (of course, you can counteract this point that plants are living, but you get the point. I don't eat anything with a face). If I'm not going to hunt down and eat a human (even though that's also illegal, let alone revolting), I don't think it's fair that I would hunt down and kill an animal.

I also feel the need to say that I'M not trying to be mean or rip down your comment, just give you insight on what I know and how I feel. I personally feel that your way of eating is completely understandable and that you should continue eating the way you are if that is the way you feel about eating eggs, fish and wild animals. Although, I do think that if you're going to eat wild animals on the rare occasion, you should only eat a bit to avoid getting sick from it. Eating something and then purging the nutrients back up isn't healthy for your body.

Also, your thoughts on the issue were very interesting and enlightening, so thank you (and please don't feel as if I'm trying to shoot you down, I'm simply trying to respond :D)

I am a vegetarian and I agree with many points of the article, but I do not agree with your view of not being a true vegetarian if you eat eggs or fish. You can eat raw eggs and fish naturally without getting sick. The rest of the animals humans eat however can not be consumed without first cooking it. Comparing ourselves to other carnivores you will notice that they can eat all kinds of meat without getting sick. Anything our intestines can handle that is not cooked we are supposed to eat, in my view. Of course the industrialization of the poor animals is wrong, but eating them is not. I will eat meat if I know it has lived wild, even though I get sick when I finish because I have not ate it for so long. Eggs cannot actually feel pain even though it is cruel to the mother. You may argue that killing animals in the wild is wrong, but without doing so they would become overpopulated and die slow painful deaths because of sickness. If you truly supported the view of animals suffering no pain I would like to believe you would be vegan. Life does not come without pain, especially when you fall prey to other animals, including humans. The wolves may not mass produce dear, but the dear still suffer. It is part of life. I'm not trying to be mean or rip your article apart or anything so please don't take it that way. It's very well written and accurate and I agree with it a lot.

From my experiences, I have never noticed "meat-eaters" to become overly defensive. Generally anyone who learns of my vegitarianism either really doesn't care, or they try to compliment me. The difference between the reactions could be because of where I live in California; SoCal. Vegetarianism is very common and lately seems to be a popular trend. These girls here are so calorie oriented they are thinking less about the reason and more on the feedback, so much that it falls from a lifestyle choice to being a fashionable, fleeting trend.

I'm a vegitarian too, so I know where you're coming from. I don't think meat eaters really get defensive about it, but at the same time they act like you will tie them to a tree (because we are proud tree huggers, of course) and take away all of their meat products.
I don't know about you, but I do not know one single overweight or poorly nutritioned vegitarian. Obviously there is some pros to vegitarianism to account for that goes left unnoticed by a vast number of the population. Not to forget about all of the animals that you are saving from mass slaughter and torture.

I LOVE THIS ARTICLE. Being a vegetarian is obviously tough at times, but reading this makes the idea of eating meat so much more revolting.