How many Dopers are Vegan or Vegetarian?

Cafe Society
21

Not many votes for flexitarian, I see, which is what I voted. I’m an omnivore in the sense that I have no prohibition against eating anything. However, my daily diet skews very heavily toward vegetarian/vegan. A lot of my protein comes from beans and grains, and I eat copious amounts of vegetables.

My reason for eating that way is a combination of health, environmental concerns, animal rights, and taste. I don’t like many meat-heavy dishes and never have. Sure, three or four times a year I will eat a delicious grass-fed, locally produced steak, but my stomach kind of rebels at the thought of doing it very often.

22

Whereas i really don’t like vegetables very much… I mean, i eat some, of course. But the “zing” in a meal usually comes from the dead animal, because i kinda dislike a lot of the zingy vegetables.

23

I’ve been making meals lately where eggplant is used as a meat substitute and I’m getting rave revues. (from my gf).

24

Your last nine words don’t make sense in this post. Did your arm get bumped?

25

I have no idea what happened. That looks like the beginning was CP’d from a private conversation I had someplace else, but the gibberish, I don’t know.

26

I don’t mean to be That Asshole, but … I bet if you and I were locked in a house with a fully equipped and stocked kitchen for a few weeks, and you could only eat what I cooked for you, but I genuinely wanted to convince you of the deliciousness of veggies without making you suffer, I could change your mind. Here I how I’d start:

I’d ask what you’d like better: a nice roast leg of lamb, or a roast beef? Or either?

Once that was settled, I’d slow-roast the lamb or beef (or both, on different days) surrounded by root vegetables, being sure they were well-coated by animal grease, salt, and herbs through the long slow cooking process. Veggies would include potato, sweet potato, carrot, onion, yellow squash/zucchini, and winter squash.

Hopefully you would find those veggies roasted along with the meat delicious. I’d then take some of those, like the roast potatoes, and introduce you to a lovely mash like colcannon, consisting of mashed potatoes with inoffensive, pureed bits of spinach or steamed kale blended in. The potato dish wouldn’t stint on flavor: olive oil, butter, salt, pepper, herbs would be added with a liberal hand.

You see where I’m going with this, I hope. Eventually I hope your palate would appreciate luscious veggies sautéed in olive oil with lots of herbs, with perhaps a bit of meat to flavor it, or not.

If you are gagging now, I accept that! :grinning:

27

Any plans to be in California soon?

28

I’m omnivore, moving to flexitarian.

29

I never even knew “flexitarian” was a thing. I am not sure where the lines are drawn.

I definitely eat meat of all sorts (poultry, beef, pork, fish) but my diet is probably 80-85% vegetable. But it is not for any “reason.” I just like veggies a lot too. And, I think, that is probably normal. The bulk of most diets in the world are vegetable/grains with some meat to supplement it.

So, am I a “flexitarian?” How is that different from an “omnivore?”

30

I voted pesco/ovo/lacto. I could have gone flexitarian, because occasionally I’ll eat some meat, but it’s so infrequent that I decided not to.

31

I don’t know. Pesca-pollo-something, something. I don’t eat red meat - no mammals. Everything else is on the table.

32

I had to look it up. The Cleveland Clinic says, What Is the Flexitarian Diet?

In its simplest definition, the flexitarian diet is a combination of the words “flexible” and “vegetarian.” It’s a cross between full vegan and vegetarian with the ability to enjoy animal products every so often.

33

I chose ‘flexitarian’, because while I’m vegetarian in daily life (we buy no meat, and little animal products in general, for home consumption), I sometimes eat meat when eating out or being invited, either if there’s no sensible vegetarian option or sometimes just as a treat. My reasons are mostly climate related; I don’t have a problem with killing animals for food, although I can’t say I’m a huge fan of modern factory farming.

34

No, and i do enjoy roasted root vegetables. But I’m not a huge fan of potato, and you lost me when you added kale to it. Ugh.

I like some vegetables. But i never order the vegetarian option because there’s too high a chance it will contain one of the no-gos. I despise peppers, especially cooked peppers, even in tiny amounts. If you’d included a pepper with that roast, i wouldn’t be eating the meat, except possibly from the interior, and certainly none of the veggies. And I’m allergic to eggplant. It usually makes my mouth itch, and once my throat started swelling after eating it. That was the last time I’ve knowingly had eggplant. Even before that, I’ve never enjoyed the flavor of eggplant, but i used to try it on the theory that it’s good to expand your horizons.

A vegan friend took me to a vegan restaurant, and i happily ate a delicious vegan meal. My husband likes to cook vegetarian. He makes terrific lentils and chickpeas (two different dishes.) Heck, I’ve cooked a nice vegan meal when we had vegan guests. But after a few vegetarian meals i find myself wanting meat.

35

Yeah, I have heard that enough times to realize that peppers must contain some chemical that pings a lot of people’s yuck meters. Idle curiosity - does that apply to every pepper ever: raw or cooked, sweet or hot, and green or red/ripe? Green peppers seem to be worse for most people than red ones.

A few weeks ago, I proudly served a salad to some non-picky guests that was composed 100% of ingredients from my garden, except for the salt and olive oil in the salad dressing. One person quietly but fastidiously removed every bit of green pepper - no easy chore since I had sliced them razor thin. Next time I’ll ask before I inflict them on any guests :grinning:

I tell people, “A flexitarian is a vegetarian who eats meat.”

36

It doesn’t apply to raw green peppers, if they are fresh. When they age they start to develop that oxidized pepper flavor. It does apply to raw red and yellow peppers. Some hot peppers have very little pepper flavor, and while i don’t like “hot”, either, i can tolerate a little bit of some hot peppers.

37

There was just a study described on NPR suggesting that a propensity toward vegetarianism is at least partly genetic. (Obviously a lot of it is cultural/environmental.) The authors speculate that depending on their make-up, some individuals are better at deriving sound nutrition from plant sources than others.

So maybe @puzzlegal really needs her meat, whereas I really don’t. I do recall as a little kid feeling nauseated by being forced to eat beef. I always ordered fish when we ate out, whether it was a McDonald’s fish sandwich or at a nice restaurant. (Of course, that’s still animal protein - vegetarian options were almost unheard of in the 1960s US heartland. My preference for fish was scandalous enough!)

38

What we want isn’t always what’s good for us. Most of the type 2 diabetics i know really love pasta. (Pasta? That’s the filler that i hope i can put something yummy on.) I have no idea if eating meat is good for me, but i know it makes me feel good.

39

A friend of mind said a flexitarian is a vegetarian who doesn’t insult her Bobbe by refusing the brisket on Pesach, or the chicken soup when she’s sick.

40

I was born in 1967. I sat at the dinner table until bedtime many nights because I would not eat my meat.