# Open discussion on becoming vegetarian / vegan **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 22, 2021, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-discussion-on-becoming-vegetarian-vegan/956475 "2021-12-22T13:35:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2021, 8:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-discussion-on-becoming-vegetarian-vegan/956475/81 "2021-12-25T08:15:25Z")
> [@Mijin](#): > > This is the fourth, maybe the fifth time I’ve said this: I am not trying to tell anyone meat eating is wrong or right. I don’t know about you, but I’m both amazed at the persistence of this meme, and getting tired of it. This notion that vegetarians, by existing, are somehow trying to “covert” meat-eaters, or impose their diet on them, or being critical of meat eating. Being omnivores, humans have a lot of _choices_ in what they eat. Being vegetarian is a _choice_. It’s just as much a choice as deciding whether or not to eat beets, or whether you like rye bread with seed or without seeds… or maybe you don’t like rye bread and _choose_ not to eat it. Of course, there are some vegetarians who do seem to have an agenda, and approach their diet from ethical grounds, but that’s not all vegetarians. Some, like my mother-in-law, simply do not like meat and that’s totally fine. Others are in it because they believe it is healthier. Some might be because that’s they way they were raised. Lots of reasons to choose one diet over another. ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/779978/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats2)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2021, 11:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-discussion-on-becoming-vegetarian-vegan/956475/82 "2021-12-25T11:10:45Z")
Well, if you posit that most people have to justify meat eating to themselves, and then shoot down those justifications, you are a person with an agenda. ---
**Author:** ![eburacum45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eburacum45/32/8690_2.png) [@eburacum45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eburacum45)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2021, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-discussion-on-becoming-vegetarian-vegan/956475/83 "2021-12-25T11:51:43Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > Um… only if you find a way to get deer to use birth control. Otherwise in a bit you’ll find yourself in the same pickle again. Wild deer are a bit different to herds of domesticated cattle. In particular deep can jump into fields of crops and cause damage, whereas sheep and cattle generally can’t. So there is a good case for a continued cull of deer for consumption. As I’ve said, I’m not against hunting. Or we could encourage bears and wolves to return, although that would make countryside rambling somewhat more entertaining than it already is. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2021, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-discussion-on-becoming-vegetarian-vegan/956475/84 "2021-12-25T18:45:15Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > My observation is that most vegetarians never really craved meat anyway. I’m sure there are exceptions. But that true of the vast majority of vegetarians I’ve known. It’s true that there are a lot of reasons to eat vegetarian, one of them not liking meat. But in my experience, the most vegetarians I know have ethical, medicinal or ecological reasons. Also, there must be many vegetarians who still crave meat, enough for an ongoing boom of vegetarian/vegan meat substitutes. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2021, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-discussion-on-becoming-vegetarian-vegan/956475/85 "2021-12-25T19:00:06Z")
Most of the people i know buying meat substitutes are not vegetarian, but have concerns about eating meat and would like to eat less. Yes, most people who are actually vegetarian, and not just “don’t eat much meat” have some reason other than food preference, be it ethical, health, or religious. But most of them never really craved meat, either. It’s the people with ethical, etc. reasons who do crave meat, and eat it but feel bad about eating it, who seem to be driving the market for fake meat. Too bad the stuff isn’t any healthier than meat. (But it probably does involve fewer suffering animals.) ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2021, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-discussion-on-becoming-vegetarian-vegan/956475/86 "2021-12-25T19:59:35Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > To get back on track: do some vegetarians/vegans have an issue with faux-meat along similar lines? A **lot** of non-vegans/non-vegetarians seem to have an issue with the concept of fake meats, usually based on utterly flawed and inane questions of the form: “If vegans don’t like meat, why do they make fake meat?” ---
**Author:** ![Capn\_Carl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/838e76/32.png) [@Capn\_Carl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capn_Carl)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2021, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-discussion-on-becoming-vegetarian-vegan/956475/87 "2021-12-25T20:58:29Z")
I meant that TMC’s morality seems determined by the majority. For me, slavery is abhorrent and immoral, and I hope I’d still believe that, even if I were the last human to think so. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2021, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-discussion-on-becoming-vegetarian-vegan/956475/88 "2021-12-25T21:12:30Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > Too bad the stuff isn’t any healthier than meat. Some (not all) of the ‘swap’ type products are pretty dire in nutrition - fake cheese seems to be about the worst, usually comprising a sort of solidified custard made from coconut oil and starch. For fake meats, there seems to be a loosely inverse correlation between the aesthetic similarity to meat and the nutritional quality - products like sausages seem to be able to get the balance right - I suppose because sausages themselves don’t really resemble meat. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2021, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-discussion-on-becoming-vegetarian-vegan/956475/89 "2021-12-25T21:30:09Z")
Yeah, i imagine you could make a decent sausage out of turnips, spices, and coconut fat. ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/779978/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats2)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2021, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-discussion-on-becoming-vegetarian-vegan/956475/90 "2021-12-25T23:59:14Z")
Right, that’s your personal opinion. It is the same opinion as mine and most people. I personally believe abortion is morally wrong. Not everyone thinks so. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2021, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-discussion-on-becoming-vegetarian-vegan/956475/91 "2021-12-26T14:02:07Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > To get back on track: do some vegetarians/vegans have an issue with faux-meat along similar lines? Maybe with the notion that faux-meats might give someone the impression they eat meat when they don’t? Some just find it gross. My SIL is a vegan. Like most vegans she is in it for ethical reasons. He housemate rescued a chicken (maybe several chickens) who had been commercial laying hens, and were being “disposed of” because they were no longer laying enough eggs. So they had pet chickens. And of course, the hens still laid a few eggs. So she decided to try one. After all, there are no ethical problems with eating the unfertilized egg of your pet chicken. She said she got halfway through cooking it and felt nauseous. Eggs have become disgusting to her. She didn’t eat the egg. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2021, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-discussion-on-becoming-vegetarian-vegan/956475/92 "2021-12-27T13:40:25Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > only if you find a way to get deer to use birth control. Otherwise in a bit you’ll find yourself in the same pickle again. Actually: > **[Wildlife contraceptive](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wildlife_contraceptive)** > > Wildlife contraceptives are contraceptives used to regulate the fertility of wild animals. They are used to control population growth of certain wild animals. > White-tailed deer may be controlled with contraceptives in suburban areas, where they are sometimes a nuisance. In parts of the United States, does are shot with darts containing a contraceptive vaccine, rendering them temporarily infertile. The Humane Society of the United States runs a deer birth control program, but it is experimental... ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2021, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-discussion-on-becoming-vegetarian-vegan/956475/93 "2021-12-27T13:50:49Z")
Alright. Next obstacle: funding. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2021, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-discussion-on-becoming-vegetarian-vegan/956475/94 "2021-12-27T13:53:52Z")
I’ll bet the insurance companies would kick in. Raise hunting license fees. Taxes. ETA: feasibility may be a problem…I just wanted to put out there that it’s a possibility. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-discussion-on-becoming-vegetarian-vegan/956475.md?page=4)