# Vegetarian boxed lunch is a LIE! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [July 17, 2003, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vegetarian-boxed-lunch-is-a-lie/189259 "2003-07-17T23:49:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 12
**Author:** ![Greyson3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/258eb7/32.png) [@Greyson3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greyson3)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2003, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vegetarian-boxed-lunch-is-a-lie/189259/221 "2003-07-22T17:45:38Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by kabbes \* > \*\* > > There’s a load of new age claptrap surrounding detoxing, so it’s hard to get through to the heart of the issue. Detox fundamentalists will start talking about how the whole body’s health is derived from the colon and suchlike and before you know it facts are distorted by all kinds of dodgy claims. Don’t let that stop you though – the fact is that removing toxins from your body (both of the chemical and the plain old “body can’t handle so much of this” kind) makes you feel pretty damn good. > \*\* What toxins do you mean? What are they called? Are they oil-soluble? Where do they come from? What do they do? How does fasting purge them from the body? ---
**Author:** ![Gotterfunken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/58956e/32.png) [@Gotterfunken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gotterfunken)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2003, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vegetarian-boxed-lunch-is-a-lie/189259/222 "2003-07-22T20:02:59Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by lezlers \* > \*\*Don’t wanna hijack, but I’ve got to respond to that last bit about compromising your ethical principals because you’re in a relationship with a meat eater. > > I’ve been in relationships with meat eaters, including living with one. There’s no need to compromise your ethical principals for the sake of a relationship. If there’s other reasons, fine, but don’t hide behind “but he cooked a dinner for us!” If can’t respect the fact that you’re vegetarian, you’re better off without him. > \*\* Well, vegetarianism is just one of several things I’ve compromised for this relationship. This is not the place to go into all of that, though, and I’m not going to start a separate thread, so here’s my response: Before I met my SO, I’d always maintained that I would be vegetarian–no meat or fish, and preferably free-range eggs and milk whenever I had a choice–since I first went vegetarian when I was 18. I figured I could live with a meat-eater so long as we could respect each other’s perspectives and ethical choices. But then I met her, and once we were practically living together (about five years ago), I found it wasn’t so easy to practice the kind of lifestyle that I had been living as a single guy. For one thing, most of my meals had been some variety of pasta. I’m not the most imaginative cook, but pasta has always been a favorite staple of mine. She doesn’t like pasta very much. Her diet’s always been fairly meat-centered, with pork being a particular favorite. It didn’t make much sense for us to be fixing individual meals every evening, but, like I mentioned, I’m not a great chef and my offerings of mainly pasta or rice-based dishes weren’t all that satisfactory. So I compromised by eating poultry and fish that she prepares, as she is a much better cook than I am (I try to help out in other ways, fixing rice, setting up/clearing off the table and doing the dishes, etc.–but, really, she does more cooking than I do, so it’s more than just a case of her fixing “_a_ dinner for us”). I did stand firm on not eating pork or beef, and she’s respected this choice. She sometimes eats pork, and I don’t bother her about that. I just say that I don’t eat mammal. Clearly, I had to sacrifice more than she did for this particular aspect of our relationship. You’re right that one should not feel it necessary to compromise their ethical principles for a relationship. But for _this_ relationship, I made the decision that she was worth making the sacrifice for, and that’s something that I, and I alone, have to live with. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2003, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vegetarian-boxed-lunch-is-a-lie/189259/223 "2003-07-23T00:17:02Z")
**Kabbes** -the ones mentioned in some links people gave-enemas, fasting, etc. Maybe I should show my dad that recipe, it looks like something he’d like. ---
**Author:** ![Tony\_Montana](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/278dde/32.png) [@Tony\_Montana](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tony_Montana)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2003, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vegetarian-boxed-lunch-is-a-lie/189259/224 "2003-07-23T01:29:56Z")
TM opens can of worms > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Kaio \* > \*\*Fish is known to contain trace levels of mercury due to water contamination. IIRC, mercury is one of those things that never flushes out of your body, so you want to eat such things sparingly anyway. \*\* Got a cite? Maybe that applies to farmed salmon or canned fish from overseas. Or fish from the [East river.](http://www.atpm.com/7.01/new-york-ii/east-river.shtml) You wouldn’t catch me eating that stuff anyhow. I eat wild Alaska salmon. ---
**Author:** ![Tony\_Montana](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/278dde/32.png) [@Tony\_Montana](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tony_Montana)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2003, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vegetarian-boxed-lunch-is-a-lie/189259/225 "2003-07-23T05:28:30Z")
That IT!! ::waves fist:: :mad: I’m starting a thread regarding this crap about cutting fish outta my diet is supposed to help “de-tox” my body. Pure nu-age bullshit My People have been eating Alaska fish for thousands of years. If you wanna eat like a gerbil and stick a tube up your ass fine, thats your thing. Don’t mislead and bamboozle others into your deranged “de-tox” rituals. ---
**Author:** ![Kaio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c68b51/32.png) [@Kaio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaio)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2003, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vegetarian-boxed-lunch-is-a-lie/189259/226 "2003-07-23T15:11:55Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Tony Montana \* > \*\* TM opens can of worms > > Got a cite? > > Maybe that applies to farmed salmon or canned fish from overseas. Or fish from the [East river.](http://www.atpm.com/7.01/new-york-ii/east-river.shtml) > > You wouldn’t catch me eating that stuff anyhow. > > I eat wild Alaska salmon. \*\* [CNN](http://www.cnn.com/2001/HEALTH/parenting/04/12/fish.pregnant/) good enough? How about the [BBC](http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/2518311.stm)? Those were just the top two hits on Google when I typed in “fish mercury”. Granted I would expect some fishing locations to be more contaminated than others, but also it’s not like one ocean is entirely contained from another on this planet. FTR I first gleaned the information from a friend’s doctor – said friend has the World’s Most Screwed Up Digestive Tract (long story) and has to eat massive amounts of protein since most of it passes through him undigested… his doc told him to go sparingly on the fish to meet this requirement due to mercury. Anyway, why the temper tantrum? There’s no conspiracy to make you detox or anything. Don’t want to, don’t do it. ---
**Author:** ![Kaio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c68b51/32.png) [@Kaio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaio)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2003, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vegetarian-boxed-lunch-is-a-lie/189259/227 "2003-07-23T15:14:28Z")
Oh, forgot to say… Sure peole have been eating fish for thousands of years. But we’ve only recently started dumping waste mercury into the oceans, too. Quite a few things were a lot more clean back then. ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2003, 7:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vegetarian-boxed-lunch-is-a-lie/189259/228 "2003-07-24T07:25:52Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by prisoner6655321 \* > \*\*Well dang **OpalCat**. That saddens me. I try to be a nice guy then a real jerk shows me how closed minded some people can be. I might have involved myself with your website but now I don’t think I want to. You’re no doubt thinking you don’t want someone “like me” visiting your site. Well if no one “like me” visits your site then your community must be full of jerks cause I’m a nice guy and I never force my beliefs on others. I may fly off the handle on occasion in the pit or accuse the wrong person in the heat of the moment, but it doesn’t make me an idiot and posting flames in the pit doesn’t mean I am that way in real life. Apparantly there is a second type of annoying vegetarian: the stubborn, judgemental, defensive type. Yeah, so I’m also being judgemental and defensive right now, but I’m being wrongly accused so I have every right to be. \*\* My assessment of you as being an idiot stems from your constant assertion that mainstream folk think that vegetarian = no animal products at all. ---
**Author:** ![Tony\_Montana](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/278dde/32.png) [@Tony\_Montana](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tony_Montana)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2003, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vegetarian-boxed-lunch-is-a-lie/189259/229 "2003-07-24T15:07:52Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Kaio \* > **[CNN](http://www.cnn.com/2001/HEALTH/parenting/04/12/fish.pregnant/) good enough?** from CNN: > [@](#): > > The Environmental Working Group says there are some fish considered safe for pregnant women, including farm-raised trout and catfish, shrimp, fish sticks, flounder (summer), wild pacific salmon, croaker, mid-Atlantic blue crab and haddock Underlined mine. > [@](#): > > Granted I would expect some fishing locations to be more contaminated than others, but also it’s not like one ocean is entirely contained from another on this planet. Thats akin to saying dont eat Florida oranges because the environment in Mexico City is bad. > [@](#): > > his doc told him to go sparingly on the fish to meet this requirement due to mercury. Don’t implicate _all_ fish in your hysteria. Alaska fish is still pristine. > [@](#): > > \*\* > Anyway, why the temper tantrum? There’s no conspiracy to make you detox or anything. > > Don’t want to, don’t do it. \*\* Detox shmetox, that smells…_fishy_. My sister runs a charter fishing business here in Alaska. So when you make statements such as this: - “Fish is known to contain trace levels of mercury due to water contamination.”\* Of course I’m gonna call bullshit, and point out that you wrongly implicate all fish in your vegetarian/vegan/nuage propaganda. ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2003, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vegetarian-boxed-lunch-is-a-lie/189259/230 "2003-07-24T15:24:24Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Tony Montana \* > \*\*My sister runs a charter fishing business here in Alaska. So when you make statements such as this: > > - “Fish is known to contain trace levels of mercury due to water contamination.”\* > \*\* Unfortunately, I don’t know where I left the transcript. But this very subject was debated on Sealab:2021 “Did you know that a single fish contains as much mercury as an oral thermometer? (GULP)Mmmmmmm. Mercury. Most flavorful of all the transitional metals.” ---
**Author:** ![Kaio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c68b51/32.png) [@Kaio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaio)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2003, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vegetarian-boxed-lunch-is-a-lie/189259/231 "2003-07-24T16:51:36Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Tony Montana \* > \*\* > Thats akin to saying dont eat Florida oranges because the environment in Mexico City is bad. > \*\* Not quite. As far as I know, pesticides on oranges don’t flow through the ambient medium (air – unless you’re suggesting that the orange peels themselves “flow” 😛 ). On the other hand, contaminents in water DO flow, right along with the water. No doubt Alaska waters are cleaner than a number of other places in the world – I never said otherwise. Although I think “pristine” may be a bit of a stretch, especially since the Alaskan coastline has seen at least one or two oil spills that I can recall offhand (the Valdeez was one… or however you spell that). But again, we were talking about fish in general (at least **kabbes** and I were), not Alaskan fish in particular. And there’s still no conspiracy to force you or anyone to detox. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Tony\_Montana](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/278dde/32.png) [@Tony\_Montana](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tony_Montana)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2003, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vegetarian-boxed-lunch-is-a-lie/189259/232 "2003-07-25T01:46:47Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Kaio \* > \*\*Not quite. As far as I know, pesticides on oranges don’t flow through the ambient medium (air – unless you’re suggesting that the orange peels themselves “flow” 😛 ). On the other hand, contaminents in water DO flow, right along with the water. > > No doubt Alaska waters are cleaner than a number of other places in the world – I never said otherwise. Although I think “pristine” may be a bit of a stretch, \*\* Have you ever been here? > [@](#): > > \*\* > especially since the Alaskan coastline has seen at least one or two oil spills that I can recall offhand (the Valdeez was one… or however you spell that).\*\* Alaska has more coastline than the entire contiguous United states. That spill no doubt had a devastating effect on the surrounding area. But it is so removed from Southeast AK and had **zero** effect on its wildlife (SE AK)that it may as well have been on the east coast. > [@](#): > > But again, we were talking about fish in general (at least **kabbes** and I were), not Alaskan fish in particular. > > And there’s still no conspiracy to force you or anyone to detox. 😃 \*\* Detox quackery aside. Lets rewind,shall we? When _I_ asked: _ **How would cutting out fresh wild Alaska King salmon help in this?** _ Then _you_ answered: _ **Fish is known to contain trace levels of mercury due to water contamination.** _ I couldn’t let that stand, misinformation and rampant hysteria regarding the safety of the last frontiers fish just doesn’t sit well with me. Especially on a board that is dedicated to fighting ignorance. If you ever visit my state email me. I’ll show you a salmon river in a back yard so immense and remote, I guarantee the **last** thing you would be thinking is _“this fish is polluted”_ I’m done here. ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2003, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vegetarian-boxed-lunch-is-a-lie/189259/233 "2003-07-25T16:37:03Z")
So by your logic, everyone doing a detox should investigate each individual piece of food for toxins, rather than just doing the far simpler removing of certain things by group? :rolleyes: (Me, now I say it’s great that Alaska’s fish are so healthy. Let’s not kill 'em and let them stay healthy!) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vegetarian-boxed-lunch-is-a-lie/189259.md?page=11)