# Why aren't you vegetarian? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 2, 2010, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-you-vegetarian/559198 "2010-11-02T12:48:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2010, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-you-vegetarian/559198/81 "2010-11-02T22:49:57Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > Thanks for the critique. > > BTW perhaps you should see a doctor and have him write you a prescription for “sense of humor.” Wow, way to take criticism maturely. The OP described this thread as a counter to the poll “Why are you a vegetarian?”, which _was_ a serious thread. However, this thread is apparently not intended to be taken seriously. From that POV it was an interesting choice to include “Never considered it” as an option, and for pretty much all the “joke” responses to read like a rant against meat-eaters. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2010, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-you-vegetarian/559198/82 "2010-11-02T23:46:34Z")
I was just going to comment on how you needed better choices. Throwing in a few jokey answers is fine, but unless this is a joke thread (which, I believe must be opened in the Pit), you need a lot more options. But I see that’s already been done to death, so, other than the above, I’ll just include my actual reasons: I’m a meat-eater because I like the taste of meat, and find it easier to achieve my protein goals in that way. I also tend to feel sick when I eat only vegetables, even when they are the ones that provide proper nutrition. I don’t really like taking vitamins, which is vital if I were to go vegan. And I like the taste of animal products that aren’t meat. I also don’t have a lot of money, and while vegetarianism can be cheap, it’s a lot easier to eat cheap if you are more versatile. ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2010, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-you-vegetarian/559198/83 "2010-11-02T23:49:44Z")
I’m a housecat. ---
**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:** [November 3, 2010, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-you-vegetarian/559198/84 "2010-11-03T00:27:06Z")
I am allergic to several types of plant food, including many legume. This would make it extremely difficult for me to live long-term without some sort of animal protein in my diet, since much plant protein is off limits for me (as in may cause my death by anaphyllaxis) Thus, I am not, and will not, become vegetarian, or at least not vegan. That doesn’t mean I feel a need to scarf down animal flesh every meal, or even every day, but I’m not giving it up because I value my health too much. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2010, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-you-vegetarian/559198/85 "2010-11-03T00:39:45Z")
> [@purplehorseshoe](#): > > I must remember that for the next time I’m forced to share space with a militant vegan. Shouldn’t you worry more about a hungry humanitarian? ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2010, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-you-vegetarian/559198/86 "2010-11-03T01:00:34Z")
> [@Trom](#): > > Some people here honestly eat meat because they think vegetarians are self-righteous? That seems to be on par with driving a Hummer because Hybrid drivers are smug. 😕 I think a fair amount of vegetarians are self-righteous, but that’s not a reason why I eat meat. It’s not like how I vote republican to piss off democrats. ---
**Author:** ![rhubarbarin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eb9ed0/32.png) [@rhubarbarin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rhubarbarin)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2010, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-you-vegetarian/559198/87 "2010-11-03T01:06:15Z")
> [@scifisam2009](#): > > Nice exclusion. 😃 > > Is the ‘why are you a vegetarian?’ equally stupid? > > Of course some animals are killed during the growing of crops - and they’re killed due to milk production, too. Is anyone _really_ arguing that the average vegetarian diet kills more ickle animals than the average meat-eater’s diet, which includes veggies unless they’re really unhealthy? It’s certainly possible. Half a grass-fed cow, or most of a deer from one of my friends who hunts, in my freezer can feed me red meat daily for 6 months, only 1 death. I do eat some veg (although in the warm months at least it’s all what I grow in my own, organic, veggie garden), but I don’t eat corn products or soy, production of which destroy countless wild animals every growing season and have eradicated entire ecosystems in this country alone. ---
**Author:** ![Blalron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/35a633/32.png) [@Blalron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blalron)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2010, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-you-vegetarian/559198/88 "2010-11-03T04:36:22Z")
Convenience. That’s it. Good vegetarian food seems to be either more expensive, or take more time to prepare than the standard meat eating options. I do frequently make vegetarian dishes, but I don’t strictly adhere to vegetarianism. The most I can say about myself is that I _aspire_ to vegetarianism. I believe it to be ethically superior, but the circumstances of my life don’t make it practical for me to practice it. I feel a bit like Thomas Jefferson must have felt, who wrote about the evils of slavery but still kept slaves. I work in a fast food place that serves lots of meat, so it would feel like a futile exercise to strictly adhere to vegetarianism. I’m already tainted by profiting off the slaughter of animals. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2010, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-you-vegetarian/559198/89 "2010-11-03T04:46:25Z")
I checked every single box except the first one on the top. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2010, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-you-vegetarian/559198/90 "2010-11-03T05:01:01Z")
It’s worth pointing out that animals still have to die for “Vegetarian” food- foxes and rabbits and various other creatures all like to eat lettuce and carrots and cabbages and what have you, and as anyone who’s got any real exposure to farming can tell you, there’s not a lot you can do to keep them away from it, besides pesticides, shooting, trapping, poisoning, and so on- and even that’s not really a “permanent” solution unless you manage to track down and kill every. single. “varmint” (for want of a better term) in a 10km area. And even then it’s only a matter of time before some more show up anyway. ---
**Author:** ![unclviny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e274bd/32.png) [@unclviny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/unclviny)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2010, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-you-vegetarian/559198/91 "2010-11-03T05:02:51Z")
“not eating Meat is a choice, eating Meat is an instinct” Denis Leary ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2010, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-you-vegetarian/559198/92 "2010-11-03T05:14:00Z")
Where’s the “😕… but… but I _am_ a vegetarian!” option in the poll? ---
**Author:** ![Rala](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@Rala](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rala)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2010, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-you-vegetarian/559198/93 "2010-11-03T05:22:06Z")
I don’t have any moral objection to eating meat, though I do wish the animals were treated better. I don’t think meat is all that delicious - I like chicken, but I can take or leave most other kinds, and I seriously dislike pork and steak. I think part of it is that I care more about making a small contribution to preventing the suffering of humans than animals. It’d be a lot harder for me to keep my iron levels high enough to give blood if I wasn’t eating meat. Plus changing my diet would be inconvenient and I can’t be bothered. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2010, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-you-vegetarian/559198/94 "2010-11-03T05:23:32Z")
I like foods of all kinds and varieties. It’s very hard for me to limit myself. I love meat, I love fruits, i love vegetables, I love grains. All of it. I’m comfortable with where my food comes from–I’ve seen pig slaughters, chickens and rabbits getting whacked, etc. And, to be honest, I’ve only met a very small handful of vegetarians in my life I would describe as “self-righteous.” The vast majority of them have been perfectly cool with meat eaters. Hell, I’ve dated at least three vegetarians, and none have ever given me shit about eating meat, or have even tried to convert me at any point. I’ve actually gone for stretches on vegetarian diets, for convenience sake. (For example, I worked on one volunteer project for three months where we all lived together, kind of commune hippie style, I suppose, and cooked meals for the entire group. As we had two vegetarians in our midst, it was just easier cooking the whole meal vegetarian rather than making two meals.) And it was fine. I actually do like vegetarian food, and could happily subsist on it if I had to. But I don’t have to. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2010, 7:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-you-vegetarian/559198/95 "2010-11-03T07:18:04Z")
I don’t eat vegetables, for the most part. Never have. Doesn’t seem to have done me an ounce of harm. In fact in many respects I am healthier than people who do. I also refuse to let anybody dictate to me on what or how I should eat. It’s my stomach, I’ll fill it with whatever I want. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2010, 7:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-you-vegetarian/559198/96 "2010-11-03T07:52:07Z")
> [@scifisam2009](#): > > I’ll never understand this argument. Just because you can’t get away from killing altogether, you shouldn’t try your best to limit the amount of killing directly related to your diet? 😕 My mother’s argument: “plants have feelings too! For a single meal, you have to abort a lot of green beans, but only one chicken.” Considering how much time and energy she devotes to her plants, we reckon she’s actually serious. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2010, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-you-vegetarian/559198/97 "2010-11-03T13:23:56Z")
> [@Idee](#): > > I was vegetarian for 5 years. > > But I missed fish, chicken and beef and so I started eating them again and actually feel better. I’m a fish and poultry only guy, and even then only 2-3 times a week (I loathe the texture of most mammal meat, esp. pork). Since there was no option for “Because it is arguably healthier, and/or our digestive system is designed to be omnivourous”, I didn’t vote. ---
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2010, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-you-vegetarian/559198/98 "2010-11-03T14:01:42Z")
Well, I’m at least glad to see that the Dope isn’t crawling with people who are up in arms about animal death. That just makes me crazy, since the animals dying would never have lived if not for their destiny as dinner. Dying horribly or suffering in life, different thing. That also makes me crazy. Sorry I didn’t give more alternatives or allow multiple choice. The second I was deliberate about, because I wanted to know the primary reason. ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2010, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-you-vegetarian/559198/99 "2010-11-03T14:04:43Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > BTW perhaps you should see a doctor and have him write you a prescription for “sense of humor.” Oh, this thread was supposed to be funny? I’d like to change my answer to “I have a moral objection to killing plants.” ---
**Author:** ![Blalron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/35a633/32.png) [@Blalron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blalron)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2010, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-you-vegetarian/559198/100 "2010-11-03T15:16:23Z")
> [@Martini\_Enfield](#): > > It’s worth pointing out that animals still have to die for “Vegetarian” food- foxes and rabbits and various other creatures all like to eat lettuce and carrots and cabbages and what have you, and as anyone who’s got any real exposure to farming can tell you, there’s not a lot you can do to keep them away from it, besides pesticides, shooting, trapping, poisoning, and so on- and even that’s not really a “permanent” solution unless you manage to track down and kill every. single. “varmint” (for want of a better term) in a 10km area. And even then it’s only a matter of time before some more show up anyway. Sure, that’s the nature of the world we live in. But just because we can’t prevent all animal deaths doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try to prevent any. > [@Stoid](#): > > Well, I’m at least glad to see that the Dope isn’t crawling with people who are up in arms about animal death. That just makes me crazy, since the animals dying would never have lived if not for their destiny as dinner. If I had a choice between being born a factory farmed chicken, and never being born at all, I’d chose the latter. > [@](#): > > Dying horribly or suffering in life, different thing. That also makes me crazy. There actually are options for meat eaters these days to buy meat that was more humanely produced (as in, the animals were treated better than they normally are). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-you-vegetarian/559198.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-you-vegetarian/559198.md?page=6)