Vegetarians

How many of you actually liked eating meat before you gave it up? Or have you never eaten it?

The reason I am asking is because the vast majority of my friends that are vegetarian have never really liked eating meat, and so for them giving it up was not a great sacrifice IYSWIM, whereas I love meat so for me it would be.

i LOVED eating meat, it was very hard for the 18 years I was veggie.

My sister on the other hand has never liked meat at all, so is veggie because of that.

L
xx

I've never liked it and have been vegetarian pretty much my whole life. I have tried to start eating meat, because it would make life so much easier, but it just makes me feel ill.

I liked eating meat but I didn't see giving it up as a sacrifice as such.   Fast forward 22 years and I have this year denounced my 'vegetarian' status.   Having said that, I could count on one hand what meat I have tried since then and it's 4 or 5 bites of meat, usually when we've been eating out and I've fancied trying something.

I liked chicken, loved roast lamb, wasn't too fussed on beef (was 12 though) but adored bacon & sausages. It was tough to start with as my parents refused to cook 2 meals so I had to start doing all my own cooking, but I don't ever remember wanting to eat theirs. I had a very strong conviction, even at that age, that I was doing the 'right thing'.

I'm well past the point of missing it or craving it, and the smell of meat or fish now tends to make me feel sick rather than anything else.

R-A:

I'm well past the point of missing it or craving it, and the smell of meat or fish now tends to make me feel sick rather than anything else.

I dont remember eating meat but my mum remembers me enjoying rabbit pie. I liked smoked yellow haddock in milk but thats the only meat/fish i remeber the taste off.

I went veggie at 6 and i think my parents thought i'd just grow out of it - 19 years later my dad still hopefully asks if i'll have some red meat/fish etc

L

x

I gave up being veggie about 8 years ago after being veggie for about 8/10 years. I have recently actually started to try eating some meat I can do bacon sarnies (crispy though), pork sausages and chicken. This weekend I tried some lamb which was OK and some steak, which wasn't. I find it all a bit, well, meaty

I am not a fussy eater and eat anything else, including some minging things, but I'm just not cut out for meat-eating.

Oddly, in the sixteen years I was veggie I didn't miss it. The day I did, eyeing up poached salmon pasta in M&S, I ate it. I gradually re-introduced meat after that. I could live without meat again, but probably not fish. I adore Sushi. mmmm Sushi.

I am a " part time" veggie - I only eat chicken (dont laught at me)    and I use the 'I am a veggie' excuse whenever I go out - it is very  Naughty, i know -but it saves me eating nasty beef and lamb etc

I really really really really miss Pork though

I often wonder why I still think it is "ok" to eat chicken when I wouldnt eat any other meat? I am such a idiot - but I still cant work me out

I'm not a real veggie as eat fish but I haven't eat meat for 21 years. I did enjoy bacon and casserole type dishes. I had a real problem with eating roast meats as seeing the joint made me realise I was eating a sheep / pig / chicken etc and that was ultimately what made me give it up. I don't miss meat but I did miss fish in the 15 years I didn't eat it so I took it back up again. V. fussy about it though & really only like white fish & seafood. 

Saracroft251:

I am a " part time" veggie - I only eat chicken (dont laught at me)    and I use the 'I am a veggie' excuse whenever I go out - it is very  Naughty, i know -but it saves me eating nasty beef and lamb etc

I really really really really miss Pork though

I often wonder why I still think it is "ok" to eat chicken when I wouldnt eat any other meat? I am such a idiot - but I still cant work me out

brilliant. No really sara you are not a veggie. Not even part time. You are a meat eater who doesn't eat meat all the time. Rarely red meat. No harm there, but definitely not a veggie.

Missus Jolly:

Saracroft251:

I am a " part time" veggie - I only eat chicken (dont laught at me)    and I use the 'I am a veggie' excuse whenever I go out - it is very  Naughty, i know -but it saves me eating nasty beef and lamb etc

I really really really really miss Pork though

I often wonder why I still think it is "ok" to eat chicken when I wouldnt eat any other meat? I am such a idiot - but I still cant work me out

brilliant. No really sara you are not a veggie. Not even part time. You are a meat eater who doesn't eat meat all the time.  

WSS! Definitely not in any way a veggie AFAIC

I was veggie for abour 2 years and then started eating meat again as I was lazy and ate too much cheese! Feel very guilty about eating meat though so planning to try again relatively soon. I do like meat so did miss it but mostly had trouble with thinking of things to cook. Am very very careful about meat I buy now and only eat meat when out if I know it is free-range. I've got massive reservations about the whole dairy industry as well but couldn't face giving up cheese.

I gave up fish about 5 years ago for ethical reasons - over-fishing and awful trawling methods mostly. I do miss it but don't think enough is being done about the situation to make me eat it again yet.

AFAIK chicken can be one of the worst meats to choose, ethically speaking, because of the terrible production methods of cheap poultry. Lamb is a good one though (according to veggie SIL, who is a vet and has done her time on farms/abbatoirs) as it is not factory farmed.

I'm not a veggie, but in the rarely eats meat camp.  Have a chorizo salad about once a week, and that's it.  Sometimes I flirt with tuna sandwiches, but then I cannot be bothered again!  I don't like the taste *enough* to be bothered, and the meat industry as a whole bothers me.  I prefer grains, pulses and vegetables anyway.

I feel really torn as I would like to be veggie (and did it for three years as a teen), but OH would not give up meat.  He's happy to minimise the meat we eat, and I'm too lazy (and busy!) to cook two meals, so I feel that this is the best balance for now.  I don't really 'do' dairy either, apart from milk (which I could easily give up), so I think there's a vegan waiting to come out somewhere... one who likes knitting with wool and wearing leather

ETA - chicken is pretty much a no-no for me.  The industry is rank and it seems daft that one life is given over to a single meal.  For this reason I don't eat mussels or prawns either (mass homicide in a sandwich!)...  Yes, I know I am ridiculous

Merlini:

I've got massive reservations about the whole dairy industry as well but couldn't face giving up cheese.

This is the thing I stuggle with the most. I have been vegan in the past for periods of a few months at a time, because imho it's quite hyprocritical to 'just' be veggie as the dairy industry is dependent on mass cull of calves, which aren't even eaten.

I really do struggle to reconcile this knowledge with how much I love cheese and ice cream. I am eating a lot less dairy than I have in the past, though this is mainly due to sat fat reasons, not ethical ones. However, I think it's only a matter of time before I go vegan really, my conscience is bound to out at some point, annoyingly.