The definition of a vegetarian

[jaysouth]

Once upon a time, when I was active in the restaurant business, the wife (a vegetarian) of a good customer bugged me for months to host a Vegetarian Society of XXXXXXXXXXXX in my restaurant.

I finally gave in. We decided it would be an all vegan dinner. I did up four courses that were strictly vegan.

After the dinner, I was thanked by one or two people, a dozen interrogated me on what ingredients I used, were they strictly vegan, etc. ets, in almost hostile manner.

There were 22 in the party despite promises there would be 35(which I prepped for). The guests left my servers $21 in tips and two bad checks for me. In the time they were I could have turned the tables twice at my average ticket of $27.50 each.

What lowlife, lying, cheapskate dirtbags. Don't come up to me and introduce yourself as a vegan.

 

[Grumulkin]

As far as homo sap's desire for meat in the diet, note that as the Chinese economy has improved dramatically in these recent 30 years, the demand for beef has risen in notable fashion.

Many Africans have diets which are low in proteins from meat. So, villagers welcome the foreign sport hunters for the meat which is given to them.

As I said, folks oughta do whatever diet makes them happy. But shunning meat obviously is an anomalous belief system.

What the heck. I figure that a hamburger and a sixpack of Shiner Bock is a seven-course meal.

Just a few points and remember, I don't really care what anyone eats and I'm not an animal rights activist:

1. I'll refer you again to the book, The China Study, which discusses the diseases of the poor and the wealthier. Spoiler alert; the switch to a diet with higher animal protein content did not lessen disease at all in the wealthier Chinese who can afford beef.

2. I will acknowledge that vegetarians are also responsible for the deaths of animals but they aren't as responsible for as many as the carnivores are. Not that I care either way.

3. More than one study has been done on Seventh-Day Adventists a high percentage of whom are vegetarians. An even higher percentage don't smoke or use alcoholic beverages. That would be real vegetarians who don't eat meat including that from fowl and fish. The most recent study is on 75,000 of them being done by Loma Linda University and was structured to account for various dietary practices. The studies have all shown a longevity advantage to the vegetarian lifestyle.

4. Longevity isn't the only factory to consider. You probably won't enjoy life as much even if you live to be 100 if you have severe osteoporosis with multiple fractures (yes, there is a link between animal protein intake and osteoporosis). There are other diseases linked to animal protein intake that won't make old age fun.

 

[a_canadian]

Sorry to hear about that jaysouth. What an ungrateful bunch of pigs. Hope you banned the woman who pushed you to cook for those losers for life!

My wife, who I may have mentioned is not a vegetarian though she was for some years before I knew her, makes a habit of tipping 15% every time unless the service is truly awful. Then she'll tip 10% to make a point. I'm a bit embarrassed by this and if I can manage to sneak a bit more onto the table when she's leaving a restaurant without any chance of her noticing, or when it's my turn to pay (she insists, always, that we take turns with restaurants), I tip at least 20%. Once, I think, maybe twice, I've seen service so atrocious that I don't tip at all and make a point of talking to the waiter about it, nicely but firmly, explaining my reasons for leaving no tip. I've worked service industry crap jobs like that long, long ago, and know how important that income can be. And that it's spread out between more staff than just the server so it really does get stretched thin sometimes. No need to cheap out on tipping, and if I'm feeling even a little bit treated like royalty (after all, that's kind of the point when eating out) I'll tip 25% or even more. Makes everyone including myself feel a bit better. Of course I could be lying... but I'm not a rich man, internet points mean nothing to me, and I'd be embarrassing myself if this were boasting. It's not, I'm just a vegetarian who happens to respect service industry workers. So I'm sorry, again, to hear of such a nightmarish experience with some self-entitled nasty-hearted little vegans, but we're not all so mean.

 

[a_canadian]

Grumulkin; Yeah, lots of other diseases... especially scary for men being the dramatically higher rate of prostate cancer among non-vegetarians. OUCH! No thanks. I'll keep my sex life and my prostate. Known a few old farts who have gone through prostate surgery. Even though techniques are improving the odds are still much too high of coming out of the operating room impotent for life. **** that noise.

 

[MCgunner]

jaysouth....you seem to have anger issues....

J/K...so don't shoot me! And, pass the pork chops, please.

 

[Coltdriver]

When you go to a party, how do you know who is a vegitarian?

Don't worry....

They will tell you

 

[a_canadian]

How can you tell when someone isn't a vegetarian? They can't spell it and they keep telling the same old joke about how vegetarians will tell you they're vegetarians, over, and over, and over... often in the same discussion thread.

 

[1911 guy]

I can respect someone's choice of diet, even if it's not my choice. However, there are some things to keep in mind:

While growing, children require more protein than a grown adult. A deficiency in childhood cannot be compensated for by eating more protein later in life. The choices are either a very carefully crafted vegetarian diet or meat.

All people require more vitamins and minerals than can be acquired by eating all or even mostly meat. Fruits and vegetables are required.

The bottom line is that most vegetarians and vegans do not have sufficient protein and some meat eaters do not have enough other stuff. The issue is more of balance than exclusion of an item.

A quick search of vitamin deficiency and symptoms will list pages of common ailments. Diet is more than a matter of convenience and taste.

 

[a_canadian]

I wouldn't wonder that quite a few vegetarians aren't adequately consuming all the vitamins, minerals and proteins required for optimal health, but I would question the statement regarding such being 'most vegetarians.' At least in Western cultures where vegetarianism is a matter of personal choice, not religious doctrine, vegetarians tend to be at least somewhat better informed regarding nutritional matters than supermarket omnivores. We tend to shop around the perimeter of the grocery store for one thing, ignoring most of the easy fast food found in boxes and tins in the middle. Try talking to a 'meat eater' about that very basic health issue and most will give you a blank stare. Most vegetarians could recite at least half a dozen reasons for such a choice, if you really wanted to listen.

And I suppose 1/3 of the population of India are being raised with inadequate protein due to their vegetarianism? Funny, how adequate protein and fat consumption (as per the video shown earlier in this discussion and talked about in many other places) is so deeply critical to brain development, and yet there is no country on the planet which is building universities at a faster rate than India, and few achieving the levels of academic excellence in those already built. The #1 complaint in that regard among Indians? That there still aren't enough post-secondary institutions to satisfy demand. Bunch of dummies, eh? Poor, stupid vegetarians... but guess who's running IT for about half the world's corporations? Guess which country among the highest rates poly-lingual citizens? India, again. Gosh darn that vegetarianism, defying modern science again! Oh, right, not science, rather anecdotal gossip and facts pulled out of thin air...

Growing up I knew a couple of kids whose parents were hippies. These kids were strictly vegan from the time they stopped breast milk at about 1 year old until adulthood. One is still vegan, the other eats meat now and then. They both run successful companies in the US, one in Florida the other in Michigan, employing hundreds of workers between them. Not exactly deprived in the mental capacity department, one of them has also published a number of scholarly papers in peer-reviewed journals. The other was a high level athlete in several sports during his 20's. Of course that's just a small sample, but I'll not bore you with all the other tales of healthy, perfectly functional people who were raised vegetarian or vegan. I'll just say that these two kids became stellar, exemplary adults thanks to having a couple of smart parents who did their research and learned simple ways in which more than adequate protein and other nutrients could be supplied for their sons without resorting to meat.

 

[H&Hhunter]

So like, what does this have to do with hunting?