vegetarian

[Celt_Ginger]

Sometimes I wonder how the human race has survived this long, eating meat and drinking pus infested milk. I guess it must be the vegetables that are keeping us alive.

On a serious note though, do vegetarians only buy organically grown vegetables (it's grown using animal poo as fertilizer, how yuk is that) or do they buy chemically infested artificially pollinated genetically modified veg?

 

[wattsy]

just to clarify dairy cows don't end up as beef cows in the end the meat from cows that have been milked extensively is not nice. they get used for dog food as far as i know

 

[Tengu]

Im sure the dogs are very grateful.

 

[Mikey P]

On a serious note though, do vegetarians only buy organically grown vegetables (it's grown using animal poo as fertilizer, how yuk is that) or do they buy chemically infested artificially pollinated genetically modified veg?

***, O?

I assume this is a rhetorical question?

 

[hermitical]

hope so - I didn't feel like dignifying it with an answer

 

[salan]

Not wanting to hijack the thread but whilst I eat meat (quite happily), i would love to find some good veg recipes to cok when camping etc.
Apart from making a curry (which lets be honest will hide anything!).
A lot of vegatariansI know seem to have very restrictive/boring diets. Now this can't be right so all you veggies out there. give us some tasty recipes to try!
Alan

 

[Lordyosch]

I read somewhere, possibly in a Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall book that 'there are no boring vegetables, only boring cooks'. I like that idea. I'm most definitely a meat-eater and for a great portion of childhood ate barely a single plant to no ill effect.

Surely the best option is good old 'everything in moderation' we have the teeth and the digestive tract for a mixture so surely thats the way to go.

 

[phill_ue]

We eat far too much meat these days, almost every meal consist of meat of some sort (unless you're a vegetarian, before a pedant points that out! ) and I do not remember eating meat all that often as a kid. Chicken was for Sunday only, it is so cheap now you can have it during the week. I think it is a good idea to maybe go veggie a couple of days a week and give your guts something different to focus on digesting!

 

[Toddy]

I remember meat being made more of.
Meals like stovies for Winter lunches made from the left over gravies and scraps from the previous night's dinner.

Stock made from bones and carcasses, and doughballs to make a tasty way to bulk out a stew that wasn't enough for everyone on it's own.

Long low cooking of tougher cheaper cuts too. Bits like hough pressure cooked til it was falling apart and then shredded, seasoned with pepper and packed into little ramekins with the meat jelly poured over it and left to set. Served with fresh bread, toasted, and butter. Tasty, filling, cheap and nutritious.

Meat loaf made in the stone tube thingie, minced pork and shoulder steak mixed together and baked slow.

My Grandpa loved singed sheeps heid :rolleyes; He sat eating the brains with a horn spoon. I still hate the smell of burning wool.
Haggis made from the lights and stuffed into the pluck.

Cullen skink made from the fish heads. My brother worked the salmon netting on the Tay when he was a University and there were a lot of fish those years. Lot of meat on a salmon head. "Good food, don't waste it" was the adage.

I think they used every bit of the beast in the past.
I suppose we still do, but it's mechanically recovered meat.......paste and scrapings really.

I remember meals being seasonal too. Veal in early summer, mutton in winter. Pork and goose and duck at Christmas, steak pie at the New Year. Chicken was expensive while goose and duck usually came courtesy of a good shot.

I don't remember meals being made in minutes, or bought ready made. The only fast food was the chip shop and that was more a town thing.

I remember soups, and puddings, breads and fruits. Most meals were at least two courses, and folks took time to eat. Didn't guzzle glazed to the tv. Every meal was best shared and appreciated. Even very simple, plain fayre.


Different generations maybe.

cheers,
Toddy

 

[Miyagi]

How true Toddy.

What will amaze youngsters is that we actually sat at a table to eat our dinner, not on the sofa.

Liam

 

[Celt_Ginger]

hope so - I didn't feel like dignifying it with an answer

LOL. Funny how that didn't get answered.
Also, why does organic veg cost so much? Surely with so much fertilizer being used to make non organic veg grow quickly, the organic stuff should cost much less, or is the organic stuff fed to bursting with "organic" fertilizer as well and grown under acres of plastic so that it grows out of season, just like normal veg?

 

[hermitical]

nearly all on smaller scale, less industrialised, higher labour costs because it is more labour intensive and often fairer wages. Yields are sometimes lower

The prices of 'conventional' veg especially in supermarkets don't reflect the hidden cost of subsidies, environmental costs (soil erosion, water pollution) the cost of production and disposal of artificial pesticides

in short, the price you pay for organic veg is usually a more realistic evaluation of how much it cost to grow it than with conventional veg

 

[hermitical]

LOL. Funny how that didn't get answered.

because it was a ridiculous question

 

[ickyan]

Not wanting to hijack the thread but whilst I eat meat (quite happily), i would love to find some good veg recipes to cok when camping etc.
Apart from making a curry (which lets be honest will hide anything!).
A lot of vegatariansI know seem to have very restrictive/boring diets. Now this can't be right so all you veggies out there. give us some tasty recipes to try!
Alan

Wrap onions, carrots apples, sweet potato, potato (quite slow) in foil and stick in embers.

Then make some instant 9p noodles from aldi, or Sharwoods rice noodles if you posh (or wheat free)

Chop veg mix in and add some soy sauce (essential) and possibly cashews.

Just an example I use (There are probably better im not very experienced (14))

 

[Toddy]

Sometimes I wonder how the human race has survived this long, eating meat and drinking pus infested milk. I guess it must be the vegetables that are keeping us alive.

On a serious note though, do vegetarians only buy organically grown vegetables (it's grown using animal poo as fertilizer, how yuk is that) or do they buy chemically infested artificially pollinated genetically modified veg?

Organic farmers don't just grow for vegetarians though. They do try to minimize the damage they cause to the environment and fertilize using natural resources. I know a few who use green manure as fertilizing. Alfalfa, comfrey, nettles, all enrich the soil.
Rotation of crops becomes more crucial, like growing nitrogen fixers like legumes one year and then potatoes the next.

Do I buy only organic vegetables ? No, but I do try to buy locally grown.

cheers,
Toddy

 

[Nagual]

because it was a ridiculous question

I'm not so sure it is a ridiculous question. I must admit I've never even thought of this. From a meat eaters view point, I know I've become somewhat distanced from the providence of the meat that I eat so I wonder if vegetarians also don't fully consider the providence of their food? It's not meant to antagonise or annoy anyone, but surely it's a fair question? I would have thought that given that most meat eaters couldn't tell you where their meat actually comes from, what type of conditions it was reared etc, perhaps it's all to easy to assume that all veg is fair game to eat, as it is after all only a veg. The type of fertiliser used is well made, I think. I would think, judging by many of the responses made here, that a good portion of vegetarians in this forum are aware and make appropriate choices, but can the same be said for the greater masses? I suspect not, but then thats my only opinion.


Cheers,

 

[hermitical]

it is a little ridiculous because the questions assumes things that aren't true (organic veg is only grown with manure as fertiliser) and I don't understand the intent behind asking if vegetarians organic or non-organic - it presupposes that all vegetarians make that choice for the same reasons

as it goes we do eat mostly organic but then I work for an organic wholesale/box scheme/grower/shop and my wife works for the Soil Association!

 

[Celt_Ginger]

WOW! impressive.
okenest:

 

[hermitical]

is it? well you asked....

 

[Lasse]

A lot depends on your reason for being veggie.
Personally I do it because it is a lot better for our environment. Not only is there less pollution involved during production, the energy efficiency is also a lot higher: every step in our food chain increases on average 10 times the energy need (measured in energy consumption by the organism, excluding extra treatment by men).

Here's a scale showing the pressure certain foods put on our environment, which we all love since we're on this forum, right? (lower score is better)

Environmental evalutation of the (primary) production of meat and fresh vegetables in Switzerland:
Foodstuff - Score (ecopoints/kg)
Meat, integrated agriculture - 0.080
Fresh vegetables, integrated horticulture - 0.054
Meat, organic - 0.043
Fresh vegetables, organic - 0.016

source: Reijnders & Soret (2003) as quoted in the course 'Duurzame systemen' (2007) at Ghent University faculty of Bio-Engineering Sciences

As you can see, eating organic vegetables is much better for the environment than eating meat and choosing organic meat scores even slightly better than eating non organic vegetables.

Just to throw some numbers in the discussion