Bär wrote:I have no concern over what people decide to eat whether "good" or "bad" especially since those labels change very frequently. What I do care about is smugness & self-righteousness which exists on both sides of this issue but is frankly more of a veggie/vegan trait, although not here in this thread.
I love watching veggies & vegans eat. Lots and lots of practically non-food carbs & cheese and they're clearly missing some animal protein and trying to make up for it with the cheese, which is a major nutritional step down from any "dangers" of eating real meat. They're picky about what veggies they do eat and a poor diet overall. They should call themselves "starchatarians." My observations don't apply to traditional veggie cultures, religions & countries who can really cook some veg, like India, etc....
I'm an unabashed carnivore and I eat way more real vegetables (not just "things that aren't meat") than most of the "veggies" I've encountered here in 'Merca. They're not sincere vegetarians. There are control issues - mommy & daddy issues - bound up in the way some people eat restrictive diets and certainly those with anorexia/bulimia. Not to mention the fad of eating no meat and calling yourself a veg. If you really want to make diet the focus of your life, knock yourself out. Have fun eating outside the home if you don't live in a large-ish city. It's crappy pasta primavera, that limp veggie tray with factory-made ranch dressing or yet another green salad for you.
One thing is clear - absolutely everyone could stand more veggies in their diet. A whole head of broccoli is less than 150 calories - you sure can't get fat eating that unless of course it's drowned in cheese & butter.
My wife was a veg when we got together. She started eating meat after watching me eat it for a few years. Her real issue with meat was the way it was cooked by her mom, who learned to cook from a paranoid Irish-American woman (her MIL) who cooked everything about an hour longer than it needed. And even if she didn't overcook it, it wasn't going to be good. One she got some well-prepared chicken, fish & meat she was converted.
Just to be really nitpicky... you're not a carnivore. That's literally impossible for the human digestive tract to handle. You're an omnivore.
On to other things, I'm raising a child vegan. He's pretty hefty, super active kid. His development intellectually is beyond many of his peers, and athletically he's pretty darned advanced. He's never had a drop of dairy, not an egg and never meat. Dairy, eggs, none of that is necessary to raise healthy kids. What's necessary? Actually putting together a wholesome and diverse diet.
As for needing to live in "large-ish" cities in order to eat well out on the town... I find this is increasingly unnecessary. I grew up in a small town in northern Indiana, when I first went vegan there was hardly anything but stripmall Chinese food. I go back now, there's stuff like Panera Bread who are guaranteed to have a vegan soup option every day. All the grocery stores are carrying more and more vegetarian and vegan products as well as more and better produce. Almost any pizza place can make a vegan pizza with plenty of vegetables. A no cheese pizza with a ton of veggies is probably a much better option than the meat n cheese pizzas most people get. My eating patterns have expanded so much since I started the vegan thing 10 years ago. When I first went vegan I was coming off the typical middle American diet... meat & potatoes for the most part. Canned veggies most of the time. Now? I eat way more leafy greens than most people usually do, and better richer leafy greens than folks that eat a lettuce salad. Tonight I had collard greens, mashed potatoes and homemade seitan nuggets.The greenest vegetable I had as a kid was canned green beans or lettuce on a sandwich or burrito. Now I like to eat and juice collards and kale. Most nights we try to make certain we've got our reds, greens and yellows covered in the veggie department.
As far as the kids that have chosen to go vegetarian or vegan on their own at young ages, more power to them. These parents are going off the rails when they set up a situation where they aren't accepting of their children's independence. Rather than try to force their children to eat some meat or pester them about it, they should educate themselves about vegetarian and vegan diets so they can be certain they are feeding those kids the best possible diet. It sure as hell can't hurt anything for them to incorporate more veggies in the whole family's diet AND keep things seperated enough to allow their sons or daughters to eat their meals with a clear conscience.
