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Location: uk
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 6,302
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31-01-2010, 08:48 AM
Originally Posted by aliwin 
Have been vegetarian for 20 years and my 3 children have been brought up as veggies too. OH eats meat but it hasn't tempted me back and never will. Like settagirl I drink milk and eat cheese but I would really like to become vegan but I'm a bit scared of this final step as I think any social life would then be really difficult.
I would like to be a vegan again though...I also avoid p&g products....
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Location: Birmingham, england
Joined: Jul 2009
Posts: 968
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31-01-2010, 08:52 AM
Originally Posted by settagirl
I went vegan... I can do without eggs and milk... but cheese is my absolute weakness, even when I ate meat it was always cheese I preferred
I would like to be a vegan again though...I also avoid p&g products....
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I love Bacon too much, and steak....but I don't eat Lamb and I don't eat fish....
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Location: Usually in a muddy field somewhere
Joined: Nov 2004
Posts: 20,145
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31-01-2010, 08:59 AM
Originally Posted by Azz
Couple of points I want to comment on:
'Our standards are higher in the UK, it would never happen here' - Steroids, growth hormones, routine antibiotics, cramp conditions are completely legal here. Additionally - who do you think polices the 'standards' when it comes to animal cruelty? With all the cattle/poultry that's farmed here it would be near impossible to make sure they aren't being mistreated. At the end of the day - it's business, and the thing on their mind is money. Even worse with the way big supermarkets do business with farmers.
'Our standards are higher in the UK, it would never happen here' part 2 - a lot if not most of our meat comes from abroad anyway.
'We only buy organic/local meat' - so they say it's meant to be organic, or free range, or from a local caring farm. But is it really? Who checks to make sure? Can we really trust them? Personally I think a big fat NO. Of course there may be the odd decent farmer here or there, but thanks to the way supermarkets do business with them they have to watch their bottom line, and they're most likely going to be concerned about not going bankrupt than the welfare of a few animals who they know are going to be killed anyway.
I surprised at the ex-veggies - I was going to ask why did you stop?
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...ink-again.html
I was a vegetarian but wasn't really eating healthily. I now still don't eat any red meat but do eat some free range, organic chicken/turkey, mainly from our butcher, and fish. I would find it very difficult to cut out fish. The appropriate fish are a better source of omega 3 because it comes from DHA and EPA, rather than ALA from plant sources, which is more difficult to metabolise to DHA/EPA.
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Location: Preesall, Lancashire
Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 5,622
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31-01-2010, 09:07 AM
Originally Posted by Azz
Couple of points I want to comment on:
'Our standards are higher in the UK, it would never happen here' - Steroids, growth hormones, routine antibiotics, cramp conditions are completely legal here. Additionally - who do you think polices the 'standards' when it comes to animal cruelty? With all the cattle/poultry that's farmed here it would be near impossible to make sure they aren't being mistreated. At the end of the day - it's business, and the thing on their mind is money. Even worse with the way big supermarkets do business with farmers.
'Our standards are higher in the UK, it would never happen here' part 2 - a lot if not most of our meat comes from abroad anyway.
'We only buy organic/local meat' - so they say it's meant to be organic, or free range, or from a local caring farm. But is it really? Who checks to make sure? Can we really trust them? Personally I think a big fat NO. Of course there may be the odd decent farmer here or there, but thanks to the way supermarkets do business with them they have to watch their bottom line, and they're most likely going to be concerned about not going bankrupt than the welfare of a few animals who they know are going to be killed anyway.
We are also on a very tight budget - under £40 a week for the 2 of us, including lunches for work and all household products (loo roll, washing powder etc). We eat a lot of 'basic' supermarket brands (tinned toms, beans etc) but budget for meat from the local butcher. Yes, there is less of it, but it's better quality.
Our standards ARE higher in the UK - but you do have to make sure that is where your meat comes from. We haven't eaten foreign meat in a long time.
Our local organic meat farm is run by people we know quite well (since living here) - I trust their judgement and their husbandry skills. The farm and their shop is family run; and I've visited the farm and looked at the animals etc.
Don't forget, if everyone stopped eating meat and it's related products (milk, dairy, eggs etc), we wouldn't have any livestock in the country. No cows, no pigs, no chickens and probably no sheep. There is a lot of land in the UK that isn't suitable for farming crops on, so a lot of that would be left fallow as well. What is left of the UK-based farming industry and countryside would just disappear.
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Location: West Sussex, UK
Joined: Jul 2009
Posts: 4,983
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31-01-2010, 09:09 AM
i think it is deluded to think that factory farming and slaughtering is always done with the animals welfare in mind. of course there are some wonderful farms where this is the case but sadly the mass produced products that end up in our supermarkets are the direct result of practices i'm not prepared to support.
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Location: Preesall, Lancashire
Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 5,622
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31-01-2010, 09:13 AM
Originally Posted by lilypup
i think it is deluded to think that factory farming and slaughtering is always done with the animals welfare in mind. of course there are some wonderful farms where this is the case but sadly the mass produced products that end up in our supermarkets are the direct result of practices i'm not prepared to support.
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Location: West Sussex, UK
Joined: Jul 2009
Posts: 4,983
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31-01-2010, 09:30 AM
Originally Posted by IsoChick
Don't eat supermarket meat then! Find a butcher, or local supplier (some good butchers now vaccuum pack and send their products in the post!)
i only buy meat from the local butchers for my son and would never buy any meat from the supermarket.
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