Dangers of Vegetarianism?

[matagi]

If I could offer a suggestion for those who have a problem with eating battery farmed animals .....

Accept a lower percentage of meat in your diet and pay the premium required to eat free range organic meat. My husband and I do this and as a result, we eat chicken about once a month, beef and lamb maybe once every two months and pork three to four times a year. We have fish once a week and the rest of the time our diet is based around vegetables, grains and pulses.

Tonight, for example, we are having a leek and goat's cheese tart accompanied by a green leaf salad.

[tattiefritter]

I'm with you Matagi, if you enjoy meat then make it the best possible if you can. I have found on my few visits to the US that it is indeed a meat heavy diet (at least when eating out), I actually struggle to eat lots of meat and was forever trying to find the "smallest piece of meat on the menu" and after a while I was craving a big salad with lots of fresh veg.

I try to get free range or organic meat wherever possible. I pretty much never ever buy chicken unless its organic, even free range isn't good enough if its from the supermarket. I also avoid supermarket pork because it is "battery" processed and tastes rubbish unless its organic. Beef and lamb I think are harder to intensively rear however the problem is then that the supermarkets don't hang the meat properly.

Luckily a recent addition to our riding group is really passionate about the source of his food and has put me on to the possibility of sourcing most of our meat from local, organic suppliers either through a farmers market or direct from the supplier or our local butcher (who does fabulous bacon and sausages). It will mean a shift in my way of looking at meat as often it will be a whole or half of an animal that is being bought and I am looking forward to learning how to joint a chicken rather than picking up two breasts in a packet at the supermarket which bears no relation to the animal it came from. We are looking at buying a whole sheep between a few friends and thinking of ways to use the whole animal (home made haggis anyone ?). We also have a farm shop which is a bit further away than my local supermarket but which has a supply of lots of local veg and soft fruit, including dirty carrots and potatoes . Its taking a bit more effort to get out of the routine of blindly picking things up in the supermarket but the taste of the produce is much better and usually cheaper, it only costs more in convenience and organisation.


Sorry....I'm surprising even myself with my willingness to go local, its still going to take a while before it becomes second nature.

[HappyAnika]

I'm not a vegetarian, I just eat like one (most of the time, anyway). I do enjoy beef, lamb, and pork every so often, but too much meat aggravates my digestive system. I can't eat it every day. I try to eat fish, but good fish is hard to find here, and very expensive.

I just wanted to add that if anyone is wondering "How do I find locally raised organic meats?", try checking out your local farmer's market. Along with dirty carrots and potatoes, you can often find free range organic meats from local ranchers you can feel good about eating.

[Deja Vu]

A warm Hello!

For anyone interested, ther is a book out entitled: The Female Vegetarian.

A part of the book does address the vegetarian lifestyle for the female athlete. It's a good book, in my opinion, for women concerned about meeting their daily requirements. (I'd tell you more about it, but the last time I had lent it out... was the last time I've seen it! A couple of years ago. I've forgotten exactly what is in it and the name of the author!)

Best wishes!

[KnottedYet]

Has anyone read "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle" by Barbara Kingsolver yet?

(it's only been out for about 2 weeks)