ive been waiting for a topic that i actually have something to say about to register here, and (wahoo) here it is.
ive been a vegetarian all my life. ive eaten three pieces of meat ever. a chicken tender in 12th grade, a cube of chicken when i worked at pizza hut, and a half of a pepperoni that was stuck to a piece of cheese pizza. my mom has raised all her kids that way. she became a vegetarian when she was 18 in the mid-70s, for her own reasons. i really cant sit here and argue why i stick to this diet (first, because i would get SICK if i ate meat...)...
i can, however, say, in response to the first question, that i have been around animals all of my life. ive had hundreds of pets (horses, ponys, cats, a dog, chickens, ducks, guinea pigs, mice, rats, turtles, rabbits, frogs, lizards, birds, a hampster, a crab... um, i think thats all..?) and this is one of the reasons that i decided to *try* and stick to a vegan lifestyle (refraining from using any animal products) in january of 2001. its been almost a year, and ive done pretty well. i ate dairy cheese for a while while i was sick, but other than that, very little animal products at all.
i decided to do this because of the condition these animals are kept in. hens are kept two or three to a cage, cows are pumped full of steriods to keep them producing milk, but this also shortens their life. calves are taken from their moms at a very young age and turned into veal, killed and disposed of (mostly females), or raised to become the next generation of milkers, etc. etc. etc....
i think my real question is... do we really have to have had physical contact with some(one/thing) to know that its wrong? ive never witnessed female circumcision, or met a victim of that practice, but i still know that its not something i believe in. i know, from what ive read and what ive been told that it hurts, and its unnecessary, and that i think that its wrong. ive never been murdered, or known of someone who has, but i know that i think thats wrong. ive never been beaten by my spouse, or signifigant other, and i dont know anyone personally who has, but i know that spousal abuse is wrong. just as someone who has never met a cow, might still know that killing them is not something that is necessary, or that they believe in.
i recently saw a vegetarian timeline...it told about the earliest known vegetarians and the progression of the diet until now. that would help to clarify the question about the 1900's vegetarians (because i honestly dont know)..
--oh, and as a side note, i dont convert... i have my beliefs, you have yours, i like my food, you like yours... and thats a-ok.
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