I've never understood how vegetarians get enough protein. Great gobs of cheese don't appeal to me. Seems like you'd have to try a whole lot harder to get that protein in. Living as I do in Nebraska, I have to say, there's nothing so delicious as a corn-fed medium rare beef filet mignon, when one dines out. I rarely eat hamburger... I eat mostly chicken, and some fish. Eggs are OK, not in large quantities tho. Veggie pizza, mmmm...good! Nice graphic, Dave... looks like you could go into the sausage making biz... bleh!

Posted by Annette on February 04, 2006 | Reply

I'm reformed. I was a vegetarian for nearly all of the '90's--something about a burger at 2 in the morning though...

(Still laughing hystericaly at the pix.)

Posted by Naomi on February 04, 2006 | Reply

Do you still eat fish? I think i would miss sea-food more than I would beef and its butchered friends.

Posted by MRKisThatKid on February 04, 2006 | Reply

I was actually a vegetarian for about five years -- started as a bet with my brother, stuck because I felt good...and ended when I went overseas and encountered a lot of stuff I wanted to try, which didn't fall into the non-meat category. It's weird, though -- I've tried giving it up again since, and I can't seem to do it again. So while I don't eat meat with every meal -- or every day, even -- my days as truly animal-friendly appear to be done...at least for now.

Posted by sandra on February 04, 2006 | Reply

hahahahaha! great illustrations!

Posted by brando on February 04, 2006 | Reply

Do you check for cochineal extract in your food as well? Got to love those crushed insects.

Posted by Jack on February 04, 2006 | Reply

My girlfriend's one of your ilk - a non-militant vegetarian - so I've had my fair share of vegetarian friendly foods.

Although there's no danger of me going green (I don't do red meat except for burgers and on pizza, but I love chicken), I actually enjoy tofu and have had a lot of tasty veggie burgers.

Maybe I'll suggest to her that I'll become a vegetarian if, as you say, she make it worth my while. Then again, judging by your post, that path is fraught with bad relationship karma.

(Now I'm off to have my Mesquite Chicken sub from Quizno's...mmmm)

Posted by Cavan on February 04, 2006 | Reply

Love the chicken head...but where did the fish go? He didn't seem to make it into the 'after' picture.

I kind of like the idea of vegetarianism, yet a part of me says I would miss ribs too much, and that is about as red as you can get.

Posted by James on February 04, 2006 | Reply

Dude, can you say veggie pepperoni? Hilarious toons!

Posted by Thomas J. Webb on February 04, 2006 | Reply

I used to date a somewhat militant vegan. Every now and then he'd mass email articles about the evils of meat and what they do to the poor animals yadda yadda. And when the topic of food would come up, he would always talk in this snooty, condescending tone to me and to other meat eaters, like he's so much better than us for being vegan.

I totally respected his eating habits. I myself could never do it, and I have to admit that he did lose a lot of weight when he went vegan. However, I couldn't tolerate his high and mighty attitude and his attempts to convert me and others. I mean, I'm Catholic, but I didn't try to get him to go to church or tell him that he was going to hell if he didn't, ya know?

Posted by Toni on February 04, 2006 | Reply

Egads. Someone does make a good veg pepperoni (to me, anyway), and I can't think of the name. I can see the package in my mind...drat.

I go on and off the veggie wagon from time to time for health reasons, and always feel better "on." But I always slip back off. Our dogs get a raw meat diet, though, and it's fascinating to me how many vegetarian dog-owners I know who will do this for their dogs. Species-appropriate, and all that.

Don't most people get too much protein, anyway, to the extent that our filtering organs have trouble processing it?

Posted by Belinda on February 04, 2006 | Reply

Yeah, but is pepperoni REALLY meat?? I have my doubts....

Posted by adena on February 05, 2006 | Reply

you might want to check out this post by Maddox. He makes a pretty compelling arguement against vegetarianism.

http://www.thebestpageintheuniverse.net/c.cgi?u=grill

Posted by *cotton on February 05, 2006 | Reply

I've never been a vegetarian, but I have found myself going for days (in the US) without meat and not really even noticing. I think I could do well not eating red meat or pork. I didn't eat pork for years, just didn't like it. Then I moved to Europe where it's PORKORAMA, you just can't avoid the pork and ham, and so now i eat it because it's sometimes the only thing available of an affordable meat nature. Veggies and stuff are kind of expensive here. It's cheaper to have pasta carbonara than a salad.

Chicken, though, I gots to have the chickens. My parents raised and killed their own for a while, so I know what it entails. One night we ate "Featerfoot", Dad's favorite, for dinner. It was sad, but he was yummy.

Posted by karla on February 05, 2006 | Reply

I've never been a vegetarian, but I have found myself going for days (in the US) without meat and not really even noticing. I think I could do well not eating red meat or pork. I didn't eat pork for years, just didn't like it. Then I moved to Europe where it's PORKORAMA, you just can't avoid the pork and ham, and so now i eat it because it's sometimes the only thing available of an affordable meat nature. Veggies and stuff are kind of expensive here. It's cheaper to have pasta carbonara than a salad.

Chicken, though, I gots to have the chickens. My parents raised and killed their own for a while, so I know what it entails. One night we ate "Featherfoot", Dad's favorite, for dinner. It was sad, but he was yummy.

Posted by karla on February 05, 2006 | Reply

Haha if you re-translate that thank you too many times it ends up "That meaning should be verified," Whhaaa? Who was it to anyway?

Posted by MRKisThatKid on February 05, 2006 | Reply

This is a big surprise. You don't look like a vegetarian. But I'm not that impressed. It's almost too easy nowadays. It's like collecting baseball cards. You used to have to go to conventions. Now you just buy it on E-bay. Vegetarians used to have nothing to eat except wheat-grass. Now supermarkets have whole selections of fake bacon made from tofu and tempeh. Damn, we all should be vegetarians. I even like those Gardenburgers.

Posted by Neil on February 05, 2006 | Reply

I respect your decision, but I am a carnivore, I cannot help it...and yes I have no problem killing an animal myself to eat them...:)

I appreciate that your not yelling at everyone telling them that you way is the only way...

I love your blog!! You should have won the Bob!!

Ok, gotta get back to doing my taxes..

Jamie

Posted by thedoggydidit on February 05, 2006 | Reply

I'm not a vegetarian, but I don't eat red meat or anything processed. My husband and I try to eat local and organic whenever we can (ie buying stuff at farmer's markets instead of at the grocerty store). We also try to make whatever we can from scratch instead of buying it premade.

Some of that vegetarian stuff is full of preservatives and artificial stuff too--how much stuff do they have to add to veggies to make them look like chicken nuggets? Those "chik nuggets" are gross...

But I loves me some spicy roasted veggie garden burgers. Damn, I'm hungry now...

Posted by amanda on February 05, 2006 | Reply

I eat meat, but I could NEVER hunt and kill my own food. There.is.no.way.

When I was a teenager, my brother and his wife decided that they were going to start raising rabbits. Not because they were fluffy and cute, noooo.....but, because they decided it was a way to get cheap meat.

There is nothing worse than walking into your brother's kitchen and seeing about 20 rabbits splayed out on the counter...especially when the rabbits were ones that you were just admiring as being "so cute" the day before.

Oh, and they scream like people. That's always pleasant.

I'd starve if I was required to kill my own food. One look from a pair of doe eyes, and I'd be giving them my last carrot.

Posted by adena on February 05, 2006 | Reply

That's so cool. I would like to try it one day.

My daughter is a vegetarian. She breaks free from it once in a while, but those "episodes" are getting farther and farther apart.

She hadn't eaten meat for more than two years, then broke down to a craving for a chicken sandwich last month. It lasted for less than a week -- chicken nachos, maybe a couple of other things -- then she decided she'd had enough.

Like that, she's a full-time vegetarian again.

I think it's cool. I think it's something I'd really like to do one of these days.

Posted by Used Hack on February 05, 2006 | Reply

I'm also a "non-militant" vegetarian... but it's surprising about the amount of militant anti-vegetarians out there! When people find out that I'm a vegetarian, for some reason they frequently feel the need to interrogate me about my reasons and the nutritional value of my diet... wtf?

Posted by Katie on February 05, 2006 | Reply

I've been a vegetarian for almost twenty years. I usually don't talk much about it, I just eat what I eat. But when it does come up, two questions are always inevitable:

Why did you become a vegetarian?
Do you eat, fish, chicken, cheese, etc.?

My answers:

I became a vegetarian not because I love animals, but because I hate plants. (That always stops them for at least a minute!).

And as for what I eat: If it has a face, I don't eat it.

Posted by Jill (and Mittsy) on February 05, 2006 | Reply

Dinner tonight: One half block of Trader Joe's tofu, cubed, sauteed in olive oil, with a little chopped onion and one garlic and a few mushrooms. Add three egg-whites and cook until done. Top with a dollop of non-fat yogurt and a squirt of ketchup. PLENTY of protien and truly deliscious!!!

Posted by Randy on February 05, 2006 | Reply

There are definite benefits in taking extra portions of vegies. Having said that, I still reckon that being at the top of the food chain means that we have certain responsibilities in helping to preserve ecological balance.

Vegetarians are cool though; only because it means more for us carni- and omnivores.

Posted by tigerjoe on February 05, 2006 | Reply

Speaking of falling off the vegetarian bandwagon, Julia Stiles was once a vegetarian, then she gave it up. When Conan O'Brien asked her what it was like after eating a hamburger again for the first time, she said, "The word orgasm comes to mind."

I always found that funny.

I'd like to be able to give up meat, but I enjoy it too much. I almost did once because I kept getting sick eating it. And then I was introduced to the concept of well done. Haven't been sick since. My parents cooked everything medium rare.

Posted by Kevin on February 06, 2006 | Reply

..Dave , you do know that vegetables have feelings too! (potatoes have eyes and corn has ears)..the thought of a poor carrot being riped up from it's roots to be sliced and diced and then steamed to death is just to horible to think about....I cry everytime someone cuts into a defenseless onion!

Posted by Harold on February 06, 2006 | Reply

But Dave! How many people would be vegetarian if they had to grow their own food?

It's a lot easier to find a bunny in your yard, kill it gut it, butcher and cook it than it is to plow a field (even no-till can be a bitch) plant, fertilize, harvest, etc. It requires too much planning. Too many tools. Dirt under the nails. (Getting blood out of the creases of your palm is easier than cleaning dirt from under finger nails. At least, that's what I've read.)

Killing a deer requires nothing more than a Buick and, if you are at the right place at the right time, no planning at all. In Ohio, anyway.

Having said that, I've cleaned but a handfull of rabbits in my day. The last pheasant I cleaned -- about a decade ago -- set off my gag reflex.

I've run across only two militant vegetarians in my life. They were both smokers so the whole "it's a healthier way to live" thing was lost on me.

Posted by Delmer on February 06, 2006 | Reply

wow! you opened up a can of worms with this post!

okay...maybe a can of spinach instead.

Posted by apryl on February 06, 2006 | Reply

Hi David,

I too am a non militant for 20+ years now. I don't like meat or seafood. There is nothing in it that is necessary for a healthy diet (diseases associated with protein deficiency are almost unheard of in the developed world, except in cases of extreme eating disorders). On the other hand, there are many environmental and other toxins present in meats, that don't exist in vegetarian diets, or at least are in significantly smaller quantities.

Up until a few years ago there was no proof that smoking was addicting or that it was unhealthy, but many people believed it was nonetheless. People that didn't want to breath other people's smoke were not the militant non smokers that smokers accused them of being.

In the same way, I think I am not alone in believing the absence of credible scientific research into a heavily meat based diet does not mean it is healthy. I also happen to think that if someone wants to eat meat in very small quantities, it probably won't hurt them very much. The WHO recommends that, if you eat meat (or chicken or fish) at all, that it be no more than 100g (about 3oz) per day. This seems pretty reasonable to me, but of course I have to wonder why anyone would want to go out of their way to eat such a small amount.

Like you said, a lot of it comes down to massive subsidies that farmers receive and other politics. These politics restrict the availability of other foods, determine what medical research is done, determines what we learn in school and establishes what is socially acceptable, just like it has with smoking.

Posted by Patrick on February 06, 2006 | Reply

for someone who is starting a completely different eating routine, this post kind of came in handy. i'm not ready to completely convert yet, but i am trying to take a more fish route first and foremost, and definitely increasing the veggie, fruit and seeds/nuts foodstuffs. there are other ways of getting protein. but, you have to be mentally ready to give "it" (it = MEAT) up forevs. IMHO.

i feel better already, really. working out almost every day is obvs. helping as well.

Posted by melina on February 07, 2006 | Reply

I've been a full time veggie since I was 5,(for the record, that was only 8 yrs ago)and people I know are still kinda weirded out by it.

sometimes I'll just go for weeks without even thinking about it, then one of my friends will mention it, and I'll be like
Wuhhhhhhhh? Huhhhhhh? oh that.
Its not like my religion er something (I to, am a follower of the Buddha; Dave) :-)

It's just that I don't like eating meat, that's all.
My friend MADE ME eat a pepperoni in 5th grade, and I almost threw up. I think I've completely lost the ability to stomach it.
Oh well, like I said, I hardly even think about it any more, much less miss it.
still, it's nice to here from some of my fellow veggans/veggies. I live in "liberal-pussy"
"TAXachuessets"(MA), and yet, I'm one of only 5 or 6 vegetarians in my school (population:800 approx.)

Posted by Jube jubes on February 07, 2006 | Reply

Nice post and illustrations :)

I am a vegetarian studying in Rome for the semester. It is easy to find vegetarian food here, but I am thinking of making the vegan switch. Unfortunately, they do not sell our "genetically-altered" boca burgers and soymilk and things here... at least not that I can find yet.

But keep up the good attitude! I have never been one to preach either! And pepperoni is not that good anyway :-P

Posted by kilax on February 10, 2006 | Reply

Found your blog as I was doing research for an anti-vegetarian site. Yeah, that's right--anti-vegetarian. Let's just say I was accosted by a nazi vegan while enjoying a nice steak dinner and it pissed me off enough to start collecting facts and figures.

Anyhow, one of the interesting things I came across is that most Buddhists are not vegetarian. Even the Dalai Lama eats meat. In fact, Buddhism teaches that refusing an offered meal because it contains meat actually carries negative Karma. Labels are more harmful than meat.

That's my two cents, back to my research.

Posted by shawmutt on April 13, 2006 | Reply

I have been bothered lately by militants who are into animal rights. As a result I have been doing some research into the number of birds, animals and insects who are killed (and left to rot) as a result of the production of grains, beans, fruits and other vegetarian foods. If anybody has done anything similar I would appreciate hearing any suggestions.

Posted by da'vid on May 17, 2006 | Reply

For curse's sake! How could one fail to conceive that vegetarian diet more than suffices proper intake of nutrients essential for sustaining energy - is beyond me.
I, being a vegetarian since over 9 years pack the most powerful punch in our boxing gym. And what about Keith Holmes, a former World Middleweight boxing champion; or Peter Hussing (former European super heavy-weight boxing champion); or champion powerlifter Bill Manetti; or Stan Price and many others?
And as for 'militant vegetarians' - they don't exist. Do to beasts what you wouldn't mind being done to you - can you conceive any more objective principle than that?

Posted by Art Khachatrian on May 20, 2006 | Reply

I have just started going out with a vegetarian girl. I was looking on the internet for intersting meals to cook for her as I love to cook anyway. I stumbled across some very interesting and distrubing views that veggies actually hate! meat eaters with an absolute passion. I really don't understand their point of view, I accept that my girlfriend does not eat meat, cheese, eggs and fish. And would have thought that for people ( Veggies ) that care about animals and the enviroment you would have thought that they would care about their fellow human beings. But all I seem to read is change your boyfriend into a veggie or even better into a vegan. Force feed your kids before they are old enough to decide for they selves and ditch your husband if he eats meat.
Forgive me if I am wrong or offend anyone but it sounds like the majority of you ( veggies ) are a bunch of little hitlers in disquise.

Posted by Harry on August 29, 2006 | Reply

I have just started going out with a vegetarian girl. I was looking on the internet for intersting meals to cook for her as I love to cook anyway. I stumbled across some very interesting and distrubing views that veggies actually hate! meat eaters with an absolute passion. I really don't understand their point of view, I accept that my girlfriend does not eat meat, cheese, eggs and fish. And would have thought that for people ( Veggies ) that care about animals and the enviroment you would have thought that they would care about their fellow human beings. But all I seem to read is change your boyfriend into a veggie or even better into a vegan. Force feed your kids before they are old enough to decide for they selves and ditch your husband if he eats meat.
Forgive me if I am wrong or offend anyone but it sounds like the majority of you ( veggies ) are a bunch of little hitlers in disquise.

Posted by Harry on August 29, 2006 | Reply