Veg*n Meat Week

[Fujiko]

I was wondering if any one else does this.
I've only been a vegetarian since early March or so of this year. I decided to become veggie to protest the meat industry. But I still LOVE the taste of meat.
I went on vacation this summer to Montana, USA where my grandparents live. I chose to eat meat during this week because my grandma would have a fit if she knew I was a vegetarian (no need to upset the old woman), and that we were also backpacking in the mountains for part of that week, and whilst backpacking, one must be extremely picky about what one packs, as one must haul one's belonging up a mountain. Meat simply has more calories per gram.
I enjoyed meat week. It's hard to admit to an audience of vegetarians, but I did.
Now I am thinking of having one meat week per year. Since I still love the taste of meat, and I still crave it, it gives me something to look forward to.

Do any of you do something similar? On a smaller/bigger scale?

 

[Jeanne]

No, I don't do anything like that.

Although, when I first became a vegetarian, I decided to eat meat at Thanksgiving because my mom makes the best stuffing. I only did that the one time.

About the meat cravings... you get over it. I craved meat for the first couple of years. Then I didn't crave it anymore. Now, just the smell of meat makes me nauseaus. Except KFC (who knows why?)... It's been 11 years, but the smell of KFC still makes my mouth water...

 

[Tatalp]

Yeah, your cravings will just be worse if you actually eat meat. I haven't eaten meat in 2 years, and I barely get any cravings. I can't even remember what a hamburger tastes like, so it's awfully hard to crave it.

 

[Piglet]

I think that eating meat once a week will make your cravings worse. I don't do anything like that. At first, all I wanted to do was scoff down a doner kebab But now, I don't even think about eating meat. I don't "miss" it nor do I crave it. With time it gets so much easier.

 

[Fujiko]

I don't eat meat once a week; this year I designated a week in the summer (during vacation) when it was "ok" to eat meat. If I ever do something like this again, maybe it will be meat "day" instead of meat "week".

It's hard to forget the taste of meat when my fiance still eats meat. Even though I don't prepare his meat meals, the smell just permeates the apartment.

If I ever stop being a vegetarian, I will still never eat at KFC. The things I hear about what they do to their chickens makes my head spin.

 

[stitsy&codyPig]

No I don't do that. I became a vegetarian because I love animals and it bothered me to eat them.

 

[Jeanne]

I would never eat KFC either. I didn't even eat KFC when I wasn't a vegetarian, it's just the smell. I think they add some sort of chemical to the meat so that people must go in.

I couldn't eat any chicken again. It's so sad what farmers do to their little beaks, and how they house the chickens.

I do eat free range eggs though. Not all the time, but at least 3-4 times a month. I won't eat any other types of eggs.

 

[Sabriel]

My husband eats meat everyday. I still don't get cravings.

I just came back from a wedding where I could not eat either main dish. Instead I ended up eating 2 rolls, some salad (I hope that the "bacon" bits were fake. They looked fake) and some potatoes while everyone had chicken and pasta with meat sauce. I couldn't bring myself to eat the meat. I felt strange and almost rude, but I knew I just couldn't stomach it. It would have spent the rest of the evening in the ladies room with a horrible stomach ache.

To make matters worse they didn't bring water to the tables (what people with chldren were supoosed to do I do not know) All they had on the tables was wine and they closed the bar. I had to call over a server and ask for a pitcher of water.

Such is the life of a vegetarian who won't drink wine, beer or hard liquor without lots of sugar.

 

[Piglet]

I too eat organic free range eggs jeanne. My brother eats meat everyday and before I wanted to run over to his plate and eat it all Not now though, it doesn't even bother me.

 

[mncavylover]

Nope, nothing like that because I did it for health and ethical reasons, both of which are compromised if I eat any.

I just went backpacking this August, only for a couple days, but I took vegan food with. It was honestly better than anything my dad had ever had (and he's had a LOTof experience with camp food). It also was super-rich in protein and vitamins to keep me going. If it's protein you're worried about, personally I would bring along some soynuts. Calories? No problem, just add on the oils. My opinion, take it or leave it as you please.

 

[Fujiko]

Mncavylover, what brand of food did you get? Or, what kinds of foods did you bring with? I couldn't find hardly anything packable that had high enough calorie content, high enough protein that was easy to store, pack and prepare.

Yeah, I must have two seperate lobes of my brain where one is "animal lover" and the other is "meat lover" and the two don't communicate directly to each other. Some days I would kill for an Arby's Roast Beef Sandwich (with loads and loads of Arby's sauce, The Best Condiment That Ever Existed, Ever), but I could never kill a cow for it's meat. But I never really liked chicken, anyway. It was sort of an obligitory thing whenever I ate chicken. It was always too dry.

It's my dream to live in the country and have a couple of free-range chickens and a couple of dairy cows. My life would be complete. (I'm such a freakin' hippie.)

 

[Sabriel]

PETA has a guinde to compasionate camping. It's a good place to start: (broken link removed)

Search camping on the PETA site. There was a good guide to vegan camp cooking a while back.

 

[Piglet]

Ha ha! I'm the same Fujiko - I definately want some chickens and cows when I'm older

 

[Funnygpigs]

If you are only going veggie for farming practice reasons, you could eat meat from farmers that have human practices. Of, course its also about the feelings of the animals. Some one told me once, that when an animal is butchered, all their fear is trapped in side the meat. Then, when you eat it, you are injected with their sadness. I am not sure where that idea came from, but it has stuck inside my head ever since. I try not to eat meat as much as possible. I am a wishy-washy veggie. I go back and forth on my practices. I do try to stear clear of beef (mad cow disease), and pork (to much like us humanes). But, chickens are also cute, and turkeys are intellagent. I have raised turkeys (when I was a child), they follow you around the yard like little dogs. It's cute. For vegan camping food ideas, I would look in a health food store. Also, talk to someone that works there. I am sure they could help you! :0)