Question for Vegetarians?

Question

I am not trying to be sarcastic here, but I have to know if you have ever thought about this, and if so, how you get around it.

As a vegetarian or Vegan, you do not eat any product made of animals. Some of you eat fish, milk, and eggs depending on the kind of vegetarian you are. However, when crops like soy beans, wheat, corn, cabbage, etc... are harvested, sometimes bugs, snakes, and small rodents get chewed up and grinded by the harvesting machine. So there is a potential that even in vegeatarian food that there may be animal parts in the food somehow. Has anyone ever thought about that? and can you truly say you are a vegetarian knowing this fact? Are there known products that you use that specifically say no animal products whatsoever? and can they even prove that it's true?

I'm just asking the question. I'm not trying to be rude or funny, but this has been something I have wanted to know for a while.

Answer 1

Yeah, you're right, but at least I am doing the best I can. It depends on the harvesting process, but I do see your point. In fact, before I became a vegan, or even went vegetarian, I used to ask this exact same question.

I guess once I learned a lot of things about the meat and dairy industry I just didn't want to eat meat, period.

However, I will not interfere with nature and the natural process of animals dying. I have found bugs in my fruit, I have pulled open celery ribs and seen a worm once, and there are probably insect eggs on produce too, especially the produce that grows closest to the ground or in it - carrots, potatoes, etc. We need these creatures in order to continue our ecosystem - our soil is rich because animals die and disintegrate into the soil and the nutrients in their body feed plants.

This is different than the unnatural process of piling thousands upon thousands of cows in tiny dirt pens and forcing them to eat corn, which their bodies cannot handle, and then slaughtering them by the millions. Once again this goes back to the way nature ought to be, the way ecosystems ought to function.

Our current relationship with the world is causing a slow but total destruction of all life... the way we mass-farm and produce animals is polluting our environment with sewage runoff and excess methane (yeah, animal farts for those who need sophmoric humor).

I refuse to sponsor the meat and dairy industries, period. Not only do they propogate an unnatural, inhumane approach to life, they endlessly manipulate the government in the USA; anyone who takes a look at the dairy and meat lobbyists influence on the writing of the USDA's Nutritional Guidelines for 1990, 1995, 2000 and 2005 (they come out every 5 years) will see a clear relationship between pressure from lobbyists and then a response in which the USDA suddenly changes their nutritional advice to the public... suddenly we need to drink more dairy, eat more meat... to me veganism is not just a way to keep from eating dead animals but it's a political statement as well.

Answer 2

Vegetarian

Answer 3

*sigh*

1) Vegetarians don't eat fish.

2) Yes, it's true animals are killed by the harvesting of food. But the animals you eat have to eat something, and animals are killed in the harvesting of that, too.

3) The idea is to avoid products of animal exploitation. The death of small animals in harvesting machines is sad, yes, but accidental.

4) To protect the crops for the food animals, wildlife creatures are shot and killed.

So while there's no way to have an absolutely pure diet--and veg*anism isn't about purity, but avoidance where possible--one can always reduce the harm s/he causes by eating lower on the food chain.

Answer 4

I am a vegetarian.

We are vegetarians A) because we just don't like the taste of meat B) Animal rights or C) Because it's healthier

I mean, I eat milk and stuff because it's not killing the cow or anything. But I don't eat things like eggs, meat, and other items that kill animals.

To answer your question, I have thought about that, (I'm a mix of A and B) but I still eat bread and stuff because that is unavoidable. Usually the animals are taken off the land and kept away using spray and other farm-y stuff, but obviously some of the food may still have "body parts" in it. Well, it's okay. I mean, people die every day due to accidents like that, from war to dropping a hairdryer in a full bathtub. So why should little things like that have an effect on anything?

Answer 5

Vegans do not any animal product or byproducts. There are many kind of vegetarians. Ancient cultures like India, Japan, China, Okinawa, essentially self-define as primarily vegetarian but include small amounts of meat (usually fish, seafood, poultry).

In modern cultures the strict vegetarians are dying out in favor of "flexitarians" who maintain 75-90% of their diet as plant based but will balance out their diet with fish, seafood, poultry and to a lesser degree, "red" meat.

You are correct ... there is no way of knowing or proving for sure that products have NO animal derived ingredients in them.

Answer 6

Yes, most of us are aware of those issues. I prefer to grow my own veggies, fruits, and whatnot, so I pretty much know exactly what I am getting. I also use milk straight from my lovely cow (Abigail), and use organic beans, seeds, and nuts. I grind my own flour from beans, quinoa, flax, millet, oat groats, and legumes, and sprout my own sprouts. However, I accept that the few commercial foods I use may be funked with something or the other, but it sure beats the questionable ingredients in processed foods, and is a far sight better than the growth hormones, steroids, antibiotics, worms, parasites, and other nasty stuff that is in commercial meat and milk. If you REALLY care about what you are putting in your body, you will go to the extra effort to grow and prepare your own foods, when possible.

Answer 7

Thinking that no harm to any creature ever would constitute vegetarianism would lead to absurd existential discussions. What if I stepped on an ant I didn't see? What if I ate food at a restaurant where the knife hadn't been cleaned perfectly, and still had traces of chicken on it? What if accidentally swallow a spider in my sleep? What about whether a truck squishes a chipmunk on the road while transporting my avocado to the market?

The reasoning behind vegetarianism is to avoid consciously contributing to the death of another creature. It's not about the accidental or incidental deaths that could not be reasonably predicted or avoided.

Answer 8

No. Nobody's ever thought of that.

Vegetarians don't eat fish.

"In modern cultures the strict vegetarians are dying out in favor of "flexitarians" who maintain 75-90% of their diet as plant based but will balance out their diet with fish, seafood, poultry and to a lesser degree, "red" meat."---this is completely false by the way. Flexitarians are just omnivores on their final step toward vegetarianism.

Let Dr. Skummy show you the definition of vegetarian by the people who invented the word:

http://www.vegsoc.org/info/definitions.html

Thanks for your time, I shall now go back to my miserable androgyny and lament the fact I'll never land a spouse ever again.

Answer 9

I can only do my best. I don't call myself any label for this reason. I'm just someone who doesn't eat animals' flesh, eggs and animals' milk and someone who doesn't buy leather, wool, and soap made of animal fat.

When I go to the park and walk on the grass, I'm sure little insects like ants get squashed to death by my feet, but I can only do my best.

Answer 10

That's an interesting question. See: http://ar.vegnews.org/harvesting_crops.html for one vegetarian's answer.

I personally believe that accidentally running over an animal who's lived a natural life is different from breeding, abusing, and slaughtering animals for the sake of our taste buds.