Does the Vegetarian Trait affect anything besides food choices?

[Motoki]

I do agree with the part about tofu though, it's disgusting.

It really depends on how you make it and what you do with it. If you just eat it plain, well it really doesn't taste like much it's more a texture and a glob of protein and fat.

I find most people seem to like it fried, particularly when it's put with a sauce or recipe, like with Asian food. You can also cook with it and blend it in recipes where it acts somewhat as a binding agent.

I know in Japan they will basically just take a square of plain tofu, pour some sauce over it, throw some sesame seeds on top and go to town and eat it. For most westerners though that won't work for them.  

Also, in Asia tofu isn't considered a meat substitute per say and it's not an either or situation. There are dishes that have tofu and meat traditionally, like Ma Bo Tofu.

[Zazazu]

I don't think I could afford fish due to my budget, unless I got the frozen kind (not fish sticks, but something like "Gorton's" fish filets), but it would be insulting to my taste buds.  

Visit your local Asian supermarket. I'll admit to being spoiled in that regard, we have a huge one about three blocks from my current place and several dinky ones just a bit more south. Asian supermarkets are well known for their sushi-quality fish, and typically are very economical. As a singleton, I prefer to get a big fillet and then cut it into portions. I eat one right away and store the rest in the freezer. Broiled or baked salmon is my main preference, but I also like some general white fish dipped in flour and sauted in lemon and lime sauce with a dash of tequila. Rice and snap peas on the side. Nums.

Crab is only purchased when it's on sale, and then only snow crab. King crab hurts. I don't have one of those cracker things.

I'm so bringing fish for Jimmy to cook tonight. We don't throw my fish, only the inevitable left over hamburgers.

[ciane]

I choose to eat no meat. I don't look at foods as "meat" substitutes. I also do not like soy or tofu as meat alternatives. I eat nuts and beans for protein. I add flaxseed oil to pasta. It gives me omega-3 fatty acids and I like a little oil on my pasta since I don't add butter or cheese. I also like some veggie burgers made by Morning Star, particularly the spicy black bean and the tomato basil ones. I don't eat them because I want a burger. I eat them because someone cut up and mixed the veggies for me and it'll only take me a few minutes to heat them up. If I want them to taste better, I add some chopped raw veggies like squash, cucumber, alvocado, carrots, etc. My husband, a big meat-eater, even asks for veggie burgers once in a while because he likes the way they taste.

[Regina]

I also do not like soy or tofu as meat alternatives. I eat nuts and beans for protein.

To my mind, if a person is vegan, I would imagine that nuts and legumes would be the best source of protein.

I wasn't meaning to slam vegetarians in my above post.  I've been around enough to know that simply put, different people's bodies require different types of food.  I do, however, get very tired of those (most likely not here, just in other places I see) talking about meat substitutes and the like.  I can't help but think if a person isn't going to eat meat, why do they want a meat substitute?

We actually have quite a few meatless dishes we've come up with, much of them using black beans.  We are very fond of canned black beans for quick dishes because for one thing, they're cheap, and for another thing they are low-glycemic.  One of my daughter's favorites involves black beans, broccoli, tomato sauce, basil, garlic, romano or parmesan cheese and some other seasonings. It makes a wonderful lunch.  We are all terribly carnivorous around here, though.

I've also found that when it comes to foods, we do tend to acquire tastes for a lot of things we don't like to begin with.  I have also noticed there are times when after years of eating something I suddenly can't stand the taste of it. This happened with zucchini two years ago.  It's no big loss since zucchini is mainly just a bag of water with very little vitamins, but it is irritating because I actually liked the stuff before.

[HeyYeah]

One thing people who are baffled by meat substitutes tend to forget is that meat substitues RARELY, if ever, taste much like the meat they're supposed to be replacing.

I personally don't like hamburger. Dead cow is fine as a slab, but all ground up, not so much. Rather than have to make something entirely different when my family grills up some burgers, I have a soy burger. It tastes nothing like hamburger (nor is the texture even terribly similar), but it isn't half bad with some ketchup and onions on it.

[caterpillar]

I do, however, get very tired of those (most likely not here, just in other places I see) talking about meat substitutes and the like.  I can't help but think if a person isn't going to eat meat, why do they want a meat substitute?

If you've read this thread, you've seen people say they eat things like tofu, seitan or veggie burgers because they like them. Some people who eat meat also eat these 'meat substitutes' because they like them. Get it now? I don't get why you should be 'very tired' of people talking about what they eat, for whatever reason. If you are tired of the conversation around you, go talk to someone else. I'm kind of tired of hearing other people's opinions of what I eat, especially since I'm not trying to get you to eat what I'm eating. Again, why do you care?

[Zazazu]

Morningstar Farms corn dogs. Seriously, people. Try them. I didn't even like corn dogs when I ate meat 14 years ago. I also love the Morningstar Farms fake bacon, and used to adore Boca's sausage links, but then they changed the formula and renamed them breakfast links. They are no longer good.

[chaos]

Morningstar fudz is yummy, and so is tofu if you cook it right. No, I'm not a vegetarian. I just like variety.

[J. M. Pescado]

The Wikka - read and learn.
By the way, wikka headlines are way out of date.

So fix them. It's a Wikka. The entire point of a Wikka is that it's the manual everyone can write because I can't be bothered to write manuals because I AM WORKING.

[Aaroc]

I had tofu a couple times in Okinawa without knowing what it was. all I can remember was that it was "a little gummy, kinda funny, and pink" it wasn't until years later that I realized what I'd been eating was tofu. I think I finally figured it out when we ordered some pad thai from this pace near my old job in Virginia. It had little strips of stuff with the same texture as the pink stuff from Okinawa but it was brown instead of pink. One of my coworkers informed me it was tofu.

As for the whole vegetarian thing, I like meat. I probably don't have the stomach to actually kill my food, but I did learn how to kill a chicken while i was in the Marines Corps. Doesn't seem all that bad. Someone once showed me this video about how animals are mistreated in industrial farms and I said "Yeah, so? they're food. Mistreating a cow or pig or chicken that you're going to eat is equivalent to mistreating an apple that you are going to eat." The only reason I would ever become a vegetarian is if I somehow lost the taste for meat. There are certain meats I don't like.. mostly fish because of the texture, but the whole ethics thing doesn't appeal to me because I see no ethics when it comes to mistreating food.

[Aquilegia]

... but the whole ethics thing doesn't appeal to me because I see no ethics when it comes to mistreating food.

Then I declare you food, tasty braincarrier. Your screaming and flailing and begging for mercy might be a little distressing, but... t's too much trouble to knock you out beforehand, anyway, so who cares?

Now c'mere. I'm hungry.

[phyllis_p]

Addressing the original question: My veggie-Sim passed on last night at the age of 111.  She was also athletic, and would work out to the TV or stereo constantly -- I couldn't keep the woman still!  However, I've had Sims live to 125, 109, and 106 without being vegetarian or athletic.  Seems to me veggie-Sims get the same 14% chance of croaking every day beyond 90 that any other Sim does, but it's purelly anecdotal.

[Trubble]

You don't think something that's going to be giving up it's life so that you can fill your belly deserves to be treated with respect? I'm not saying don't eat em I'm saying they deserve respect. Unlike apples they do feel pain. 

[Blizzaird]

I thought I was a relatively picky eater, but this thread has made me realize that I'm really not anymore. I eat meat, I eat tofu (even plain and raw), fish is delicious, peaches are awesome... My lack of variety in diet is almost entirely based on laziness rather than pickyness. I can't say I've ever tried a kiwi with the skin, but I think I will, assuming I don't forget between now and the next time I have a kiwi.

[Silverdrake]

I'm one of those strange people who like plain tofu. I didn't like it when I first became a vegetarian, but it's either gotten less rubbery over the years, or my tastes have changed. I've read that it takes eight weeks for your taste buds to adjust to a new diet (I haven't been able to go eight weeks without chocolate though!). I also hated eggplant, mushrooms and tomatoes when I was a kid, and I love them now. I think my mom cooked the hell out things, too. I just remember meat being hard to chew and full of gristly bits. I like seitan a lot, because of the texture. I don't buy the hamburger flavored veggie burgers, because I don't like the taste. I usually stick with something like black bean and garlic.

I should probably go completely vegan, seeing as three of my four grandparents died of heart disease. I bought a cookbook called Vegan Fire and Spice that has mouthwatering recipes, if anyone's interested.

[minidoxigirli]

You don't think something that's going to be giving up it's life so that you can fill your belly deserves to be treated with respect? I'm not saying don't eat em I'm saying they deserve respect. Unlike apples they do feel pain. 

I'm in a Social and Moral Ethics class and we just read a bunch of essays about the morality of eating meat.  One interesting opinion in one of the essays is that with rights comes responsibilities.  Since we cannot hold animals accountable for their actions (aka jail and other punishments), then they do not have rights.  I'm not saying I agree with this, just interesting food for thought.

[HomeschooledByTards]

I grew up as an omnivore and my husband grew up vegetarian. I love many of the canned "fake meat" products from Loma Linda and Worthington as well as the frozen Morningstar Farms stuff. Fri-Chik, Scallops, Tender Bits, Stripples/Morning Star Farms Breakfast Strips, etc. I don't care much for tofu, except from this one chain restaurant in my area. So. Good.

[rosenshyne]

Unlike apples they do feel pain. 

This message only for those vegetarians making this an ethical choice. Those of you choosing based on flavor or texture, carry on.

[caterpillar]

"Sounds like" screaming isn't necessarily really screaming.
FWIW, my 'ethical choice' isn't about the slaughtering of animals. Animals kill and eat other animals, and humans are no different from the other animals. I don't approve of many of the practices of industrial farming, the way the animals are forced to live before slaughter, so your argument doesn't really blow all ethical vegetarians out of the water.
What I fail to understand is why any mention of vegetarianism, in which no one is trying to convert meat eaters, always brings out people who want to prove vegetarians are wrong. Why the fuck do you care what other people eat? Why does it bother you that someone has made a different lifestyle choice than you?

[IgnorantBliss]

I'm in a Social and Moral Ethics class and we just read a bunch of essays about the morality of eating meat.  One interesting opinion in one of the essays is that with rights comes responsibilities.  Since we cannot hold animals accountable for their actions (aka jail and other punishments), then they do not have rights.  I'm not saying I agree with this, just interesting food for thought.

That is an interesting theory, but what if we apply that to young children, or severely retarded or mentally ill grown-ups, who also may be judged not to be accountable for their actions. Do they not have rights, either, then? Was that discussed in the class? I'm thinking that theory has a giant loophole in it.

[minidoxigirli]

I'm in a Social and Moral Ethics class and we just read a bunch of essays about the morality of eating meat.  One interesting opinion in one of the essays is that with rights comes responsibilities.  Since we cannot hold animals accountable for their actions (aka jail and other punishments), then they do not have rights.  I'm not saying I agree with this, just interesting food for thought.

That is an interesting theory, but what if we apply that to young children, or severely retarded or mentally ill grown-ups, who also may be judged not to be accountable for their actions. Do they not have rights, either, then? Was that discussed in the class? I'm thinking that theory has a giant loophole in it.

I don't remember what the ethicist said in response to that question, but I'm sure there was something.  It's a common response to any issue of animal rights.  I'm at my parents house right now, but when I get back home tonight or tomorrow I'll check the essay and tell you what it says.

Personally, I'm thinking that every philosophical theory is silly right now, because they all seem to have these giant loopholes in them.  Also, it seems like you can make any decision and make it moral just by thinking enough about it.  I prefer the moral egoist approach- if I think it's wrong, it's wrong.  End of story.  Apparently that doesn't work in an academic setting.

[IgnorantBliss]

I don't remember what the ethicist said in response to that question, but I'm sure there was something.  It's a common response to any issue of animal rights.  I'm at my parents house right now, but when I get back home tonight or tomorrow I'll check the essay and tell you what it says.

Personally, I'm thinking that every philosophical theory is silly right now, because they all seem to have these giant loopholes in them.  Also, it seems like you can make any decision and make it moral just by thinking enough about it.  I prefer the moral egoist approach- if I think it's wrong, it's wrong.  End of story.  Apparently that doesn't work in an academic setting.

I was browsing through my little brother's high school philosophy book recently, but had to put it down pretty fast as I was getting frustrated with what to me seemed like mindless babble, and using an entire paragraph to say something that could have been condensed to one sentence. I don't know, maybe it's just me getting old and cranky  .

[Aaroc]

... but the whole ethics thing doesn't appeal to me because I see no ethics when it comes to mistreating food.

Then I declare you food, tasty braincarrier. Your screaming and flailing and begging for mercy might be a little distressing, but... t's too much trouble to knock you out beforehand, anyway, so who cares?

Now c'mere. I'm hungry.

That's fine. Unfortunately for hungry you, I have the mental capacity to GTFO or otherwise defend myself when something that is hungry and wants to eat me is coming after me. That's why we don't eat things like tigers and bears.. they can defend themselves. I actually watched a show once about how tigers eat people in these little villages in India or somewhere in that area. I actually took great pleasure in finding out that some humans are still on the food chain.

Cows and chickens on the other hand are apparently too dumb to know better than to defend themselves. Granted, the cruel treatment of these poor dumb beasts is a little saddening, I suppose. Snot like they did anything to deserve such treatment that some industrial farmers put them through, but it doesn't tear me up enough to make me want to boycott meat. After all, it's just food.

ETA: Now I'm not saying I condone the mistreatment of foody animals, because I don't. They just taste too damn good for me to care whether their previous owner treated them properly or not. In a hypothetical situation where I had a cow and raised it for the sole purpose of killing and eating it, I would treat it properly, and make sure it was healthy and well fed, partly because I'm just not the type of person to needlessly mistreat an animal, and partly because I want my investment in this cow to have the best payoff in terms of good meat. Since I do not have the means to grow my own food, however, I must simply accept the fact that the industrial farmers out there are mistreating their harvestables. They taste good whether you mistreat them or not.

[caterpillar]

Actually, one of the primary reasons that tigers are endangered is over hunting by humans. Not for the meat, but for the fur, and for the 'medicinal' properties of its penis. Also just for sport. They aren't really very good at defending themselves against humans with guns. The reason we don't eat animals like tigers is that they don't do all that well in captivity and could not be mass produced the way cows and chickens can.

[Aquilegia]

That's fine. Unfortunately for hungry you, I have the mental capacity to GTFO or otherwise defend myself when something that is hungry and wants to eat me is coming after me.

That'll just make your brains taste better, oh you he-man you.

All your rattling on about how the typical domestic food beast isn't smart enough to defend itself shows very clearly you've not been around a healthy domestic food beast with its dander up. Note that 'lulled into a false sense of security and never saw it coming,' as per factory farming, doesn't count.

They taste good whether you mistreat them or not.

Oh, you poor, sad thing. Either you've never had properly raised meat, or your tastebuds are so shot you can't taste the difference.