How to eat without encouraging animal cruelty?

[Miyabita]

My biggest problem is how do I eat and still not encourage factory farming? I live in the middle of nowhere. I cannot find meat that was free-range raised. I cannot find vegitarian products. Not to mention, these kind of products are always more expensive. I could have these products shipped to me personally, but that would be REALLY expensive. If nothing else, I would want to eat free-range meat because it is more healthy for me. But even when I lived in California and could get organically grown and raised products, it is always so much more expensive. Some months I can barely afford groceries when it is factory farmed. So are there any suggestions as to how to live a healthier lifestyle and promote proper treatment of animals without having to go bankrupt?

Well... you can either go vegetarian, or you can do what we do...

Hunt.

Yep, that's right. Hubby is a hunter. Not a trophy hunter, though. One elk or deer will feed us all winter.

I don't hunt myself, because I don't think I could look at a living thing, then kill it, then look at it dead. But legal hunters help keep populations of animals down, which, where I'm from, can be a big problem for various reasons. Wild meat is also better for you than farm meat, and there's more than one way to hunt. For example, if I had to, I'd learn to bow hunt rather than use a rifle, and hubby and I have talked about getting into falconry for wild birds and rabbits.

So... don't anybody flame me. We're all animal lovers here, and eating a hamburger that came from a cow that came from a factory farm is no worse than eating an elk that your husband shot.

[veggiegirl]

I can offer you some veggie recipe and food ideas that are inexpensive. Let me know if you are interested.

[Amethystbelle]

Have you tried growing your own veggies thats a cheap simple alternative to buying organic veggies if you have space and time, i can't really suggest anything on the meat front though as not a clue. I've never found being a veggie expensive at all, i find it cheaper and costs me less a week to feed myself then my boyfriend who eats meat! I'm not against people hunting for there own means i.e food as thats natures way something lives of something else, what i disagree with is the way farm animals are kept and hunting for fun, just killing an animal for the sheer joy of it is pointless and such a waste of a life!!!

[Purplebunny]

Quote: Originally Posted by Amethystbelle Have you tried growing your own veggies thats a cheap simple alternative to buying organic veggies if you have space and time, i can't really suggest anything on the meat front though as not a clue. I've never found being a veggie expensive at all, i find it cheaper and costs me less a week to feed myself then my boyfriend who eats meat! I'm not against people hunting for there own means i.e food as thats natures way something lives of something else, what i disagree with is the way farm animals are kept and hunting for fun, just killing an animal for the sheer joy of it is pointless and such a waste of a life!!!

I have to agree with Amethystbelle, I am a vegetarian, and find it no more expensive than the meat products I buy for my hubby! Growing your own veggies is a good idea..

Quote: I'm not against people hunting for there own means i.e food as thats natures way something lives of something else, what i disagree with is the way farm animals are kept and hunting for fun, just killing an animal for the sheer joy of it is pointless and such a waste of a life!!!

I couldn't agree more! Unfortunately, some people think that killing animals at all is wrong, so I had to cover myself.

I wouldn't have married him if he killed for fun. I think that says a lot about a person... and not in a good way.

I wish I could go vegetarian, but I have some health problems where I get sick if I don't eat meat. Growing your garden is a great way to go if you're interested in being a vegan. Or, if you had enough property, you could even keep your own chickens for eggs and be a partial vegan.

I have a lot of respect for people who are true vegans. I really don't know how you do it

But this isn't a debate about vegetarianism.

Seriously, though, if you have the means to hunt/trap/fish your own food, it's a very healthy and [more] humane way to eat [meat].

[Miyabita]

I just don't think I can go vegitarian, especially with my husband being the meat eater that he is. I don't eat pork (don't like it), and rarely eat bacon (I like it, but have seen an actual pig farm and it really turned me off of any pig products). Beef I could live without, though when my husband BBQs in the summer it would be pretty awkward to turn down the steak or the burger he made me (he does pretty much all the cooking, actually). Chicken, eggs, dairy products, and seafood are my big things that I would have the hardest time letting go of. Plus, I am scared of getting sick on an all vegitarian/vegan diet. I had a friend have some really bad medical problems because she went all vegan. Thyroid problems from all the soy products, etc. I know not everyone will have problems, but I am scared to cut out all animal proteins for fear that it might happen to me. I already have a lot of health issues without adding diet-related health issues.

I cannot grow anything here. We have an exceptionally short growing season and an exceptionally long winter. We don't even have enough time to let tomatoes grow properly. The only crops raised around here are mustard seed, hay, and sunflowers, because they grow so quickly. We literally get permafrost where the ground itself is frozen solid for several feet down, just like in the arctic circle...just not so bad. Not to mention we live on an air force base, to the amount of things we can grow is extremelly limited.

I just couldn't hunt. I cannot kill something like that. I don't have the heart to kill anything myself. I am not against meat (obviously) because it is natural for animals to become prey to predators (including human predators), but I don't like the way they are raised in the big farms. However, there are a lot of hunters here. Maybe I can hook up with some of them and purchase some of the meat for a decent price. People also ice fish here, so maybe I could go that route.

In California, I could find a lot of naturally raised meat among people I knew, and we would just trade things. I had chickens, ducks, and quail, so I could trade eggs and we always had fresh eggs. My dad raised meat rabbits (which I was not too keen about, but we could trade a rabbit for some freerange raised beef, etc.). We could also easily find fresh-caught fish (rather than farm raised) because we lived near the coast. Dairy products are the hard one.

Veggiegirl, I would love some vegitarian recipies and food ideas that are inexpensive. I just hope I can get the ingredients here! North Dakota is about 10 years behind everyone else in everything, it seems. >_<

[Amethystbelle]

Everyones different and if you don't feel you could go fully vegetarian don't beat yourself up about it as its not for everyone. Just try and introduce more veggie dishes into your diet that way you get the best of both worlds and you can be happy in the knowledge that you are doing your bit

Going back to what you said on problems with being all vegetarian or vegan well they only tend to arise when its not been thought about correctly. Basically if you are a veggie then your cutting out all meat and fish and by products of meat but still eating eggs, cheese and dairy products which are suitable for veggies and if the diets right then you aren't missing out on any of the nutrients or vitamins that you get from meat and if you are worried then you take a vitamin suplement. Whereas if your vegan then you are cutting out all meat, fish, eggs and dairy products and its a lot harder diet to follow and i have every respect for anyone who is a vegan as i couldn't do it I've been a veggie for about 14 years and i've never had a problem arise from it but my boyfriends brother was one for 10 years and his doctor advised him to eat meat again as was making him ill, i think everyones just basically different and what suits one doesn't always suit another so your friend was unlucky!

[veggiegirl]

Quote: Veggiegirl, I would love some vegitarian recipies and food ideas that are inexpensive. I just hope I can get the ingredients here! North Dakota is about 10 years behind everyone else in everything, it seems. >_<

Great, I will gather some things together and pm you. My husband and I are veggie and we don't spend anymore money than we used to on meat. I know what you mean about expensive soy products and organic veggies (especially since I live in Southern CA and we have many stores that sell only those kind of products). But I think I can give you some good ideas. I'll send them asap. BTW, I'm a vegetarian (not vegan) I don't eat eggs but I will eat cheese if its already in something. I've been this way for years and no health problems here. Only change in my health is that I lost weight. I know it depends on the person though. Anyway, I'll send you stuff soon.

[Miyabita]

Thanks so much guys! I was kind of affraid to ask because in other forums I got attacked for not wanting to go fully vegitarian. I don't see anything wrong with eating animals, so long as they are not raised in a poor manner.

Also, if you can send recipies that don't necessarily require super-fresh veggies to taste good, I would really appreciate it. Our produce selection here is terrible. I am used to fresh veggies and fruits from living in California. For the first year I was here, I could not eat anything other than apples, oranges, carrots, and broccoli (as far as fruits and veggies go) because I was so used to fresh produce and it tasted terrible to me!

I also need healthy, well-balanced recipies because I will soon be doing daycare out of my house and need to feed the children a well-balanced meal. I doubt the parents will mind them eating a vegitarian meal since I won't be pushing vegitarianism on them. In fact, the parents would probably love me if I found ways to get their kids to eat veggies. LOL.

[veggiegirl]

Quote: Originally Posted by Miyabita Thanks so much guys! I was kind of affraid to ask because in other forums I got attacked for not wanting to go fully vegitarian. I don't see anything wrong with eating animals, so long as they are not raised in a poor manner. Also, if you can send recipies that don't necessarily require super-fresh veggies to taste good, I would really appreciate it. Our produce selection here is terrible. I am used to fresh veggies and fruits from living in California. For the first year I was here, I could not eat anything other than apples, oranges, carrots, and broccoli (as far as fruits and veggies go) because I was so used to fresh produce and it tasted terrible to me! I also need healthy, well-balanced recipies because I will soon be doing daycare out of my house and need to feed the children a well-balanced meal. I doubt the parents will mind them eating a vegitarian meal since I won't be pushing vegitarianism on them. In fact, the parents would probably love me if I found ways to get their kids to eat veggies. LOL.

I'm sure I can come up with some things for you. I'll put together some stuff tonight.

[Amethystbelle]

The only thing that becomming a veggie has done for me is put me weight on lol!
And i'm sure the parents won't mind you giving their children veggie food as will be healthy for them and you'll be getting those much needed veggies down them

[veggiegirl]

Quote: Originally Posted by Amethystbelle The only thing that becomming a veggie has done for me is put me weight on lol!

Really? I've lost weight.

[Amethystbelle]

Yes, not all at once gradually think its because i add cheese to most things as its my downfall

[Miyabita]

Did you get a chance to get those recipies together?