[Mr.PD]

I wish more people were vegetarians. That would leave more meat for me.

I really do wish more people would at least stop eating beef and pork. It does take a lot of land to grow food for these animals. Around here alfalfa production takes up a lot of acreage, and water. The water used to grow feed is probably where your friend gets the idea that feeding cows uses a lot of water.
I see places where cattle have severely polluted streams and ruined stream banks. I know that it can be considered "natural" for cows to be along the streams, but not the high number of cows that are out there.

I prefer the balanced approach. A little meat, a little fish, a little veggie, and no tofu.

I figure that it's a good thing there are people that want to be vegans, and that there are people that prefer to eat meat and meat products. It helps keep everything in balance.

I also want to say that I agree with previous statements that over-processed foods of either genre are what is the most un-healthy.

 

[crazychile]

Hey, tofu can be good if you know how to fix it. Unfortunately in some parts of the country stores only carry the ultracrap brands so your doomed from the start. Here in No. Cal, the hippie mecca of the U.S., we can actually get "microbrew" tofu and some of it is actually quite good.

Try this- take a container of GOOD extra firm tofu. Drain it and slice it into slices that are about 1/3 in thick. Take a clean towel and press the pieces so the extra water gets soaked up in a towel.

Make a marinade using teriyaki sauce, rice vinegar, garlic/chile paste, liquid smoke, sesame oil, and hoisin sauce. (Experiment) I've even used some red wine or stout beer in there before. Cover the tofu with the marinade for a couple of days. Keep it in the fridge.

Lay the marinated pieces on a cookie rack and put them in a 250 degree oven. Turn them every half hour or so until they get a little dry and have a brown outer skin that is slightly leathery. Don't burn it.

Let the peices cool in the fridge. You can use this as a good meat substitute for sandwiches, or you can cube it up and put it in salads. This is good stuff!

Yeah, I eat real meat also. In moderation. For the record, I think that tofu turkeys, and hot dogs are a joke. My recipe is something that actually tastes good.

 

[Mr.PD]

Quote:

Originally posted by crazychile Hey, tofu can be good if you know how to fix it. Unfortunately in some parts of the country stores only carry the ultracrap brands so your doomed from the start.

I live in one of those parts of the country.

Your recipe sounds good though.

 

[fiddler]

I just don't like how vegetarians have given tofu a bad image.. It's real food! Imagine that!

Mmm.. Cold tofu with with soya sauce, ginger and some green onions..

 

[TWIFOSP]

Your friend has the right to believe what he wants. However it is extremely lame for him to assume he is the only right one.

For one thing, he isn't even right.

Vegetarians can certainly lead healthy lives, but I'm sorry, a healthy body with a good amount of lean body mass needs protien. And not from just a single soure.

It is true that one of the best forms of protien comes from a natural source, the soy bean. Soy protien is one of the best protiens you can put in your body.

But if you really want to have a good amount of lean body mass (muscle), you need to obviously first work your muscles so they will grow and/or stay at a good level. But second you must feed them copious amounts of healthy protien. Meat contains many sources of protien and you can't have as healthy muscles as you could if you ate both sources of protiens.

Now I'm not talking body builder muscle mass here, I'm talking fit, healthy muscle mass with low body fat.

You could certainly be healthy and have lots of lean body mass by not eating any meat, don't get me wrong. But our bodys, as animals were explicitly MADE to ingest and CRAVE protiens that come from animals. We have special amino acids just for the purpose of breaking down animal meats and extracting protiens to feed our muscles. It is a proven fact.

While a vegetarian might be more healthy than a standard meat eater, they won't be any more healthier than a smart meat eater. I'd stack my health up against any vegetarian including lean body mass and bf % percentage. Just eat lean meats in healthy moderation, get your soy protien (important!), vary your diet and get off your butt and excercise!

Oh, and soy!

Soy.

 

[Polygon]

I find the view of most vegans to be silly. I have met some that don't eat meat because it simply makes them sick or they don't like meat. That I can perfectly understand, but not eating meat because it wrong to eat meat is plain stupid. Do they think that cows are simply put here as natures lawn mowers?

Everything on the earth is here for other animal’s consumption including us. We are nothing more than animals on the food chain. If a cow could eat you, trust me, it would. What is so wrong about eating meat? Some would say because animals have rights, and they do, but do you think a tiger would give a rat's ass about your rights as it tore out your jugular? No, it doesn't, it needs to eat just like everything else. Humans are omnivores meaning we were designed to eat both plants and other animals. We are not herbivores or carnivores so let’s not pretend to be. Also if animals have rights then by that same logic so do plants. They are alive and you have to kill them to eat them. Isn't that infringing on their rights? Sounds silly, but it is the same logic. Also vegans that eat fish are hypocrites. Fish are meat as well. And yes I know a few like this.

Another point would be about healthiness of eating meat. While I will agree that pork is horrible for the human body and we can't digest it beef, chicken, and turkey all have minerals in them vital to out body and these meats are some of the best places to find them. You won't get them in ANY vegetable, so eating only vegetables isn't very healthy. I have seen a lot of them that look underweight and pale. Yeah, real healthy. The key here is that everything should be eaten in moderation. There is ALWAYS too much of a good thing. There needs to be a balance, like I said, we are omnivores.

 

[Sentral Dogma]

Quote:

Originally posted by brent_mr2 I'm not vegetarian, but I try to eat natural meats whenever possible. It takes a conventional (mass produced) cow to reach maturity in 9 months, whereas a naturally raised cow takes 5-6 years. When you f with mother nature, there ARE consequences.

I believe so too. I would like to move to only eating natural meats too oneday. mass produced beef is fed corn. in nature, if cows only had corn to eat, they die. Mass produced beef is pumped full of chemicals just so they can eat it. Nothing good can come of this.

I don't mind eating dead animals. But i mind eating dead animals that have been pumped full of chemicals, have been eating something their whole lives that is totally unnatural to them, and have been spending a majority of their lives in crowded pens filled with their own manure.

lambchops are a decent alternative if you can't find natural beef.

and PLEASE, don't let this degrade into a MERTON AGRUMENT THREAD.

 

[Polygon]

Quote:

Originally posted by Sentral Dogma I believe so too. I would like to move to only eating natural meats too oneday. mass produced beef is fed corn. in nature, if cows only had corn to eat, they die. Mass produced beef is pumped full of chemicals just so they can eat it. Nothing good can come of this.

This is a great point. I don't buy my beef at the store. I buy it from a local farmer that raises his cattle naturally. The meat tastes GREAT as well.

 

[Sentral Dogma]

Quote:

Originally posted by Polygon Also if animals have rights then by that same logic so do plants. They are alive and you have to kill them to eat them. Isn't that infringing on their rights? Sounds silly, but it is the same logic.

It's not silly at all. Humans are not plants. As animals, our life must come from the death of another living thing. To draw distinctions between what you kill doesn't make it any different that you killed something to live. I just wanna move away from mistreatment of something that i'm gonna eat. Or an unnatural modification of it.

 

[MERTON]

what kinda chemicals?

 

[Polygon]

Quote:

Originally posted by Sentral Dogma It's not silly at all. Humans are not plants. As animals, our life must come from the death of another living thing. To draw distinctions between what you kill doesn't make it any different that you killed something to live. I just wanna move away from mistreatment of something that i'm gonna eat. Or an unnatural modification of it.

That I agree with. The cattle should not be mistreated or unnatrually changed.

 

[MERTON]

have ya'll heard about pigs just having their necks broke and then sometimes still being alive as the skining machine goes at them?

 

[Sentral Dogma]

Quote:

Originally posted by MERTON what kinda chemicals?

I dunno. I'm not a cow chemicologist.

Polygon, i wish i could buy meat from a local farmer. You can't find many of those in NYC.

no mistreatment except for the killing, of course. nothing unnatural, except for A1 or worchestershire sauce.

 

[Polygon]

Quote:

Originally posted by Sentral Dogma I dunno. I'm not a cow chemicologist. Polygon, i wish i could buy meat from a local farmer. You can't find many of those in NYC. no mistreatment except for the killing, of course. nothing unnatural, except for A1 or worchestershire sauce.

Hehe, good point.

And yeah, A1 is all I want added to mu steak.

 

[MERTON]

sweet baby ray's gourmet sauce is pretty good. nhe has a new honey sauce too.