A vegetarian cannot be understood until you know his/her motivation. Even then it is difficult to get it right. I have met 'vegetarians' who eat chicken and fish??
Some say they do not want animals killed on their behalf, then consume eggs and dairy products. But to get eggs you have to have chicks, and half the chicks born are males which do not produce eggs, so at one day old they are gassed, macerated and turned into organic fertiliser. Most of tehhens end up in confined quarters. To get milk a cow has to have a calf every year. If the calf is pedigree then normally the male calves are used for veal (they usually dont make good beef) or pet food. The females are retained for milk production. Sometimes the milk cows are crossed with a beef bull, in that case all the calves male and female go for beef. So to get your pint, a calf has to die.
The Jains try not to kill, more than most. Because of this they wont eat root vegetables because pulling them kills small creatures. Yet I think they eat yogurt (it helps to digest beans).
Some religions forbid certain meats, usually the religion is based in a hot countryand refers to a meat that goes off quickly in hot wether. Sometimes this folk knowledge is passed on as such.. eg in Cornwall it is said you should only eat pork when there is an 'R' in the month. This skips the hottest weather.

I think this is one of the points that non-veggies have the hardest time getting their head around [usually - I'm pointing at anyone]. That veggies are not all the same. Its all about personal choice, and everyone has their own limits as to how far they want to take it. Good words.

And I'm really pleased that this thread is working. It's good to have useful resource like this that is actually being used.

Any more veggie recomendations? Clothing, road side recipies, eating-places, even veggie/vegan friendly places to stay?

Absolutely right. I think this is one of those areas that, even if people know about it, they choose to ignore it or consider it acceptable. Although I still take milk, it is now only very occasionally, and I'll choose dairy free where I can [although I'm not strict]. If I was outside the UK I would still take dairy, but then I guess where they don't have the same approach to farming as we in the 'civilised west' do then the issue of ethics is different anyway. I've even gone as far as no longer drinking or wine, as products derived from fish are normally used in the purification process [and not declared on the label]. Nearly all spirits I'm told are OK, except for some obscure Vodkas apparantly.

For interest of those outside of the UK - it is pretty easy to be vegan in the UK, as long as you are cooking for yourself. Vegan food in resturants is more difficult to come across - I guess due to economies of scales.

Well I had to build my vegetarian a chicken palace in 1500sq mtrs of land to house 4 chickens she buys at "point-of-lay". We do not have a cockerel, so the eggs are infertile. The chickens die of old age... These are the most expensive eggs you can get.
They do taste better though

John

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Nostradamus Ate My Hamster

Yup, although running free they really do find most of their food themselves. (more than 2/3) I was shocked to find how much corn our hen and bantam ate when they had to be confined in the barn when we had the bird flu scare. I always left food out for them, but they only ate a little when roosting in the hen house. Sadly they are no longer with us, as the hen died (she was about 10 years old) so I put down the bantam ( similar age) knowing how lonely it would have been. Even so, to get your hens, an equal number of cockerals were killed. We originally had four, but that was along time ago and they were 'rescue ones'. they mostly stuck to the farmyard and orchard, although my wifes flower bed had some attraction for them. Oddly, they never went intomy sunflower or cosmos crops which I thought they would. Finches & tits love cosmos seeds.

We have found another use for the hens. We "acquired" a cat last spring. He is a skilled catcher of birds and anything else that moves!
We let the chickens roam into the garden proper and of course they like to scratch under the bird tables for dropped seeds etc.
The cat will no no where near the hens! Which is good.

John

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Nostradamus Ate My Hamster

The hens are very good for keeping down the snake population also. they eat little ones.

I'm going on a 2 week trip around the Southern Baltics in August / September this year (2009). Anyone got any advice for a veggie going through these countries:
Holland - Germany - Poland - Russia (Kaliningrad) - Lithuania - Latvia - Estonia - Sweden - Denmark

Things like: good veggie food, good resturants, how to say "I'm vegetarian" or "I don't eat meat or fish" in the local language. Anything like that.

Thanks

I hope to leave around May 1 from California through Central America, followed by South America. Let's start with Central America, particularly Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica where I'll stop for a while to explore living and working.

I would appreciate any recommendations for the same things Riti asked for:
Good veggie food,

Good restaurants,

How to say "I'm vegetarian" or "I don't eat meat or fish" in the local language. Anything like that.

If I wanted to complicate things even further, I'd admit to being raw and live food oriented, but I won't do that here. I was vegetarian for only a short time - 30+ years with 6 years vegan.

One last addition to the definitions reported. My favorite is from a movie, "I don't eat anything with a face," which doesn't cover everything.

The other thread refers to hosts offering meat to honored guests...you. It is awkward and not easily understood. Living in Saudi Arabia and being invited to "Goat Grabs," I gave up trying to explain in both English and Arabic and just said, "I have stomach problems." I don't think they saw why that would prevent me from eating meat, but they could relate to having stomach problems. The idea raised to just say that it's part of your religion is probably best, although in Saudi, you technically aren't to supposed to talk about any religion other than Islam. I strongly disagree with the suggestion in the thread of turning down all invitations because of the inherent potential for awkwardness. Seems cowardly, rude, and loses the opportunity for interaction.

Chris

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motomon at pobox dot com
Have returned to Latin America ... again in 2020.