Cutting out meat

[thenoise]

Yeah chefs are utterly convinced that vegetarian food is all incredibly bland, so they over season it to fuck. Many a perfectly decent vegetarian soup has been ruined by an overzealous carnivorous chef chucking in a ludicrous amount of pepper as it supposedly tastes of nothing.

[thenoise]

Yes.  Obviously I did it years and years ago.  Can't even imagine, properly, what meat is like any more.  Never miss it. 

Never think of it except when at work - I work in a restaurant kitchen.  I have to wash everything, every thing, every day when I get home because the smell, to me, of raw, cooking or cooked meat, is disgusting.

Same. I dont know whether it was because I gave up meat as a child, but the smell is appalling to me too and the sight, everything about it repulses me. As far as I'm concerned it's all just like what the cat eats.

I have a vague memory of enjoying bacon sandwiches around the age of around 4, but hard to reconcile this with the sensation the smell of cooking bacon gives me now.

[Twit 2]

Ate some roadkill the other day. Tasty and ethical.

[phes]

I went veggie about 2 years ago. I do occasionally eat meat if i'm sharing a takeaway with someone else or i'm served meat by someone, but other than that i'm pretty good. 

And finally, my ultimate bugbear, that there are still eating places where the only veggie option is some spicy shit. In this day and age. Unbelievable. Grrrr.

My bugbear is that ubiquitous veggy base recipe that cafeterias use and adapt in about five ways but it's all basically the same fucking thing and it's usually the only veggy main course (aside from portions of veg), in particular in NHS cafes. You know that orangey-reddy tomatoey, carrotty, lentily sweet gloop thing. Veggie stew? throw a potato in. Veggie curry? Add cumin and chilli powder. Veggy soup? Yes it's still that mate, with more water. It's galling when you see them serving up really interesting meat curries and stews and they could have made exactly the same thing with some cauliflower in or something. It drives me fucking nuts.

[Chedney Honks]

I had a truly awful nightmare a couple of days ago. Someone was sawing a pig's head sideways, so shaved off the snout first and then kept slicing through the face, but as I say, sideways with the blade coming down the face. It was like there was no skull or bone, just a ball of ham and gristle but I feel like the pig was still alive. It was a truly fucking horrible experience and in the middle of the night, to try to get it out of my mind's eye when I woke up in a cold sweat, I determined to never touch meat again. It still makes me shudder to recall the grinding noise of slicing through the pig's face/head while it's trying to breathe and then looking down and seeing a really appetising fatty, jellied slice of ham. Fucking awful. If I don't give up meat after that I probably never will. McDonalds have started a new breakfast roll, though.

[Twit 2]

Anyone eaten a person?

[Buelligan]

You know what the worst thing about the edit glitch is?  The person that did it is the only one not bothered by it. 

The second worst thing is that fuck, the Edit Glitch Person or whatever the fuck they're called, is never online any more.

Anyway, my pleasure.

[JaDanketies]

I think nowadays it's probably easier than it could ever be to give up meat (and dairy). We almost raise our infant son as a vegan - he has a bit of tuna and the odd egg - and this would've been deemed child abuse just a few years ago but nowadays there are even vegan follow-on milks in the major supermarkets.

I'm effectively totally vegan and my gf is pretty much vegan; the only meat and dairy we buy in the supermarket is the aforementioned fish and eggs, which I don't eat. She gets meat and dairy in takeaways and I've been known to eat her leftovers.

I'd say it's so easy to be vegan nowadays that the meat-free alternative section is oversaturated. Big business has long ago realised that plant-based and meat-free diets are the next big lucrative thing. Even the big meat-based fast food giants have got into it. And I would think, if you've got access to a supermarket, it could be considerably cheaper than an omnivore diet.

Based on what I see in vegan groups on social media, the main advice I would have would be, if you don't like something, try something else. If you don't like Violife cheese, try another brand. If you don't like soya milk, try oat milk. Etc. And start to appreciate dark chocolate. Cheese and chocolate were the two hardest dairy products for me to give up, and now we've got loads of vegan cheese in the fridge and I like dark chocolate just as much as I ever liked milk chocolate.

If you need motivation, just think of all that horrible gore, or imagine an udder lactating all over your pizza. But really, I think you catch more flies with honey than vinegar, so really you just need to think of a delicious vegan chilli con carne.

Of all the pro-vegan animal torture videos I've seen, there are two that stick with me the most.

• No gore in this one - A Day as a Sow on a German Farm in Five Minutes - depressing a f
• And, because they can't tell if a chicken is male or female until after it's born, here is the fate of all male chicks, nsfl

[Captain Z]

https://www.amazon.co.uk/meat-scissors/s?k=meat+scissors

[flotemysost]

Was vege (no meat, fish or animal derivatives like gelatine - Haribo were off the menu) out of choice for most of my childhood and early teens. Had a lapse in my mid-teens (probably around the time I discovered hangovers, and thus the joy of a greasy burger to blot the pain), then briefly went vegan at uni (before it was cool, OK?).

There weren't as many options as now and I didn't do much research, so I definitely had a few evenings glumly chewing slabs of rubbery tofu or under-cooked polenta, and I'm still amused by the one night stand who beat a speedy exit after I made him a cup of tea in the morning with watery rice drink that curdled like the Milky Way on contact with hot water (couldn't get Oatly everywhere in them days).

I'm afraid I'm neither these days, but it's pretty rare that I eat meat, like I'd never add it to my basket in a supermarket but I might order it in a restaurant now and then. I don't drink cow's milk either, so I reckon I could go back pretty easily. And probably should.

[Pijlstaart]

Gave up meat and dairy at the start of the pandemic, I had to switch to larger, less frequent food shops which meant proper meal planning, so I switched to minimally-processed whole foods, figured out how to get the right nutrients cheaply and meat didn't make the cut. Big health boost, but that was likely correcting lifelong vitamin deficiencies rather than dropping meat. Cut out eggs in early october and now I smell different, probably don't have to wash at all now.

As a small child I was groped during school assembly, some older girls slid their hands under my bottom in sequence and had a squeeze. "Like a little gorilla" was their conclusion, and at the time I wondered what it meant. They were very prescient, as I now know that I am like a little gorilla, I have a marketable leaf-based lifestyle, I infrequently advertise breakfast cereals and I will die out in the next century. It all fell into place for me, and I imagine it will do so for you too.

[Menu]

I only eat white meat these days because I fucking hate chickens / diabetes, and had some Sainsbury's quorn sausages recently and I've got to say, I was impressed, and even prefer them to many a meaty type.

Linda McCartney Sausage Rolls are fucking lovely.

[bgmnts]

Try Richmond meat free sausages. They're fucking great.

[Menu]

Try Richmond meat free sausages. They're fucking great.

Thanks, bgmts. I've read that very thing somewhere else, although I've also heard that Richmond's animal welfare (for their real sausages) is about the worst in the UK so I didn't want to give them any of my money full stop. But maybe if I gave money to their veggie range it might encourage them to stop making pigs suffer? What should I do? It's an ethical minefield.

[bgmnts]

It's a fucker. So many companies are owned by horrid investment groups involved in the exploitation of animals. The only real way to fully absolve yourself would be to have a farm and grow your own veg and live solely off that, as far as I can see.

It's a bit of a cunt to be honest.

Basically, utter twats own everything and don't give a shit about human, animal or environmental suffering, as long as there is an extra few quid to be made.

[Menu]

I don't think I'll ever go entirely without meat or eggs etc but I've cut down by a significant amount. I've gone from eating lots of meat every day to not having any at all, for example in the last few days. It's certainly do-able. But, as someone said above, the vegetarian stuff they serve in canteens and restaurants would require me to keep a many options open as possible. Also whenever I do buy meat it's always organic. So at least the poor little things had something of a life before they were slaughtered - I know that's the thin edge of the wedge but at least it's something.

And bgmts is right about dairy. It's fucking evil. It's slavery. Almond milk for me.

[Menu]

It's a fucker. So many companies are owned by horrid investment groups involved in the exploitation of animals. The only real way to fully absolve yourself would be to have a farm and grow your own veg and live solely off that, as far as I can see.

It's a bit of a cunt to be honest.

Basically, utter twats own everything and don't give a shit about human, animal or environmental suffering, as long as there is an extra few quid to be made.

So fucking depressing. But at least there are more choices now. It must have been awful even ten years ago to find something to buy.

[Jockice]

But really, I think you catch more flies with honey than vinegar, so really you just need to think of a delicious vegan chilli con carne.

Does not compute.

[sirhenry]

My bugbear is that ubiquitous veggy base recipe that cafeterias use and adapt in about five ways but it's all basically the same fucking thing and it's usually the only veggy main course (aside from portions of veg), in particular in NHS cafes. You know that orangey-reddy tomatoey, carrotty, lentily sweet gloop thing. Veggie stew? throw a potato in. Veggie curry? Add cumin and chilli powder. Veggy soup? Yes it's still that mate, with more water. It's galling when you see them serving up really interesting meat curries and stews and they could have made exactly the same thing with some cauliflower in or something. It drives me fucking nuts.

The last time I spent a few days in hospital the only veggie options all had egg or cheese in, neither of which I eat. So on the second day a very weird nurse suggested that I ask for a vegan meal rather than continue fasting. It seemed like a good idea, at least until the nurse started calling me Vegan Boy to all and sundry in a very derogatory tone. Of course everything in NHS catering is delayed by 24 hours these days as it's outsourced, so on day three a meal I could eat turned up - and was gorgeous! Tasty curry, spinach dahl, basmati rice, the lot. Not over-spiced or bland so no-one can complain like so much hospital food. Even the nurse had to admit that it looked and smelled better than any of the other meals in the ward while still sneerily calling me Vegan Boy. I was only in for one more day (Thai green curry) so didn't find out if any of the variations were the traditional bland, lifeless slop that vegetarians/vegans used to get but I suspect not.

So regardless of your dietary preferences, I'd strongly suggest going vegan if you find yourself stuck in hospital.

[Jockice]

Tasty curry.

Does not compute.

[sirhenry]

Does not compôte.

[Paul Calf]

the smell, to me, of raw, cooking or cooked meat, is disgusting.   

My wife is veggie and I've vastly reduced my consumption of meat. I don't drink cow's milk anymore, but that wasn't much of a wrench because I never really liked it. I'll only eat meat and eggs that are properly sourced from farms not run by abusers and torturers, and that not very often.

Sme of the meat alternatives are really good - sometimes not very much like meat, but hitting the same notes. I had a vegan doner kebab the other day, and when I was in Leeds recently ordered from a veggie (possibly vegan) Chinese place that was astonishingly good.

[Paul Calf]

This is the place if you're interested and live in Leeds:

https://www.happycow.net/reviews/wawin-chinese-restaurant-leeds-208611

[sirhenry]

Sme of the meat alternatives are really good - sometimes not vey much like meat, but hitting the same notes. I had a vegan doner kebab the other day, and when I was in Leeds recently ordered from a veggie (possibly vegan) Chinese place that was astonishingly good.

Because of all the Chinese students Leeds has managed to attract, loads of really good Chinese restaurants have opened in the last few years, including one that didn't have a menu in English for the first year or so[nb]Wawin, which Paul Calf just mentioned above[/nb]. Most of them have huge menus covering a whole range of traditional dishes for homesick students, including just about every body part and organ that's edible, but several do a large range of vegetarian dishes.

Almost all are saitan used as fake meat in an otherwise traditional meat dish, so a much wider choice than veggies are used to in the UK. Though if you're gluten intolerant you're still fucked, obviously.

[phes]

The last time I spent a few days in hospital the only veggie options all had egg or cheese in, neither of which I eat. So on the second day a very weird nurse suggested that I ask for a vegan meal rather than continue fasting. It seemed like a good idea, at least until the nurse started calling me Vegan Boy to all and sundry in a very derogatory tone. Of course everything in NHS catering is delayed by 24 hours these days as it's outsourced, so on day three a meal I could eat turned up - and was gorgeous! Tasty curry, spinach dahl, basmati rice, the lot. Not over-spiced or bland so no-one can complain like so much hospital food. Even the nurse had to admit that it looked and smelled better than any of the other meals in the ward while still sneerily calling me Vegan Boy. I was only in for one more day (Thai green curry) so didn't find out if any of the variations were the traditional bland, lifeless slop that vegetarians/vegans used to get but I suspect not.

So regardless of your dietary preferences, I'd strongly suggest going vegan if you find yourself stuck in hospital.

Yes can also confirm this. Unfortunately those vegan meals are not available in the general cafeterias and the vegetarian meals that are available are rubbish by comparison.

[phes]

Sheffield has two places I really enjoy. In the Moor Market food court there's a little Nepalese place called hungry budda that does a lunchtime service of rice, roti, two veg curries (usually one with chana and one with veg) and two home made chutneys for about £5.50. Serves at 12pm and is usually sold out within a couple of hours. And on a very different note, Church - temple of fun, a contemporary vegan grub pub that does all manner of pretend meat, ribs, steaks, king prawns etc. The ribs and prawns are quite extraordinary and I had no idea we could already make stuff like that.

In Manchester the northern quarter still has some great curry cafes. Yadgar is your standard no-frills Formica tabletop and a jug of water cafe. About £6 at lunch for a rice and 3

I don't know how Jokice copes as a veggie who doesn't like curry

[Buelligan]

Absolutely.  I think the NHS and everyone else, would do well to get the Hare Krishnas to run their canteens, best consistent cheap veggie/vegan food.  Govinda's in Brisbane being a favourite in another life, if you're ever there, yum, yum.

[Shoulders?-Stomach!]

This is the place if you're interested and live in Leeds:

https://www.happycow.net/reviews/wawin-chinese-restaurant-leeds-208611

Cheers, I'll give that a try when things reopen.

[JaDanketies]

In Manchester the northern quarter still has some great curry cafes. Yadgar is your standard no-frills Formica tabletop and a jug of water cafe. About £6 at lunch for a rice and 3

Surprised it isn't This and That Cafe that's getting the shout-out. The original, and cheaper too! That's the one thing I miss about working in an office near the city.

[phes]

Also good, as is kabana . I'm probably overpricing Yagar there by a quid come to think of it, but This and That is probably the cheapest of those three. Crazy that you can eat a full great quality meal and then head to port st beer house and pay more for a half