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Comment by Pfhreak | Hacker News Reader

I still periodically eat meat, as I mentioned I did work with a local farmer to buy a whole beef. But it's something special and deliberate -- should we make one of our roasts? We don't have very many, so each one is precious. We use all the bones we could get to make stock, etc. Try to really appreciate the one animal we've had harvested for our family, but still eat vegetarian or vegan on the vast majority of days (90-95%+ of our meals are probably vegetarian these days.)

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I would love it so much if there were a majority of meat-eaters like you. I personally am not against meat-eating: only unnecessary suffering as you have explained well in your parent post. I have great respect for those like you, who truly take care to both limit their intake, and source their meat from genuine cruelty-free farms.

This. I haven't eaten red or white meat since January of 2018. I don't mind people eating it, I don't cast judgement and I try not to have my personal choice influence large group decisions on where to eat. But people who eat meat egregiously from mass production sources do have choices and I wish more people thought about the options and consequences, even if minor. The OPs approach saves so much pollution and risk to our environment, I commend that and truly respect the conscious decision to bring meat back to a point of appreciation and delicacy vs right to copious overconsumption in the name of more protein.

Would you support creation of genetically modified cows with no brain/very small brain so that they don't feel any pain?

Harvest is an interesting word choice to apply to an animal. Is this common?

It's a common hunting term

From talking the to farmers I have, it seems so? It's the day the animal is taken to be slaughtered.

> I still periodically eat meat

I have a friend who describes himself as "meegan". He's straight-up vegan in terms of his regular diet (not because of ethical issues, but because he feels better eating that way), but if he's eating out or at a friend's house, and they're not serving vegan fare, he'll eat whatever is on offer.

It seems like a rational way to go about it.

Very nice way to go about eating less meat without being preachy. We are also trying to cut down meat consumption but not completely removing it.

> I've gone vegetarian, except for a single grass fed animal

and then

> still periodically eat meat

I'm sorry but you shouldn't call yourself a vegetarian.

With all due respect, I disagree. A vegetarian who almost completely follows their diet, is in my opinion a vegetarian the same way as a vegan who almost completely follows their diet is in my opinion a vegan. Why? 1) Defeatist approach (perfectionism) does not work 2) What matters is how the person identifies 3) There are hurdles to overcome when going vegetarian/vegan. These can be related to health, financials, logistics/availability, social situations where an exception could be made, the environment which can be at odds. Should anyone be interested I can give ample amounts of examples for each of these.

> I'm sorry but you shouldn't call yourself a vegetarian.

I understand your point, but I don't entirely agree. I think if someone's primary diet is vegetarian, calling themselves that isn't unduly misleading even if they eat meat on occasion.

But it may be a difference between being "vegetarian" in terms of participating in a movement and being "vegetarian" just because you prefer to eat that way.

I'd have to agree. She has a plant-based diet, but "being" a vegetarian is an ethical stance against animal meat for food. She could also say, "my diet is primary vegetarian", which moves the position from her to her diet choices.

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