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I am trying vegetarianism for 2 weeks and so far, love it. I decided to try it after reading The Omnivore's Dilemma, by Michael Pollan. As a result, I thought about where the meat I was buying was coming from and it started to gross me out. With chicken, it seems the term "free-range" has multiple meanings... I love meat, especially red meat and fish, but thought it would be a good experience to get creative with vegetarian cuisine. I was eating meat at least once a day before I started this trial period. So far, I feel like I have more energy and learning how to cook new things has been great. I definitely will be eating fresh caught fish and grass-fed beef when I go back to eating meat, because I want to know where my food is coming from and know it is healthy for me too.

I did it to see what all the fuss was about. I started in January and found that the first 2 weeks were the toughest. I plan to go back to eating meat, but I have found this to be a great diet for losing weight- - it forces you to stay away from fast food joints and tons of processed food.

I even started a blog. Check out I miss meat. Read what I have to say- - comment on what you like and what you don't ;)

I've been vegetarian for 12 years now, and gave up red meat/pork almost 14 years ago. Whenever anyone asks me why I went veg, I simply say for all the reasons. I feel good about my decision ethically, as I feel like vegetarianism is kinder to our ecosystem that the meat industry. I feel healthier and kinder to animals, and I like that I'm limiting (at least somewhat, afterall I still eat milk products) the number of inadvertent antibiotics that I consume. Most importantly, my decision was influenced by my realization that if it comes down to it, I certainly wouldn't feel comfortable killing and skinning an animal to eat it, so then why should I force someone else to do it for me?

I gave up meat 3 years ago when I realized all my reasons for not doing so were no longer valid. In New York, and probably most other major American cities, vegeterian food is plentiful and not significantly more expensive (if at all). Also, the market has become big enough that a wealth of appealing protiens and B-vitamin rich foods have been developed. When I made the switch I thought of it as a temporary thing, but it turned out to be a lot easier than expected. I feel better, I feel like my digestive system works a lot better; and in retrospect it's almost like a non-decision decision.

An interesting side note though, is that I seem to have developed an occasional taste for fish, previously unpalatable. My mediterranian genes asserting themselves?

I was a veg for several years during and after college for health and ecological reasons. Severe anemia during pregnancy was chief among the reasons I went back to meat.

I still worry about the impact meat-consumption has on the environment and my family and I have been cutting back on it again lately. Not out entirely, just reducing.

"Non decision-decision" is a great way to describe it, pop.archaeologist - being vegetarian rarely affects me on a day-to-day basis. That I cook most of my meals at home helps, of course, but there are certainly enough healthy/balanced vegetarian options in NYC or most good-sized cities that it wouldn't be a strain even if I didn't.

When I went back to eating meat after 8 years of vegetarianism, I had been craving meat - steaks, fried chicken - and I took that as my body telling me I needed something from it. A year and a half (and a lot of weight gain) later, I realized that eating meat wasn't making me healthier or more energetic, as I had hoped. I continued to eat fish for about four years after giving up other meat.

And, perhaps unexpectedly, as I've started shifting toward a "mostly vegan" diet, and relying on plant sources for protein and calcium (rather than dairy), I've found any traces of meat craving I've had totally dissipate. I even stopped eating fish, realizing that I didn't need it anymore.

My body is my body, and the way I'm comfortable eating is my own. I don't think vegetarianism is for everyone, but I do think that most people overestimate the importance of meat in their diets when it comes to nutrition. (And apologies for the long post on this and the last vegetarian-related topic...I guess I have lots of feelings on this one!)

I think the NY Times Magazine article, "Unhappy Meals" has several good lines regarding minimal meat consumption:

The very quotable first sentence: "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants;"

or "...a little meat won’t kill you, though it’s better approached as a side dish than as a main."

That's probably about true. As much as I love the taste of some meat dishes, I hardly sit around munching on ham all day. I don't foresee myself ever being a vegetarian but I also am not a raging carnivore. I like meat in small portions and only occasionally. Healthier that way and honestly most of my favorite foods contain meat so it would be tough to give it up completely - Pho, Bun Cha, Ostrich fillet, etc.

(From NY Times Magazine article: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/28/magazine/28nutritionism.t.html?ei=5090&en=a18a7f35515014c7&ex=1327640400&pagewanted=all

The thought of eating something that I can't kill myself is unappetizing to me. I can catch a fish, clean and cook said fish, so I don't mind eating it. I can't imagine doing that with an animal - especially after my family killed and ate my pet rabbit (yes, I kept it as a pet, but apparently it was meant for eating, we lived in Yonkers, how was I supposed to get that). I have family in Europe and would watch them raise and slaughter and cook their animals, but it's not something that I can do. Also, the way meat is processed in this country is disgusting. I love cooking and eating vegetarian food and when I make something for meat-eating friends they are amazed at how delicious it is. However, I don't cram my eating habits down my friends' throats, even though they sometimes try to get me to eat meat...funny.

rockchick, my meat-eating friends always try to persuade me to eat meat, too. I always think it's funny that vegetarians have the reputation for trying to "convert" people, when meat-eaters do it too!