PETA wants meat eaters in Vermont to pay higher insurance rates.
Has anyone heard about this?
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27701397/
http://www.peta.org/mc/NewsItem.asp?id=12188
Okay, I could live without meat for a lower insurance rate, but what about my salt, wine, beer and butter?
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26 Comments:
I hate PETA. I love vegetarian cuisine and do not support companies that outright harm animals, but come on, PETA.
And, you're totally right about the salt. Think about how much salt you can get in your daily diet. I did a speech about this once for class. I think it ends up being like two teaspoons of salt or something like that.
Now, think about ALL the processed foods people eat... all the sodium in canned foods at the store... lunch meat... etc.
Too much sodium can be a factor in high cholesterol. High cholesterol is a leading factor in heart disease which is a major killer in the good ol US of A. And, yes, even in Vermont, too.
meg3j at 12:54PM on 11/17/08
Wow. I wish the article had played up the point at the end, that "we have no information one way or the other if vegetarians are more healthy." I'm not trying to slam vegetarians or vegans by any means, but it's a valid point that PETA totally ignores - maybe because it would destroy their argument? Also, would that just be on the honor policy? I mean, you can test someone for nicotine, but can you actually verify whether or not someone is actually vegetarian like that? And what about people who eat meat sparingly and exercise vs. a vegetarian who smokes, drinks like a fish, and never exercises? PETA, stfu, thanks.
joyyy at 1:03PM on 11/17/08
I know plenty of vegans who think weed is a vegetable...would they get higher rates, too? Ridiculous.
juliebugsmama at 1:11PM on 11/17/08
Vegetarian does not necessarily equal healthy. PETA is a little nutty. Hey, I think I made a bit of a pun!
runnereater at 1:35PM on 11/17/08
Oh, and how would you know if somewhere were vegetarian? Have agents hanging out at your local butcher's or McD's?
meg3j at 1:38PM on 11/17/08
oh brother... PETA can go eff themselves
Southern_bella at 2:12PM on 11/17/08
I live in Vermont. Pretty ridiculous since vegetarian doesn't mean healthier. Not to mention we're pretty pro-local food up here which is pretty difficult to do in this climate if you don't eat meat. But if PETA wants to alienate us hippie, commie socialists they're doing a good job. BCBS is the health insurance for all of the teachers in Vermont.
latenac at 2:59PM on 11/17/08
Peta is a good example of a good basic idea gone so bad its not even funny!
huneybumper at 3:10PM on 11/17/08
I am a vegetarian ... but I would prefer government-provided healthcare, personally.
Oh, and Peta is crazy blah "junkfood vegan" (Spicy Chili Doritos, oreos, Duncan Hines chocolate frosting, Food Lion butterscotch chips, Swedish Fish and Sourpatch kids are all vegan) blah blah publicity stunt, etc.
KarynMC at 3:13PM on 11/17/08
The idea behind group insurance is that you pool everyone together so that everyone is covered. You might adjust rates for people who are doing seriously unhealthy things, like being a crash test dummy.
But penalizing meat eaters makes no sense, since that single thing doesn't make a diet healthy or unhealty. Obviously there are meat eaters who eat a week's worth of fat every day, but vegetarians can also eat an unhealthy diet.
On average, I'd say that most vegetarians I know are eating a healthier diet than the average person who eats everything, because the vegetarians do a bit more research into food and they know what they need to eat to make up for the lack of meat protein.
On the other hand, people with food afflictions or allergies who have to severely modify their diets also tend to be very food-aware and may also eat fewer packaged products, which gives them a healthier diet. So should we single out people with food sensitivites and give them a gold star and reduced rates because they know what they're eating?
I dunno, maybe it's foodies in general who should get reduced rates.
dbcurrie at 3:14PM on 11/17/08
If this follows-through I would suggest that they LOWER the price of vegetarian protein-sources (ie. tofu, beans, etc.)
--otherwise the poor vernmont-ians like latenac will just pay more to stay healthy? BS~!
Next thing you know we'll be paying the cows for their milk or something.
No friggin way.
p.s. I eat my steaks RARE!
Then soak the juices/blood up with my potatoes--is that weird?
hungrychristel at 3:22PM on 11/17/08
@hungrychristel-- No, not weird. That's delicious. I go medium rare though. Still plenty of juices for the potatoes.
meg3j at 3:54PM on 11/17/08
that's not weird, it's FLAVOR.
joyyy at 4:01PM on 11/17/08
@hungrychristel - I eat my steak med-rare (yep, still plenty of juices), but I love steak tartare or beef carpaccio, so no, not weird.
As for PETA, I have a feeling that at this point their sole purpose is to be as ridiculous as possible, and they fulfill it with remarkable success time and again.
brooke29 at 4:19PM on 11/17/08
@hungrychristel- rare here too, just slap it on a plate and walk it through a warm room!
Southern_bella at 5:14PM on 11/17/08
PETA : just as dangerous and misguided as NEOCON REPUBLICANS. FASCISTS.
And I third a bloody steak and potatoes to sop up the goodness!!! Especially with a big dollop of foie gras on top. (ok that was evil!)
jdmcdonald at 5:27PM on 11/17/08
PETA people are always running around in traffic yelling things. That has to be dangerous. I know plenty of vegetarians who have high blood pressure and cholestrol issues. One who has been a vegetarian since 1976, he is the one of our friends who is the most unhealthy.
PETA can carry on all they like they just make it worse.
JerzeeTomato at 5:35PM on 11/17/08
Do these strange folks really believe the crap they spout?? Or do they just like the attention it gets. Vegatarian, carnivore, omnivore, locavore, attentionvore...hmmmm.
finsbigfan at 5:50PM on 11/17/08
I'm a medium rare kind of girl, myself. Both of my parents are well done kind of people. I didn't know why people raved so much about steak until I had one that was pink with a brown crust, instead of grey through and through. Om nom nom.
Oh, was that off topic? Then yeah, I think brooke was pretty much spot on. PETA makes me sad for all vegetarians and people who care how their food is treated.
nightowl at 6:03PM on 11/17/08
Yes, well, it was PETA who wanted Ben & Jerry's to start making their ice cream from human breast milk, so there ya go.
And I agree--there are lots of vegetarians out there who eat crap. My aunt is vegan and cooks very healthy food, just eats way too much of it and never exercises. Healthy lifestyle? I think not.
buffy at 6:16PM on 11/17/08
This is odd considering Vermont is the healthiest state in the US.
JacquelineS at 6:35PM on 11/17/08
Meat is murder.
tmj529 at 12:29AM on 11/18/08
Tasty, tasty murder.
tmj529 at 12:29AM on 11/18/08
@tmj529 - and I'm a lifer.
Southern_bella at 8:54AM on 11/18/08
@tmj529 and bella - I just thought I'd agree about the drippings of tasty tasty TASTY murder on this topic...how evil! LOL
hungrychristel at 10:33AM on 11/18/08
PETA can kiss my conservative, liberitarian, omnivorous ass.
delilah at 7:00PM on 11/18/08