(Well there aren't many members at the moment, but I thought I'd post a thread anyway and maybe more people will join if something's happening here!)

So what are your reasons for being a vegetarian or vegan? How long have you been vegetarian/vegan?

I'm a vegetarian and personally it was half my choice and half not. Neither of my parents eat meat (no, we're not some hippy family, my mother thinks it's unhealthy and my father just doesn't like meat), so I never ate it when I was younger, but I think if I had eaten it I would still have made the decision to stop eating it by now. I just don't like the idea of eating something that's been alive, especially when there are plenty of other food sources!

Because I just plain think it's horrible to eat animals. So same as you, Phoebe.

Why end a living animal's life just so you can gorge yourself on it when there is plenty of other food available?

I used to eat meat until I was about 13.
We watched a movie in class and there were sheep on the screen, then some boy yelled out "kebab!"
That was when I really started to think through the whole idea of eating animals.

now the whole idea of putting an animals corpse in my mouth disgusts me.

Read these uplifting articles kids to know what motivated me to become a still transitioning vegetarian. I frustratingly can not convince my baby boomer parents to adopt my same choices because of their irrational and selfish attachments to corporations.

Gluttony and the Morality of Meal Time

Animal Factories: A Perversion of Nature

Bush has a shitty return home!

I'm technically a pescatarian (I eat fish once monthly or bimonthly and I've had this diet for two years), but after I read this report, I resolved to reduce and eventually eliminate my fish consumption.

As American vegans and vegetarians, we still exploit other humans and the planet because of America's brutal food system. According to Danish activist Jacob Holdt, food companies in Denmark use the "ecological" label, which entails that all capital used to make organic food must be organic and thus the label has more stringent requirements than the USDA counterpart. The European Union also requires substantially more space for organic chickens than the United States does, so we may still support cruelty by purchasing "more humane," organic eggs.

Immigrant Women in the U.S. Food Industry

Close to Slavery: Guest Worker Programs in the United States

Information on Humane, Organic Eggs and Dairy

About PETA:

Ingrid Newkirk [the owner of PETA] apparently thinks women are inhuman and continually sexually objectifies them in her organization's ads and absurd, useless, vile protests. She drank the metaphorical kool-aid of gender. I urge anyone who cares about animals and the question of bodies and their relation to humanity to oppose PETA. A simple Google search will reveal the organization's incompetence and preference for gimmicks instead of efficacy.

Note: This may upset someone, but Ingrid Newkirk admits in the documentary "I Am an Animal" that her organization indeed euthanizes animals and she sanctions the practice.

Morally, I just don't understand how anyone can think it is okay to kill animals.

Morality aside, there are so many studies that show human consumption of animals is unhealthy.

In a society where people are finding out they really can't tolerate wheat, lactose, sugar, etc., vegan isn't the only choice that makes sense to me; I also favor raw, organic, and truly natural foods.

I've been vegetarian for six months.
i was shown videos in health class, about the way they torture and put hormones in livestock. i cried like a baby in class, and i swore to not eat meat until they fix the treatment of animals.

Hi all!

Been a vegetarian since birth (thank you, Mum!! ) but went vegan about two years ago. Never ever liked the idea of eating animals and flipped out when the school cafeteria tried to tell me all vegetarians ate fish.
My reasons for going vegan are too numerous to mention, but the main reason is because I watched a video on how cows were treated in dairy farms and how chicks were treated on chicken farms. Nuff said. Went vegan without a second thought (I've never been so healthy! )

It's great to see some other veggies and vegans!

I've been a vegetarian since 2003, when I was 7, so I've been a vegetarian for 8 years. I became a vegatarian because I think it's cruelty to kill animals to have something to eat, although there are several chances in foods, which didn't become from anything's death, pain... Killing animals isn't normal.

I am the same way. To slaughter animals just to eat is wrong.
How would meat eaters like it if someone slaughtered them and
ate them, oops! i found a bone!, it wouldn't be nice would it?
Animals should be respected, since they are a part of nature after
all. Save the animals!!!

I became a vegetarian in the beginning of the year, before that I only ate chicken.

I've never liked the taste of red meat, and I felt really bad eating chicken, so I stopped. I've watched the videos on how most animals are slaughtered, and I just don't agree with it. I find it absolutely heartbreaking.

It's nice to see fellow vegetarians! Everyone I know eats meat, so it kind of makes you feel like you're the only one feeling like this.

Hopefully one day, I'll be able to become a vegan!

I got the first push from seeing these fish kept in awful conditions at a supermarket. That was the first time the idea of vegetarianism first crossed my mind. I haven't eaten any meat in a little over a year, and it feels much more natural to me.

Yeah, not eating meat is natural for me so! And neither have I liked meat, but I had to eat because 'it includes important vitamines' etc., but at age seven I was allowed to be a vegetarian, I can't remember how, but I was allowed and this is important. :D

Because I hate this whole concept of factory farming and it grosses me out. I watched Food Inc and that really made me think.

I've been a vegetarian for 10 years now, i made the change when i was 10 years old becuase at the time there was a lot of stuff in the news about the treatment of animals and how meat is made and i just relised i did not want this stuff in my body! Now i don't even miss meet anymore theres so many alternatives out there that are much healthier!! Like Quorn and tofu etc. Meat is pointless violent murder.

I'm vegetarian since I was 12. I love animals and I don't want to support their suffering. I also believe in reincarnation, so I don't want to eat my ancestors. Besides, vegetarian diet is healthier than meat. Since I don't eat meat, my skin looks smoothier and I feel lighter

I have been a vegetarian ever since my cells started forming... and stayed true to the path all the way up till now... and still will. The official reason for my being a vegan would be religious, I guess. The personal reason would be that meat grosses me out... and that animals are similar to us... it would be cannibalism...

I'm technically not vegetarian, I eat meat, not loads and I almost never eat fish (dads allergic) but I like to eat vegetarian at school and If I could choose I'd always choose free range or organic meat. If I lived in the US, I'd almost certainly be vegetarian, living space is far too small, cramped and they can use hormones in farming. But I couldn't be vegan, cheese is what would save me when I'm vegetarian!