As we know, I love documentaries.
Like, almost to a fault.
Recently, I watched Food, Inc.
I had to watch it in two parts. I really didn’t even want to finish it because it was so so so horrifying. But I had a bout of insomnia, and finished it at 5 in the morning.
DO NOT WATCH IF YOU DON’T WANT TO BE A VEGETARIAN.
I am no longer eating meat.
Any advice, food blogs, etc are more than welcome.
I wasn’t so turned off by beef throughout the movie, although I wouldn’t say it didn’t bother me at all. What was highly disturbing was the chickens….. Yea….. The poor chickens!!!
Have you seen Food, Inc? Did you make a similar decision?
xoxo
PS I wrote this post a while ago to make sure I was going to stick with it… and I have so far!
Good for you! I cut out meat a while back and have never felt better! If you'd like to learn more, "Eating Animals" is a fabulous book by Jonathan Safran Foer that's extremely informative. Even though I was already a vegetarian when I read it, it changed my life. Take care!
Good for you! great job, Carly. I highly recommend "the omnivores dilemma" for your next spare time book. Very insightful about the food we eat.
I also HIGHLY recommend "Eating Animals." Just a word of advice make sure you meet with your doctor if you plan on staying vegetarian to make sure you are getting all the vitamins you need in your new diet. Good luck!
Hello!
I have also made the effort to become vegetarian (well, I went a step further and I'm vegan) and I stuck with it for 5 weeks until prom, now, I'm kind of on and off. I want to get back on track because I feel good as a vegan 🙂
My Bio teacher showed this to my class a few weeks ago and I started crying in the middle of class! Since then I have not eaten beef but quitting chicken has been the hardest! Ive been looking up all sorts of yummy vegetarian options and I'm so excited to try them. Some even look better than the food with meat and they are healthier for you too!
My mom and I have wanted to watch this movie for so long! We both already don't eat red meat but we eat a lot of chicken (and fish). I want to watch this but I would hate not being able to eat my chicken and turkey!!
I've kind of done the opposite over the past few years. I was vegetarian for most of my childhood, but started eating seafood and chicken not too long ago, despite all the controversy.
I think it really comes down to what makes you feel healthiest. For example, I feel SO much healthier now that I have some meat in my diet. It makes me feel so much better and more functional on a day to day basis. But I know other people who have felt much healthier after going veggie. I guess it varies by person!
I have been a vegetarian for 10 years, since I was 11 and I haven't looked back once. I became a vegetarian because of how disgusting factory farms are, especially at 11 years old those images are just horrific, but I've now come to appreciate all the benefits that come with not eating meat. I've been giving myself one "cheating" day a year and seeing how awful I feel after I eat meat has really made the decision stick. So my only advice is if you feel like you are slipping give your self a cheating day and enjoy whatever you want to eat, but don't do it mindlessly pay attention to how you feel afterwards.
My favorite veggie cooking blogs are 101 Cookbooks, Post Punk Kitchen, Daily Garnish the last one isn't just a food blog but it does have really good recipes. Another really good site to check of is No Meat Athlete, the food suggestions may not be exactly what you are looking for but it has a lot of good resources when it comes to getting proper nutrition as a vegetarian.
Good Luck!
Congrats! I've been a vegetarian for a little over a year and it was the best decision I've ever made! I watch this movie recently and it completely reiterated all my prior concerns and showed me that I was doing something right.
I made the same decision about a month or so ago after watching this film. I had to watch it for one of my classes and it COMPLETELY changed my outlook on the food industry and the food I eat. I'm happy with my decision, although for me it was a bit difficult to make the transition. I'm definitely going to look into some of the books your other followers recommended!
–the Edinburgh international
http://fourthousandshortmiles.blogspot.com/
wow! good for you. my fiance and i watched food ink last year and it defiantly freaked us out. now we only eat one meat meal a week and we try to make sure that it's organic. xoxo jillian:: cornflake dreams
We had to watch this for my 300 level english class, and i agree what I was most disturbed with was the chickens. You should also read Ruth Ozeki;s "My Year of Meats" although it's fiction it discusses the meat industry and was a fantastic read about a woman filming a documentary in America that is going to air in Japan to influence the Japanese to eat more meat and along the way she finds out how disturbing and corrupted the meat industry is – somehow after reading this and watching food inc i still eat meat but I was pretty bothered by it
I have seen Food, Inc. several times and have made several of my friends watch it as well- shocking!! I like to be able to make educated decisions when it comes to buying food:I'm not vegetarian, but I rarely eat red meat, and I buy free-range when I can.
I've seen Food Inc a few times, and it has not made me avoid meat. I'm not a huge meat-eater, but when I don't have it for a while, I find my work-outs to be more draining, I have a larger appetite, etc. What Food Inc. has done for me is to assist me in choosing foods that are fair trade, organic, local, or completely natural. Whole foods are the way to go!
You need to make sure that you are taking a multi vitamin. I gave up meat for Lent last year and felt so sluggish and it turned out I was missing essential vitamins that I had been getting from the meat. I would just take two Flintstones vitamins every morning and felt fine.
Some of these are Vegan blogs. I didn't know if you're still eating eggs or by products.
http://veganlunchbox.blogspot.com/
http://thelazyvegetarian.blogspot.com/ – Quick meal ideas! She hates to cook.
http://veganmenu.blogspot.com/
I cannot bring myself to watch that film. I read "Skinny Bitch" recently, and that almost did me in, I think actually seeing it would be way worse. Good for you for being a vegeterian! I know it is a healthier choice, but I just can't commit!
I saw Food Inc. last year when I was a vegetarian for some time. If you love meat, you'll go back to it. Food Inc. made me make better decisions about all of the kinds of food I put into my body.
I'm veggie too and I like it a lot. There's so much food out there that you can eat that people don't realize until they give up meat.
When I made the decision to cut out meat I wanted to do it right since I was doing it for health reasons. I HIGHLY recommend the book, The New Becoming Vegetarian (amazon link: http://www.amazon.com/New-Becoming-Vegetarian-Essential-Healthy/dp/1570671443/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1305132166&sr=8-1). There's a kindle version, so I bet there's a Nook version too.
It was the most helpful book for me as far as nutrition goes. It really takes you through all the vitamins and minerals that you need as a vegetarian and it has other great resources in it as well. I call it my vegetarian textbook!
Eating Animals is fabulous as well, as is Fast Food Nation.
I also mostly cut out dairy and eggs and it's been great. My skin has cleared up and my blood sugar (which is usually quite low) has become very stable.
Welcome to the club!
For health reasons, I became vegetarian a bout 4 years ago and a whole new world of food opened up to me. Then, recently, I became Vegan and again, a whole new world of food opened up. I haven't seen Food Inc. but I've been told that I need to watch it. I've read Skinny Bitch and it just confirmed my decision to be vegan(even though I became vegan to relieve headaches I had been having.) I feel AMAZING and love that I eat whole, natural foods with little processing. It makes me feel cleaner and lighter.
I've never seen Food, Inc. but I have watched other documentaries about the same topic which equally concerned me. Instead of becoming a vegetarian, I decided to make way more of a concerted effort to eat ethically. I try my best to only eat meat that's been farm raised, grass fed, free range, hormone free, organic, etc you get the picture. Since my family keeps kosher, which entails laws that ensure animals are treated fairly to begin with, it hasn't been too hard. I still feel okay eating meat, knowing that the animals enjoyed a healthy life.
Hope that helps!
Bisous,
Rachel
http://lovealamode.wordpress.com
I love meat! So I will never watch this. And live an ignorant life? I don't know…this is tough. But I really love meat…
I've been a vegan for a year and I've never felt better! Vegetarianism is much easier to deal with in everyday life, especially if you are new to cutting out meat – congrats on such a great decision! There are tons of good cookbooks, and Vegetarian Times magazine is one of my favorite sources for information.
I've been a vegetarian most of my life, the one thing I would reccomend you definitely try are veggie patch vegetarian chicken nuggets. I swear they taste like real ones- at least once you've dipped them in plum sauce 🙂
The package looks like this: http://www.veggiepatch.com/contentmgr/showdetails.php/id/276
Oh, actually one more thing! Taking an iron supplement can be really helpful becuase most people get their iron from animal protein. I had low iron for a while and it drains you of energy, you seem super busy so I imagine having lots of energy is extra important.
Also, avoid vegetarian bacon. I haven't found one yet that doesn't taste gross. Vegetarian hamburgers, on the other hand, have been perfected! My favorite is made by president's choice, but I think those are only availible in Canada.
I also saw the bit about the chickens on Oprah and now only buy farm-raised, cruelty-free, free-range chicken and eggs. More expensive but worth it! I avoid beef and pork, but eat a lot of seafood (I live in Florida!), as well as the chicken.
I haven't seen Food, Inc., but after being shown a few videos from PETA during high school I decided to become a vegetarian. While, I'm not all for PETA, the videos were real and scary.
I have to say, I only kept it up for a little over a year (enough time to miss two Thanksgiving turkeys). In my senior year of high school I went back to meat and having my mom cook my meals.
Now, that I am in univiersity I still try to limit my meat consumption, but cooking with a meat-loving boyfriend means that I've got to be a bit flexible as well.
Two blogs that I love for meat-less recipes:
OhSheGlows which is written by a Canadian Vegan on the East Coast, Angela Liddon. She adapts a lot of 'normal' recipes in to vegan creations and makes sure to include lots of vegan deserts!
HealthyTippingPoint which is written by Caitlin Boyle who is a vegetarian with a vegan husband. She has a lot of great recipes and she blogs regularly.
Good luck! 🙂
Wow, typo in university. I'm such a winner.
i didn't eat meat for two weeks after watching this. haha.
Hey Carly–why did you decide to start eating meat again? Just curious.