I have noticed that among philosophers, vegetarianism of one form or another is quite common. In fact, I became a vegetarian (technically a pescetarian) myself partly out of respect for an undergraduate philosophy professor. I am interested in finding out if there is a similar disproportion in the Less Wrong community.
I didn't request that this go into Yvain's survey because I want more information than just what animal products you do or don't eat; I'd also like to see nuances of the reasons behind your diet. There are a lot more shades than carnivore/vegetarian/vegan - if you want to be a vegetarian but are allergic to soy and gluten, that's a compelling reason to diversify protein sources, for instance. I'd also like to hear about if you avoid any plant foods (if you think they're farmed in a way that's environmentally destructive or that hurts people or if you have warm fuzzy feelings for plants, maybe). Here are some questions that come to mind:
- What foods, if any, do you normally avoid for reasons other than pure culinary taste, cost, individual health concerns (allergies, diabetes, etc.) or ease of preparation? (Avoiding foods that are considered revolting or just non-food in your culture of origin, like balut or fried locusts, counts as "culinary taste".)
- What are your reasons for avoiding those foods?
- How strictly do you avoid them? For instance, will you eat them if you are served them while a guest at a meal, or if you are hungry and there is nothing else available? Do you check to see if they're in potentially questionable dishes at restaurants (and if so, do you trust what the server says?)
- If you have children or plan to have children, will you expect or encourage them to avoid the same foods?
- Do you try to convince your friends and family members to make dietary choices similar to yours? If so, have you ever succeeded?
- If you avoid a class of foods with valuable nutritive content (as opposed to Twinkies), what do you replace it with to get complete nutrition?
- What are your attitudes to people who are more restrictive in their diets than you are? Less restrictive?
- What is the timeline of your dietary restrictions? (Transitions, lapses, increases or decreases in restrictiveness, etc.)
- If you have not avoided these foods for your entire life, how much did you enjoy them when you ate them, and do you still sometimes want to eat them?
- Is there anything else about your choice of diet that might be relevant or interesting?
isn't it funny how often we vegetarians get asked this question? i have a hard time even answering people anymore b/c i am bored of my own story. my standard answer is that i am just about as laid-back-a vegetarian as can be - ovo/lacto/pesca, whatever. lard in the refried beans, chicken stock in the rice, etc, when served to me in a restaurant or at someone's house is totally acceptable, although i'd rather not know about it and when presented with vegetarian options instead, i'll take it/them. my vegetarianism started when a peta representative spoke to my sociology class at the university of texas (modern protest movements) and made the environmental/food efficiency argument, which made a lot of sense to me, so i decided to cut back on meat. after a couple of months i found myself eating no meat at all...then one day on the way to work, i saw a possum smashed on the side of the road and its flesh splayed out just like the way meat looks at the store. my stomach turned, and from then on i decided that i didn't want that nasty stuff in my mouth. and chickens are ugly and dirty and stuff. however, i know i'm not going to die or get sick if some meat or meat products become a part of my meal, which i why i'm laid-back about it. i also know i'm not going to change anyone else's mind about this since it's mostly an emotional thing for me now. it's less like i "love animals" and more like i think animals are dirty and you shouldn't eat them. it's like eating a scab or something. i think picky eaters are annoying...also annoying are people who think that i have no idea about alternative sources of protein. i'm very irritated by people who get excited and think that i am picky and need a "special' plate or dish at a party. worst case, i skip a meal, no big deal, although i've never had to do that, even when going to a barbeque joint. they have beans and potato salad, or i can fashion a tomato sandwich or something. finally, although i know it's crazy, i have this idea in my head that eating meat is for boys and is therefore un-lady-like. overall, i just think meat is gross like some people think broccoli is gross. it's dead flesh. i also don't think that other animals should eat meat, like squirrels or raccoons or birds. that is also gross. if i had a hankerin' for a beef burger, i would totally just go for it...but i don't see that happening. lakshmi's carl'sjr ad is really gross.