Gosh! Often it is in the exchange of recipes whereupon folks learn about (and discover appreciation for) other cultures.

Remember Jeff Smith-Frugal Gourmet?  That was his thing-learning about other cultures via eating the foods and learning the recipes behind them.

Irene.

Aug 22, 2011 -- 10:19AM, IreneAdler wrote:

Gosh! Often it is in the exchange of recipes whereupon folks learn about (and discover appreciation for) other cultures.

Remember Jeff Smith-Frugal Gourmet?  That was his thing-learning about other cultures via eating the foods and learning the recipes behind them.

Irene.

I luved the Frugal Gourmet and own a couple of his books; one is COOKING WITH WINE.

Ladies,

I dont think any of us are very far apart on this subject.  I think sometimes we trigger other people unnecesarily or sometimes we are triggered unnecesarily.  That is the only way I can explain the last several posts. 

On the related topic,

What do you guys think of the data I learned where 60% of self-described vegetarians ate meat in the last 24 hours of being asked when the last time they ate meat?  Wild I think

That is from Hal Herzog's book, Some we love, some we hate and some we eat

I agree with Solf that vegetarians who eat meat now and then haven't yet committed fully to a completely vegetarian diet. (I used to hit MickeyD's once every three months or so and joke with myself that it was vegetarian by waving my hand over my Quarter Pounder with Cheese and chanting, "You are a vegetable...you are a vegetable.")

One vegetarian I discussed this with once said she felt that eating meat occasionally is more common among those who transition by eating fish now and then but have given up eating meats and poultry. She felt, and I agree based on my own four or so years as a vegetarian, that going cold turkey, so to speak, makes some less likely to slip but others more so. Difficult to say due to individual variations.

Personally, I did better as a vegetarian when I avoided meat substitutes, so I think there's some merit to believing that not using those is best. Most of them taste pretty nasty while a person is transitioning and still has strong memories of what various meats taste like. I found that using meat substitutes to any extent only made me long for the real thing more.

I further agree with Solf that committing to vegetarianism with no lapses involves forming a new habit pattern. If a person succeeds, they often find that meat no longer appeals and the very idea of eating it is offputting. That did happen to me once I left off trying to magically transform cheeseburgers. ;-)

I bet a survey of raw food vegans would show an even higher percentage who report having eaten "poisonous" cooked food in the past 24 hours.

There's a group of people where you'll find some very scary extremists.

I know, because I became obsessive about raw foodism frighteningly quickly myself, and once I regained some measure of rationality, I was horrified at how they can rip to shreds someone who admits they've lapsed and eaten cooked food.