Lack of Accommodations for Vegetarians

Nova

That does not make very much sense, but it is amusing.

Legionnaire

Speak for yourself. The only animal on that list I enjoy eating is pigs, and occasionally exceptionally well cooked cows.

Bacon <3

MadassAlex

Thus far, my attempts to humanely acquire meat have failed.

I must become a better swordsman.

Nova

RedEyedAbyss

It's also important to note that a major reason to cut down on meat consumption is because it takes far more resources to raise an animal on plants as opposed to eating the plants themselves, which means raising meat has a large negative environmental impact. Not sure if synthetic meat would get rid of that problem too, but somehow I doubt people will want to lose jobs to it.

Scrye2

^^^Or switch to a ranged weapon like a hunting bow or a gun.

MadassAlex

It doesn't count unless I run screaming into the open and call my attacks.

Scrye2

I don't think that counts hunting animals so much as being an anime character.

MadassAlex

If I'm determined enough, it'll work for sure.

Scrye2

Negative. You need to believe in the heart of the cards. Also friendship.

Waltzy

Some animals can and will eat us if they get the chance. I just see it as something natural.

LouieW

Abyss_Worm,
It's also important to note that a major reason to cut down on meat consumption is because it takes far more resources to raise an animal on plants as opposed to eating the plants themselves, which means raising meat has a large negative environmental impact. Not sure if synthetic meat would get rid of that problem too, but somehow I doubt people will want to lose jobs to it.

I have heard people advocating for vegetarianism using that kind of reasoning and I think you described it well. I think it is interesting given that it is kind of distanced from the so-called "ethical" reasons to be a vegetarian and is more objectively based.  Still, I suppose there are plenty of other behaviors that people could adopt to be more "environmentally friendly" that would also cause rather large inconveniences as well, so I can understand why that reason may not persuade everyone. 

Although I can understand why Forzare and many other IJBMers may not have heard that argument from vegetarians before since from what I can tell, many people start with the "ethical" arguments first. I probably am exposed to a disproportionate number of vegetarians as well, so perhaps my perspective is skewed a bit.

Gelzo,
I figure ideally there should be accommodations, but it depends on the situation. It might not be a good idea if the inclusion of a vegetarian dish means excluding one of two meat dishes, which could make a greater number of meat-eaters unhappy.

I guess my question would be why have two meat dishes if you know you are serving vegetarians? Obviously, maximizing people's happiness with that kind of thing makes sense, but I think the drop off in happiness caused by having one fewer meat dish is fairly low, especially since it is not as though offering a vegetarian option means that no one can eat meat.

I feel like it is similar to ordering pizza for a group of people. If one person really likes sausage pizza, but likes pepperoni as well and nearly everyone else enjoys pepperoni, but hates sausage, then I think that it is reasonable to order pepperoni. Likewise, if everyone likes cheese, most people really like pepperoni, and one person hates pepperoni, then I think it should be fine to get mostly pepperoni with one or two cheese pizzas.

I guess my belief here is that putting someone in a situation where he or she cannot really eat much of anything is to be avoided.

RedEyedAbyss

"I think it is interesting given that it is kind of distanced from the so-called "ethical" reasons to be a vegetarian and is more objectively based."

In fact, it's the only vegetarian argument that ever convinced me.

Scrye2

Cutting down on meat products could cause some people within those industries to lose their jobs. It's only ethical to continue to eat meat.

Gelzo

^^^Well, I was picturing something more along the lines of there being a group of 41 people and for some reason they can only order a bunch of pizzas of two out of three kinds; cheese, pepperoni, and sausage. 20 want sausage and would hate to eat anything else, 20 want pepperoni and would hate to eat anything else, and the last is a vegetarian. It makes more people happy in that situation to just let the vegetarian deal with it.

It's an extreme example, but situations like it are certainly at least possible, which is why I said it depends on the situation.

LouieW

Gelzo,

I agree about that being an extreme example and maybe your approach to it is the right one. I am not sure what I would do if I was in that situation either. I might try to buy an extra pizza for the one who likes cheese or something.

In any event, I feel like most of the time offering a vegetarian option is reasonable and not that costly. I guess one of the main reasons why not having one bugs me is because it makes assumptions about people that are not totally fair. Plus, I think it can tend to single out people who just want to seem like part of the group and do not want to seem like they have "special needs."

Gelzo

Well being okay with eating meat is generally considered the norm, and I guess it's then understandable- if not necessarily acceptable- that it doesn't occur to some people. 

captainbrass

I used to work in an office where about one-third of the staff were of Indian origin,and a lot of those were Hindus and thus vegetarian. Basically, if you wanted to do anything that involved eating, you had to offer decent vegetarian options or you'd get a very thin turnout.

Gelzo

Huh, I thought Hindus just didn't eat beef.

captainbrass

Yeah, so did I until I worked at this office. However, many (but not all) are actually vegetarian. Apparently the British Indian community is fairly conservative and in India itself it's increasingly fashionable to eat meat - if you can afford it.