Vegetarianism is much easier to explain & understand when it is described as "a socially acceptable eating disorder." This article clearly supports this.

"Vegetarianism" is an eating disorder. I feel this strongly, now, because this is how I justified it to myself and others when I was 15 and decided to stop eating real, nutritious food. I would just eat crackers, raisins, or rice cakes in lieu of food and I called myself "vegetarian." It was simply an easy way for me to severely limit the amount of FAT I'd consume to almost nothing. Thus, I was able to avoid eating almost all the things people around me ate. This is the way I controlled myself and the people around me. Also the way I isolated myself, and eventually hurt myself deeply. In college, I had a boyfriend who was a full-on Vegan, and thus my choices were further limited. For him, it was also a control issue. This kind of diet was pretty ruinous to both my physical and mental health. After I left him, it took me years and years to recover and learn to cook and eat healthy, balanced meals. I learned that the WORST possible diet for my body was a diet based in carbohydrates and no fat. In fact, once I started to include oils, meats, and milk in my diet, I basically lost the 10 llbs that dogged me all those years (and I tortured myself to lose) and they never came back. Today I am happy to say that I am a born-again Omnivore. I eat everything, enjoy food, and am a healthy fit natural Size 4. I am 7 months pregnant with a baby girl, and I am determined to do everything I can to ensure that she never does this to herself. In my family, no proper meals were served, not even dinner, and no one cared what or how I ate as long as I wasn't "fat." I see now how damaging this is, and I am super-sensitive to signs of it all around me. I was appalled to observe it recently when we visited my husband's family. I saw what I call "non-eating competitions" between his stepmother and 15-year old half-sister. I was deeply disturbed by the fact that they both ate NOTHING but a small piece of toast ALL DAY, until a small, late dinner. His stepmother is a gym teacher who weighs all of 102 llbs, and his half-sister -- guess what? -- has just announced that she is "A VEGETARIAN." She DOES NOT EAT. They ENABLE/ENCOURAGE this behavior on her part by letting her eat a plate of plain rice or plain pasta at dinner. NO PROTEIN! She is pasty, her skin is bad, she has no energy, can't sleep at night, has ADHD and is Depressed. Okay, I went on a bit here, but to bring it back on topic, I see almost every non-medically-necessary dietary limitation -- like Vegetarianism, Raw-Food-ism, Macrobiotic, Atkins -- as a way for people to avoid/rigidly control food intake, and that is -- uhh, not good.

- since I'm made of it...

But, having said that, I would prefer that the animals are raised and slaughtered humanely. Yes, I'll pay extra for it. I'd prefer that, if we start making vat-grown meats, we don't drive the chickens and cows to extinction 'cause we don't need them anymore. Yeah, I'll pay a little bit for that, too.

You can't argue with the simple fact that it is much more efficient to grow vegetable crops than to grow animals, for the most part.

And I loved the fact that the reviewer pointed out how a lot of people like to show how tough they are by fucking with the vegetarians. Sometimes I actually pretend to be vegan when someone starts that, just to get up in their grill and all that. Fun, fun, fun!

I'm sure somebody already asked this, but if we're growing vat-meat, are we gonna grow human meat for human consumption? Start a chain of Long Pig restaraunts (which is from TRANSMETROPOLITAN). Eerie!

Give me a recipe that makes tofu taste not-awful.

Here you go:

Penne with Tofu Vodka Sauce

2 cups dry penne

1 large can chopped/diced tomatoes

Basil (to taste)

Salt

Pepper

Oregano

Chili pepper flakes (small amount, also to taste)

1/2 block of medium to firm tofu

1/4 of a large white onion, chopped finely

2 tbsp Extra-virgin olive oil

1/4 cup vodka

3 medium cloves garlic, minced

Concentrated tomato paste (2 tbsp, give or take)

Boil water for pasta; add pasta when water reaches a rolling boil.

Coat a large saucepan with olive oil

Saute garlic until fragrant, then add chopped onions and red pepper flakes

With the flat of a large knife, smash and chop tofu into small fluffy pieces. It will look rather like ricotta.

When the onions begin to turn transparent, add tofu to the saucepan and stir frequently until it begins to firm up and brown, about 5 minutes.

Add tomato paste and chopped tomatoes. Stir frequently until tomatoes have softened significantly and sauce takes on that familiar thicker texture

Add basil and oregano. Salt and pepper can be added at this point as well.

Stir in vodka and simmer on low heat for 15-20 minutes, then toss with pasta and extra bit of olive oil.

Dude, just 'cause you personally were a fucked-up kid who called herself vegetarian doesn't mean all vegetarians have an eating disorder.

For me, eating meat would be the disorder, as meat proteins make me quite ill.

I don't use vegetarianism to "control people around me"--that's something someone with a MENTAL HEALTH ISSUE does, whether he or she uses food, sex, tantrums, alcohol, drugs, starvation, cutting, or fistfighting as a tool of choice.

Sorry for all the crap you went through, but don't tar everyone with that same brush. Ain't fair shakes.

This article (and the few letters that I read) omit two important facts about this debate.

First, humans evolved to be omnivores. We require a balanced and diverse diet to be healthy. Now it's true that technology has been developed to make it easier to restrict your diet and still be healthy, but at a cost in money, time, and convenience.

Second, the argument that all living things have a soul and deserve to live is so hippy-dippy. Who's to say that the grilled salmon on my plate was more deserving of a life than the garlic that I season it with? Or the bacteria that I killed when I grilled it? Or the insects that died when I deprived them of their asperagus so that I could eat it? Puh-lease.