I am a vegetarian… have been all my life. My parents took it up in the health crazed seventies and raised their children accordingly. My Dad used to be one of those wacko vegetarians…always lecturing people on why they should give up meat etc…he no longer lectures other people…he now lectures me on why I should eat a little meat for my health… I in turn have never ever and never will lecture anyone on their dietary choices. I hardly ever mention that I am a vegetarian…it fact I really try and keep it quiet…. Only my family and closest friends know. As a person in my early twenties I find that people my age and younger accept my vegetarianism without a second thought… anyone older feel the need to interrogate me in detail about my diet and then defend their own right to eat meat….when I never said anything about it. I also wear leather and I point it out that I’m not such a perfect vegetarian… but I have been known to point out that leather is a bi-product of meat….. And when they quit killing cattle for meat there will be no more leather and I will cease to wear it. Since that is highly unlikely I use leather to my little hearts content. I can’t believe how so many people can feel so threatened by a pretty, healthy, and very polite vegetarian.

Plants are alive.

A morality based on diet never holds up because there is no legitimate place to draw the line.

Many folks refuse to contribute to the slaughter of mammals, and happily eat seafood every day.

Presumably because they hate fish? More likely, the draw the line at animals that have faces on which one could project human feelings and emotions.

The pinnacle of morality of course leaves the whole Animal Kingdom alone, sparing our brothers the birds and fish and worms - but how do you presume to know those soybeans don't ache and hurt when you rip them apart? How about the yeast in your bread?

We make these dietary distinctions to make ourselves feel better, plain and simple. Until yo become a "breatharian," or learn to eat dust, your life cycle is attached to the death of living things.

...that a shrill vegetarian would give us a recipe. You may be in denial, Ms. Parker, but vegetarians are so much more "eat this, eat that" and "how could you?" than your average omnivore. Vegetarians are their own bad PR. Take, for instance, you.

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.

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.

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.

- 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!