Should a catholic be vegatarian nowdays?

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FireRaptor

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Hello everyone.

The purpose of this question is to ask you whether a catholic should be a vegetarian or not, because I recently had a conversation with some vegan and vegetarian people, some of them were catholic as well, and the made me think about some facts. (Some even say, “you should be forced to be a vegan”)

Since the sacred scriptured record Jesus eating both fish and lamb (in Passover), we all know that he wasn’t definetely a vegetarian (altough there are may people claimming the opposite), and also in books like Leviticus and Deuteronomy we can find out which animals were people allowed to eat and which not . However, those people made me think about factory farming and how it kill and torture animals and destroy the envinroment.

My question is, should a catholic keep eating meat even if they know about the threatment to animals by factory farms and its ecological impact?, isn’t that unethical?, what would Jesus do in such a case?, what is the position of the church?.

Thanks for your attention.
God bless!
 
I could be wrong, but I don’t think there is anything wrong with eating meat. I believe that in the Gospel, Jesus abolished the Old Testament’s food rules, and said that there was no such thing as unclean food.

I don’t know what Jesus would say about factory farms, but in Genesis, I think God gave Man the ability to farm animals.
 
Why not find a happy middle ground and eat meat that has been treated ethically? It’s more expensive, but there are meat producers that do this. Perhaps you even live in an area where you could raise your own. In my area, many people have chickens and goats. There are nearby communities that raise cattle and pork.

Also, hunting can be ethical. Wild animals are free range, antibiotic and hormone free, and if the hunter is proficient with their gun and the kill is clean, I see nothing wrong with it.
 
Greetings Fire…,
I have no idea what the catholic church teaches. But here are my 2 cents and story. I’ve been practicing yoga for almost a decade now and vegetarianism and veganism sometimes get a big push. After several years of listening and learning these are the conclusions I’ve come to for me.
We have canine teeth, for what reason? Maybe for eating ants and grasshoppers, certainly they aren’t large or sharp enough to rip flesh away from bones like lions, etc. but they are still canine. Our human intestinal tract is that of an omnivore not a carnivore nor an herbivore(vegan). Yes there are factory farms and they are horrible so I try to keep my animal consumption to a minimum or at least what I call a minimum. I’ll have a couple of eggs each week. I do this to keep my iron level adequate to donate blood. We can get iron from veggies too but it is easier to get it from animal products/flesh. I have cheese and milk several times a week. The animals that this cheese and milk come from will eventually be slaughtered and the flesh sold. Other than that I’ll have a small fish when I am able to catch one. I just started fishing this year for the first time in decades. I only eat what I catch so this doesn’t aid to the mass fishing or farmed fish industry.
Those that say we should be forced to be vegan are simply radicals that wish us to go against nature, canine teeth, omnivore intestinal tract, etc…
I have found however that my health has improved and energy is better since becoming primarily vegetarian-keyword being primarily. It is a healthier way to eat. Hoped this has been helpful-do some research and make your own informed decision. Eating less flesh is better for the animals that are in huge factory farms and better for the environment as you’ve probably already learned but from what I gather we are omnivores not herbivores. Be well.
 
From this link:

…So, with the example above of 50 bushels of corn fed to a finished animal, now 4.67 pounds of corn were required for each 1 pound of beef…

Personally, I’d rather eat a pound of beef than 4.67 pounds of corn 😃
 
Erich said:
From this link:

…So, with the example above of 50 bushels of corn fed to a finished animal, now 4.67 pounds of corn were required for each 1 pound of beef…

Personally, I’d rather eat a pound of beef than 4.67 pounds of corn 😃
Click to expand...
LOL!

Seriously, the fact that Christ ate meat and fish, and whatever He did cannot be wrong, is enough. Full stop!

ICXC NIKA
 
I buy strictly pasture grass fed beef. I just started buying eggs - I buy FREE RANGE eggs. I don’t buy factory farm meat.

There family run farms that are humane. Not every farm is factory farm / feed lot.
 
Eating meat is fine , however you can be vegetarian , it’s up to each believer
 
Eating meat is fine, except Our Lord forbade dog & cat & horse meat, because they are cute. As for pigs, chickens, cows, and deer, to the butcher with thee.
 
It is possible in the future, if/when we switch over to consuming animal proteins grown artificially rather than through livestock, it will become highly imprudent and socially divisive to consume animals, although it will never be immoral in the absolute sense. This is impossible because Our Lord ate meat and unbroken Sacred Tradition and Scripture give no hint whatsoever of condemning this.
 
I would no sooner eat the meat of a bovine than I would a dog or cat. What is the diference really? And eggs always did gross me out…its amniotic fluid! Plus now days almost every health organization recommends less red meat even though to dairy and meat industry work hard to undermine confidemce in the science. There was a time in my younger days when I thought I wanted to be a Trappist. They do not eat meat and that got me started on the vegetaran path. The prophet Daniel also inspied me.

So I think it is a stewardship issue, of the planet and of the body as well as compassion for the animals.

Blessings and Happy Thankgiving (yes we can enjoy it without turkey).
 
It is really up to each individual. All sides have had their say here, so I really don’t have much to add. Only to say that make the best choice for your lifestyle, and your conscience. Don’t let someone push you into their “camp.” If you’d like, check at the library for vegetarian and vegan cookbooks. This way you can try some and see how you like it.
 
I think that Jesus and the Holy family ate simply.

There is a big push to be vegan these days and I do not understand why these vegans do not also ALWAYS say, “If you eat meat, you should do it ethically, and not eat tortured animals who led sad lives.” Instead of just: “You should be vegan”.

I do not agree that most recommend vegetarian diets now. My Naturapath says no to veganism. Meat is a staple in his recommended paleo-like diet. Its the sugar and flour and wheat and grains he recommends cutting out as completely as possible. Basically he recommends primarily veggies, meat (fish or chicken and eggs) fruit. No protein and starch in the same meal. No veggies and fruit in the same meal.

So I constantly strive to follow this and I feel so much better and my experience tells me this is the way to go if I want to maintain good energy all day, day in and out. And if I gain a few pounds its always because of carbs! Doing without them is the remedy.

Of course the vegans have similar praise for their diet, as do testimonies from every other diet. So you just need to research it and decide for yourself. Don’t read only vegan literature.

I am not always careful about eating meat from happy animals, only because we are busy with many things and have to draw the line somewhere. But we do have a plan to get a full-size freezer for the basement, and when we do, we will be buying half a cow from a local “happy cow” farm; also other animals, with the goal of all our meat being from only eating humanely raised animals, Lord willing…

Look at the animals on these farms: bluehillfarm.com/know-thy-farmer Don’t they look happy? There are happy animals on farms near you, too. Or in the country outside of your city.

Recently we watched a good show on Netflix by a farmer, Dan Barber, that was really eye-opening for me. If you want to have healthy veggies on your farm, you need to keep livestock so you have some good manure for those veggie fields. Only then will you get really good, really healthy veggies! Which you especially really need if you are not eating meat. Well then, if you don’t eat the livestock, what do you DO with all those animals you needed to raise in order to grow the GOOD healthy veggies? :confused:

So even though that show is not about the vegan/vegetarian question, it got me thinking about it, probably since my husband’s son is a vegetarian… and it sure is an added complication to plan family meals when you have a regular vegetarian or two at the table, and you want them to enjoy the meal, too…

I found the video on youtube for you here, youtube.com/watch?v=tqGZKiOLsU8. I think you will find it interesting. Its not about the veganism question; its just about growing healthy food, and about wise, sustainable, responsible farming practices, and that includes a variety of livestock - happy animals who live good lives. Like certainly Jesus would have taken care of HIS farm, if He grown up on a farm. 🙂 And its the kind of farming practices that make for one very, very beautiful farm, too, which you can see from the pictures, so pleasing, which makes it all seem right.
 
Why no protein and starch in the same meal? If one is eating whole foods it is unavoidable.

Certainly simple sugars, and processed flours need to go.

Happy cows until they are n the slaughter line. My feeling is that if I am unwilling to kill it, I shouldn’t eat it.

The big problem is that we eat without awareness of what we are eating, where it came from, and what all was involved.

But now since my stent and realization that I have coronary disease I am reading guys like Esselstyn, Campbell ans Ornish. I am more commited.
 
We do eat only eggs from pasture-raised “happy hens”, from a local farm, and these are not hard for most people to get - at a nearby farm, at a farm market, or even the grocery store. Its much more ethical, and much more healthy. Also, we started again on only raw milk, having found a nearby farm for it, using this locator. (Links on same page for “why raw milk”).
 
Michael_Mayo said:
Why no protein and starch in the same meal? If one is eating whole foods it is unavoidable.

Certainly simple sugars, and processed flours need to go.

Happy cows until they are n the slaughter line. My feeling is that if I am unwilling to kill it, I shouldn’t eat it.

The big problem is that we eat without awareness of what we are eating, where it came from, and what all was involved.

But now since my stent and realization that I have coronary disease I am reading guys like Esselstyn, Campbell ans Ornish. I am more commited.
Click to expand...
Well, I am not trying to sell my dietary choice. But to answer your question, my naturapath explains that digestion begins with the sight, smell and thought of the food we are to eat, and that the saliva and digestive fluids are ready when the meal begins. He explains that protein and starch require opposite solutions for fermentation. So, eating them at the same time causes “opposing solutions to mix and neutralize stopping the digestive process”, which he says causes buildup of methane and other harmful toxins.

I don’t know about methane but I know when I eat his way I don’t have any gas problem of any kind at all. :o

He says the same with fruits and vegetables - they require different digestive solutions for fermentation.

So this is basically the way to get the full nutritional value out of your food, and energy - because your body won’t be working at cross-purposes. So it seems to me. Also, I think that if one had severe digestive problems and was did not want to go on drugs to solve it, fearing the side effect, then this woudl be a no cost thing to try for a week or two, IMO, before any drugs.

Oh, and just Google “protein and starch in the same meal” and there are plenty who explain it. Some who pooh-pooh it. You have to read for yourself and decide.

As to being unwilling to kill the animals you might eat, I suppose. But I would rather pay to have someone kill it for me. I mean, we are all rather interdependent. I mean, do you not use a toilet you do not intend to clean yourself? Do you not create garbage if you are not maintaining your own landfill for it, or, so you do not create garbage if you don’t drive it yourself to a dump that you have researched to be the most ethically-maintained dump around? Do you not drive a car unless you drilled your own gasoline for it? etc. etc. Where do you draw the line?

My ex used to hunt and I got pretty good at using venison in every way. Two - four deer a year. It felt good to do that because those deer had a good, natural life, living how God intended them to, and in most every case, it was a good clean kill with little to no panic or suffering.
 
Erich said:
From this link:

…So, with the example above of 50 bushels of corn fed to a finished animal, now 4.67 pounds of corn were required for each 1 pound of beef…

Personally, I’d rather eat a pound of beef than 4.67 pounds of corn 😃
Click to expand...
LOL.

On a serious note, corn is not natural food for cows, grass is.

They feed cows corn at the feed lots to fatten them up for slaughter quickly.

Farmers who raise beef for themselves, let them graze in the pastures before slaughter.

Jim
 
Vegans require vitamin B-12 supplements. Vitamin B12 comes from animal products like dairy. If you develop B12 deficiency, its difficult to over come.

Myself, I thought of going vegetarian many times, but my wife can not eat tofu(which is a process food anyway), because of a thyroid problem and she has to limit cheese. So, the only vegetarian recipes that look attractive for my French pallet, have cheese in them.

As a result, I have not become a vegetarian. 🙂

Jim
 
Eliza10 said:
Oh, and just Google “protein and starch in the same meal” and there are plenty who explain it. Some who pooh-pooh it. You have to read for yourself and decide.
Click to expand...
Yes, in the entire nutrition field one would think we could find consensus on the science but that is hardly the case even when it comes to saturated fat and cholesterol.
Eliza10 said:
As to being unwilling to kill the animals you might eat, I suppose. But I would rather pay to have someone kill it for me. I mean, we are all rather interdependent. I mean, do you not use a toilet you do not intend to clean yourself? Do you not create garbage if you are not maintaining your own landfill for it, or, so you do not create garbage if you don’t drive it yourself to a dump that you have researched to be the most ethically-maintained dump around? Do you not drive a car unless you drilled your own gasoline for it? etc. etc. Where do you draw the line?
Click to expand...
I draw the line at what I would be willing to do if practical. Yes, I clean my own toilet unless in a public place, I don’t have my own landfill of course but I do compost. Drilling for my own oil in my backyard is absurd since it needs to be processed as well. But I do not have a problem doing those things if they were practical.
 
Eliza10 said:
Recently we watched a good show on Netflix by a farmer, Dan Barber, that was really eye-opening for me. If you want to have healthy veggies on your farm, you need to keep livestock so you have some good manure for those veggie fields.
Click to expand...
I’m aware that honey, for instance, will taste different depending on what type of flower the bees have been visiting. I’ve also read that the meat of an animal that is killed humanely and with care and respect, will taste different than that of the same type of animal that dies in fear and panic.

So, if you want to have healthy veggies, you need to not induce fear and panic:
 
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