Survey: 30% of meat eaters won't date a vegetarian

MSNBC ^ | 07/07/2012 | Linnea Covington

[SeekAndFind]

Is it a dealbreaker if your partner skips the bacon in favor of tofu? For some meat eaters, that’s exactly the case. The recent Love Bites survey of 4,000 singles conducted by TODAY.com and Match.com found that nearly 30 percent of meat eaters say they would not date a vegetarian or vegan.

Writer and omnivore J. Federer told TODAY.com that while he agrees couples should have interests outside the relationship, food is one thing that should be shared. “Food is social, and the dinner table is where a couple gets back together after a day of work or play,” he wrote in an email. “This is where the relationship happens. The ability to provide and share food is part of romance, and I just can't date a person who does not share those moments of life with me.”

Blame it on biology, says Dr. Helen Fisher, a biological anthropologist and Match.com’s chief scientific adviser. She explains that sharing food is integral to courtship throughout the animal kingdom.

“It’s so common in the animal world to give food for sex that it’s called the nuptial gift,” Fisher explained. “Mankind’s first luxury was meat, and when carnivores share food – what they are sharing is this luxury. It’s more than just cultural, it’s instinctual.”

Federer tried but couldn’t get past the distaste for dating a vegetarian. He had a two-year relationship with a vegetarian and another with a vegan, but said he always felt judged when they would sit down to eat.

“She kept talking about the carbon footprint of a pound of meat and the impact of fishing on the oceans,” he said.

[Slings and Arrows]

Mmmmm, murder.

[a fool in paradise]

I have nothing against a woman who is a vegetarian, as long as she knows how to cook my steak just right

You should measure that steak before and after grilling then.

In Austin, there are a number of vegetarians who will admit to eating barbecue on occasion because of the tempting smell that substitutes just can't match. There are also "freegans" who will succumb to eating meat on occasion if it is free.

[a fool in paradise]

We went thru the same thing as your friend with our then-7 year old deciding to become vegetarian.

Have to wonder where kids get these notions of "becoming a vegetarian".

Is it in health class when they discuss nutrition and Bill Clinton's grain heavy food pyramid?

Is it in the cafeteria when they eat at a lunch table with other vegetarians who share their belief system with their classmates?

Is it the media?

It can be the beginning of a walk down a path to liberal secular humanist indoctrination.

[a fool in paradise]

Some vegans will even reject eating honey because it “exploits” the bees.

Never mind that there are health benefits to eating locally harvested honey (because of the local pollens).

[PA Engineer]

Real allergies have histamine reactions.

Very true. Found out the hard way about "food" or in particular iodine allergies. Had always kept Kosher, but was not particularly careful about how food was prepared in restaurants. I was at a professional meeting with my wife and appetizers were served that had been prepared with crab. Ouch.

My wife took one look at me and had me dose up with Benadryl and Prilosec. Haven't gone the Epi route yet, but was tested and warned about future reactions.

I am disgusted with all the nonsense food warnings because of the lack of real allergy food cautions. It is just like anything the government gets involved in. Fubar.

[pops88]

Yumm. My 17 year old likes hers pretty much bloody. She grew up in NZ on grass fed beef when filet mignon was roughly $3.50 USD. I pretty much just sear her steaks. LOL. I have no worries of her turning Vegan.

[presently no screen name]

she began shrieking and gagging and asking loudly “How can you EAT that!”.

LOL! Now we KNOW the steak was good, they convince themselves it is bad to eat and to their own detriment. They have to change their mind but when you believe something is true (though brainwashing), I think only by sickness will they start to investigate on their own or maybe they won't.

But why waste a life waiting and hoping they come to their senses and living with their obsession and drama. One can put up with it, occasionally, but not as a chosen lifestyle.

[EDINVA]

oh, I’d say they definitely learn this stuff in health class, taught by a young, equally naive teacher who are repulsed by slaughtering animals for human consumption. It’s no coincidence so many young kids at roughly the same age end up with the same idea of going vegetarian/vegan. Or that so many, just a few years later, are supporters of gay rights because everyone should be able to love whomever they want. It’s in the curriculum, with the teachers’ biases emphasizing what they want to emphasize.

[Silentgypsy]

One of the FReepers posted a feral-hog ham recipe and said that regular hog ham tasted funny to him. More people have said that feral hog meat doesn’t taste good. How do you treat it? Seems like a shame to waste an abundant resource when people could use it.

[JRandomFreeper]

If you are skinning one, have 2 buckets of water, one with soap in it.

The rule is: THE HAND THAT TOUCHES THE HIDE DOES NOT TOUCH THE FLESH. Most of the off taste comes from contaminating the meat with the nasty stuff on the outside.

Personally, I use straw, propane torch and scrape to keep the skin on.

Modern processing of commercial pigs uses a scalding bath to loosen the hair, last I heard, but I'm not boiling that much water. The straw method works for me.

/johnny

[GGpaX4DumpedTea]

I like my steaks rare, and I also enjoy steak tartare! for my occasional excursions into seafood, good sushi is hard to beat! And my preference is for a partner who eats a healthy, balanced diet...veganism is generally not healthy...as for those ‘vegans’ who live to a ripe old age, it’s probably just that it seems so long...my what a boring existance!

And btw, soybeans are not healthy...pure poison...and don’t give me the crap that they eat all that soy in the Far East...theirs is fermented soy, in moderation. Fermented soy is the only soy that can be eaten with any safety, health-wise!

[Eaker]

The dog toys we buy are stuffed with, well stuffing.

Where can we find ones like that which are filled with meat?

;<)

[Eaker]

Those look great!

[wyokostur]

No worries here either. She introduced herself at Church as someone who kills and eats her own food. I was so proud!

The steaks were delicious by the way...when I asked her what else she wanted with the steaks...her reply was “silence” :-)

[autumnraine]

My best friend is a vegan too, but when she invites us over, she will buy some steaks and grill them out (she doesn’t like the smell of meat in the house, unless it’s turkey bacon-which she cooks for her meat eating husband) but she recognizes that others eat meat and her choice is a personal one.

That being said, her kids eat WAY more veggies than mine will. That’s not a bad thing. By being hungry, and not much choice and given the veggies from beginning, they are more prone to eat broccoli and peppers.

[Secret Agent Man]

God for you. What are their reactions to your meat choices?

[Silentgypsy]

Thank you for the helpful hints. I need to learn a lot more about this stuff.

[JRandomFreeper]

Best to find a local mentor that can show you, and guide you through the steps.

That's the only way I ever learned anything. God blessed me with natural teachers in my life.

/johnny

[Melas]

Eat chicken in a foreign country. Our husbandry techniques in America produce more pounds of meat per dollar, but tastes very different

[Altariel]

Poor animals.

Anyone who thinks dogs or cats are omnivores, much less vegetarians or vegans need serious lessons in canine (and feline) anatomy and physiology).

By the way, Odhinn’s coat looks fabulous.

:-)