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I actually eat fish, but I just answered vegetarian.

I get free range chicken & eggs and red meat from animals that haven't been fed other animals. They're tastier that way anyhow. It's hard to get humanely raised pork, though. Any suggestions?

I eat animal mineral vegetable but always buy organic.

My vote is of the vegetarian persuasion, but it's because I am a complete coward when it comes to handling poultry, meat, etc. I wish I could just prepare a whole chicken for roasting like it's no big deal, but even a boneless skinless chicken breast gives me the willies.

I will probably just become a vegetarian, but I have a hard time resisting my family's signature recipes (highly addictive puerto rican cuisine).

interesting.
I have long thought that how/what one eats is a reflection of the kind of person you are. Eating habits often reflect a person's control issues/self-awareness. As in, the more things you elimate or control in your diet, the more control issues you have.

Me, I have to say that I don't agree with your theory, though I think that, as a theory, it makes sense. (Just not in actual practice, unless we are talking very extreme cases.) I only eat fish, but everyone who knows me would say that I basically have no control issues. For me, it boils down to the fact that I get very grossed out by meat. I also feel that not eating meat is a more environmentally sound practice (although as I said, I do eat fish, and I realize that has an effect, too.)

I do agree with your theory insofar as it's quite common for former addicts/alcoholics to have huge food issues, so in a way, it's kind of a substitute. However, some of these people find religion instead, or some other substitute--and some manage to need no substitute, so it's difficult to generalize.

me, I think you're right, but isn't everything in this life a control issue? And I don't mean that in a negative way, it's just a fact of life.

I became a vegetarian at 13 because I'd always thought meat was icky and I finally felt old enough to rebel. You could say that was "self-awareness", but I don't consider it a control issue along the lines of an eating disorder. I've never been on a weight-loss diet, other than being a vegetarian. I imagine that most vegetarians consider it a moral choice or have adopted it for health reasons. There might be a few anorexics out there who are vegetarian to control what they eat, but I imagine that percentage-wise, there are an equal number of people who have anorexia athletica at your local gym...

Regarding me's observations about control issues and eating, I agree that what one consumes may have a lot to do with what one is consumed with, particularly with regards to restrictions, obsessions, etc.

The weird thing is, I don't restrict what I actually eat, I just restrict what I cook. Growing up, I was used to seeing meat and poultry wrapped in plastic and completely divorced from associations with a formerly living animal. Beef or chicken was just something my mother made for dinner. Only after I spent a semester abroad in Florence, and visited the central market with its hanging animal carcasses and butcher stalls, did I really think about the reality of my animal-derived meals--my repulsion upon seeing an animal carcass could really not be divorced from the further preparations of the carcass for my dinner plate, plastic wrap or no plastic wrap.

I'm glad that this is my only consumption-related dillemma, as opposed to serious afflictions like anorexia, alcoholism, and addiction, but I very much agree with Patrick's sentiment about everything in this life being a control issue. It seems that the appropriate moderation of consumption is often a topic of interest on AT, just because we have so damned much available to consume, caloric and otherwise.

I answered everything but, I wouldn't touch your typical, hormoned, antibiotic-ed, all-breasted supermarket chicken for anything. Same goes for most innappropriately raised animals. I'm pretty scrupulous about buying organic vegetables too. Ang, if you're still interested, I would try Union Square Farmer's Market for pork, if you haven't already. I think pigs are naturally omnivorous, though, that doesn't mean it's not worth while to seek out ones that have been raised in a more responsible way.

Sorry, did my prissy-ness kill this thread already? I'm not usually so preachy, I don't know what came over me.

can't you just turn me's control issue generalization around to say that the people who manage what they eat are not necessarily bothered by 'issues' so much as more capable of controlling their consumption?

sg--
Nothing a nice pork chop wouldn't fix. ;)

This thread seems long done with but for what it's worth I totally agree with you, me. Having rigid rules to your diet is a nice way for people to feel in control. Hijiki, I think there is a difference between someone who watches what they eat and someone who won't have a bite of a cookie (or steak) their grandmother has made for them. However, I think their may be some caveats. I mean, this rule wouldn't apply to a practicing Hindu (obviously).

I avoid migraine triggers like cheese and chocolate, and beef because I don't trust it to be spongiform-free with a cowboy in the White House.

I mostly cook vegetarian at home except for bacon/pancetta, and a bit of ground meat for this one amazing recipe that we like to call "crack pasta" because it is so good.

I think eating habits do have a psychological component, but mostly it's cultural and experiential that is evocative of people's past and stories associated with them, and is more important to me. Of course it is important to watch what you are putting into your body, especially when so many Americans don't. But I think being aware and caring about your body is a different issue than psychology driving your choices. Control is part of everything; it's when the psychology dominates that you have a problem. Otherwise I wouldn't read too much into it.

i classify myself as a vegetarian. i do not consume any dairy but indulge in fish on occasion. in the last 8 or so months i have
attempted at eating mainly macrobiotically and have found myself to feel the most healthy in my 29 years of life.