The Vegetarian Torture

[Evan]

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That doesn't make it in fact correct. If there is an evolutionary advantage to not eating it, explain the rise of Chinese civilization, where consumption of pork was introduced? The Chinese developed a far more advanced civilization far quicker than did the Middle East

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Hmm.... I wonder why an advanced civilization can eat a product that requires cooking whereas a less advanced one cant...

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You don't mess with the CMI.

[El Ishmael]

CMI,

Hasn't Canada found meat yet?

[Jack of Arcades]

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But quizzing people to see if their menu is good enough is rude and really puts them on the spot. WTF, they have to audition to invite you over?

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I see now, IMO, you're just taking this the wrong way. There are just some things I can't eat, and that's a fault of mine. I want to avoid a situation where I show up, there's something that 's being served that's something I really don't like and I end up being an ass.

[CallMeIshmael]

Its REALLY hard to search the internet for information on this stuff, because like "relgion evolution" searches are filled with religion vs evolution debates.

This is on wikipedia:

"Possible reasons for prohibition

There are several explanations for this.

Maimonides, the Jewish court physician to Muslim sultan Saladin in the twelfth century, agreed with other Muslims and Jews of his day by declaring that pork was an "unclean" meat because of pigs' dirty habits; when pigs cannot find water, which is often the case in the Middle East, they have to bathe in mud or their own feces. Maimonides therefore asserted that pork was an unhealthy and unwholesome meat to consume. He was the first to justify the taboo on secular rather than religious reasons.

Medical evidence supporting this early notion did not become available until 1859, when a clinical study found a connection between undercooked pork and trichinosis. This caused a period of unrest for some Jews, as some began to argue that pork was safe to eat so long as it was fully cooked. Orthodox Jews, however, were appalled at this and insisted that there was some other divine meaning behind kosher law. A third view is that the restriction is arbitrary, a way to test the faith.

The cultural materialistic anthropologist Marvin Harris thinks that the main reason was ecological-economical. Pigs require water and shade woods with seeds, but those conditions are scarce in Israel and Arabia. They cannot forage grass like ruminants. Instead, they compete with humans for expensive grain. Unlike many other forms of livestock, pigs are omnivorous scavengers, eating virtually anything they come across, including carrion and refuse. This was deemed unclean.

Hence a Middle Eastern society keeping large stocks of pigs would destroy their ecosystem. Harris points out how, while the Hebrews are also forbidden to eat camels and fish without scales, Arab nomads couldn't afford to starve in the desert while having camels around.

He also points to Albania where a cycle is established: Christians keep pigs and live in the oak woods, while Muslims keep goats and live in places that the foraging habits of goats keep unforested.

Some food psychologists point out the similarity between the Mosaic food laws as laid out in Leviticus and the natural 'disgust' reaction that all people generally show to unfamiliar meats (see the work of Paul Rozin). That suggests that the food taboos were a codification of existing practice rather than the imposition of a new rule, an attempt to give a religious explanation for an existing state of affairs in which the early Israelites did not eat pork etc. while other groups they knew did."



Its a meme (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meme#Me...ts_of_religion). People who believed pork was unholy were better off than those who didnt, in times when proper cooking techniques werent available.

[CallMeIshmael]

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CMI,

Hasn't Canada found meat yet?

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Its still frozen [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]

[El Ishmael]

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CMI,

Hasn't Canada found meat yet?

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Its still frozen [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]

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Venison imo.

[nolanfan34]

OP,

Simple solution for this in the future. I usually ask someone who invites us to dinner what we're going to be having, so I can bring an appropriate bottle of wine to share with the dinner, if possible.

While we primarily do that so we can be good guests (and because I like to drink), one bonus is the fact that you find out what you're having.

[QTip]

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OP,

Simple solution for this in the future. I usually ask someone who invites us to dinner what we're going to be having, so I can bring an appropriate bottle of wine to share with the dinner, if possible.

While we primarily do that so we can be good guests (and because I like to drink), one bonus is the fact that you find out what you're having.

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Nice. I like that idea.

I'm not sure why people here continue to assume that I didn't try the food. I said "2/3 left" and "tasted god-aweful".

[slamdunkpro]

What it boils down to is this. Omnivores are the standard in human society. All others; vegetarians, vegans, food allergies, religious dietary choices, personal dietary choices, whatever are the exception. Whether you are the host or the guest; if you are an exception it’s up to you to make the other party aware beforehand. This is common manners.

Additionally, you should respect a guest’s wishes when possible. My wife and I are omnivores, but if we invited Elaine and Ed to dinner (and if you’re ever in DC it’s an open invitation, I still owe Ed for that ride back to the Mirage) we would respect their choice and offer vegetarian fare. If the reverse was true, I’d inform my host as soon as possible after the invitation that I have a severe mushroom allergy; and would hope that they would respect me for that and not send me to the ER.

Something else that the OP said in his later posts is pertinent here. If you invite people over to dinner please don’t do food experiments on them unless you warn them ahead of time As a restaurateur of sorts, you wouldn’t believe the number of times we’ve gone to someone’s house for dinner and heard “Since you were coming I wanted to try something different….so tonight we’re having XXXXXX… I’ve never made it before but it looked interesting” . God, my stomach turns just typing that.

[jman220]

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Vegetarianism is NOT a culture. It's a dietary choice, no more, no less.

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I'm guessing you're not a vegetarian.

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While veganism may be a culture, vegetarianism isn't. I have family members who are "vegetarians." However, they certainly don't consider themselves part of a culture, they just don't eat meat.