What's for dinner?
 

I enjoy what Grungebob refers to as a "hot-topic throwdown" (and what I prefer to think about as an interesting and mutually-beneficial sharing of perspectives on controversial issues). I currently find myself embroiled in at least the second conversation I've had here about abortion, a topic that is not high on my list of important topics. So, it occurred to me that if I want to have that sort of interesting conversation including the diverse views of the community on a topic about which I care more deeply, then starting such a conversation was probably the way to go.

Asking what's for dinner might not immediately strike you as a hot-topic. But I think there are many issues around food that bear thinking about and discussing. I'd love for us to do so (while also understanding that posting first gives me no right to steer the conversation away from lolcats and pictures of David Hassselhoff if that's the way it heads).

Are you vegetarian? Why or why not? (And I think the burden is on those of us answering the "why not?" subquestion.) Vegan? Locavore: dreadful word but good idea? Organic: dreadful word (in this context) but good idea? Food stamps and food-access for the poor. International aid. Food policy and health impacts... There's plenty of, ahem, meat here.

Here's a topical link. Are you with Paul McCartney on meat-free Mondays?

It strikes me (though this may well be utterly wrong) that these questions are in many ways political without being party political. I take that as a promising sign for the conversation.

I'd also love to talk about the less controversial issues. What's your favourite recipe? Do you grow any of your own food, and how is that going? Even, what's for dinner?

I'll start by answering that, I suppose. We made a big pot of bean, salt pork and carrot casserole yesterday. I'll be having that again, on either toast or rice, along with whatever green stuff is going at the farmstand I pass on the way home.

How about you?

Re: What's for dinner?
 

Probably going to have hamburgers tonight....

But what I don't get with vegetarians is why are they so opposed to meat? They eat plants, and plants are living things also. If they are opposed to hurting things for their benefit, well, they'd starve if they were true to it.

Re: What's for dinner?
 

Would you eat a dog? Chimp? Human? Presumably you have a line somewhere between acceptable and unacceptable. How (and where) did you choose to draw it?

Re: What's for dinner?
 

I don't eat meat (but fish is OK) on Fridays. That's my only compunction.

I would eat pretty much anything else that's non-toxic, including dog, cat, rabbit, squirrel, horse, snake...I'm not too keen on pork and rarely eat it, but other than that I'm OK.

Tripe....that's one I won't eat again...nasty! Humans, they're off the menu unless no other food source is available...Pete..the other white meat!

Re: What's for dinner?
 

I am definitely what you would call an omnivore. I like my meat (beef, pork, mutton, chicken, turkey, fish-mostly seafood, I don't like most freshwater fish). I've eaten rabbit, quail, dove, venison, moose, snake and other 'non-traditional' meats. I also like fruits and veggies-I love a good salad. Grains may be my downfall-I love breads, potatoes, rice, et al.

As to what would I be willing to eat, where do I draw the line? I don't know how well I would be able to stomach eating dog/cat/horse/etc. This, I believe, comes more from cultural norms than anything.

Eating human is out of the question, I think, even if faced with starvation. I don't know for certain, as I have never been in that situation, but I don't think I ever could.

I have no moral compunctions against eating the flesh of animals, I do not feel it is amoral. I think the only thing I would have a moral issue with is the consumption of human flesh.
:2cents:

Re: What's for dinner?
 

I agree on the pork. I don't know why but I just have a lot of trouble eating it, especially don't like to try it at restaurants.

Re: What's for dinner?
 

Food is great! Its my one vice, probably why I'm overweight. Meat, veggies, fruit, bring it on! I really love fried food, again, probably why I'm overweight. It seems you can deepfry just about anything.

Chicken seems to be what I eat most. I really like seafood too. Samon being my fav fish, and of course, living in Baltimore, I love crabcakes. Chinese food too, man they have good food. Pizza, love it. Working at Domino's was the best, and worst, time in my life.

I know this post has no real insight into anything, but oh well.

Oh, and everything is better with bacon!

Re: What's for dinner?
 

Well, my family lives in the sticks, so we have a HUGE garden with potatoes, lettuce, strawberries, rhubarb, and tons of the stuff I cant remeber.

IDK what we are having tonight, but we had Dominos and Pepsi throw-back last night before our housechurch.

Re: What's for dinner?
 

Funny thing is, I have trouble with pork, but I;m crazy about raw fish. I just love white tuna rolls and Salmon Sashimi.

Re: What's for dinner?
 

Now that's a contradiction. ;)

I enjoy eating meat but I do worry about the ethical issues. If we all ate lower down the food chain, on average, that would be for the good on many fronts from personal health to, yes, peak oil and global warming. However, I don't have a problem with the concept of killing of animals for food (you can read about my own ventures into this here). I do have a problem with a lot of the aspects of industrial animal production though. Ethically (and from a taste perspective) I'd rather eat a local happy chicken than tofu flown in from the other side of the world.

If I could only eat the meat of one animal (what sort of world am I living in where I have to make such a choice? :?) it might well be pig. It's so versatile. Bacon, roast belly pork with crackling, chinese-style trotters, barbecued ribs, a great big ham to nibble on for days... The other contender is cow, simply for the outright quality of fewer dishes: a great steak and the perfect roast. Oxtail stew is pretty good too. And other stews, especially one my Grandmother makes with shin. And burgers. Hmmm, it's a tricky one. :)

Edit.

Neat. We've lived where we do now, also out in the sticks, for a couple of years. Our third attempt at a vegetable garden is underway. The first year was not great (we were starting in June from lawn) but last year we got some good stuff: beans, peas, as much squash as we could eat. We're trying potatoes for the first time this year, and we've also put in some raspberries, blueberries, apples and pears. Deer have eaten almost all the leaves from the fruit trees though. :(

Re: What's for dinner?
 

Well, I call myself a Breadetartian, because I mainly eat bread products. Meat is pretty good too. I don't eat fish, it smells, and 75% of your taste is smell, (the figure is near 75). Except I take fish pills, and then for the next day or two you start having hiccup like burps that taste like fish. Ewwww... I don't like any fruits or vegetables other than Idaho's own, potato. This has become a large burden for me, I hate not liking them. The only way I get my nutrients is through vitamins, juice, and vegetable dip and sauce. I've eaten grilled cheese twice, and up chucked both times. I have a really keen sense of taste too. Ice cream sundaes are my favorite sweet. Not to go off topic but this has annoyed me cookie monster has fallen into the propaganda swing of thinking that cookies are a "sometimes food" just to spread propaganda through young children, also there is now a vegetable monster on Sesame street. Where have our times gone? :cry:
For dinner tonight though were probably having spaghetti and garlic bread.
Also my teacher is a vegan so at the end of the year we gave her animal crackers and she didn't eat them :lol:

Re: What's for dinner?
 

I'm a lot like Cav on this one. I LOVE a lot of different types of meat (but not seafood), and fruits and veggies are essential to a healthy and delicious diet. I also love breads and the few cheeses I've had, I've liked.
We are growing a vegetable garden this year, and we have several apple trees. Anyone who hasn't grown their own food has NO IDEA how satisfying it is to eat something that you've planted, cared for, and harvested yourself. One of the best feelings in the world if you ask me.
As to where I draw the line when I eat something, I guess I'm also with Cav when he says it's a matter of cultural norms. All over the world, people regularly eat insects and spiders but I can hardly stand the thought, probably just because we don't do it that much here in America. I don't have a problem eating regular livestock animals e.g. cows, pigs, chickens, etc., although I'd probably have a hard time stomaching horse. Since dogs and cats are pets, and therefore considered part of the family, I would probably have a hard time eating them as well. And I think I'd rather die than eat a fellow human.
Oh, and for favorite recipe, probably anything grilled.