people don't understand what really goes into that pretty little saran wrapped package they see at the grocery store... people are so far removed from reality these days!

I got irritated in high school Spanish class when there were different words for chicken the animal and chicken the food (gallina/gallo and pollo), beef/cow (carne/vaca), and so on. I refused to use the "meat" words and always used the animal words. I was corrected by my profe, but refused to quit. I do the same in English too, and it makes people squirm.

haha I do this kind of thing too.  In New Zealand people eat a lot of lamb, which I know is already an animal word, but people seem to be desensitised to that one, so I often refer to it as baby sheep instead for extra cringe factor.
I also refer to what the family is eating as cow or pig when it's actually the other and if they complain I blame it on the inconsise words they use to describe it

I hate that chicken=poultry. Same word.

Also, forgive me here (preaching to the choir), PROTEIN SHOULD NOT BE USED AS AN ALL-ENCOMPASSING WORD FOR ANIMALS AND FISH YOU HAVE ON YOUR PLATE!!!

I got irritated in high school Spanish class when there were different words for chicken the animal and chicken the food (gallina/gallo and pollo), beef/cow (carne/vaca), and so on. I refused to use the "meat" words and always used the animal words. I was corrected by my profe, but refused to quit. I do the same in English too, and it makes people squirm.

Just curious, how do you do this in english?  Do you say "cow flesh" rather then steak, or chicken leg rather then "drumstick"?

Oh I think I get it, you say chicken rather then poultry?

Anyway, what annoys me is the constant arguement that I am always having with my mom about whether fish is meat.  TECHNICALLY it is not meat but what gives, why not.  Dictonary definition for meat is "flesh of an animal consumed as food, except poultry and fish".  I am like, what is with that?  So birds and fish aren't animals?  They need to change the definition to say "flesh of a mammal consumed as food" or "flesh of an animal consumed as food."  No exception. 

And the whole lent thing, no meat on Fridays, I never got that.  Oh, we can't eat meat so we are just going to have some fried catfish fillets.  Hmmm, yeah, doesn't sould like "meatless" fridays to me!

Just curious, how do you do this in english?  Do you say "cow flesh" rather then steak, or chicken leg rather then "drumstick"?

Instead of hamburger/steak or any other euphemistic name we call it I say cow. Like with my parents: "My dinner is delicious. How is your cow on bun?" With chickens it's harder, but you can say hen/hennie or rooster. "Oh, he's eating fried rooster." Anything to switch things up a little.

I try not to be very tactful about my veganism these days, because I don't want the argument; however, I do try to avoid meat words these days to help my daughter understand what her friends are eating.  Typically they only eat processed meats, so it's hard for her to understand how things like nuggest and burgers can be okay so times and not others.  This is one reason I try to avoid giving her meat analogs.  It confuses her in a way. 

I can't blame her for being confused. I think kids get it, they really do. I feel like we have to be taught as children that "this is a nugget" instead of "this is chicken." Good for you two!

I'm just feeling a bit annoyed today or something.  Maybe it's because I've been reading Eating Animals.  But it's not mean dammit.

It's A chicken.
It's A cow.
It's A fish.

That's what I want to tell people who eat carcass, you know?  It's a creature, a being that used to be alive, not "meat" you ignorant ass!

Ok, rant over.  Thanks.  ;)

That's a good book.  I'm reading it slowly because it's a tough emotional read for me.

I understand your rant because people are so far removed and in such denial about the "food" on their plate.  The concept that the "meat" on their plate used to be a living breathing being that had feelings, emotions and felt pain in it's cruel miserable life doesn't enter into their consciousness.

It's frustrating.

It's really funny you should mention that.  A month or so ago Caitlin's friends were eating hot dogs.  She looked really upset and asked me if they were eating Coco, her friend's dog, and if not whose dog it was.  I explained to her that it's just a name and that they weren't really made of someone's pet.  She look relieved and asks if that means that chicken nuggets aren't make of real chickens.  It took quite some explaining for her to understand that, and I still don't know if she gets it.  I might take her to meat department and show her whole chickens if I have to. 

I'm always surprised how little kids know these days about what their food is. Honestly, the way I see it, it doesn't matter whether or not you're raising a vegetarian child. Kids should understand what their food is. One of my cousins when they were younger would NOT eat animal crackers because they were shaped as animals but they ate meat. And it made me wonder- Like, does my aunt not teach him that animal crackers aren't animals, but meat is? It's kinda sad. If you want to support eating meat, go ahead, but why not take your kid on a fishing trip and show them what it is and how it is brought to a plate? In fact, I work in a restaurant and I'm routinely surprised that people are not able to identify ingredients. We have a steamer where you can select combinations of food for your plate, and people are always asking- What is that? In the steamer, there are skewers of chicken and many people don't know what it is. They actually confuse it with our deep-fried yam and shrimp balls and vice versa. We also have a sweet and sour pork, and I find myself in debates with the customers because they'll request sweet and sour, but when I go to confirm with them- So that was noodles and pork, right?- they'll reply, "No, I don't want pork. I want sweet and sour." I have to explain to them that the sweet and sour is made with pork. That's what those brown-looking chunks are: Pig meat. They even get confused over the noodles because they'll want to call it chow mein and when I simply refer to it as noodles they're no longer sure I'm still talking about the same thing. My customers even ask what "those things" are in the curry. It's sweet potato. They go, "Oh, that's unusual." Huh?

In short: Good for you for trying to educate your kid. That'll be one less stupid person in this world.

(hopefully) enjoyed the sunshine and fresh air (doubtful but in some most cases)

fyp