Thread: Vegetarism in Russia?

Hello Everybody,

One thing I would like to investigate. I am a vegetarian. I eat meat-replacement products, and as someone of Dutch/Indonesian heritage, I also eat a lot soya products, which we rever as Tahoe- Tempe.

In our culture, we Indo's can greet each other by yelling Tahoe-Tempe to each other.

I was wondering what to eat in Russia when I go there in the future. Are there also meat replacements and soya products in lets say, Novosibirsk?
I believe Vladivostok must have it, because it is so near Japan.

Maby I am too negative and do Russians know more about the vegetarian kitchen than I expect. I had Orthodox-Christian friends from Bulgaria and they were sometimes vegetarian too.

Why don't I eat meat? I am Krishna devotee and meat eating is monsterous theft to bodies from other souls. It took me about 6 years to control the sense gratification conditioning of meat. Without my grandmother I succeeded, because I ate too much outside and then it is very difficult to become vegetarian.

Do svidanya, Mandy

Originally Posted by Mandy_v_Galandka

Hello Everybody,

I am a vegetarian.

Where I come from we call that a "cowboy killer".

well, not so good here in Novosibirsk whith such stuff...there is just small departments in the big super-markets, like at Lenina-10..
may be Rtyom knows more?

(refering to when i was in moscow) im not veggie but the girls who were found it VERY difficult. i think 2/3 began eating meat as there aren't many substitutes. they started to look and feel really bad

I have been a vegetarian for quite some time and I too was worried about going to Russia due to their lack of possibilities for a vegetarian. However, when I found this thread it didn

Yes, this is just one more reason to like Russia. They have not been corrupted into softness by the western pop culture. The immorallity of vegetarianism! They still like to kill and eat. Ah, yes this is my kind of place. If only the Russian man knew the feeling of chasing a steer at break neck speed on a fine horse and geting his lasso firmly around its neck as the smoke from his rope rises from the saddle horn!! I think that all Russian men would become cowboys if they knew this.

Well, I do not take it seriously. Everybody uses medication at some point, vegetarians or not. A question to the crowd - how do you think these get tested? And how do you think those guarded "vegetarian" crops affect animal populations? I do not eat snakes or ants, but there is nothing about moral values in it, it's just food that I am not used to.

Well I suppose there are not many vegetarians here in Russia hence the lack of meat substitutes... Orthodox christians have the Lent when they don't eat meat, but they don't take substitutes either. Others prefer not to put their organisms into protein starvation (or just don't want to deprive themselves form pleasure of eating meat).

Guys, I'm from Novosibirsk originaly. And back there I had a few friends who were vegetarians for different reasons. They managed perfectly well. You definitely can find soy products and pretty cheap fish and vegetables and other stuff, don't you worry.

Originally Posted by adoc

Well, I do not take it seriously. Everybody uses medication at some point, vegetarians or not. A question to the crowd - how do you think these get tested? And how do you think those guarded "vegetarian" crops affect animal populations? I do not eat snakes or ants, but there is nothing about moral values in it, it's just food that I am not used to.

we weren't debating the morality of eating meat, or vegitarian hypocrisy, just the viability of maintaining a veggie diet in russia. difficult concept to grasp, but you're a big boy. shouldn't take more than a day or two of intense thought to get it dialed.

Anyways, you wont have a problem if you are in Moscow or other big city.

Well I hope your not pregnant with a boy, they have a bigger risk of not forming thier genetials area right As in the Pee hole doesn't not get a exit so the kid practiacally can't pee


At least thats what I heard

Originally Posted by djmihow

Well I hope your not pregnant with a boy, they have a bigger risk of not forming thier genetials area right As in the Pee hole doesn't not get a exit so the kid practiacally can't pee


At least thats what I heard

Narrow Uretha as in Hank on "King of the Hill?"
who knows.....

I go vegetarian when I flipping feel like it. When I do... it is usually vegan. Though..... I read one of those diet for blood type books...and it says I'm actually SUPPOSED to be vegetarian. Kinda hard to be a true vegetarian though with all the little bug parts and (and when does one draw the line between animal and say..... bacteria...does bacteria have a soul?)

But.. I don't see how veges are going to be absent. Maybe no tofu but owell. Eat the canned goods if you have to. MMMMM grilled teriaki tofu and veges and rice...yum.

Interesting Topic.

Vegetarianism is the devil... I have to eat meat to support people like DDT. That, and I grew up on a farm.
Pandas were genetically disposed to being carnivores, and were forced to become vegetarians because that's all they had. They poop fifty times a day. I don't have time to poop fifty times a day. I have better things to do. I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy. Ok, maybe one person, but just so I could point and laugh at him.

Information courtesy of the Panda exhibit of the San Diego zoo.

-Fantom

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare

You're going to find it next to impossible to be a vegetarian in Russia. You cannot buy any vegetables, fruit, noodles or bread anywhere! Potatoes, mushrooms, bananas, apples? These are non exhistant. Same thing for any kind of lentils. They do serve up a good "Rat on a stick" though...

Originally Posted by fantom605

I have to eat meat to support people like DDT. -Fantom

DDT's such a cowboy.. I can't help but to stir the pot.

One side of the family has a huge hillside farm supposedly owned by all the lineage... basically generation upon generation of great-grandmothers free roaming long horn steer left to breed and live a natural life and be fed but left alone. No one's allowed to eat or sell them. I don't know how many there are...big place...100 or more. Us kids one reunion climbed up on a tractor and chucked boulders at them to piss them off. They piss off well. And every generation is just supposed to pay for the animals not to be eaten--the legacy. It's creepy. Hehe.
They are mangly looking mean muthers. Where's my smoothie.....

There are two things you don't want to be in Russia: gay and vegetarian. If you are, keep quiet about it. You see, there are some people who think of it as an ugly influence from the west. I've heard many stories of skinheads beating up gay people, and I've actually seen a guy punch a waiter at a cafe for bringing him a soya steak. True, the majority of educated people will be polite enough to not say anything about your dining preferences (what you eat is your own business), but it's not just the nice and the educated you'll find yourself surrounded by. Think about it. I'm not saying don't go to Russia because you're a vegetarian, I'm saying be sensible and don't brag about it. And don't be surprised if you get treated as an inferior because of you're being a vegetarian. Most Russian men think it to be a sign of weakness and you don't want to appear weak in front of a Russian man.

P.S. One of me mates is a vegetarian and he's alright, we respect his choice and make sure no one messes around with him or gives him lip.

This forum scares me about going to Russia qutie a lot.

So what are the umm...most educated regions? Moscow? Saint Petersbug? I'd rather not be gay bashed.

Poor devils, where did you live? I didn't see any problems while I was living in Russia. As I already have told, some people in my circle were vegeterians and they didn't look oppressed. Quite the opposite: it was consider fancy and kinda cool. They tried to draw me in but unsuccessfully . Anyway, I believe, you overstate.

Well, I shall say that majority of Russians is less polite than an average American, and have this habit to stick their nose in smbd elses buisness . They wouldn't hesitate to give you thier precious opinion.