I am an omnivore, not just biologically like all other humans as is well established, but in my general eating habits as well.
My main protein sources are meats and fish though I also consume dairy and eggs to some extent.
The reasons I don't go vegetarian nor vegan are 4.
Health, Money, Ethics and Spirituality.
This seems strange to a lot of people, 'specially militant/aggressive vegans and vegetarians and others who've bought into the variouspropagandamachines, but these reasons are all logically and rationally based and thought out.
1. Health.
The human body breaks down proteins into it's base components,aminoacids.
The human body needs eight different amino acids that it can not produce itself, it's these amino acids we need to get from our protein sources to be healthy.
There only protein source that provides us with all eight essential amino acids is animal based. Meat, fish, dairy and eggs.
To obtain all eight amino acids without eating animal products we need to eat a very wide variety of non-animal based protein sources.
2. Money.
I live in an island in the middle of the north Atlantic.
Locally grown/caught animal based protein sources are affordable. One of my favorite ones being lambs' hearts and they retail for approximately 90 cents a pound (usd).
If I were to become a vegan I would need to pay a minimum of ten times that a pound for a single protein source, if not a hundred times that. While 100 grams of heart will provide me with my daily allowance of all eight amino acids, I would have to eat up to 500 grams (almost a pound) of non-animal protein sources to sustain my physical needs.
I am disabled and disability does not pay well and I have 6 mouths to feed.
I literally can not afford it.
3. Ethics.
Even if I could afford it, I wouldn't do it.
Locally grown/caught animals and fish are nearly all free range, with the exception of some pig farming and some chicken farming, and even then they are given far more space and a far more humane treatment than in the factory farms of USA.
It is not possible to grow all of the required protein in Iceland as our climate does not support it.
Therefore, most of what I would eat would be imported.
This presents a number of problems, a) I can't know with absolute certainty how it was grown, whether the workers got treated fairly nor whether the growing of my food is causing damage to the local ecology of wherever it's grown, b) an unacceptable amount of fossil fuel would be burned in order to either fly or ship my groceries into my country, causing far more pollution than if I were to keep eating an animal-protein based diet.
With 6 mouths to feed, 3 of 'em human, this would result in us being responsible for a lot more pollution than I'm remotely comfortable with.
4. Spirituality.
I am closely tied to the land I live in, the spirits of the land, the spirits of my ancestors, and the history and cultural heritage of the aforementioned.
Eating meat is a part of this cycle, but doing so while respecting the animal is key.
I respect my food.
I honor my food.
I understand it's origin and it's life.
I can not do that with food I can't track down to it's home-field.
updated by @hans-miniar-jnsson: 07/27/15 11:14:47AM