Vegetarianism in Taiwan is a tricky thing, then again it's a tricky thing anywhere in the world. Buddhists are not required to be vegetarians, but just like christianity, there are many different types of buddhists. In Taiwan some types of buddism require vegetarianism, but like most religions, the rules are rarely followed.
There are many in Taiwan who don't eat meat not out of any moral reason, but because they believe meat is unhealthy. There is a long standing cultural belief that beef is bad for women, so most parents teach their kids not to eat beef. Which has a pretty devastating affect on health here, as already many women suffer from iron deficiency caused problems.
Some are vegetarians for health reasons. Which i worry is actually more unhealthy to be a vegetarian here. They don't have the right kind of "super foods" which allow you to get all the vitamins and minerals you need if you aren't eating meat. Also vegetarian restaurants use an extreme amount of oil when cooking the vegetables.
There are those who don't eat meat because they think it's wrong to eat animals. I have some objection to this because plants are also living things so you are killing them just the same as you are killing an animal. although I will admit that its utterly horrible the conditions that most livestock are raised in.
Those people who object to eating meat do usually eat fish and other seafood. As in taiwan by definition seafood is not "meat" i.e. the word for "meat" does not encompass seafood as well. It actually took me a few years to even notice this, and looking back i can now see how it led to a few bits of miscommunication.
The picture above is of the piglets at the farm hiding in the middle of the city, that I have mentioned in some posts before. The ones under the light are super tiny, but unfortunately my cell phone is not good enough to clearly capture them. It is interesting though that in a country that adores anything cute, that none of my friends who have come to see these piglets has left deciding to no longer eat pork. In fact after fawning over how cute they were, one friend said that she decided to eat more pork.
Anyway I greatly love meat and I also am very thankful for the sacrifice that animals make so i can eat lunch. I try to show my appreciation by regularly going to the farm to talk to them and pet them. Sure i know that when i'm not there horrible things happen to those animals, but i do my best to give them a few moments of happiness. In exchange they say it's ok for me to eat their brothers and sisters. Or at least that's what I think they say. My chinese is not the best, and pigs seem to have a heavy accent.
