30% of Meat-Eaters Won’t Date a Vegetarian: Would You Date Someone With Different Eating Habits?

by SodaHead Living Posted 2012/07/08 01:30:39

Related Topics: vegan, Vegetarian, Meat-eaters, Romance, dating, Picky, Dietary, Preferences, Flexible, Shared Moments, Love, Food

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625 votes
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	Yes	450 votes	72%
	No	93 votes	15%
	Undecided	74 votes	12%
	Undecided	8 votes	1%

According to a recent Love Bites survey by TODAY.com and Match.com, for many, shared dietary preferences are key when making a love connection.

30% of the meat-eaters surveyed said they would not date a vegetarian or vegan. On the other hand, only 4% of the vegetarians said that they wouldn't date a meat-eater. (But keep in mind—only 2% of Americans identify as vegetarian and 3% as vegan. That’s a pretty small dating pool!)

So why won’t these meat-eaters date vegans or vegetarians? 1) Many consider sharing food a very important part of romance and don’t want to be with someone who won’t share those moments. 2) Others dislike feeling judged or pressured to give up meat. 3) Many just don’t like picky eaters; 66% of respondents described that trait as a turn-off. 4) And some view meat-eaters as more "manly."

Yet, many cross-dietary couples are able to accommodate each other’s choices and make the relationship work.

“The ability to accommodate to needs of a new partner is really important – both people have to work at it,” said Dr Helen Fisher, a biological anthropologist and Match.com’s chief scientific adviser. “The vegetarian has to send the message that they can work around it, they can find or bring alternatives to barbecues or family gatherings, and the meat eater has to be willing to bend once in a while as well.”

What about you SodaHeads? Would you date someone with different eating habits?

+31

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whispering hands 2012/07/08 06:38:15

Yes

+6
I've been vegetarian most of my life and every guy i've dated was a meat eater. It's not a big deal at all, i don't get how some people can make such a huge issue out of something so minuscule.

Also, the fact that I refuse to eat a "big juicy steak" shouldn't reflect on my or any other vegetarian's personality.
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More polls by SodaHead Living

Wahvlvke to Jake Bl... 2012/07/10 00:31:22

You got me.

reply
T Bevan 2012/07/08 12:06:20

Yes

I had no problem....

However , she was a different story...

If I wanted to convert , I would , I like rare steaks!

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Resp 2012/07/08 12:03:11

Yes

+4
As much as I disdain eating meat and slaughtering animals I can't stop other people from their practices.

I love my pet Jack Russell but he is a meat eater.

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Dyonus 2012/07/08 11:49:22

Yes

+1
I would accept her vegetarian lifestyle as long as she accepted my omnivore lifestyle.

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serethiel 2012/07/08 11:43:06

Undecided

+1
i'm one of those vegetarians who WILL remind you that you're eating something that has being murdered, so maybe me dating someone who ate meat wouldn't work out in the long term. unless i really really liked them. there's always exceptions.

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Corsair 2012/07/08 11:29:00

Undecided

I'm more open to someone who is willing to at least eat chicken or fish as opposed to beef, even if they do have more vegetarian diet.

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Sunrise.Ashes 2012/07/08 11:25:51 (edited)

Yes

+1
Eating habits are irrelevant to dating. It's something you can work around. However, if they tried to change my mind and force their views on me, or even act superior because they're a vegetarian than no. That's an issue of personality, not food preference.

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RachelA7X 2012/07/08 11:19:21

Yes

My boyfriend loves salad more than any other food and I hate it more than any other food :P

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whateverbabynevermind 2012/07/08 11:09:56

Yes

+1
As long as they didn't try to make me eat like that. I love meat but I wouldn't mind dating a vegetarian as long as they didn't spend our meals lecturing me on what I eat.

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Noobcake 2012/07/08 11:07:13

Yes

+2
I'm a pescatarian - I still eat fish, but abstain from other meats because I dislike the way the land-animals we eat are treated nowadays, NOT because I find the idea of eating flesh wrong [how I wish chicken was a fish]) and I live and cook with my boyfriend who is an indiscriminate meat-eater. :P

We cook mostly vegetarian or pescatarian dinners but separate lunches and breakfast usually. Sometimes we have a meat side-dish with dinner if my boyfriend so desires. He's eats as much or as little meat as he wants.

Also, he knows I don't judge him just as I don't judge my best friend who is a hardcore Catholic (and I'm agnostic) - even though he tries to shove his beliefs down my throat at each and every opportunity lol. I still love him dearly.

Our inability to agree on furnishings and bed-coverings poses more difficulty for my boyfriend and I than our differing eating habits.

Also, I hate that picture... Like the world of edibleness is divided into meat and lettuce... *rolls eyes*

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Syl to Noobcake 2012/07/08 13:26:50

+1
Would you eat chicken that comes from a farm where the animals can roam free outside and have all the space they need? If so I'd like to invite you over sometime. I live on a farm with my boyfriend's family and we have loads of chickens outside, they can eat when they want and run as much as they want and at night they sleep in a tree. You can really taste the difference too. We only eat the roosters though, the hens are often given away to people who want some chickens in the backyard themselves, or they stay until they die of old age.

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Noobcake to Syl 2012/07/08 13:54:00

+1
Yes, I probably would. But it's a long trip to the Netherlands. :P I wouldn't have any moral objections to eating the chicken at all but it might be odd for me because I am now used to the idea of not eating meat. But the aroma of roast chicken could possibly bring me around. :)

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Lucy to Syl 2012/07/09 07:32:51

+1
Well, that is better than any other way chickens are raised.

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Lucy to Noobcake 2012/07/09 07:32:10

Great answer.

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Rave 2012/07/08 10:40:21

Yes

+2
Sure, I've dated both meat eaters and vegetarians/vegans, I'm a vegetarian myself. The only thing I cannot stand is when someone tries to question why I'm vegetarian or suddenly out of nowhere starts to try to "justify" their meat eating to me, I honestly don't need anyone to justify it to me. It's fine. I know that I'm more concerned then they are over the treatment of animals and the chemicals put into them, and that's okay. Some people care about these things and some people don't.

It took me two years of research and careful thought before I became vegetarian. During this time I was dating a vegetarian who had said that she wouldn't be with a meat eater, yet she was still with me even though I ate meat at the time.

I think it's easy to say you wouldn't date someone with a different diet than yours until you actually meet a person you like who happens to share a different diet, life is about much more than food. What we eat shouldn't be a concern.

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Vieuphoria 2012/07/08 10:32:12

Yes

+2
I do and have always dated people with different eating habits. I've been a vegetarian for quite some time now. I'm not shallow enough to not date someone because of what they eat. Nor would I try and make someone change the way they eat.

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ed 2012/07/08 10:31:43

Yes

+1
I wouldn't have a problem with it,I like vegtables almost as good as meat.

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Beat Magnum True Hero 2012/07/08 10:23:39

Undecided

It sounds shallow, but this one can potentially wreck a relationship. IF you're both really cool about it, it's not a big deal. If one is a vegetarian strictly for health reasons (I know someone who can't digest meat but has no problem with people eating it) it's fine. If it's done on moral grounds, this lets a genie out of a bottle. The party who gives up the food they likes may smile at you, but don't confuse "going along with it" for "silent resentment."

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MinaM8 2012/07/08 09:48:36

Undecided

not if they try to make me change and/or remind me that what i'm eating is bad at every meal

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strawberry 2012/07/08 09:35:10

Undecided

+1
It is not that I would not date a Vegetarian, just find many of them annoying , petty, picky, eaters. I love most vegetables, like meat, but don't consume that much meat. If I go on a picnic date with a vegetarian, they will usually bring their own plastic container of veggies, while I like grilling steaks. They can be very annoying in restaurants, giving a waitress fifteen minute instructions on their food order. Then there are those who will give you a lecture about eating meat. Being married to a vegetarian could also be a pain in the neck. You want to cook delicious meals, but they will nit pick what is cooked.

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Beat Ma... to strawberry 2012/07/08 10:27:27

+1
You summed up why I don't regularly hang out with vegetarians (especially vegans). It's also why I don't diet: If my food order requires a 30 minute lecture, then I'm trying too hard.

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strawberry to Beat Ma... 2012/07/10 03:52:11

Why even bother inviting them to a barbeque.? LOL!

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Cleaver62 2012/07/08 09:29:57

Undecided

It would depend if she'd eat my meat or not. I could live with the vegetarian thing.

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Emily Barrington 2012/07/08 09:26:37

Yes

+1
God what have these sodahead questions come to? I doesn't matter about there eating habbits! Its the personality that counts.

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Beat Ma... to Emily B... 2012/07/08 10:30:40

+1
True but... many (but not all) vegetarians are quite vocal about their food choice. Their picky to the point of being embarrassing in public (see the above comment about how they take 15 minutes to order in a restaurant). It sounds like a little thing, but a little thing like diet often ends with one party giving in and accepting the other person's lifestyle. This usually results in silent resentment. I'm not saying this can't be overcome, but being nagged everyday will lead to fights...

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Emily B... to Beat Ma... 2012/07/09 14:55:07

Yeah, I see your point.

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Radlad 2012/07/08 09:11:34

Yes

The question being is how long would the romance last? I know not all vegetarians are liberals. But just going on what the knuckleheads at peta and other anti-meat idiots when they start getting their face time on the liberal propaganda er I mean news outlets I can't believe the vegetarian would not be the one to start the friction.I have no proof mind you to indicate otherwise. But I believe that the meat-eaters surveyed said they would not date a vegetarian or vegan. I'm under the impression that the percentage is like 3%. Someone added a zero to it. Probably took it from the 40% of the vegetarian making it only 4% Cause those numbers don't add up to my experiences. Coarse I am also assuming the meat-eaters are men. We're thinkin' "Hey, so what if she's a veg? She's breathing What else do I want?"

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RogerCoppock 2012/07/08 09:09:18 (edited)

Undecided

+1
I don't know. Maybe, they will start behaving like animals. Then, the meat eater will eat the vegetarian.

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Playerazzi 2012/07/08 09:07:00

Yes

Everyone has different eating habits. It just depends on how extreme it is.

My wife does not like mushrooms and liver, so we don't have them in the house.

For me, I don't care.

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mae 2012/07/08 09:03:22

Undecided

Depends on how well we get along, and what their specialized eating habits were. For instance, a strict adherence to a 2200Calorie ADA diet is a medical necessity, and not that different from a lowfat diet. A Vegan diet is very strict and quite limited, in my view, and I think we would have some conflicts sooner or later. A non-chocolate diet is out of the question. (-just kidding ;-)

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XoXo 2012/07/08 08:58:59

No

+1
Absolutely not! I eat meat!

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SlaveWaterNymph 2012/07/08 08:53:39

Yes

+2
if they did not shove it down my throat to eat like them, then yes. And that they can accept that im going to eat meat, then yup i would.

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Shipra 2012/07/08 08:51:40

No

+1
I am a vegetarian and I have never eaten egg or mushrooms let alone meat.I am not criticising anyone but I have grown habitual of being vegetarian and I can't stop myself from puking whenever I smell meat so it's totally out of question for me to date someone who eats meat.i can't help myself in this case.

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««Ginge... to Shipra 2012/07/08 09:42:52

+2
Well, I am a vegetarian and my boyfriend eats meat, but he never cooks, so there is never meat in my house lol

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Shipra to ««Ginge... 2012/07/08 15:37:19

+1
Hmm that is great ,yea that way you can mutually coexist

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««Ginge... to Shipra 2012/07/08 19:14:54

He will probably become a vegetarian soon. There are some benefits of dating a lazy guy, lol.

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Lady Katze 2012/07/08 08:50:26 (edited)

Yes

+2
I myself am a vegetarian, but not because meat bothers me, so frankly I would not care if my boyfriend/husband/whatever ate meat (though it would be great if he was a vegetarian, too!) Though I do not eat meat, I do not tell people it is murder! The ones who do piss me off and make vegetarians look bad >.> I just do not like the taste of meat, but hey, I cook it for my parents and friends all the time, so I see no issue here!

And hey, as far as I am concerned, 30% is a pretty low number!

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Osaka 2012/07/08 08:47:44 (edited)

Yes

+1
Just as long as they know how to cook. I love trying new food. Though if we have similar eating habits, I wouldn't mind... Just as long as I love him.

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Weronikus 2012/07/08 08:46:28

Yes

+1
people shouldn't judge others by their eating habits, but by their character.

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jerry.alan.carroll 2012/07/08 08:41:23 (edited)

Undecided

+1
i know folks that didn't last becuase of their differences, and then i know folks that do...but usually because the Vegan/Vegetarian is tolerant of the meat eater. Meat eaters generally have no issue with the other, but not vice versa when it comes to relationships.
THis means I will have to expand my repertoire though....I love to cook but now I would need to get creative!

NOTE: this is only from personal experience since I have found so many vegans/vegetarians in the military community (Military community is not just military but also includes all the civilians supporting them on these bases worldwide).

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