As someone who has been a vegetarian for decades (a decision I made when I was 11) all I can say is that what you consider to be acceptable to eat and still be a vegetarian is an entirely personal decision (which may also change over time).   There are almost as many variations on what is considered vegetarian as there are vegetarians themselves. 

Having copped the brunt of quite a bit of rude and judgmental crap over my life time (which I find refreshingly absent on this thread) I really think that it truly needs to be a case of 'each to their own'.

Well, it’s not as if they kill the calves to just get their stomach. As long as people eat meat I am all for using every possible piece of it. So the calve gets killed for its meat but if the organs and bones get used too that’s much better than throwing them away in my books. 

We live in a world where almost every food we eat has in its production killed hundreds of animals. Crops, fruits and vegetables are high in pesticides and massive mono cultivation kills millions of small animals (and I am not talking insects here). And corn, soy and life stock are often a reason for cutting down rain forest. We dry out land, compact ground, contaminate our water with fertiliser and fly avocados, bananas, quinoa, rice and cocoa around the world just because we want it. 

I am not shaming vegetarians or vegans. Treating animals with respect is a huge concern for me and I totally understand why someone would refrain from meat or all animal products even though it’s not for me. The meat industry plays also a big factor in environmental questions. I am rather concerned that we as humans always find a way of fucking things up. Instead of cutting back we often overdo it. Because a farmer in a third world country that butchers 4 cows (and use every single piece of it) a year is much less of a problem than a first world vegan that eats tons of superfoods that had to be transported around the world. 

And vegan wine is a myth because almost every bottle contains the reminiscence of several dead insects. Same for juice. There no way to prevent it. 

Poor Jinger - she's trying so hard to be the trendy, cool one!  But hair dye, jeans and lessons in conturing can't hide ugly beliefs.

@hoipolloi Thank you, that's very kind!

Paraguay is a paradise for people like the older Morton children. Very little oversight or regulation into smaller businesses, farms, or private commercial endeavors, and you can basically build or make anything you want on your own land without having to bother with meeting codes. Mike in particular (at least, as his character was represented in Martha's Magnum Opus about her brothers) has always been very keen to build homebrew survival contraptions and shelters. Kressant has had a life-long love of historical clothing and "Little House on the Prairie"-style homesteading. Honestly, I think that they probably love their lives there far more than anyone else in the family could. 

In contrast, I am still flummoxed about Wesley and Rachel's long-term prospects there. They seem determined to make a go of it, but neither seemed particularly survivalist-minded before the move. They don't post as much evidence of their enjoyment/success, either. Rachel's difficult pregnancies and high-drama births are another source of concern. However, if memory serves, it was Rachel that was first discovered to be seeking information on expatriating, so for all I know, she's the progenitor of the idea in the Morton clan.

I don’t get it. What you quoted makes it sound like he didn’t graduate because mean people had it out for him. But yet he has the degree? I’m confused. (Not by you, @ViolaSebastian, but by the convoluted way he wrote. It reads very much as “I am better than everyone and smarter than everyone but they couldn’t see it and so they punished me, waaahhh!”)