No need, to get all defensive here, some of you. Turn it down a notch, more...more, thanks =3 No knee jerk reactions please. I'm here to start a fight nor am I am going to insult anyone and please don't start that among yourselves. I just want a mature talk on the matter.
I would assume many of us have heard about how going vegetarian or vegan is better for the environment. Resource wise it takes 10 lb of grain to produce 1 lb of beef. Those 10 lb of grains could be used to feed way more people. Also, if any of you have had an environmental science class, I'm sure they talked about how energy is lost as we eat higher up the food chain and how eating more vegetarian based foods would be the ideal (at least that's one week of that class was like....aside from the teacher being a complete nut, it was okay.) Some people also note how it takes a lot less water to grow crops than to upkeep animals. Pardon the size of the infograhics, not sure how to make them smaller. Hopefully they are easier to read though!
I would also assume many of you are hearing about the ethical implications of eating meat and how it's coming more and more to light. I'd say at least 2 or 3 times a year, maybe even more, we hear about a new undercover investigation released by either Mercy For Animals or Compassion Over Killing (really great organizations by the way, PETA can't even shake a finger at them) showing horrendous abuse of animals in the factory farms. Often these plants, with the support and demand of the public, get shut down at least for awhile. In more philosophical notes, my philosophy classes also talk about different views on "animal rights" under different philosophical concepts, and I'm not trying to be biased here when I say it often seemed like the more and more we talked about it, the more it became clear, to us at least, that animals deserved some sort of protection or recognition of their being. Others are making a connection between how they treat their family pets and how they view and treat other animals that aren't considered pets. You may have seen this image or billboard around.
I'm hesitant to talk so much about health factors as I know there is a lot of controversy. However, even responsible medical organizations view vegetarianism as a healthy way to live. Here is an excerpt from the American Dietetic Association "It is the position of the American Dietetic Association that appropriately planned vegetarian diets, including total vegetarian or vegan diets are healthful, nutritionally adequate, and may provide health benefits in the prevention and treatments of certain diseases. Well-planned vegetarian diets are appropriate for individuals during all stages of the life cycle, including pregnancy, lactation, infancy, childhood, and adolescence, and for athletes." (http://www.eatright.org/About/Content.aspx?id=8357) As an almost 4 year vegan, I'd say it does require a bit of basic searching about what kinds of foods you'll need to eat. (can't expect to live off soy burgers everyday). I never had much of a problem with my veganism and I've seen multiple doctors all who tell me I have good iron, weight, and blood pressure. Some of us may have some sensitives of our own, and we should always look at how we are going to work around that if we change our diet. I'm also allergic to soymilk (that was a fun night when I found that out) but luckily there is a host of non dairy milks like rice, almond, coconut, oat, sunflower, hemp, and cashew milk that seem to do fine on my system. I don't want to make it seem like vegetarianism or veganism is a miracle diet, though I know for a lot of people it has greatly improved their health, especially in terms of cholesterol.
So basically, more and more people are going vegetarian or eating more vegetarian meals for a lot of reasons, mainly the three above, and there is no reason why one is mutually exclusive from the other as well. Do you think society is slowly changing in their attitudes toward vegetarians/ vegans? Are you seeing the lifestyle promoted and recommended more? Have you ever contemplated incorporating this way of life into your own?
I can also answer any questions you may have about vegetarian or vegan living. I live this way passionately
I would assume many of us have heard about how going vegetarian or vegan is better for the environment. Resource wise it takes 10 lb of grain to produce 1 lb of beef. Those 10 lb of grains could be used to feed way more people. Also, if any of you have had an environmental science class, I'm sure they talked about how energy is lost as we eat higher up the food chain and how eating more vegetarian based foods would be the ideal (at least that's one week of that class was like....aside from the teacher being a complete nut, it was okay.) Some people also note how it takes a lot less water to grow crops than to upkeep animals. Pardon the size of the infograhics, not sure how to make them smaller. Hopefully they are easier to read though!
I would also assume many of you are hearing about the ethical implications of eating meat and how it's coming more and more to light. I'd say at least 2 or 3 times a year, maybe even more, we hear about a new undercover investigation released by either Mercy For Animals or Compassion Over Killing (really great organizations by the way, PETA can't even shake a finger at them) showing horrendous abuse of animals in the factory farms. Often these plants, with the support and demand of the public, get shut down at least for awhile. In more philosophical notes, my philosophy classes also talk about different views on "animal rights" under different philosophical concepts, and I'm not trying to be biased here when I say it often seemed like the more and more we talked about it, the more it became clear, to us at least, that animals deserved some sort of protection or recognition of their being. Others are making a connection between how they treat their family pets and how they view and treat other animals that aren't considered pets. You may have seen this image or billboard around.
I'm hesitant to talk so much about health factors as I know there is a lot of controversy. However, even responsible medical organizations view vegetarianism as a healthy way to live. Here is an excerpt from the American Dietetic Association "It is the position of the American Dietetic Association that appropriately planned vegetarian diets, including total vegetarian or vegan diets are healthful, nutritionally adequate, and may provide health benefits in the prevention and treatments of certain diseases. Well-planned vegetarian diets are appropriate for individuals during all stages of the life cycle, including pregnancy, lactation, infancy, childhood, and adolescence, and for athletes." (http://www.eatright.org/About/Content.aspx?id=8357) As an almost 4 year vegan, I'd say it does require a bit of basic searching about what kinds of foods you'll need to eat. (can't expect to live off soy burgers everyday). I never had much of a problem with my veganism and I've seen multiple doctors all who tell me I have good iron, weight, and blood pressure. Some of us may have some sensitives of our own, and we should always look at how we are going to work around that if we change our diet. I'm also allergic to soymilk (that was a fun night when I found that out) but luckily there is a host of non dairy milks like rice, almond, coconut, oat, sunflower, hemp, and cashew milk that seem to do fine on my system. I don't want to make it seem like vegetarianism or veganism is a miracle diet, though I know for a lot of people it has greatly improved their health, especially in terms of cholesterol.
So basically, more and more people are going vegetarian or eating more vegetarian meals for a lot of reasons, mainly the three above, and there is no reason why one is mutually exclusive from the other as well. Do you think society is slowly changing in their attitudes toward vegetarians/ vegans? Are you seeing the lifestyle promoted and recommended more? Have you ever contemplated incorporating this way of life into your own?
I can also answer any questions you may have about vegetarian or vegan living. I live this way passionately
