So it's late and I am unable to sleep, so I thought I would post an entry. I been asked a lot lately about why I made the choice to cut meat out from my diet, and usually I brush it off with a quick answer about my health or animal rights, usually whatever I think my audience will most easily understand. Frankly, I feel a full answer would be overwhelming for most people who have asked, and would come off as preachy, which is not my intent. In fact, there are a number of reasons why I have been veggie for 8 months now and why I intend to spend the rest of my life doing so, barring some unforseen circumstances. I thought I might list a few of them for people to browse through since I have been asked a lot and really have never tried to give anyone a full answer, including myself.
In no particular order...
1. My health- there is no question that a properly executed vegetarian diet is healthier than most in which people eat meat. Sure, you can eat meat and be healthy, but vegetarianism also lends itself well to eliminating cetain toxins and ensuring you get essential nutrients
a) Problems with meat- although meat is full of great things like protein, iron, omega3s, and all sorts of other great things (depending on which meat), they also tend to come with the added risk of things like heart disease, certain cancers, and obesity. People also tend to eat meat that is especially bad for you, like pork or low grade beef. It has been shown that the average North American consumes several times their required amount of protein, and this is due to a severe overconsumption of meat (only 1-2 servings needed per week). I was a bad offender on this end, which is a major reason why I can't just "cut down" on my meat intake. I need rules!
b) Greens- one key I have found to avoiding filler like cheese and carbs during my vegetarianism (with moderate success) is to make sure I get my 5-10 servings of fruit and veggies everyday. If I do that, there is scarcely any room to squeeze in bad things into my diet. As a result, I am able to get all of the nutrients lost from meat and gained others as well.
c) The results- since I have made the switch, I have lost 20lbs, and have WAY more energy than I did before. I also feel better generally, since meat stays in your body way longer than plant matter, which can make you feel bloated or heavy.
2. Animal Rights- Let me say first that I don't think there is anything inherenty wrong with eating animals. I do think there is an issue with how we eat them.
Mistreatment- along with health, the reason I initially started being vegetarian 2 years ago (on and off for the first year) was that I was exposed to some of the atrocities that are being committed against animals in the name of agro-business. You can say what you want about PETA or KFC videos and the like, but it is common practice to herd thousands of animals into dangerously cramped areas where they spend their entire lives, often in cages. Chickens, for example, have their wings clipped and often even have their beaks cut off so they won't peck at the others in ajacent cages. It has been shown that half of the antibiotics andministered every year in the United States are given to livestock, not humans. This is entirely due to the conditions they are raised in, which promote high risk of disease, which may spread quickly through the herd. Even still, disease is commonplace and treated with mass slaughtering of the affected animals. In 2004, 17Miliion turkeys were killed in Fraser Valley, BC because of an avian flue outbreak. 17 MILLION. Speaking of which, I promise you don't want to know how your thanksgiving turkey is killed.
Needless Killing- I have been asked before, why don't you eat free range organic? First of all, I do, when it comes to eggs and the animal products I do eat. Mostly though, I feel we have come to a point where we don't need to kill animals to survive, so I don't. I personally could not kill a cow or a pig or a chicken myself, and to me, it is impossible to rationalize paying someone else to do my dirty work for me. It is far too easy to forget about how many lives are used up unnecessarily for our food, and people understandably don't want to think about it. Regardless, here it is. Annually, 10 BILLION animals are consumed for food... just in the Unite States.
3. The environment- I won't get into the math right now, but it has been shown that the industrial method of raising livestock is more harmful to the environment than any single other human activity (excluding energy production). Currently, it accounts for approximately 18% of greenhouse gas emissions, which includes mass amounts of carbon, and also methane, which is far more dangerous. That is more than cars and the aviation industry, to put it to scale. Furthermore, industrial raising of animals is responsible for immeasurable effects regarding land degredation, deforestation, excessive pollution of our soil and waterways, and the list goes on and on. Specifically, 70% of the world's agricultural land is dedicated to livestock operations. It is not an exaggeration to say that we could literally solve the world's hunger problems if everyone was vegetarian. That's how much land is wasted on meat instead of grains and vegetables.
Lastly, I would like to say that although I am very principled in my beliefs regarding vegetarianism, I am hardly a saint. There are many, many things that disguise their use of animal parts which I have accidentally eaten, and also some which I simply cannot be bothered with. For example, many types of alcohol use animal parts as a filter in their production (I don't know the science, but it happens) and I don't care to trouble myself to avoid them, since it is a major inconvenience for such a trivial issue. On a less serious note, I am really bad at remembering not to eat Caesar salad, which has anchovies in the dressing. I think it is important that I admit these things because vegetarianism is all abou tmaking positive changes, and the worst thing I can do is intimidate someone who is considering making the switch. At best, I hope I have inspired you, and at least perhaps educated as to some of the reasons I became a vegetarian.
An additional note, if you are/were also veggie, let me know some of the reasons why you decided to do it, and if you stopped, share why you went back to eating meat. All the best.
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