Why I'm Vegetarian

I've been vegetarian for about six years now, since January 2007. It started with a bet: my best friend and I wanted to see which one of us could go without meat for longer. Obviously, I won. (It wasn't even close--she broke it within 24 hours, because her dad made bacon for breakfast the next morning). I kept going because I wanted to see how long I could do it. It wasn't that hard--the only meat I liked was hot dogs, chicken nuggets, and bacon, and I enjoyed not having my parents try to get me to eat ham, steak, hamburgers, etc. However, as I got older, I found more and more reasons to be vegetarian, and by this point, it surprises me a little that people still eat meat at all. It is good protein, and I know that particularly in low-income areas the nutrition in meat is important; I also know that most people like meat too much to give it up. While I think the first reason is a far better one than the second, I do respect people's right to eat meat (far more, I generally find, than people respect my decision to not eat meat), and therefore present these three simple reasons not as persuasion, but as explanation.

1. It's good for you.

According to the American Dietetic Association, a vegetarian diet is "healthful, nutritionally adequate, and provides health benefits in the prevention and treatment of certain diseases." Vegetarians have lower levels of cholesterol and saturated fat, as well as lower blood pressure, which leads to significantly lower rates of heart disease, diabetes, dementia, and other disorders. There is also evidence it decreases the chance of various types of cancer. In the 2010 edition of Dietary Guidelines for Americans, issued by the US Dept. of Agriculture and the US Dept. of Health and Human Services, vegetarianism was described as being associated with improved health outcomes, such as lower levels of obesity, reduced risk of cardiovascular disease, and lower total mortality. Vegetarians consume less calories and more fiber, potassium, and vitamins. Also, according to studies, protein intake for vegetarians is only slightly lower than meat-eaters, as one can get the essential amino acids from various complementary vegetables and other sources. Therefore, the argument that you need meat to be healthy is frankly false, and, it would appear, the exact opposite is true.

2. Murder is murder.

When I see raw meat, I can't stop thinking about the animal it was, and how our greedy, selfish human desires have caused us to slaughter poor, innocent creatures just so we can eat what we want. If a human killed another human in order to eat them--remember, humans are meat, too--they would certainly be given life in prison, if not the death penalty, for such a horrific crime. It would become an Internet sensation, and millions of people across the world would be appalled at such inhumanity. Guess what? We do this every day, and millions of people across the world eat the flesh of another living creature all the time, casually, without even thinking about it. Oh, God, it makes me shudder to think of it. I don't care if--as people tell me all the time, semi-apologetically, with a shrug--you "like meat too much to give it up." Oh, well, that makes it all okay then. It's not that I don't want to let the innocent live, it's that I like the taste of their flesh too much to let them live in peace, without being trapped in slaughterhouses, fattened, and murdered, just so I can eat it. We all have the right to live.

Sorry if I'm grossing you out. Maybe you'll think about this next time you eat a corpse.

3. Slaughterhouses and meat-processing are bad for everyone.

We're already established that most meat-eaters don't think or really care all that much about the welfare of animals, and if the last paragraph didn't gross you out, I doubt I can get you emotional about the miserable conditions animals in slaughterhouses face--but I'll try. Slaughterhouses have been, historically, largely unregulated, and agencies and animal-rights activists still have difficulty getting information from them. There has been criticism of the methods of transportation, herding, preparation, and killing within slaughterhouses, and several investigations have indicated that animals are, due to the speed at which workers are required to work, frequently skinned and gutted while alive and conscious. Also, the journeys to the slaughterhouses (often very far away due to the fact that they make people uncomfortable, with the smell and aura of death) frequently cause injuries and death to the animals en route. Most countries have laws in regards to the treatment of animals at slaughterhouses, but not the US: the only law pertaining to the treatment of animals in the meat industry, the Humane Slaughter Act of 1958, which mandates that animals be unconscious before being shackled and hoisted up on the line, is largely ignored, since there is no penalties for violation, and inspection officials typically ignore it. Gail Eisnitz, chief investigator for the Humane Farming Association, interviewed slaughterhouse workers who, without exception, told her that they have beaten, strangled, boiled, and dismembered animals alive, and/or failed to report those who do. Several said that this violence has led them to be physically abusive and/or take to alcohol and drugs.

The production of meat and animal products for mass consumption is also bad for the environment. According to a 2006 United Nations initiative, the livestock industry is one of largest contributors to environmental degradation worldwide, and modern practices of raising animals for food contribute on a "massive scale" to air and water pollution, land degradation, climate change, and loss of biodiversity. Also, animal agriculture is a large source of greenhouse gases, representing, according to one estimate, 18% of the world's emissions. Going vegetarian is, therefore, a simple and easy way to go green and reduce your footprint.

The simple conclusion?

 

Being vegetarian is good for YOU, for ANIMALS, and for the WORLD.