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Animals Are Friends Not Food
If you were to ask me some of my favorite foods four months ago, they would include; boneless chicken, spaghetti and meatballs and last but not least, burgers. I was a carnivore and had no plans on changing my diet until my best friend opened my eyes. She gave me a ton of great information on it which just made me more interested so i did some research. I was exposed to the truth that the meat I was consuming, which I trusted had safe quality meat, had actually been a lie. The FDA we trust to keep us safe really does not have our best interest at heart, like we’d all like to think. The meat industry uses the cheapest and fastest ways to keep up with America’s high demand even if that means feeding unhealthy, processed, low quality meat that may cause innocent victims to get sick. The worst part is that most of these companies, like Tyson for example, use tricky wording on their packaging to avoid consumers finding the truth about their meat. I started thinking more about what I was putting into my body. I finally made the decision to cut out all fast and some processed foods and become vegetarian. Since my extreme diet change I’ve noticed great results. I am less tired, I feel more alert, experienced different foods and even lost some weight. I learn more about vegetarianism every day. The more I learn, the more passionate I become about the topic of vegetarianism.
Vegetarianism has been around longer than one would think. Many anthropologists believe that early humans ate mainly plants because their digestive systems resemble that of a plant eater rather than a carnivore. As the world evolved, so did humans diets. “Up until the mid-1900's, Americans ate far less meat than they do today. The cost of...
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... seem to forget is that there is plenty of other foods we can receive our required protein from. Foods like nuts, seeds, dairy, beans, soy and spinach all can provide your body with enough protein and amino acids to be healthy.
“The average American consumed 12.61 pounds of meat per year in 1973. Today, the average American consumes close to 200 plus pounds per year!” (Food Inc.). That number is way too high for something that isn’t even necessary for a suitable, healthy diet! I believe that vegetarianism is the smart way to eat in order to save our bodies, planet and animals. America is aware of the unhealthy lifestyle we’ve created. For those who want change, I believe vegetarianism is where to start. If we want to minimize health complications, preserve our planet and its resources and save our animal life, we must start now to benefit our future. Who’s with me?
People can be classified into two categories, meat eaters and non meat eaters. Meat eaters or carnivores are common in society so there has to be a tremendous amount of meat production to meet these needs. But has anyone ever thought about the amount of fuel and energy it takes to make it and how it would ultimately destroy the Earth? Many have and it revealed to them that the cost of being a vegan or vegetarian is far less than continuing their carnivorous ways. Two authors have their opinions to offer, even if they are on the same side of the argument and want to convert people to being a vegan. In “Eating Green” Margaret Lundberg states why becoming a vegan is healthy, not only for the person, but also the environment. John Vidal’s “10 Ways Vegetarianism Can Help Save the Planet”
I will first show the lack of validity and soundness to Howard’s claim that A) a vegan lifestyle is a healthier choice and B) his claim that one must switch to that lifestyle to enjoy these said benefits. To the claim made in A, Howard uses his own health problems he endured on his meat diet, and uses it as a constant variable comparing it to his now relative healthy lifestyle as a vegan. On first glance anyone who eats a calorie-laden, unbalanced diet and ends up weighing 300 pounds, as Lyman himself admitted, will have health problems regardless of his orientation to meat or vegetables. With this said his comparing analogy is inertly flawed and must be disregarded from the argument he presents. On march 8 before the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee, Mary K Young, MS.,R.D,NCBA Director of Nutrition Research and Information, presented the benefits of eating meat. Using Data from the 1995 USDA Continuing Survey of Food Intakes by Individuals (CSI) she confirms that red meat enhances one overall diet quality. Young goes on to point out that red meat is the number one source for protein, B12, and zinc, number 2 source for B6 and third greatest source for iron, niacin and potassium. She also pointed out that red meat alone has the greatest concentrates of iron and zinc together. Also included cited in Young’s report was the research recently published in the Journal of the American...
.... People do not have to become vegetarians, but people should consider other meat and food as alternatives. Ultimately, if a majority of people chose organic farms and foods it would put a heavy hit on the meat production business. People will be eating healthier, and they will be doing their healthy part in the ecosystem and that will help to lower greenhouse gas emissions and greatly improve treatment of animals. The prices of organic food just need to come down dramatically for people to buy it. Methane from liquid manure, nitrous oxide from manmade fertilizers, carbon dioxide from machines are why people have put themselves and animals into a dilemma and made it into a never-ending continuous cycle.
The food industry is in a state of necessary revolution, for obesity rates seem to be rising exponentially, counties striving to develop have hit lack-of-food road blocks, and massive animal farms produce threats such as unethical treatment of animals and food-borne pathogen spikes. With these dilemmas revolving around the food world, it is natural for one to ponder, “Are human’s inherently omnivorous, eating both animal and plant based products, or were we suppose to be receiving nutrients solely from a vegetarian diet?” Kathy Freston, author of The Lean: A Revolutionary (and Simple!) 30-Day Plan for Healthy, Lasting Weight Loss, discusses her viewpoint surrounding the dilemma by writing “Shattering the Meat Myth: Humans are Natural Vegetarians.” Freston’s answer to the questions presented above
Nutritionism and Today’s Diet Nutritionism is the ideology that the nutritional value of a food is the sum of all its individual nutrients, vitamins, and other components. In the book, “In Defense of Food” by Michael Pollan, he critiques scientists and government recommendations about their nutritional advice. Pollan presents a strong case pointing out the many flaws and problems that have risen over the years of following scientific studies and government related warnings on the proper amount of nutrients needed for a healthy diet. Pollan’s main point is introducing science into our food system has had more of a negative impact than a positive one, we should go back to eating more of a traditional diet. I believe food science has given us
Most of us do not think twice about the foods we pick up from the supermarket. Many Americans have a preconceived belief that the food being sold to us is safe, and withholds the highest standard of quality. Certainly, compared to many places in the world, this is true. But is the United States sincerely trying to carry out these standards, or have we begun to see a reverse in the health and safety of our food- and more explicitly in our meat? Jonathan Foer, author of “Eating Animals” argues for reform within the food industry- not only for the humane treatment of animals but moreover for our own health. Although Foer exposes the ills within the food industries in order to persuade readers to change their diets for the better, his “vegetarianism or die” assessment may be too extreme for most Americans. The true ills do not start with the meat, but with industrialized production of it through methods practiced by factory farming.
One of the people I interview said, “The hardest part of being a vegetarian is going out to restaurants and trying to find something to eat” (Erin). A quick look at the most popular American restaurants can show that our food culture is dominated by meat and is becoming an ever increasing ingredient. From 1975 to 2007, the number of chickens killed for meat has increased 200% ( Psych). One might say that the number has increased since the population of the United States has increased, however, the population has only increased 70 percent in that amount of time( US
While plant-based diet have been around for decades, veganism did not make headlines until the late 1990’s. ‘Vegetarian’ first appears in a title of an article on September 16th, 1852, five years after the Vegetarian Society was formed (Vegetarian Society). Although veganism has clearly risen in popularity in the 21st century, it can not be concluded that American’s view plant-based eating positively. Multiple articles have been published bashing the lifestyle. ‘Vegan’ first appeared in a title of an article on December 6th, 1998, fifty-four years after the first vegan society was formed (Vegan Society). The article was titled, “All Species Welcome At A Vegan Mixer.” The author wrote about veganism as a foreign idea and made jokes on vegan’s behalf. The second time veganism appeared in the New York Times was in December of the same year. The article exposed a vegan eco-terrorist group, giving all vegans a bad reputation. Two years later, on February 1st, 2000,
Every day across America millions of people wake up to start their morning. Throughout the day the vast majority of these people will consume meat, but 3% will replace the pig, cow, and chicken products for vegetable or fruit made meals (Harris). These vegetarians all have many different reasons to make this choice. This decision is a huge change in one’s life and is not without questions. Some people may wonder why would anyone abstain from the amazing food that contains meat. This essay will briefly explain the history of vegetarianism, the reasons for vegetarianism, and answer questions about vegetarianism. Vegetarian diets are all around better than diets containing meat because of three main reasons; the abuse of animals, the environmental damage, and the health benefits for humans.
The documentary I was presented with was Forks over Knives. Its general premise is saying meat is bad, it causes cancer, and that all humans should be on a whole- food plant based diet. They took these people into a 12-week program to switch them over to this diet. My knowledge before watching this film was that meat is good for you, we get plenty of amino acids that we don’t make in our own body. It gives us lots of protein. I did know that red meat is not a good meat to eat all the time. But I never would have thought of cutting meat out of my diet. Lee Fulkerson was the director as well the writer of Forks Over Knives. I feel as though
In today’s society, humans are becoming more health conscious in what they consume. They strive to make sacrifices for their health betterment. Vegetarianism is a unique lifestyle choice that has various health benefits and makes our body feel good. In order to have the knowledge of a vegetarian versus meat diet, it’s good to look into the reasons to change eating habits. People do not decide their eating habits until they are at an age where they can do what they want. Adolescents under nineteen years old are starting to want a change in their lives by avoiding the consumption of meat. Teenagers everywhere are considering and deeply thinking about- is it really healthier to become vegetarian? According to the United States of Agriculture and
For several years the issue of eating meat has been a great concern to all types of people all over the world. In many different societies controversy has began to arise over the morality of eating meat from animals. A lot of the reasons for not eating meat have to deal with religious affiliations, personal health, animal rights, and concern about the environment. Vegetarians have a greater way of expressing meats negative effects on the human body whereas meat eaters have close to no evidence of meat eating being a positive effect on the human body. Being a vegetarian is more beneficial for human beings because of health reasons, environmental issues, and animal rights.
Every person has the ability to make their own choice of whether to eat meat or not. However, eating meat is directly tied to negative health effects, pollution leading to a depletion of ozone, and the depletion of hundreds of thousands of acres of land “wasted” on animal production when they could be used to solve the hunger crisis or lower emission levels. What humans eat is no longer a matter of choice; it has become a matter of life and death. Literally, the future of the whole planet rests on the decision of whether or not to eat meat. If humans chose to eat less meat the world that wouldn’t have to suffer the consequences (outlined above.) Vegetarianism is one possibility, as is Veganism; however the world would be
The health benefits of a vegetarian diet are hard to ignore. Vegetarians have a lower chance of developing many diseases, such as cancer and diabetes. Women who eat meat daily are more likely to develop breast cancer. According to an article in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, “consumption of well-done meats and, thus, exposures to heterocyclic amines (or other compounds) formed during high-temperature cooking may play an important role in the risk of breast cancer.” Men are also more than almost more likely to develop prostate cancer than those who do not include meat in their everyday diets. “Up to 80 percent of prostate cancer is attributed to dietary practices, and international comparisons show strong positive associations with meat consumption” (Alexander, 2010). Vegetarians have also shown to have lower blood pressure, better digestion, and more energy than humans with a meat based diet. The effects of a vegetarian life style ...
Vegetarians tend to be healthier than those who consume meat. This is due to the prevalent unnatural chemicals used in the processing of meats, and eating these are unsuitable for the body. Meats already contain harmful amounts of cholesterol, and over-consumption of red meat can lead to early heart disease. Animals that are raised on farms for their meat are not treated well, and this mistreatment can lead to harm in the meat they are producing. Although one life choice cannot change one’s environmental