According to the Human Research Council, the percentage of the United States population surveyed in 2014 that claimed to be vegan or vegetarian was 1.8% (“Reasons for Choosing Vegetarianism or Veganism,” 2016). Vegans are individuals who do not eat any animals products including meat and dairy products, whereas vegetarians are individuals who do not eat meat products. Vegetarians, as well as vegans, are considered minorities in society because they choose to eat a certain way and stray from social norms. They are made fun of and are constantly harassed by sensitive meat eaters and people who think it is “weird.” Vegetarians are thought to be crazy for not wanting to eat meat. This evolving era of vegetarianism is an ethical issue because majority
of people are not aware and are unfamiliar with it because no one talks about it. There are rarely ever any commercials or advertisements on TV suggesting and promoting a vegetarian lifestyle. Individuals maintaining a vegetarian diet usually chose it for several reasons whether it is for health, animal-rights, environmental, or religious purposes. In the article “Eating Meat may Raise Risk of Heart Disease and Stroke,” it shows that people who consume more than two servings of red meat a day have a 40 percent higher risk at dying from a heart attack, stroke, or cardiovascular disease. Society is not aware of the number of problems associated with consuming meat products such as animal cruelty, serious environmental issues, disease and viruses caught by meat that has been infected, heart disease, cancer, and strokes. Sadly, some of these problems may end up killing individuals. It is an ethical necessity that society normalizes a vegetarian diet for the benefits of not only good health, but environmental well-being as well.
Simplifying the Case for Vegetarianism is an article written by Andrew Tardiff as part of the academic journal Social Theory and Practice; published by Florida State University, Department of Philosophy in 1996. Tardiff was a part of the department of philosophy at Rhode Island College and wrote other articles, including A Catholic Case for Vegetarianism and Vegetarianism Virtue: Does Consequentialism Demand Too Little?
“The assumption that animals are without rights and the illusion that our treatment of them has no moral significance is a positively outrageous example of Western crudity and barbarity. Universal compassion is the only guarantee of morality."( Schopenhauer). Vegetarianism and animal rights movement have been crossing each other since 70’s. The meeting point between two is veganism which means strict vegetarianism. Vegetarianism was firstly founded as being formed on ethical issues and then it became mostly based on health reasons. Even though vegetarianism has evolved drastically over time, some of its current forms have come back full circle to its early days, when vegetarianism was an ethical-philosophical choice, not a mere health choice.
“The assumption that animals are without rights, and the illusion that their treatment has no moral significance is a positively outrageous example of Western crudity and barbarity. Universal compassion is the only guarantee of morality."(Schopenhauer). I always wondered why some people are not so drawn to the consumption of meat and fed up with only one thought about it. Why so many people loathe of blood, and why so few people can easily kill and be slaughter animal, until they just get used to it? This reaction should say something about the most important moments in the code, which was programmed in the human psyche. Realization the necessity of refraining from meat is especially difficult because people consume it for a long time, and in addition, there is a certain attitude to the meat as to the product that is useful, nourishing and even prestigious. On the other hand, the constant consumption of meat has made the vast majority of people completely emotionless towards it. However, there must be some real and strong reasons for refusal of consumption of meat and as I noticed they were always completely different. So, even though vegetarianism has evolved drastically over time, some of its current forms have come back full circle to resemble that of its roots, when vegetarianism was an ethical-philosophical choice, not merely a matter of personal health.
If a plant based diet has all the nutrients an omnivore diet has, why are we still eating meat? Many say that it’s easy to be deficient in certain vitamins and minerals, but a well-planned vegetarian diet can provide all the nutrients and more. Vegetarianism not only is beneficial to your health, but to the environment too.
In general, the public loves their meat. I mean look at our streets there are McDonalds, Burger Kings, and Wendy’s around almost every corner. When asked if they would go vegan most people would say no, I love to eat meat. To vegans this disgusts them and their reasoning is very convincing.
In the United States, the citizens are becoming aware of the importance of health, the well-being of animals, and the environment. An indication of this is from the rise in vegans in the nation (Henriquez). Veganism is healthier for the human body and the environment ("Raw Foodism"). A vegan lifestyle includes a person who does not believe in killing any sentient animal, not consuming any animal products and not using any animal by-products (PETA). The establishment of a vegan diet could be beneficial because it can create a healthier lifestyle, minimize the planet's environmental footprint and lessen animal cruelty.
Although vegetarians come in many forms, they are often thought to hold to a few set positions. Unfortunately, as is often the case, ascribing all (or most) vegetarians to specific camps is improper. One suspected position claims that it is wrong (or immoral) to eat meat-an act that obviously requires the slaughtering of the animal in question. Though some vegetarians hold to this position, I do not. While it is problematic that people eat excessive amounts of meat, eating meat isn't immoral in my view. And while I don't think meat eaters are somehow wrong, I certainly can understand and respect the position that eating meat is immoral. A second stereotypic position holds that vegetarians despise meat eaters. While there are certainly vegetarians that have issues with meat eaters, I suspect they are no more than the number of meat eaters that find vegetarians objectionable for some reason or another. I believe there are many acceptable ways to think and act and, thus, I don't begrudge those that eat meat or those that choose to think that it is immoral to do so.
“Veganism can be defined as a way of living that seeks to exclude, as far as possible and practical, all forms of exploitation of, and cruelty to, animals in the production of food, clothing or for any other purpose” (Why Vegan). The reasons some American’s choose to consume animal products instead living a vegan lifestyle are the habits and traditions associated with meat consumption, the conveniences or inconveniences of either diet; also, the taste preference that the majority of American society share. Investigating these reasons, we can look into diet and lifestyle; as well as, animal rights and compassion.
Vegetarianism used to be an unusual lifestyle choice. Today it is becoming more common and accepted by mainstream society. While there are many reasons for choosing a vegetarian diet, the most important are health reasons, environmental and economic reasons, and, above all, ethical reasons.
The issue of meat consumption has been a controversial topic on whether to allow the practice or discontinue it, non-meat eaters argue it’s unethical because it is abusive to animals. On the other hand, meat consumers argue that eating meat is ethical as long as meat eaters are conscious of how their meat is collected and the treatment of livestock is fair. The consumption of meat is an act that an individual decides whether to partake in or not. Therefore, the option of eating meat should not be completely taken away, but it should be limited. Eating meat ties in with vegetarian and vegan diets, in the sense that both have to follow guidelines to create an ethical approach to eating any grown foods. The consumption of food is ethical when
On the other side, there are various other trends that seem abnormal today but possess very high chances to become a norm in the future. In today’s scientific world, there are many abnormal behaviors that are picking up great popularity as more people are getting exposed to the different phenomenon. Everything that we might never believe, or know, which is possible to happen, is seen as abnormal, but as science and technological advancements take new steps towards modernization, there will be endless and untold ideas that will transform them into normality, even if it takes decades or centuries. In today’s society, there are way too many non-vegetarians than vegetarians or vegans. According to the statistics, there are only 22.8 million vegetarians
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.
Eating Meat--A Question of Ethics For years, humans have been asking the question: is eating meat ethical. In fact, vegan advocates around the world swear by diets rid of any and all living creatures. Such arousals of ethical questions are simply in human nature. The reason meat is consumed in the first place is because evolutionally, survival of the fittest called for it. However, as technology has advanced, meat no longer means subsistence in fact, it means for worse.
At the age of five I questioned my grandmother why we do not eat meat. She told me that eating meat was against the Hindu religion and I never questioned her until today. A vegetarian is someone that follows a plant based diet consuming mostly fruits and vegetables. There are many different types of vegetarian diets, some choose to become vegan and do not even consume eggs or dairy products. Anti-supporters of the vegetarian diet believe that vegetarians are missing out on the vitamins and minerals that meat eaters are gaining. However, vegetarians believe that this plant based diet will lead them to a longer life, not only this but it is better for the environment and it will help save animals.
Albert Einstein said, “Nothing will benefit human health and increase chances for survival of life on earth as much as the evolution to a vegetarian diet.” Nowadays, a growing number of vegetarians has been showed in many studies, such as a poll started by a nonprofit organization named Vegetarian Resource Group. It showed that United States has 6-8 million adults who do not eat poultry, meat, or fish (“Becoming a Vegetarian”, 2009, pp4). Much more people choose to be a vegetarian because it is more flexible than before, which means that vegetarians have more choice to combine a healthy lifestyle and high quality of life together. Food products like quinoa and fake meat are available for most people. Moreover, restaurants, schools, and hospitals are friendlier to vegetarians with some special offers. In addition to this, an iPhone APP named Vegetarian Scanner can alert people that the food contains meat (DeVries, 2012, pp41).