Reasons for becoming a vegetarian....
One of the websites I used to do research on my topic talked about the reasons that people become vegetarians. The website that I found this information on is, http://www.jtcwd.com/vegie/ . The author says, " Reasons for becoming a vegetarian are personal and individual decisions. Some are ethical and some are health reasons." I find it very interesting to listen to peoples stories and find out what made them decide to become a vegetarian. Personally, I stopped eating meat in the fourth grade for a few different reasons. I never really liked the taste of meat and mad cow disease had just started to surface. The thought of getting sick and dying scared me as a young child and therefore I decided to not eat red meat. Now eleven years later and I still choose not to eat meat. I am not a true vegetarian because I do eat fish. Some other reasons people decide to become vegetarians is because they believe in animal rights and feel that it is inhumane to eat meat. It is good to care about the animals and the environment, but I feel that we need people to eat meat for the cycle of life to continue. If no one ate meat then there would be an over population of animals in the world and it could lead to chaos. Other reasons people choose not to eat meat is due to their religion. For example, I have a friend that is Jewish and she does not eat pork. Health concerns may be another reason that some people do not eat meat. Everyone follows a different diet and what's good for some is not good for others. Certain people may have allergies or health conditions that restrict them from eating meat.
In my opinion culture is also a big part of a persons diet. My family is 100% Italian and I was raised eating lots of pasta, sausage, meatballs, and fish. My family ate more fish then meat and that most likely contributes to why I prefer fish over meat. I also know kids who were born into vegetarian families and since their parents don't eat meat neither do they. I feel that it is not healthy for a young child to be a vegetarian because it could stunt their growth. Children need to get all the nutrients they can while their bodies are young and still developing. I am short and I think that maybe the fact that I stopped eating meat at such a young age played a part on my height.
posted by Kat22 @ 1:19 PM
2 Comments:
Just a thought....a lot of the animals we use for the meat we eat are bred just for that purpose. At this point, if everyone were to miraculously become vegetarians, yes, there would be an overpopulation of domesticated animals. As I've been researching my topic on the mistreatment of animals, I'm finding it harder and harder to eat meat. I will never eat veal after reading how the calves are forced to live in tiny cages that don't allow them to turn around. They miss their mother's so much that, having the urge to suck, they try to suck the bars on their stalls. So I can see how someone would become a vegetarian for ethical reasons...I'm getting to that point myself. I, too have a friend who won't eat pork but her reason is because, growing up on a farm, she claims that when pork is cooking, the smell is exactly the same as when the pig is alive. yeck! Imagine having a friend whose a pig, as a kid and then smelling him being cooked up for dinner?
I do agree with some of the stuff in this blog but I think in this post I might be able to make a couple of suggestions. The only reason that we have so many animals alive that were only designed to be killed is because that there is such a demand from meat eaters from around the world. Therefore if everyone did suddenly become vegetarian then the demand for meat would vanish, and so animals would not be bred in such large quantities. And secondly I have been a vegetarian all of my life and I live in a all vegetarian house hold with a younger brother and sister who have both been raised vegetarians. We have not suffered stunted growth or any other health problems because of the wide variety of alternative foods to fulfill us nutritionally. I know that that is only 3 people I speak of but I have heard no other complaints from my vegetarian friends either. Thanks for listening and I really hope that you keep on with this blog as it really does give a lot of information about the subject and a lot of it is really interesting! cheers :-D
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