Negative Essay On Vegetarianism

In his article "Vegetarianism and the Other Weight Problem", James Rachels argues that meat eating is immoral and it is a moral duty to be vegetarian. In order to discuss the problems and come up with his conclusions, Rachels considers two arguments for vegetarianism.

A person that consumes vegetarian foods is protecting the planet from harm. According to the article “Eating Green,” it is estimated that a vegetarian diet reduces pollution, greenhouse gasses, and fossil fuels which are harming the planet.

Brought up in the southern of China, I often heard about that people from there “eat anything with four limbs except tables, anything that flies except aero planes, and anything that swims except ships”. Nevertheless, I eat more fruit, vegetables, nuts, and whole grains but less meat to make careful choices for environmental protection. Similarly, Kathy Freston argues that animal agriculture is one of the top contributors to global warming. In her Huffington Post selection “Vegetarian Is the New Prius,” Freston lists how many emissions of greenhouse gases people make when they eat meat and illustrates the consumption of tree in animal agriculture. She effectively convinces her audiences that the livestock results in the most serious environmental problems and encourages people to lead a greener diet to protect our environment. However, ardent craving, poor health, and perpetual hassle and cost prevent all Americans from being vegetarian.

In Margaret Lundberg's short story "Eating green" she has a theory about the planet becoming a healthier place to live if everyone became a vegetarian, which I believe is true. Lundberg talks about her childhood and how right off the bat her mother had her eating healthy food and that pretty much stuck with her through out her whole life. "We had two vegetables with every meal, ate plain yogurt for breakfast, and excercised with jack LaLanne." If most families started off like that it would be easier for kids to enjoy eating healthier food now instead of them liking junk food. Most people do not realize that what they eat does effect the planet and how we live on a daily basis and how badly it effects our health.

Research shows that in countries where people eat a pound or more of fruit and vegetables a day , the rate of cancer is half what it is in the United States. Pollan argues that vegetarians are less susceptible to most of the western diseases, and as a consequence live longer than the rest of us(164). Apparently, we can’t live without plants, but we don’t need to eat meat in order to obtain the nutrients we need for growth because they can be found elsewhere (Pollan 165). Since plants are less energy dense than other foods, by eating a plant-based diet one will likely consume fewer calories which is itself protective against many chronic disease (Pollan 165).I agree with Pollan that a plant-based diet can help reduce the risk of obesity, Diabetes, and Heart Disease.

Being vegetarian or vegan is not only beneficial to the animals that are being slaughtered but it also beneficial to the earth and helps to reduce global warming. According to Wikipedia, there are more than seven billion people and out of those seven billion people only three hundred and seventy five million people are said to be vegetarian or vegan. This mass slaughter of animals and livestock is also one of the leading causes of global warming. People may think that the earth is slowly dying but that is not the case anymore as global warming has caught up with us. According to NASA, there are 406.94 parts per million of carbon di oxide in the atmosphere the highest it has ever been in 650000 years. The global temperature has risen by 1.7 °F and sixteen out of the seventeen warmest years on earth have been recorded since 2001. The arctic ice minimum has decreased by 13.2% per decade and in 2012 arctic summer sea ice shrank to the lowest extent on record. The global sea level has also grown by 3.4 millimeters per year and the global average sea level has risen nearly 178mm over the past 100 years. These statistics show you how quickly global warming and climate change are having an effect on earth and who knows what the stats will be in another 50 to 100 years the earth may become uninhabitable and humans will be the sole reason for this.

Vegetarianism is a custom practiced in six out of the seven continents and has become more popular over the years. Vegetarianism can be defined as the exclusion of animal products such as meat and fish from one’s diet. Dairy products and eggs are often times excluded as well. Although there are many reasons one may decide to become a Vegetarian or follow such a code of ethics, the most common include: moral, religious or health reasons.

While vegetarianism has been proven to help environmental, health, and animal rights impacts, some people believe it to be too extreme. While vegetarianism claims to be helping the environment, there may be environmental problems associated with non-meat products. Stated before, animal agriculture produces greenhouse gas emissions. The farming of soybeans, which vegetarians fulfil their protein needs with, also has environmental impacts (Coogan,T.). Due to the increase in vegetarianism, there has also been an increase in the demand for soybean farming. Soybean farms have taken over many rainforests and diverse ecosystems (Coogan,T.). Ultimately, the creation of soybean farms destroys biodiversity. Biodiversity is necessary for ecosystems to

As we can now observe, vegetarianism has become something fashionable, and the number of people who reject eating meat is constantly increasing. In Britain, for instance, over 5 million people have done it so far. It is obviously connected with the recent animal diseases, but this tendency is likely to spread on the other regions of the world. However, it is not only a fashion or fear of illnesses. I myself became a vegetarian about 2 years ago, and I can see a number of reasons why people should stop eating meat. They are mainly of ethic, economic and health type. Those who think in an ecological way should also be aware of how this meat consumption ruins our environment. I don’t have an intention

Diets that focus on animal products, like meat, dairy, and eggs, require disproportionate high amounts of resources like water and land. Additionally, animals produce huge amounts of greenhouse gas emissions that are responsible for climate change. Such diets are not great for the environment that surrounds us, but more and more studies also link them to chronic diseases and early deaths. If the way we eat is bad for us and for the environment, we should inform ourselves about the potential impact of changing our diets.

The quote “A man can live and be healthy without killing animals for food; therefore, if he eats meat, he participates in taking animal life merely for the sake of his appetite. And to act so is immoral” from Russian writer, Leo Tolstoy, encompasses what vegetarianism is about. Veganism and vegetarianism is generally associated with leafy green salads but there is a long list of health benefits attached to that way of eating and a reduction in livestock farming benefits our environment. Diving into the benefits of becoming a vegetarian or vegan, there has been extensive research done on how a teak in diet can reduce risk of cancer, diabetes and heart disease. Plant-based dieting is a lifestyle that is beneficial for health, moral and environmental reasons.

In the year of 2012, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) estimated that Americans ate an average of 52.3 pounds of beef, 57.4 pounds of chicken and 43.5 pounds of pork per person.(citation?) Only 5% of Americans are vegetarians and with that much meat eaten by Americans, in one year alone why should you to forced to become vegetarian? With meat being the main staple in the Americans diet there is no reason we should take that of the table. That fact alone shows that most Americans’ diets are made up of meat sources. According to the United States Census Bureau (USCB) the U.S. population was 313.8 million; meaning that 16 billion pounds of beef, 18 billion chicken and 13 billion pounds of pork was eaten by Americans alone in

Having a healthy dietary method can reduce the chances of receiving many health diseases. These health diseases include obesity, heart disease, and cancer. By consuming certain foods and nutrients in one’s diet the risk factors for these health diseases can be reduced. A healthy dietary method that is beneficial to reducing and/or improving these health diseases is the vegetarian diet. The vegetarian diet follows a dietary pattern that is characterized by the consumption of plant-like foods and the avoidance of flesh foods (meat, poultry, and fish). The foods in this diet provide the body with many essential nutrients. This is why many health benefits have been associated with the vegetarian

To most people vegetarianism means the refraining of meat, primarily red meat, from personal consumption. Although the traditional vegetarian abstinence of red meat has grown into a group of varied lifestyles, little is known about them. To some people vegetarians are considered to be a drop out of the hippy era, or are labelled as "weird" or "feral". Because of the misinterpretations surrounding vegetarianism in society I am going to outline the various diets which are recognized as vegetarianism. I hope by writing this I can change some attitudes and misunderstandings, of the motivations behind the vegetarian lifestyles.

Eating is a staple of life. In every culture, food customs and variety are part of that cultures definition. In American society and other cultures, meat is a main food that is consumed, yet not by everyone. Dating back to medieval times, some meats were not consumed due to the "impurities" they were seen to be by the religions of the time. Throughout history, this has developed from not eating red meat, to not eating any meat at all, and even further to the vegan extreme of not eating any animal products at all. Though not everyone feels this way, more and more people change their eating habits every day.