Strict Meat-Free Diets

“Meats, Dairies, and Eggs, Oh Why” (2014) is an argumentative essay written by Rebecca Dent that explains the benefits of eating a plant-based diet and advocates for the better treatment of the animals affected by the meat industry. Dent supports her assertions by discussing the negative health effects of an omnivorous diet, addressing reasons some might be hesitant to convert to a plant-based diet, describing the advantages of substituting meat for vegetables for both the consumers and the animals, and finally, by including expert opinions and statistical facts. Dent’s purpose for this essay is to highlight the benefits of vegetarianism in order to convince readers to convert to a plant-based diet. The intended audience for this argument is those who currently eat an omnivorous diet so that they would assess and change their eating habits.

Vegetarianism is a lifestyle that has recently increased tremendously throughout the United States. Although vegetarianism has just recently reached new heights of popularity in the U.S., people have been prohibiting themselves from eating meat for centuries. Their reasonings behind their restriction of meat consumption ranges from religious views, monetary deficits, and animal ethics. Even though people nowadays might not use this reasoning as to why they become vegetarian, the history of this vegetarianism can have massive repercussions on the research and reasoning behind today’s vegetarians and scientists. This newly popularized dieting method is more than just a chic healthy trend; this lifestyle has been researched thoroughly and the results yield a totally unprecedented amount of health benefits. These benefits range from all across the board and improve life and sense of well being in general in every one who follows this meatless regime. Furthermore, plant based dieting provides more benefits contributing to a healthier lifestyle overall than meat based dieting because vegetarianism stimulates increased nutrient intake.

Most Americans are aware of global warming, cancer, heart disease and the fact that the earth’s supply of good water is diminishing. In an effort to conserve our planet people drive hybrid cars, recycle, and use low energy light bulbs and appliances, which is great. However, most Americans are unaware and uninformed about how meat effects global warming, our health, and how much of our planet’s water and resources meat production consumes. Meat contributes to global warming, increases risk for cancer, causes heart disease and uses a tremendous amount of resources to produce, therefore people need to be informed about what they are eating through food labeling and Surgeon General warnings, as well as

In November 2009, Gary Steiner, a Philosopher, author and Professor at Bucknell University, wrote an article in the New York Times entitled, “Animal, Vegetable, Miserable.” In the article, Steiner discusses how unethical he believes it is to use animals for human consumption. In addition to consuming animals, Steiner writes that it is inhumane to use any products that were made from sacrificing animal lives. The article goes on to say that recently, more and more people have become interested in where their meat comes from and how the animals were treated before they were killed for human desires. The writer further states that some people are concerned with how well the animals are treated before they’re killed, while others are concerned about whether the animals are given harmful additives to their food that could affect the health of the consumers who eats the animals. On the contrary, Steiner believes that no one is worried about how immoral it is to kill the animals in the first place. The author concludes, “People who are ethical vegans believe that differences in intelligence between human and non-human animals have no moral significance whatsoever” (Steiner 847). I will argue that Steiner’s essay is biased, contradictory and generalizes that only strict vegans are ethical, and I will explain that the only reason for his strong persuasive article is to convince everyone to become vegan under the excuse of being moral individuals.

In a study conducted by The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition in 2003, it was estimated that there are approximately 2 billion people that live primarily on a meat-based diet while approximately 4 billion people live primarily on a plant-based diet (Pimentel, 2003). With this information we can deduce just how much of a difference in environmental effects there are between a vegetarian diet and a diet that consumes meat. For example, in this study it was found that the average amount of fossil fuel energy used for 1 kilocalorie of animal-based protein was 11 times more than that for 1 kilocalorie of grain protein. This statistic shows that the mass production of animal meat-based foods requires a much larger amount of the already limited amount of fossil fuels that are on Earth than plant-based food. By examining this fact, it is not a broad leap to assume that in reducing the worlds extravagant use of animal meat for consumption we could not only preserve the natural resources we have but also assist in reducing factors that add to climate change. Although the argument could be made that because both the vegetarian diet and a diet with meat in it use a large amount of resources there would be no difference in reducing the effects that the agriculture industry has on climate change but that is simply not true. While it is true that both diets use a large amount of resources, across the board the meat-based diet uses a much larger amount of resources. In fact, in the study conducted by The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition it states, “The meat-based diet requires more energy, land, and water resources than the lactoovovegetarian [vegetarian] diet.” Although both are considered unsustainable, this study provides very valid evidence that the vegetarian diet is more sustainable than that of a meat-based

A vegan diet is the best possible diet because it inflicts less damage to the environment. According to Culinary Schools, “Nearly half of all water used in the UNited States goes to raising animals for food. It takes more than 2,400 gallons of water to produce 1 pound of meat. Vs. 1 pound of wheat takes 25 gallons. You’d save more water by not eating one pound of meat than you would by not taking a shower for 6 months” (“Veganism & The Environment: By the Numbers” par. 9-11). In other words, 50% of the water used by the United States as a whole, was used to raise animals that were going to be eaten later on. This quote shows that raising animals for food is a massive waste of water. That large amount of water is used to provide the animals with wheat and grains to eat and to

There are actually two kinds of protein diets. There is the low protein diet which (as the name implies) entails the person to limit their protein intake; and then there is the high protein diet which is the exact opposite of the low protein one. It should be noted here that both of these protein diets are very different from the protein rich Atkins diet. For one thing, the Atkins diet is both low fat and calorie-controlled, while the 2 aforementioned are not.

Many people don’t realize that cancer is caused by DNA mutations, which is happening right now in my body and your body too. We all know that cancer is deadly but all of us don’t know where it comes from, why it happens, or even how bad it can affect someone. My opinion on this article is that there are many facts to support the reason why these natives are cancer free. I personally believe that this is a very controversial topic and that there are many arguments for both sides. I agree with this article, in the reason why these natives don’t get or have cancer. These natives don’t have cancer because they eat grass fed meat, and the eat many plants which we all know those are good for

Vegetarianism has had its roots in history since 5th century B.C. in ancient Greece and India. Religions such as Buddhism and Zoroastrianism promoted abstaining from flesh foods; in addition, philosophers including Pythagoras, Plato, and Socrates and writers such as Voltaire and Shelley expressed similar opinions about the desirability of a flesh-free diet. Before the adaptation of the word “vegetarian”, this way of eating was often referred to as the Pythagorean diet named after the famous mathematician. “Pythagoras viewed vegetarianism as a key factor in peaceful human co-existence, putting forward the view that slaughtering animals brutalized the human soul.” This lifestyle however was not purely about the health benefits it provided,

In 1990s low-fat diets were conventionally followed by the people that did not have any strong scientific evidence ((http://authoritynutrition.com/7-ways-the-low-fat-diet-destroys-your-health/)). Generally, fat-free diet or low-fat diet plans encourage us to switch to harmful food items which are made of ‘easy’ carbohydrates such as breads, rice, sugary juices or starchy foods. Such diet plans impose great amount of health risk by causing easily digestible carbohydrates to raise our blood glucose and triglyceride levels quickly. This in long run increases the risk of weight gain, diabetes and heart diseases. Additionally, the low fat diets lower testosterone hormone levels in the body leading to increased body fat, osteoporosis, depression

The ethics of meat-eating has not been an excuse to pick apart an old way of life, but has been a topic of dispute since fourth century BC Athens. According to the book about the history of meat-eating, The Bloodless Revolution, the first chapter of Genesis in the Bible instructed that plants are for animals, and animals are for humans to eat. This religious and philosophical pillar provided people a sound reason to utilize humanity's predatory instincts. Yet, some people in the seventeenth century called for an entire rethinking of human relationship with nature. In fact, important philosophers like Descartes, Gasendi, and Francis Bacon, all advocated vegetarianism. They (vegetarians, the term first coined in 1840) thought, man is lord of

Ultimately, intelligence is how most people judge one another. If someone is an intellectual, they’re obviously going to have more people who listen and take advice from than one who is not educated whatsoever. This is why Steiner questions, “How can intelligent people who purport to be deeply concerned with animal welfare and respectful of life turn a blind eye to such practices?” (846). Steiner notices how even the well educated population claim that they care about animals yet do nothing to show that they care, like become vegans. Animals are tortured for everyday products that these people

As different crazes and fads are appearing each day, we have come to expect them to simply fade away as the hype passes. However, veganism has stood the test of time in our fad society and is still increasing in popularity. Originally only thought to be a religious lifestyle, many people from different walks of life are becoming vegans. However, this poses many questions and sparks heated debates, mainly from omnivorous people who believe that veganism is against life’s natural order. Vegans, then, argue against an omnivorous lifestyle by bringing up facts about humans’ biological makeup and how humans are, contrary to popular belief, herbivorous by nature, not omnivorous. While both sides present good arguments to some, the veganism lifestyle contains more benefits and less harmful cons than an omnivorous lifestyle.

Ferdman A. Roberto. “The Meat Industry worst Nightmare could become reality.” The Washington Post. Washington Post. 7, Jan. 2015. Web. 20, Oct. 2015. http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonkblog/wp/2015/01/07/why-the-governments-new-dietary-guidelines-could-be-a-nightmare-for-the-meat-industry/

Consumption of meat by humans creates several problems. First and foremost, raising animals for food compromises the environment. For example, it takes a large amount of natural resources to sustain the meat industry. The use of water, land, and food to raise animals for human consumption is not an efficient use of our limited resources. In contrast, it is more efficient to feed humans directly than to use land, food, and water to feed animals to be used as food. There are shortages of fertile land, clean water, and food in several third world countries. Many of these countries’ resources are allocated to produce feed for animals in developed countries around the world. As a result, the citizens of these countries are stricken with water and food shortages, while their crops are feeding cattle from across the globe. However, this problem can be solved by adopting a vegan diet. The vegan diet will allow a more efficient use of resources that in turn can be used to feed starving men, women, and children throughout the world. Consequently, more people in the world could be fed if the land used to grow feed for animals was used to grow food for humans.