Why the vegetarian/vegan lifestyle?

Hello everyone!

I'm not a vegetarian or vegan, but I'm interested in the lifestyle and the reasons behind it.  I've never known anyone to chose the veg*an life, so I'm curious.  Why, personally, are you vegetarian? What advantages are there to being vegetarian?  Thanks in advance!

I am a vegetarian simply for the health benefits. Vegetarians have a longer life expectancy than meat-eaters.

Personally, I dont believe the human body was made to digest meat. Our bodies and intestines and such are like those of herbivores (eg. giraffes), not carnivores (eg. lions).

I just think meat in our bodies basically just....rot. And I dont like the idea of rotting substances (especially that of another -what used to be- living thing) in my body. :)

Hi Santana! Thanks so much for responding! Have there been studies done on the life expectancy comparison? How long have you been vegetarian?

You might have trouble getting people to answer this question because vegetarians get asked this question -all- the time, usually by people who are somewhat defensive and even belligerent about eating meat. (Not that I'm saying you are that way!) After a while, you get really sick of answering the question and resent it a bit even when it's asked by someone who is just curious.

For me, I started being vegetarian because I was young and idealistic, and I highly disapprove of the inhumane ways that many animals are farmed. After 16 years of not eating meat, it's now mostly because I have zero desire to do so. If Americans would cut back on meat consumption and increase vegetable consumption, it would be a much healthier country!

i'm interested in this too, i hope more people reply

the times that i've been vegetarian it was to lose weight and im kiiinda embarassed to say that because so many people do it for the animals! ahh well.

Lol, laire23 I've wanted to post here asking for a while now, but I was afraid it wouldn't be well-received exactly for the reasons you stated! :) I'm certainly not looking for any sort of debate, just don't know anyone personally who's chosen this lifestyle and am curious as to the reasons.  I know that some go vegetarian strictly for weight-loss, not for long-term health benefits.  I've read some about the moral issues behind animal treatment, but for me it's difficult to pick between what's fact-based and what's emotion-based. 

a vegan lifestyle is much better for the environment as well. i forget the exact numbers, but the amount of food/energy that goes into producing 1 lb of meat is soooo much greater than 1 lb of wheat. the main reason for deforestation is for cattle grazing. The majority of the corn grown is used as livestock feed, not for human consumption.

There is also less sat. fat, and less cholesterol(none for the vegans) in a veggo diet.

I think all the other reasons have been stated already lol

Denne11, I had totally forgotten about that! That's one aspect of the vegan lifestyle that I've done some reading on.  Thanks for posting!

My reasons are slightly different... Although I can't say that I'm 100% vegetarian as I do eat some chicken/fish (I limit my consumption of them as much as I possibly can), I don't eat red meat at all. For me it's about the taste and texture. I HATE (note I didn't say dislike) the smell of raw and cooked red meat and I truly dislike the taste and texture of it too. There is nothing more disgusting to me than the taste of meat. It tastes like blood.

My father had 3 pig farms, 3 butcher shops and a feed factory when I was growing up. Pork and beef were a staple in our home. I remember having a hard time eating meat when I was growing up, even being forced to eat it. I've asked my parents about this and they agreed that even as a toddler I did not like meat.

For me it was Baby cows. In Biology, I had to debate about something and I was assigned factory farming and selective breeding.
It led to a lot of videos. Since I love calves, I just decided to quit eating meat.
So, yeah I'm one of those 'animal rihhts' people.

I'm a pescetarian (pescetarians eat fish) but only eat fish about once a month or so.

I mostly chose this diet as I love animals.  I haven't "officially" decided that it's morally wrong to eat meat but the factory farming absolutely is, the horrible ways the animals are treated and such.  The beef industry is horribly corrupt as well, not just for the animals but the workers.  I can't feel good supporting that with my money.

But the diet also kind of chose me.  I became pescetarian very gradually.  I have several friends who are vegetarian and vegan and after years of eating and cooking together with them I simply lost my taste for meat.   I started slowly by not bringing meat into my house to cook.  I'd order it out at restaurants from time to time and happily consume it if served at a friend or family function.  This went on for years. 

One day I realized it had been over a year since I'd eaten any chicken and had only had turkey on thanksgiving, so I decided to cut fowl completely out and make the conscious choice not to eat it again.  I then realized I was only eating meat about twice a week, if that.  I never was much for ham or pork but I still had cravings for beef and bacon (BACON!!) now and again but eventually I decided to try cutting that out too.   Just as an experiment.  I found that I positively LOVE "veggie" bacon and at only 60 calories and 4.5 grams of fat per serving, it's much a much healthier alternative that satisfies my craving.

I decided not to give up seafood right away as that's one thing I really love, but I have a feeling I'll be officially giving that up soon as well.  I'm down to only eating fish or seafood about once a month and I have pangs of guilt when I do.

I'm going on a year now of a full-time pescetarian diet.  I like that I can feel good about my food choices.

I was reading a text book for one of my classes and there was some information on the meat industry that I hadn't ever come across in a scholarly form. I read it and thought "oh sh**. I can't be ignorant anymore" so I stopped eating meat [it wasn't right away... I waited till boxing day so I could have my last 'christmas dinner']. The amount of water it takes to produce 10lbs of steak is insane (to me) and I have an irrational  fear of America invading us to take our water... lol... =). For me its more of an environmental issue, and political i guess because a lot of farmers aren't able to practice subsistence living b/c of giant factory farms booting them off the land. Animal rights is at the bottom of my list. 

I think that is the most scrambled reply i've ever written... I might edit that later lol. 

I was a meat eater. It was only by accident and good healthy eating that I discovered how much better I felt when I cut out meat from my diet! I have Fibromyalgia and I discovered that consuming meat and fat products caused more pain. I am not pain free but if I do eat a burger or steak I feel it Ouch!

WOW! I just found out I am a Pescetarian! I never knew there was a name to my eating habits! How the heck do you pronounce this?

Original Post by bjwillia:

I was reading a text book for one of my classes and there was some information on the meat industry that I hadn't ever come across in a scholarly form.

 Do you remember the name of the book? I'm always on the lookout for credible sources to support my beliefs. PETA just doesn't seem that reliable to me...

But to answer lbh's question, I originally  became vegetarian as the result of a debate over the ethics of  bullfighting. I relized that the meat industry in general is disgusting, cruel, and unsanitary, and has a devastating impact on the environment. Whenever you mass produce anything, corners are cut to save production costs. The same applies for mas production of living creatures. Their well-being is not taken into consideration at all. I just can't believe people when they argue that animals aren't self aware. Everything I've ever observered or heard about animals has proven otherwise (example, how can something mark territory, as many species do, if it doesn't have a sense of self?). I don't have a problem with meat eating per say, I just don't believe that it should be produced the way it is. If I could be 100% positive of the conditions in which my meat was raised and slaughtered, I might eat it. But I can't, so I just don't. Humans were meant to eat meat, but we were meant to eat it seldomly. Early people almost never ate meat. Read any historical document on the subject. In the bible, slaughtering a calf or lamb was a huge deal, and only happened for a big event like a wedding or funeral, or as a sacrifice to God. The first humans were hunter-gatherers. Which meant they mostly ate berries and other plants, and when they were lucky enough to come across a dead animal, or to actually kill an animal in a hunt, they got to indulge in some meat. Modern people eat meat almost every day and I think its extremely unhealthy.

i eat meat. its delicious and it gives me nutrients. here are some reasons for pro-meat:

http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview? id=463302

Hello,

Today is actually the first day I'm going to try a vegeterian diet, for weight loss purposes. I support the other reasons also which is why I am going to try to make it more of a permanent thing. During this frist month I'm going to only allow my self meat one day a week because I know going cold turkey is not going to be easy. I really hope to feel a difference health wise. I eventually want to only eat seafood and maybe meat on rare occasions.

I became vegetarian because:

1) I feel animals are much smarter than humans give them credit for, and I'm not comfortable eating something that is sentient and could possibly have a soul.

2) I LOVE animals... and just couldn't bring myself to eat them any more.

3) The animals used for slaughter are treated so HORRIBLY and inhumanly. Even if I was okay with eating meat... I still wouldn't simply for that reasona alone.

I have been vegan for almost a year... and the reasons I switched are because:

1) Animals used for dairy and egg products are kept in horrible conditions that I can't condone.

2) Cows are forced to give birth in order to produce milk. So I assume the milk is only meant for the calf, not humans.

3) I'm not sure if I think eating chicken eggs is okay. They ARE still chickens.

4) My body has a hard time digesting dairy.

By not consuming anything with animal products; I am not contributing to the abuse of animals.  I also do not wear anything that comes from an animal, including wool.

Coffeelover 2000 thank you for your response.  I have Fibromyalgia and am having difficulty controlling the pain.  I have never made the connection between eating meat and fat products and my pain.  I've been considering going to a vegetarian diet, now may be the right time to start. 

I became a vegetarian because I didn't really care for meat to begin with, and I just felt.. bad for eating it. I wouldn't bring myself to kill the animal, why would I let myself eat the meat of an animal that someone else killed for profit? I don't see the point of it, and I'd rather abstain for it and allow the ones who enjoy meat have the share I would've eaten.

Not too into the whole vegan and vegetarian clique. I hate PETA with a firey passion, and I don't make my vegetarianism known to the world. It's just food choices, yanno? -shrug-

But you know, the whole health benefits is pretty gnarly.

The Seventh Day Adventist Health Study is one of the more comprehensive studies showing that vegetarians are healthier in pretty much every way.

I became (mostly) vegetarian after spending a summer working on an organic farm.  The chickens were kept in "eggmobiles" out in the pastures, where they were kept safely at night and allowed out to peck around freely in the grass during the day.  The pigs lived in the woods, where they could happily root around for acorns, and had plenty of shade to protect their sensitive skin.  The turkeys also lived in the woods and liked to roost on low branches.

After I saw how farm animals could be raised in a humane manner, I realized how far away this was from how 99.9% of the meat in this country is raised.  I have no problem eating meat that came from pasture-raised, humanely-slaughtered animals, but I don't really have access to this kind of meat since I live in a dorm and eat in a dining hall.  I only eat meat when I'm at home or I'm at the kind of restaurant that specializes in local and sustainable food.