Vegetarianism is not simply a present-day fashion. Human beings from diverse cultures have practiced it since ancient times. The number of vegetarians worldwide today is unknown. However, according to the Vegetarian Resource Group, there are as many 6 to 8 million in the United States alone. Since the 1980s, interest in vegetarianism has risen dramatically. So has the demand for sound information about its pros and cons.
Definitions
According to the International Vegetarian Union, vegetarians at minimum refrain from eating all animal flesh, including meat, poultry, fish and other seafood. Vegetarians do eat beans, grains, fruits, and vegetables, but disagree about animal-derived foods other than flesh. Lacto vegetarians accept dairy, lacto ovo vegetarians both dairy and eggs. Vegans refrain from eggs, dairy and often honey.
Disadvantages
Vegetarians must pay particular attention to eating enough protein, iron, calcium, omega 3 fatty acids, and Vitamin B12. Vegans need B12 supplements or B12-fortified plant foods to maintain their health, according to the Vegetarian Resource Group.
Vegetarians, especially vegans, must also be constantly vigilant about the abundance of foodstuffs that contain "hidden" animal-based ingredients. For example, some milk cheese is made with rennet, derived from the stomachs of slaughtered calves. Some apparently nondairy rice and soy cheese actually includes the milk protein casein.
While some people are born into vegetarianism or adopt it quickly later in their lives, other aspiring vegetarians must thoroughly relearn basic skills like routine and holiday menu planning, grocery shopping, and food preparation. This process can be difficult to sustain, especially in contexts where meateaters are the majority and vegetarians the minority.
During everyday household or social encounters, meateaters and vegetarians may conflict over their dietary differences. Even when they do not call attention to their eating practices, vegetarians may feel they are continually exposed to meateaters' curiosity, skepticism, and hostility.
Advantages
Reviewing the scientific evidence, the American Dietetic Association concludes that "well-planned" vegetarian and even vegan diets are "healthful, nutritionally adequate, and may provide health benefits in the prevention and treatment" of diseases like type 2 diabetes, obesity, heart disease, and cancer. Such diets are "appropriate" even during "pregnancy, lactation, infancy, childhood and adolescence and for athletes."
The benefits of vegetarianism go beyond one's own physical health. According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, livestock production, mostly the industrial raising of meat animals, generates about a fifth of the world's greenhouse gases. It increases other pollutants like pesticides; uses large amounts of increasingly scarce resources like oil, water and land; and is in many places tied to labor abuses. In the US alone, 10 billion animals are slaughtered annually, often after being raised in questionable conditions. Vegetarianism is perhaps one of the most powerful single steps an individual can take to address such issues, as an article headlined "Rethinking the Meat Guzzler" in the Jan. 27, 2008 issue of "The New York Times" noted.
Vegetarianism tangibly expresses many people's ethical, religious or spiritual convictions, especially beliefs about reverence for life. Longstanding traditions of vegetarian diet are present in secular thought and in all the major world religions, from Buddhism to Zoroastrianism.
References
- American Dietetic Association: Appropriate Planned Vegetarian Diets Are Healthful
- International Vegetarian Union: Religion and Vegetarianism
- "The New York Times"; "Rethinking the Meat Guzzler"; Mark Bittman; Jan. 27, 2008
- Vegetarian Resource Group: How Many Vegetarians Are There?
- Vegetarian Resource Group: Vegetarianism in a Nutshell
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