Why I'm Planning to Become a Vegetarian

At my barbecue party pretty much everyone was wondering why I want to become vegetarian (when I get to Canada.) This post is in response to your wonderment. Before I get properly into this, let me say that I'm not a compassionate vegetarian. I don't really care about cows, pigs, or chicken, and I don't mind their being bred to be eaten. That last clause is why everyone (cough, Daniel) who claims that they're not responsible for animals dying is lying to themselves- their whole purpose in life is to die and be eaten. This fact also causes me some trouble because I would be unable to kill a cow, for instance, except perhaps in dire circumstances where I would have no choice. Not being in those circumstances, I feel hypocritical when I eat meat because I wouldn't have killed it myself.

That, however, is a minor dilemma that hasn't stopped me from eating meat for the past 16 or so years. The real reasons I plan to be vegetarian relate to health, current farming practices, and the environment. Vegetarians are healthier. It's a fact. And no, it's not because they're more health-conscious or active people than the norm, because they live longer than their equally health-conscious and active meat-eating counterparts. This has several causes, some of which are the fact that vegetarians eat less saturated fat, less protein, more fibre and more vitamins and minerals. The negative health effects of saturated fat (and the bad chlosterol found in meat) are fairly well-known. However research has shown that people do not need as much protein as was thought and that an excess of protein is harmful because the amino acids it is broken down into acidify the blood, causing calcium loss. Far from meat protein being necessary, it's harmful. So vegetarians win again. The benefits of fibre, vitamins, and minerals are also well known, and these are all present in larger quantities in a vegetarian diet. Essentially vegetarians are at less risk of heart disease, various cancers, and other problems.

So it's more healthy. But I'm not particularly concerned about my health (although I do eat fairly healthily.) More important to me is the environment. A pound of beef costs several pounds of grain to produce and requires several more gallons of water than a pound of grain. Growing this extra grain leads to problems like soil erosion, which will become a problem in the United States in future (if it already isn't- something I need to research) and is already a problem in many other countries. And the harm of more water being used is not really something that requires much explanation. This extra production also requires more oil to produce the pesticides and fertilizers as well as to transport the grain.

Finally, I don't want to eat meat that is grown the way it is today. The regulations in Austria (Europe in general) are stricter and conditions are better, so I don't have much trouble eating meat here or in Germany (I'll only be vegetarian for the months where I'm not with my parents because firstly I wouldn't want to force them to be vegetarian because I am and secondly because they live in Europe.) In North America, however, animals live in horrible conditions in industrial factory farms where they're stuffed full of hormones and antibiotics. Slaughterhouses are similarly brutal and nasty. That's not the sort of thing I want to support, so I won't.

Well, there you have it. I'll probably add statistics to my claims when I get home, and also rebutt some of your foolish arguments.

Woo, first real post in this blog!