People have a variety of different motivations for becoming vegetarian, from ethics to animal welfare, from health to the use of hormones in livestock. Whatever the reason, when done correctly, vegetarianism can have a positive effect, and not only for the animals. When people don’t eat meat, both the animals and the vegetarians benefit, because it prevents the raising of animals in confinement for their inevitable slaughter and has been proven to have many health advantages.
Animals have been proven to be sentient beings, meaning they can experience stress, pain, and fear. Despite this, more animals are killed each year for human consumption than the total population of people living on earth (“ProCon”). Humans may have eaten meat to survive since the beginning of time, but they do not have sharp teeth or claws to bite and tear flesh like carnivores. Instead they have back molars ideal for chewing fruits and vegetables, like other herbivores (“Humans and Meat”). Adoring dogs and cats, but eating pigs, cows, chickens, and others is wrong. In modern society, these animals are killed for pleasure, rather than survival.
Another reason people live a vegetarian lifestyle is for the health benefits the diet brings. The American Dietetic Association states that requirements for protein, essential amino acids, necessary vitamins, fats, and minerals, can all be met by a vegetarian diet, meaning meat is not needed (“ProCon”). Not only can this lifestyle sustain a person, but can even be beneficial to their health. Other healthy habits vegetarians tend to have, such as not smoking or drinking and exercising, are difficult to disentangle from much of the data comparing vegetarian and omnivorous health. However, scientists know this much: vegetarians are at lower risk for heart disease, cancer, and type 2 diabetes because of the many benefits that vegetarians’ other sources of nutrients come from (Harvard Health Publishing).
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Despite the ethical reasoning and health benefits, most people still choose to follow an omnivorous diet, claiming that eating meat isn’t cruel, it’s natural (“ProCon”). Some even go so far as to believe that vegetarians have unnatural eating habits and morals (“22 Reasons”). Critics have used a study that associated vegetarians with having depression and anxiety, possibly due to vitamin deficiency, in their case against the lifestyle (“Opposing Viewpoints”). Though this lifestyle may be inconvenient at times, the environmental, health, and moral, benefits are worth it.
As the world evolves, so too do people’s understanding of science and morals. With time, people have come to understand that no one race, species, gender, or other component of a living being make it more or less worthy.
