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Vegetarianism

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Vegetarianism is a dietary practice which disallows the consumption of animal flesh; vegetarians do not eat any part of any animal, nor products derived from animal bodies (e.g. lard, tallow, gelatin, cochineal) from one's diet. However, most vegetarian diets do include products made from secretions of animals such as honey and milk, and dairy products. Most vegetarians will eat unfertilized eggs, as these are generally not considered to be animals.

Varieties of vegetarianism

Different practices of vegetarianism include:

  • Ovo-lacto vegetarianism. This practice eschews the eating of all meat, yet allows the the consumption of animal products such as eggs and milk. Ovo-lacto vegetarians who are such for ethical reasons may additionally refuse to eat cheese made with animal-based enzymes, or eggs produced by factory farms.
  • Lacto vegetarianism refers to the practice of eschewing all meat, yet allowing the consumption of milk and its derivatives, like cheese, butter or yoghurt.

In the United States, vegetarianism is usually synonymous with ovo-lacto vegetarianism. In the UK, due to its sizeable Hindu minority, vegetarianism often refers to the Hindu practice described below.

  • Strict vegetarians avoid the consumption of all animal products (e.g. eggs, milk and cheese.) Today, these people are commonly called vegans, though some reserve this term for those who additionally avoid usage of all kinds of animal products, not just food (e.g. leather).
  • In Chinese societies, "simple eating" (素食 su4shi2) refers to a particular restricted diet associated with Taoist monks, and sometimes practiced by members of the general population during Taoist festivals. It is referred to by the English word "vegetarian;" however, though it rejects meat, eggs and milk, this diet does include oysters and oyster products.
  • Hindus are forbidden from consuming anything gained at the expense of an animal's suffering: e.g. meat, eggs, animal byproducts such as rennet and gelatin (including gelatin capsules) and honey. The milk of cows, buffalo and goats as well as dairy products (other than cheese containing rennet) are acceptable, as milk is given willingly. Leather from cows who have died of natural causes is acceptable. (Note: The orthodox Hindu diet also excludes alcohol, as well as "overly-stimulating" foods such as onions and garlic.)
  • All dietary rules listed for Hindus apply to Jains, in addition to which Jains take into account any suffering caused to plants and microorganisms by their dietary choices. They never eat most root vegetables (e.g. potatoes) and deem many other vegetables acceptable only when harvested during certain times of the year.
  • Fructarians eat only fruit, nuts, seeds and other plant matter that can be gathered without harming the plant. Thus a fructarian will eat beans, tomatoes, cucumbers, pumpkins and the like, but will refuse to eat potatoes or spinach.

The following is not generally considered vegetarianism:

  • Some people choose to avoid certain types of meat for many of the same reasons that others choose vegetarianism -- health, ethical beliefs, and so forth. For example, some people will not eat "red meat" (mammal meat -- beef, lamb, pork, etc.) while still consuming poultry and seafood. Others might feel that the suffering of animals in factory farm conditions is the main consequence they want to avoid, so they might eat animals raised under humane conditions or hunted in the wild. This is not considered true vegetarianism.

Motivations

A person's decision to become a vegetarian may be influenced by a combination of factors.

Religion: A majority of the world's vegetarians follow the practice for religious reasons. Many religions, including Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism and especially Jainism, teach that ideally life should always be valued and not willfully destroyed for unnecessary human gratification.

Many early Christians were vegetarian, including the Desert Fathers. Since then, the Trappist, Benedictine, and Carthusian orders have encouraged vegetarianism, as have Seventh-Day Adventists. In the nineteenth century, members of the Bible Christian sect established the first vegetarian groups in England and the United States.
Rastafarians generally follow a diet called "I-tal," which eschews the eating of food that has been artificially preserved, flavoured, or chemically altered in any way. Many Rastafarians consider it to also forbid the eating of meat.
Many non-Orthodox Jews choose to follow a vegetarian diet as their way of keeping kosher. Sometimes this is done for pragmatic reasons (red kosher meat is expensive and hard to come by in most cities and towns); often it is done for ethical reasons. Some prominent rabbis were vegetarian, such as the first Chief Rabbi of pre-state Israel, Abraham Isaac Kook.
Genesis 1:29 states "And God said: Behold, I have given you every herb yielding seed which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree that has seed-yielding fruit - to you it shall be for food." According to many classical Jewish Bible commentators, this means that God's original plan was for mankind to be vegetarian. Rashi, one of the most important medieval Bible commentators, comments on this verse "God did not permit Adam and his wife to kill a creature and to eat its flesh. Only every green herb shall they all eat together." This is also the view of Jewish commentators such as Abraham ibn Ezra (1092-1167), Maimonides (1135-1214) and Nahmanides (1194-1270). According to many rabbis, God later gave permission for man to eat meat because of man's weak nature, but the ideal would be for man to be vegetarian. Opponents of vegetarianism argue that people should eat animals because God gave Eve and Adam dominion over them.


Ethics: Nearly anyone can choose to be vegetarian if they so wish. (Exceptions are members of nomadic hunting or herding societies such as Inuit and Saami, for whom meat is a staple food.) Since it is possible to live healthily on a vegetarian diet, some argue that the majority of people who eat meat do so for the pleasure of eating it, for convenience, or simply out of habit. "Ethical vegetarians" consider that there are not sufficient reasons to justify the suffering entailed in the production of meat. Vegetarianism of this sort is often associated with the animal rights movement, although not all ethical vegetarians subscribe to the notion of animal rights.

Environmental or ecological concerns: Particularly since the Industrial Revolution, machinery has enabled people to change their environment at a rate that, some argue, exceeds the ability of ecosystems to adapt. The use of large areas of land for livestock farming, and large-scale fishing in the oceans, have fundamentally affected animal and marine populations. Livestock production is also often linked to de-forestation and theft of the land from indigenous tribal people. In both environmental and economic terms, many vegetarians argue that the "cost" of raising a kilogram of animal protein is many times the "cost" of growing a kilogram of vegetable protein.

Health: Statistics indicate that people on vegetarian diets have lower incidence of heart disease, cancer and osteoporosis. The American Dietetic Association says, "Although nondietary factors, including physical activity and abstinence from smoking and alcohol, may play a role, [a meat-free, vegetarian] diet is clearly a contributing factor" in reducing both morbidity and mortality "rates from several chronic degenerative diseases than do nonvegetarians."

Researchers like Dean Ornish have had successful results treating heart disease patients with strictly vegetarian diet, exercise and stress reduction programs. There are also nutritional considerations which encourage diets emphasizing fruit, vegetables and cereals and minimising meat and fat intake.

Aesthetics: Some people intuitively find meat unappetizing, particularly when raw, and simply prefer to abstain from the consumption of animal flesh for aesthetic or emotional reasons.

Pragmatic considerations Modern-day, industrially produced meat is laced with chemicals, such as growth hormones, antibiotics, preservatives, food-coloring, and pesticides. Moreover, the meat of pen-raised animals (such as feedlot-fattened cows and pigs and farmed salmon) have much higher levels of fat and less nutritional value than the meat of their corresponding free-range or wild bretheren. Hence, many people are vegetarians not for ethical or aesthetic reasons but simply because meat is nowadays has less nutritional value than it once had.

Additional considerations

Choosing not to eat meat for one or more of the above-mentioned reasons must be seen as a rational choice. Likewise, choosing to eat meat is a rational choice, although there may be reasons not to do so. No diet is necessarily unnatural. Human beings have been omnivores since time immemorial; we have the teeth (incisors and molars) and the digstive systems of creatures who eat both meat and plants. Nearly all the higher primates to whom we are related are omnivores, except the gorilla. In the past, many people ate meat infrequently, because often it wasn't available or affordable. Strict vegetarianism is something comparatively new in human history, that is to say, in evolutionary terms. Although the phenomenon isn't entirely well understood, some people may not thrive on strict vegetarian diets, becoming pale and weak. It appears to be related to blood type.

There is a risk that Vitamin B12 deficiency can result from veganism. While just about all animal based foods contain useful quantities of B12, no readily available plant based source does (except the not universally available Indonesian fermented soy product tempeh). However, a range of foods have the vitamin added, including breakfast cereals, soft drinks, soy milk, Marmite, Vegemite and others. B12 supplements such as vitamin pills are often prepared from abattoir waste and are thus unsuitable for vegetarians, although there are an increasing number of brands that contain no animal products. B12 is stored in the body for many months, so B12 deficiency symptoms do not appear immediately on embarking on a pure vegan diet, but can eventually be severe. However this deficiency is rarely seen in Western vegans, since the problem is well-known.

Some important nutrients (amino acids, fats, vitamins A, D, K and E) are present in good quantities in meat, but with minimal attention a vegetarian diet with plenty of all of these can be designed. The American Dietetic Association states: "Plant sources of protein alone can provide adequate amounts of essential amino acids if a variety of plant foods are consumed and energy needs are met." It is more common to find instances of scurvy and other consequences of vitamin C deficiency in people who subsist purely on a diet of fast food. However, it is important for vegetarians and vegans to be conscious of their intake of protein, B12, and other nutrients. Like any diet, one that eschews animal products needs to be balanced and include a variety of foods.

One issue raised by choosing vegetarianism to avoid the suffering of animals is that agricultural cultivation of plant foods also harms animals. Run-off from fields harms aquatic life by polluting waterways with sediments, nutrients, and chemicals. Automatic farm machines kill small animals unintentionally, while cutting down trees takes away habitat for other animals. Pesticides kill beneficial and harmful insects alike.

Vegetarians (except fructarians) also kill plants in order to have food. A vegetarian might contend that plants do not have the same sensory mechanisms to feel pain, so the comparison is not entirely accurate.

While vegetarianism is commonly defined strictly on the basis of dietary intake, many religiously, ethically or environmentally motivated vegetarians (in common with animal rights and Green movements) try to minimise the harm done to animals in all aspects of their lives.

Many religiously motivated vegetarians consider the avoidance of skin contact with products made from body parts (e.g. leather, tallow soap) an integral part of their definition of vegetarianism. Others consider leather made from the skin of animals who died of natural causes acceptable.

Many health-motivated vegetarians are also associated with the organic food movement and/or are concerned about the use of genetically modified organisms in food production.

See also: Vegetarian cuisine - List of notable vegetarians - Wikipedians/Vegetarians - People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals - List of diets - veganism - Macrobiotic diet - virtual water - imitation meat - in vitro meat - Animal Rights

Resources for vegetarians:

Supporting views:

Opposing views:

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