But there is a lot of fuss about being a vegetarian, so I've decide to write the pros and cons, socially and medically, of being one.
CON: The same questions you have to answer every time you tell someone you're a vegetarian
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| Poor carrot... |
1. Why are you vegetarian?
2. Do you eat fish?
3. Do you miss meat?
4. What would happen if you ate meat?
5. So like, you don't eat ANY meat?
6. My friend's a vegetarian.
7. Do your family eat meat?
8. So are you into animal rights?
9. Meat tastes so good though!
10. And rarely, I get a horrified look similar to what would be expected if I had just said 'I enjoy rolling around in large dustbins'
I'm indecisive, or am I..., yes I think I am. But being vegetarian means I can go to a restaurant, skim over the menu and find the 'V' next to about four dishes out of a large menu. About 99% of the time for me I have two options: veggie burger or vegetable lasagne. And I will still faff over that decision for a good 10 minutes. If I wasn't vegetarian my dinner companion would starve. I know some people would see this lack of choice as a con, but for me this works out well.
CON: Some people automatically judge you as a preachy animal rights nutter.
I have chosen not to eat meat, and I would never try to influence anyone else to be one. It's your life, do what you want with it, and if you want to then go on ahead and sink you teeth into a bacon butty, quite frankly I care more about the font on my local takeaway menu. But while researching this post I found a good few articles and videos by self righteous veggies and vegans, being very preachy towards meat eaters, and it made a bit more sense why some people presume I'm about to scream 'meat is murder!' and whip the red paint out. Nonetheless, I don't know any other veggie who is like that either, so give us the benefit of the doubt here.
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| That's a whole lot of Quorn! |
I like Quorn, I think the chicken is really good. But interestingly did you know Quorn is made from a fungus (wow I'm really selling it here) called Fusarium venenatum, and because the genus Fusarium contains some pathological fungi (I can feel sales shooting up as you read), they call it Quorn to disassociate it from anything dodgey. But of course Quorn is perfectly safe, there's probably more chance of finding horsemeat than a dodgy fungus in Quorn burger.
CON: Socially awkward moments
Being a veggie brings with it a few awkward social moments. Like BBQs...the fuss! 'don't worry I've cooked the meat 10 ft away from yours, no contact at all!'. My personal reason for being a veggie is to save the piggies and such, and I don't want to fund the industry. Cooking meat next to my food makes no difference, heck I'll cook it for you! I won't start to vomit at the sight of meat. Although saying that, some people have religious foundations and may not wish to have contact with meat, so really I guess it's nicer that people consider your beliefs, even if I am moaning at the fuss. There's also the moment you go to a dinner party, or 'meet the parents' etc, and they've served meat. However polite you try to be, you end up effectively saying 'I am not eating this wonderful looking meal you have put loads of effort into'. Sorry people!
PRO: Vegetarian diets are linked to a longer lifespan
A recent study has linked a vegetarian diet with longevity - the main finding of the study was that vegetarians had a 12% reduction in the risk of death from any cause compared with non-vegetarians. Statistically, vegetarians have lower rates of heart disease, diabetes, and some types of cancers. So assuming you eat a healthy and balanced vegetarian diet, you may be all the better for it! Although it may be worth noting the 'healthy and balanced' bit here - if you eat chip butties and no meat I don't think you get the same benefits.
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| The Jolly Green Giant |
Livestock agriculture produces huge amounts greenhouse gas emissions. The resources consumed by one meat eater in order to get animal protein would nourish as many as 10 vegetarians (this statistic is subject to debate though, as some argue it should be much higher than 1:10). But either way the point is it is better for the planet not to eat meat, apparently. Another analysis of the environmental toll of food production found that emmisions from transportation are an insignificant needle in a haystack of carbon from livestock agriculture. How much beef one eats makes a much bigger impact on a person's carbon footprint than how they travel to work everyday.
So there you have it, some pros and cons of being a veggie. I've not really mentioned vegans here, they're a whole new level of dedication. I like being a vegetarian for my own reasons, but as you can see there are a few downfalls that come with it. If you have an opinion, story or something to share, please get involved at www.facebook.com/HumanInterests . Last of all thanks for reading!
References
http://www.nhs.uk/news/2013/06June/Pages/Vegetarian-diet-linked-to-longer-lifespan.aspx
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn13741-food-miles-dont-feed-climate-change--meat-does.html
http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2010/feb/24/vegetarianism-save-planet-safran-foer
http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/study-links-vegetarian-diets-and-longevity/2013/06/07/1bc9b382-ce0f-11e2-9f1a-1a7cdee20287_story.html
