Vegetarianism

Someone suggested I do a blog about why I am a vegetarian, and the concept of vegetarianism in general, so here it is!

I was actually raised veggie, and have never eaten meat in my life. I wasn't given much of a reason until later in life, but the concept of eating meat was never particularly tempting or attractive, so I just went along with it. When I got to that point in childhood when I learnt that this food my friends was eating was bits of dead animal, any kind of temptation vanished completely.

So initially, there wasn't much philosophy or ethics behind my stance on meat, just more of an "ick factor." But since then, I have gained many more reasons to defend my vegetarianism, and enough that I've started on the (in my case) long, painful road to veganism. Said reasons are as follows:

1. The most obvious reason is animal welfare. Quite apart from the fact that one has to kill (often young) animals in order to produce meat, the vast majority of these animals are factory or barn farmed, meaning they have very little space to move, and are often kept in cages that are little more than their body area. The menstrual cycle of female cows and hens is accelerated to a ridiculous level- most farmed chickens lay one egg per day, whereas versions of chickens in the wild would lay an egg roughly once a month.
Some people say it isn't morally wrong to kill other animals, as from an evolutionary perspective, we are not responsible for the welfare of other species. While I can see where they're coming from, I don't agree. It's actually very practical to live a vegetarian/vegan lifestyle, and the entire human race could stop eating meat quite easily, making killing for meat unnecessary suffering. Unnecessary suffering is not something we have the right to inflict on any living creature.

2. The second reason is the environmental one. I am one of those irritatingly eco-conscious people, and have been from a very young age. As such, I can recognise that the animal-rearing industry pollutes and wastes resources at a terrifying level. Just to throw a few statistics in- 98% of the worlds soya bean are fed to livestock. The animal rearing industry produces 30% more carbon than the entire transport industry. You can feed seven vegans with the landspace it takes to produce enough meat for one meat-eater.
It's not just "mother earth" we damage with this industry, it's other people- think of all the starving people in the world, and think just how many more of them could be fed with the resources we would free by dismantling the animal rearing industry.

3. The third reason, which I consider the least important, but many will consider the most important, is health. Become veggie, and you are less likely to develop cancer or suffer from a heart attack. It's as simple as that! (become vegan, of course, and you're even less likely.) Teenagers- if you go veggie now, your chances of becoming overweight when you're older will be reduced by ridiculous levels. Score, don't you think?

So, that's that. Further questions, argument, etc are always welcome, particularly when it's a topic like this!

Happy Sunday, and we'll meet again tomorrow!