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Vegetarianism

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Vegetarianism is the practice of avoiding dietary consumption of the flesh of any animal, including fish, or denatured preparation thereof (e.g. broth, extract, lard, tallow, chicken fat, etc.)

Varieties

Further distinctions between different practices of vegetarianism include:

  • In the United States, vegetarianism is usually synonymous with ovo-lacto vegetarianism, which usually tolerates some consumption of animal products such as eggs and milk, while eschewing meat. Then there is lacto vegetarianism, which some people also use synonymously with 'vegetarianism'. The only animal products permitted here are milk and its derivatives, like cheese, butter or yoghurt. 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. (In the UK, due to its sizeable Hindu minority, vegetarianism often refers to the Hindu practice described below.)
  • People who also avoid the consumption of all animal products (e.g. eggs, milk and cheese) are called strict vegetarians.
  • People who additionally avoid usage of all kinds of animal products, not just food (e.g. leather), are called vegans.
  • Devout 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 Hindu diet also excludes alcohol, 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.
  • Not considered vegetarianism:
    • Some people choose to avoid "red meat" (mammal meat -- beef, lamb, pork, et al) for many of the same reasons others choose vegetarianism -- health, ethical beliefs, and so forth -- while still eating seafood and poultry. Those who permit themselves fish or shellfish may, for instance, argue that these creatures are insufficiently aware to experience morally significant suffering. However, this assertion is not backed by any hard evidence, and many non-fish-eating vegetarians suspect that this distinction is simply wishful thinking based on a prejudice against slimy things that live under water. Even if the premise were accepted, it is very hard to know where to "draw a line". A person who has decided that it is acceptable to eat invertebrates may have pause for thought when faced with a dish of octopus. It is well known that, though a shellfish, the octopus is a highly intelligent animal which gives all appearance of being capable of emotion and suffering.
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Motivations

Vegetarianism has been practised throughout human history for a variety of reasons. The majority of people throughout the world's history have eaten little meat, often on economic grounds since it has historically frequently been expensive. A person's decision to move towards plant-based diets such as those embodied by vegetarianism 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.
Since the restrictions of a kosher diet apply generally to meat and dairy products rather than to produce and grains, and since Hebrew Scriptures depict a vegetarian paradise in Eden and at the end of time (Gen. 1:29, cf. Is. 11:6-9ff.), Jews throughout history have found it desirable to maintain a vegetarian diet, as have Christians.
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.
Basil the Great, Saint David (whose symbol is the leek), John Chrysostom, Tertullian, Origen, Clement of Alexandria, John Wesley (Methodism’s founder), Ellen G. White (a Seventh-Day Adventists founder), Salvation Army cofounders William and Catherine Booth, Leo Tolstoy, and Albert Schweitzer were vegetarian Christians, as is the contemporary musician Moby.
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.
  • Ethics: In most societies everyone has the choice whether to eat meat or not. (Exceptions are nomadic herding or hunting societies such as Inuit and Saami, for whom meat is a staple food.) Since a person can live perfectly healthily on a vegetarian diet, for most people the only motivation for eating meat is simply the pleasure of eating it. Some vegetarians argue that sensual pleasure is not sufficient justification for the suffering caused by breeding and killing animals. 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 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, diet is clearly a contributing factor" in reducing both morbidity and mortality "rates from several chronic degenerative diseases than do nonvegetarians" (http://www.eatright.org/adap1197.html).
Researchers like Dean Ornish have had remarkable results treating heart disease patients with strictly vegetarian diet, exercise and stress reduction programs. There are also nutritional considerations which encourage diets emphasising fruit, vegetables and cereals and minimising meat and fat intake.
  • Aesthetics: Many people intuitively find meat thoroughly disgusting, particularly when raw, and simply prefer to abstain from animal flesh.

Lifestyle

While vegetarianism is commonly associated with dietary habits, many ethical and environmental vegetarians (in common with animal rights and Green movements) try to minimise the harm done to animals in other aspects of their lives. A vegetarian lifestyle precludes the use of clothing and accessories made of leather, skin or fur. Most vegetarians find wool acceptable, while avoiding silk due to the fact that, unlike historical silk production methods, modern methods involve the killing of large number of silk worms.

Anecdotal evidence suggests that some vegetarians began by gradually reducing their meat intake to the point where meat was no longer a necessary part of their diet. Related to nutritional concerns is uncertainty about the nature of genetically modified food. For these reasons some people restrict themselves to eating organic food products. While organic diets are not necessarily vegetarian, many people who choose to eat organic food also choose to eat a vegetarian or vegan diet, usually for health or environmental reasons.

Common objections

Mention: protein/amino acid problem, animals were created for being eaten, animals eat animals, animals don't suffer, plants suffer too etc.

There is a theoretical risk that Vitamin B12 deficiency can result from uninformed veganism. While just about all animal based foods contain useful quantities of B12, no readily available plant based source does. 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 the deficiency is almost never seen in Western vegans, since they are well aware of its possibility and the remedy. It is far, far rarer than the common diseases seen from meat eating.

Some important nutrients (amino acids, fats, vitamins A, D, and 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 says: "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" (http://www.eatright.org/adap1197.html). It is more common to find instances of Scurvy, Vitamin C deficiency in people who subsist purely on a diet of fast food.

See also: Peter Singer, Vegetarian cuisine, Macrobiotic diet, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals


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