Is Veggie Really Better?

As a result of our over consumption of meat and meat products, meat production plants accumulate a large portion of waste output equivalent to that of 18,000 human beings; as a result global warming is occurring more rapidly, but if we examine our nutrition and dietary options and instead opt for a more vegetable based option not only would we decrease pollution but also gain a substantial amount of energy adding to the overall productivity of daily life. The United States Department of Agriculture changes the dietary guidelines of the traditional food pyramid every year in accordance with the lifestyles of Americans, but there is another pyramid that most likely goes unnoticed, it’s referred to as a vegetarian pyramid. What is vegetarianism? Vegetarianism is the voluntary abstinence from eating meat. Vegetarians abstain from eating meat for various reasons, which may include religious, ethical or health beliefs. (Douper and Fray 3896) There are several types of vegetarians these types are: Vegans also known as strict vegetarians, Ovolactovegetarians, Ovovegetarians, Lacto vegetarians, Fruitarians, Flexitarians, and Freegans. The most common of these types of vegetarians is Ovolactovegetarians and vegans. Approximately 6 percent of Americans consider themselves vegetarians, and of this 6 percent, 5 percent are vegans. (Callicot and Frodeman 371)

            Vegetarianism has been around for more than 3000 years, taking its beginnings and roots in South Asia. It was a philosophy followed by practioners of the Hinduism and Jainism. Vegetarianism continued its influence and spread throughout seventeenth century Europe and eventually during the 20^th century made its way to the United States along with the environmental movements of the 1970s. Since then, the movement has fused issues of health, animal rights, world hunger, social injustice and environmental concerns such as global warming at the forefront of vegetarianism. Of these issues the meat industry is the main concern. According to countless piles of data collected and organized by such groups as the Sierra club, the meat and livestock industry are major threats to the planet. The number of farmed animals including fish has quadrupled within the last 50 years putting major strains on land, air and water resources. Livestock uses 70 percent of agricultural land and 30 percent of the earth’s total surface.  So compared to a vegetarian diet a meat diet demands 7 times more land to feed the livestock alone. (Callicot and Frodeman 372) The livestock and meat industry are attributed to producing massive amounts of pollution, soil erosion and water pollution.

Farms produce a mixture of manure, pesticides, fertilizers, and hormones called effluvia which poison water supplies and have attributed to over 150 dead zones. (Cllicot and Frodeman 372) It is because of these new discoveries that many Americans and people around the world are trying a more vegetarian option. Not only does a vegetarian diet help eliminate the loss of land to livestock and cattle grazing, but it promotes more energy as well. When referring to an energy pyramid, producers, which are commonly known as plants have the highest energy units of any of the levels of the energy pyramid. Whereas, consumers, which most humans are known to range within the third level of the energy pyramid only receive about 10 to 100 units of that energy. So Vegetarians who get their energy straight from the producers themselves are receiving three times the amount of energy as opposed to a regular meat based diet. Contrary to popular belief that a vegetarian diet is unhealthy, as opposed to a meat based diet vegetarians are attributed to having lower body mass index,  lower risks of heart related disease, lower risks of cancer especially prostate, and suffer less from hypertension. According to present knowledge a well balanced vegetarian diet poses no health problems and offers some indisputable advantages. (Post 196)

` As a result of our over consumption of meat and meat products, meat production plants accumulate a large portion of waste output equivalent to that of 18,000 human beings; as a result global warming is occurring more rapidly, but if we examine our nutrition and dietary options and instead opt for a more vegetable based option not only would we decrease pollution but also gain a substantial amount of energy adding to the overall productivity of daily life. The research for the investigation supported the thesis statement with evidence that a more plant based diet is not only healthier than a meat based diet, but also eliminates the waste produced by the meat industry. It also stated that more people are opting for a plant based diet rather than a meat based diet. Also, because plants are the primary producers those who derive a diet from plant based sources receive a more adequate amount of the energy distributed as modeled in an energy pyramid. The solution to this problem is simple, for a healthy diet, meat is not the base but more vegetable and sources of protein make up a healthier diet option. Meat is not necessary for a healthy diet. Also people should focus on incorporating more whole grains, fruits and vegetables into their diets to fight obesity, several heart and cardiovascular diseases and other problems that constantly plague the human race.

Work Cited

Best, Steven. "Vegetarianism." Encyclopedia of Environmental Ethics and Philosophy. Ed. J. Callicott and Robert Frodeman. Vol. 2. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2009. 371-375. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 15 Sept. 2010.

Dupler, Douglas, and Rebecca J. Frey. "Vegetarianism." The Gale Encyclopedia of Medicine. 3rd ed. Vol. 5. Detroit: Gale, 2006. 3896-3900. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 16 Sept. 2010.

Frey, Ph.D., Rebecca. "Vegetarianism." The Gale Encyclopedia of Diets: A Guide to Health and Nutrition. Ed. Jacqueline Longe. Vol. 2. Detroit: Thomson Gale, 2008. 956-963. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 16 Sept. 2010.

Flynt, Cheryl. "Vegetarianism." Nutrition and Well-Being A to Z. Ed. Delores C.S. James. Vol. 2. New York: Macmillan Reference USA, 2004. 229-232. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 18 Sept. 2010.

Linzey, Andrew. "Animal Welfare and Rights: II. Vegetarianism." Encyclopedia of Bioethics. Ed. Stephen G. Post. 3rd ed. Vol. 1. New York: Macmillan Reference USA, 2004. 196-200. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 16 Sept. 2010.

"More People Trying Vegetarian Diets." Medicine, Health, and Bioethics: Essential Primary Sources. Ed. K. Lee Lerner and Brenda Wilmoth Lerner. Detroit: Gale, 2006. 416-420. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 16 Sept. 2010.