Three Simple Reasons to Become a Vegetarian.
While I’d prefer everyone to be strict-vegetarians, otherwise known as vegans, I understand that in today’s society it can be difficult for some, but that’s no excuse to ignore the brutally barbaric way in which animals are killed for human consumption, the hazardous methods of animal breeding and the effects factory-farming has on the environment. I’d like to point out the reasons why having a vegetarian diet can be a universally compassionate, healthy and an environmentally friendly lifestyle.
Most obvious to everyone, a major reason why people follow a vegetarian lifestyle is morality. If you’re capable of any deep type of ethical or compassionate thinking, you’d be a vegetarian. Many animals like, chickens, pigs, turkeys and especially cows are tightly confined in cages, kicked, stomped, punched, thrown and brutally tortured slowly when being killed. To factory-farms age is no factor as cow calves are kept in small, dark boxes later to be killed when they are deemed tender enough for human consumption in a form of meat called, veal.
Cows also branded at a very young age and suffer third degree burns as a result. They are given no painkillers and are often branded several times. In the last few years we’ve even learned that many factory-farm employees actually enjoy torturing these poor animals. The torturous brutality in which the life is taken from farm animals is inexcusable and wrong.
But if you’re not phased by mindless torture, violence and death, you may consider a vegetarian diet due to the lower cholesterol levels and fewer blood pressure problems associated with the lifestyle. Vegetarians also have a much smaller chance of suffering heart attacks as well as preventing many other cardiovascular problems. Vegetarians are also less likely to develop heart disease and are even less likely to develop weight problems.
Slaughter houses are filled with bacteria, viruses and diseases like E coli, salmonella and especially mad cow disease. Mad cow disease is not only a concern for people but also a big concern for people’s pets considering that limbs of cows are used in cat, dog and farm animal food, which can risk spreading mad cow disease to our pets thus, further contaminating the food supply. These slaughter houses are extremely unclean and over the past decade have been linked to very serious outbreaks of disease prompting beef recalls and consequently resulting in criminal investigations.
To make things worse, most farm animals are genetically bred, hormone injected and fed genetically engineered grains fertilized from dead farm animals. These methods have not been thoroughly researched or tested. Because of this lack of knowledge humankind will not know the effects of eating these engineered foods for several generations. Some speculate that engineered food may even cause cancer, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, Obsessive-compulsive disorder, Tourette’s syndrome and a vast number of serious birth defects. Indeed, eating meat is gambling with your health. You can never know if your food is infected with any disease until people die and there is an investigation.
If you find that you are still not convinced that a vegetarian lifestyle is right for you, consider the positive environmental impacts of a vegetarian lifestyle. The United Nations now considers livestock to be among the leading causes of global warming and greenhouse gas emissions. It is globally understood now that factory farming is actually the leading cause of global warming; not cars or power-plants, but animals bred for human consumption.
If you choose vegetarianism it’s easy to feel good about yourself with the knowledge that you help to save hundreds if not thousands of animal lives by giving up meat. The more people give up meat, the more the demand for meat is reduced, prompting farms to scale down, thus, saving animal lives, reducing greenhouse emissions and reducing the contamination of soil and water supplies. A vegetarian lifestyle will lower the chance of being diagnosed with cancer, heart disease, osteoporosis, kidney stones, etc. On an even more long-term, global scale, by choosing to live a vegetarian lifestyle a single person can make a significantly larger and more positive environmental impact on the planet even more so than equipping your home with solar panels or buying a hybrid vehicle. Not to mention that all the area used to house animals and grow their grain to feed them, could be used for crops to feed the entire planet. Enough said.
While an omnivore lifestyle may be more convenient, the benefits of a vegetarian lifestyle are numerous and irrefutable. The Truth is evident, but you need a heart if you want to make a difference.
