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Why be a vegetarian? What do vegetarians eat? All artwork and content copyright \u00a91998, Health Reasons<\/span><\/b> Antibiotics: Modern science has seen to it that animals Bacteria and Parasites: Meat is a magnet for some of the Putrefaction: Fruits ferment into alcohol like wine. Antioxidants the cancer fighters: Do you ever hear about Chemical toxins: Animals are higher on the food The rainforest: The Central American and Amazon rainforests In many countries the taste for meat has been introduced For more info on how being a vegetarian can help the environment For rich countries and well off populations eating meat To provide this convenience, multinational corporations Certain animals are raised in appalling conditions. Chickens: Little chicks are hatched and sent on conveyor Pigs: One need only visit a pig farm to grasp the But why not reverse our centuries old habit? New Other<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n Did you know that the most dangerous job is working For a good Q&A about vegetarianism check out <\/b>VEGETARIANISM:
\nWhat is the difference between a vegetarian and a vegan? Find the
\nanswers to these and many more questions plus links
\nto other vegetarian pages<\/a> and some great recipes. Need more reasons?
\nCheck
\nthis out!<\/a><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n
\nHip Inc<\/span><\/p>\n
\n
\nDespite all the rhetoric and brainwashing we have been exposed
\nto by governments and the media, courtesy of the meat and dairy industries,
\nyou don’t have to eat meat to survive and be healthy. On the contrary,
\nif you follow the most valid scientific research you’ll find there is far
\nmore unhealthy about meat than you ever dreamed. Besides cholesterol,
\nand fat there are some wonderful other ingredients that make up commercial
\nmeat today.<\/span><\/p>\n
\nare given a healthy dose of antibiotics before they reach us to minimize
\nlosses due to illness. By eating this meat, we ingest these antibiotics
\nand by being dosed when we don’t need them, they have less effect when
\nwe take them because we are ill.<\/span><\/p>\n
\nmost dangerous bacteria and parasites. Does E-coli ring a bell?
\nHow about Mad Cow disease? Trichnosis? If you are a vegetarian, you
\nNEVER need to worry about getting these diseases.<\/span><\/p>\n
\nVegetables likewise ferment or decay creating gases. Meat on the
\nother hand putrifies which means it creates poisons that are toxic to humans.
\nFruit and most vegetables are easy to digest and don’t stay in your digestive
\nsystem as long as meat does. This gives it more time to putrify.
\nIt also gives those nasty bacteria and parasites (above) more time to multiply.
\nDigestive problems such as constipation are often due to a heavy meat diet.
\nDoctors recommend fruit and vegetables (roughage) as a cure for constipation
\n(when will they just recommend becoming a vegetarian?).<\/span><\/p>\n
\nbeef or pork being a source of cancer fighting agents? No, it’s always
\nsome fruit or vegetable containing antioxidants or some other factor that
\nis seen as being a cancer fighting agent.<\/span><\/p>\n
\nchain and thus concentrate toxins contained in the food they eat.
\nThus one ounce of meat will usually contain far more chemicals than the
\nequivalent amount of grain or legumes. Plus some animals are fed
\nanimal parts that already have concentrated the toxins of their diet.<\/span><\/p>\n
\n
\nThe numbers are staggering. The amount of land required
\nto grow one cow to maturity versus the amount grain that can be produced
\nin the same acreage. By raising cattle on arable land, our species
\nis being inefficient in it’s use of resources. By choosing to be
\nat the top of the food chain we consume unwisely, making it difficult to
\nfeed our ever growing population.<\/span><\/p>\n
\nare being destroyed to provide farmland and cattle grazing. The farmers
\ncan only raise a few crops before the thin soil is depleted, causing them
\nto burn more virgin rainforest. The land is then only suitable for
\ncattle to graze the thin grasses. This is the real reason the farmers
\nare allowed to burn the forest. They are the pawns of the cattle
\nindusty in Brazil. They do the dirty work, and the ranchers get more
\nland for their herds. This endless cycle spells doom for the lungs
\nof the Earth and perhaps for all of us.<\/span><\/p>\n
\nby companies like McDonald’s or Burger King. People whose diets consisted
\nof fruits and vegetables now see meat eating as a sign of affluence and
\nstatus. Densely populated countries whose land is under intense cultivation
\nand where pressure to urbanize has reduced that cultivation are also pressured
\nto raise beef. This inefficient use of their land will one day doom
\nthem to starvation.<\/span><\/p>\n
\ncheck out Tipping the
\nScales for the Environment.<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n
\n
\nmore protein to feed animals than they yield. They require more water.
\nMeat is more perishible, takes longer to harvest, requires refrigeration,
\nis transported over vast distances, uses more resources, so of course it
\ncosts more.<\/span><\/p>\n
\nis normal. But in developing countries it is seen as a sign of affluence.
\nOwning animals is status.<\/span><\/p>\n
\n
\nNo one likes to think about where that hamburger or hot dog or chicken
\nnugget comes from, much less what’s in it! As a species we have lost
\ntouch with the source of our food. In our hunting\/gathering days
\nwe were very much in touch with nature, animals and their spirits.
\nIf we had to hunt or raise and slaughter our food ourselves we could appreciate
\nwhat it really is – a living animal that we must kill to satisfy our hunger.
\nNowadays a big mac means you won’t have to cook tonight.<\/span><\/p>\n
\nhave setup food factories around the world that take the worry and fuss
\nabout having that next meal off your mind. What you don’t see can’t
\nhurt you – or can it?<\/span><\/p>\n
\nTo produce veal – a very young cow, the animal spends it’s whole life caged
\nup in a pen no bigger than itself. This prevents it from moving and
\ndeveloping strong muscles thus keeping the flesh tender. It’s short
\nlife is spent standing in its own urine and feces, never to graze fields
\nof green grass, never to see sunsets, never to live the life a cow is meant
\nto live. Because of the conditions under which it lives it must be
\ngiven massive doses of antibiotics to stave off sickness, which are then
\npassed on to those who love to eat these poor animals.<\/span><\/p>\n
\nbelts where they are examined for sex and deformities. Like the station
\nat Auschwitz they are then either routed to the growing area or ground
\nup to feed their siblings. The lucky chick survivors then have their
\nbeaks burned off to prevent them from pecking the hundreds of other chickens
\nthey’ll be cooped up with. Most chickens in America never see the
\nlight of day. They are kept in huge rooms where the density of chickens
\nper sq. ft. is maximized. The lighting is controlled to maximize
\ntheir feeding and growth. Since they are so densely packed, they
\nare highly prone to infection and must be given massive doses of antibiotics
\nto suppress illness.<\/span><\/p>\n
\nhorrifying conditions under which they are raised. Once the inhabitants
\nof forests, they are now penned up and fed just about anything. Is
\nit any wonder nobody wants a pig farm in their neighborhood?<\/span><\/p>\n
\n
\nMeat is big business. The cattle, dairy, pig, and chicken
\nindustries all have powerful lobbies that keep Congress in their camp.
\nIt takes a total disaster like Mad Cow disease before people even think
\nabout what they eat. What a political mess that was! No other
\ncountry wanted British beef, yet the British were still stuck eating it!<\/span><\/p>\n
\n
\nMost Western countries have had meat in their diets for centuries.
\nYou eat meat because your parents eat meat, because their parents eat meat,
\netc. Yet most Eastern\/Asian countries have little or no meat in their
\ntraditional diets. What meat is consumed is considered a treat.
\nOf course now these diets have changed due to western influences like hamburger
\nchains.<\/span><\/p>\n
\ncuisines have combined food ideas from all over the world, and with such
\na varied assorment of ingredients available nowadays, let’s take advantage
\nof the many vegetarian options. It’s not necessary to become a strict
\nvegetarian overnight. It’s easier to eat less meat, more grains and
\nvegetables more often. First stop eating red meat, especially fast
\nfoods. Then cut back on poultry. Finally eat less fish and
\nsoon you’ll be a vegetarian. I can guarantee you’ll lose weight (absolutely
\na great benefit!), you’ll feel better, and have more energy. You
\nwon’t get that heavy bloated feeling after eating a heavy meat meal.
\nAnd of course you won’t get all those illnesses meat eaters get.
\nYou might notice more gas, but that is the only negative side effect. <\/span><\/p>\n
\n
\nin a slaughter house?<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n
\n
\nANSWERS TO THE MOST COMMONLY ASKED QUESTIONS<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n