Vegetarianism On The Rise

Analysis

Vegetarianism On The Rise

Maureen Flanagan - December 20, 2011

The pros and cons of a meatless diet.

A current trending topic is vegetarianism. Many people, young and old, are experimenting with meatless diets. In America alone, there are approximately six to eight million vegetarians. Since the 1980’s, vegetarianism has sufficiently increased in popularity.

A more intense form of vegetarianism is called veganism. Vegans do not eat meat or any animal products. They refrain from eggs, dairy and sometimes even honey. Vegans have a hard time getting the necessary amounts of protein they need.

Vegetarianism can be very good for a person’s health. Fruits and vegetables are much easier for the body to digest. If you can get the necessary amount of proteins from things like beans, nuts, and eggs, vegetarianism can be very beneficial for you.

Avoiding meat in your diet can be a big plus for your health. Meat can cause many harmful diseases and health problems. One is high cholesterol. Red meats high in fat can cause high cholesterol and heart disease. Studies from Harvard show that women who eat lots of meat can double their risk of breast cancer because of the high iron levels.

Some people disagree with that. They believe that eating meat is the only sufficient way to get all of the necessary proteins you need to survive. There are twenty essential amino acids that the body needs, and a number of those can be found in different kinds of meats.

There aren’t too many vegetarians at our school, but the numbers are rising.

Senior Brenna McLaughlin has been a vegetarian since age 5. For twelve years, she has been the only person in her entire family who hasn’t eaten meat. She became a vegetarian so young because of her babysitters. They were both vegetarians and she “wanted to be just like them.” It seems to have stuck with her. When her mother cooks dinner, she will cook the meat separately than the other foods so Brenna can have it too.

Freshman Katie Flanagan hasn’t eaten meat in 10 years. She decided to become a vegetarian because she “felt bad for the animals” after finding out how hamburgers were made. The hardest part about being a vegetarian is going to a family party where there’s nothing to eat except meat. There is no one else in her family who is a vegetarian.

Because she decided to become a vegetarian so young, her mother thought that this was only a phase and would last no longer than a month. She was surprised to find that that wasn’t the case. She says whoever cooks will make a separate meatless dish for her. When Katie was ten, she was interviewed for a story in the Dispatch about families where one child is a vegetarian. The story contained information about the dynamics of families like this and meal regimens. Katie recounts this experience as “a good thing for other people to know what its like.”

Sophomore Sierra Dobbs-Brown has been a vegetarian her entire life. Her mother made the decision for her when she was born, and has never eaten any meat. Both of her two sisters and her mother are vegetarians.

At age twelve, Sierra was allowed to decide whether she wanted to eat meat or to continue with her vegetarianism, and she chose to stick with it. She says that it’s not too hard to find food at restaurants because you can request for them to remove the meat from a dish that would usually contain it.

She says the hardest part about being a vegetarian is eating someone’s house and feeling rude having to turn down a dish with meat in it.

There are many pros and cons of a meatless diet. You may be able to avoid some meat causing diseases, but you may not be getting enough essential nutrients from just vegetables. Neither way is right or wrong, but it’s up to you to decide on a meatless diet or not.