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going vegetarian!

What is a vegetarian?
Vegetarians are people who eat grains, legumes, vegetables, nuts, seeds, but avoid meat: beef, pork, poultry or fish. Lacto-ovo vegetarians also eat dairy products and eggs.

What is a vegan?
Vegans are people who eat grains, legumes, vegetables, nuts, seeds, but avoid meat, beef, pork, poultry, fish, dairy products, eggs, foods with small amounts of added animal products, such as casein or whey. They also avoid foods that involve any animal processing, such as white sugar, honey, beer, gelatin or vinegar. Beyond food, they also avoid items like leather, fatted soaps and pearls.

Why do people become vegetarian?
Among the many reasons for being a vegetarian are health, environment, and religious concerns, belief in non-violence, compassion for animals, and economics.

Heart Disease / Cancer / Diabetes / Weight Control / Mad Cow /
GMO Feed / E.coli

“Human beings are not natural carnivores. When we kill animals to eat them, they end up killing us because their flesh which contains cholesterol and saturated fat, was never intended for human beings, who are natural herbivores.” William C. Roberts, M.D., Editor-in-Chief of the American Journal of Cardiology.

“In the next 10 to 15 years, one of the things you’re bound to hear is that animal protein... is one of the most toxic nutrients of all that can be considered. Risk for disease goes up dramatically when even a little animal protein is added to the diet.” Dr. T. Colin Campbell Ph.D., M.D., Cornell University

Water Use / Land and Grain Use / Grazing / Global Climate Change / Water Pollution

“The way that we breed animals for food is a threat to the planet. It pollutes our environment while consuming huge amounts of water, grain, petroleum, pesticides, and drugs. The results are disastrous.” David Brubaker, Project Director, The Center for a Livable Future-John Hopkins School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD.

Nonviolence / Compassion / Respect for living beings / Religion /
Abuse / Animal Cruelty

"The love for all living creatures is the most noble attribute of man." Charles Darwin

"He who abstains from anything animate will be much more careful not to injure those of his own species. For he who loves the genus will not hate any species of animals." Porphyry

“When a man has pity on all living creatures then only is he noble.” Buddha
“This is the sum of duty: do naught to others which if done to thee, would cause thee pain.” Mahabharata

“He who harms animals has not understood or renounced deeds of sin ... Those whose minds are at peace and who are free from passions do not desire to live at the expense of others.” Acharanga Sutra

Monetary Concerns / Land Use / Environmental Impact

"It seems disingenuous for the intellectual elite of the first world to dwell on the subject of too many babies being born in the second- and third-world nations while virtually ignoring the over-population of cattle and the realities of a food chain that robs the poor of sustenance to feed the rich a steady diet of grain-fed meat." Jeremy Rifkin