Vegetarian Visitation
Over the past 2 months, I have been on a diet. Thanks to shows like, "You Are What You Eat," I have been adopting a diet that relies on foods that are fresh. I have avoided anything with artificial ingredients and which are processed. I have stayed away from alcohol, caffeine, dairy products, and most meat with the exception of fish. Everything I put in my mouth takes effort to prepare and consists mostly of fruits, vegetables, and plenty of water. In the process, I have lost 25 pounds.
Feeling pretty good about the results, I have decided to continue in the process. In the past 2 months, I did experiment by sneaking in one item at a time of the forbidden list and found out my body has bad reactions from almost every form of processed food, dairy products, caffeine and sugar. I don't even crave these things any more.
Then I did some research for an essay on vegetarianism. I watched a few videos "Supermarket Secrets" and "What's Really In Your Christmas Dinner" and between that and what I have read on the subject, I have mixed feelings on the vegetarian lifestyle.
While what I have done with my own diet is not what I would have referred to as vegetarian at all, some would classify it as such in terms of macro-vegetarian or pescetarian. What exactly is a vegetarian?
One becomes a vegetarian for various reasons including health concerns, economic issues, environmental issues, ethical or moral concerns, or even socially. The extent of vegetarian is defined in several ways.
A true "Vegan" is one who abstains from all forms of animal products. They won't even eat dairy products such as cheese, eggs, or ice cream and will refuse products such as honey. A vegan will also not wear animal skins, silk or wool. They will not use any product that contains any form of animal by-product or made by animals.
Some are vegans because of medical necessity as they may be allergic to such things, but most who are vegan are so by choice. They have a deep commitment to ending the exploitation and mistreating of animals and refuse to participate in supporting a system which contributes to such suffering.
The breakdown of other forms of vegetarians depend on what is included in the diet.
A "Lacto-vegetarian" allows dairy based products in their diet, but still abstains from meat and some will also abstain from using other animal based products while others will not. This all depends on if this form of vegetarianism is based on health concern or ethical/moral/environmental concerns.
An "Ovo-vegetarian" allows eggs and egg products in their diet while abstaining from meat. As with the lacto-vegetarians, some will and some won't use animal based products.
A "Macro-vegetarian" will not eat processed foods, including flour and sweeteners, and choose unprocessed, unrefined foods like whole grains, beans, seaweed, vegetables, fermented foods and even fish. Depending on why this method is chosen, followers will either avoid or use animal based products.
"Pescetarians" avoid eating all meat except for fish. Some may or may not include dairy and egg products in their diets. And as with the other branches of subcategories of vegetarians, they may or may not use animal based products depending on the reason they chose this path.
The pescetarian is a controversial vegetarian because many who would never consider themselves a vegetarian eat this way from time to time. Many in this group are occasional meat eaters.
The other end of controversy comes in the extreme vegans known as the "Fruitarians." They will not eat or use any product of animal origin, but they go a step further. They will not eat anything that harms a plant. If it involves uprooting and killing the plant, it is not on the diet. If it comes from the plant and that will regenerate itself, it is allowed.
For instance, a fruitarian will eat fruits, nuts and seeds, but they will not eat any plant that is completely uprooted and destroyed from its lifesource such as turnips and potatoes.
Why on earth would one become a vegetarian of any form? After all, it is human nature and part of the food chain to include meat in our diets, right?
If any animal was hungry enough, it would cast aside any issues and eat you. Hunger must be fed in whatever form is available. If you are in a land hit by drought and the only thing standing in between you and death is a roaming chicken, your survival instinct would say eat the chicken. If you refused and died, that hungry chicken would certainly peck at your corpse.
For ethical and moral reasons, many choose to be vegetarian. Animals raised exclusively for slaughter are mostly in very cruel conditions. They are given very little room to move around and kept indoor in very dimly lit environments that are often unsanitary. They are overfed, pumped with steroids and antibiotics to keep them artificially healthy and big. Then when their end comes, they are either given electrical shocks or gassed into submission in order to be slaughtered.
It is not a pleasant life for these animals. Due to concern for the welfare of how these animals are treated, most vegetarians refuse to support a system that is cruel to animals.
While free-range animals may have a better life, killing another living thing in order to support the diet of a human is unacceptable to most vegetarians. Even hunting game in the wild is not acceptable. At least with free-range or wild animals, they are allowed a more natural life with less cruelty inflicted upon them (except for an untimely death.)
If all meat products sold were hunted or free-range, there would be an increase in the price of meat which would make it hard for most low income families to afford.
The way animals are raised should be a red flag for those concerned about health issues. What goes into these animal's bodies is what goes into yours. If you have no problem with the killing of animals for food, at least consider how they lived before they came to your plate.
Another issue is on the environment. Land use where these animals live often leave toxic results within the soil they live, the toxic fumes put into the air from the methane gas by-products on the animals as well as the fumes on the trucks that take them away. A slaughter-farm is detrimental to the ozone as well as to the soil and water.
However, free-range and wild animals alone can become detrimental to themselves. While land space starts to shrink, the areas these animals can roam without human interference will be limited. This creates a danger of more animals which could become extinct if they are not bred in environments which are safe and someone is out to look after them.
Political and social concerns can also weigh in on the matter. The land used to raise the feed for these captive animals could feed many starving nations. In the Western world, we eat far more meat than anyone else in the world where meat access is considered more of a special treat rather than a daily must.
Even if we could use all the excess land for feeding people instead of cattle, this does not necessarily mean people won't go hungry in other countries. Most often, aid is blocked from getting to the people in need by war conflicts and unethical governments. We could raise all the excess food we wanted on this land, but it would go to waste anyway if the ones who need it cannot get it.
Of course, some are vegetarians because of religion. They believe the life of an animal is just as sacred and valuable as the life of a human. Just as they would not take the life of a man, they would not take the life of an animal.
As with issues of faith, I cannot argue with a belief system, just agree to disagree.
When one chooses vegetarian because of health issues, it is usually not out of concern of how the animals are treated, but what the animals are doing to them. On this issue it is one I can truly related. The way these animals are raised, crammed into tight spaces and pumped up with chemicals, drugs and over fed, it is asking for an invitation to cancer or heart disease.
Protein is an essential part of the human diet. It is a complex balance to achieve. One could get protein from rice or beans, but they are two different elements of the complete protein structure you need. If you combine beans and rice, you get the complete protein structure.
Meat has a complete protein structure. Meat also is rich in iron and certain minerals. On the other hand, meat has cholesterol. Any living thing with a liver or a brain produces it. Cholesterol eaten in excess will harden your arteries, but balanced with oils containing certain fatty acids which break down the cholesterol effects can cancel out the bad things.
Of course there are other options for a complete protein structure. The rice and beans combo is almost worldwide for that reason. Soybeans, once touted as the great substitute for meat, has come under fire lately as not that great. Most soybeans in the US are genetically modified. And the health benefits are not exactly as great as some claimed in the past. Non-GM soybeans are still an acceptable alternative to a meat protein. An added benefit is you can get other minerals such as calcium which you cannot get from meat. For women who need to get calcium, soy is a good supplement.
I don't like what is being done to animals, but then I am also more concerned with the life of humans.
Those farm workers who help pick the vegetable that are available in your supermarket are often earning low wages with hard working conditions. Family owned farms are being muscled out by big corporate farms who are merciless with the land and the people who work it. All those buy one get one free deals in the store are not losses taken by the store, but losses taken by the farms and essentially the farm workers who must produce twice as fast to compensate.
Low income workers have a hard enough time with feeding their families while many of these vegan advocated come from upper-middle class societies. It is easy for those who are better off to get to a farmer's market and buy fresh foods direct from the growers. It is easy for them to raise their own products for consumption. What is not easy for them is to relate to those who do not have the same advantages.
A family where both parents are working full time near minimum wage jobs may not even have a car and must rely on public transportation. They cannot just ask for time off in the day to go to the farmer's market which is often not anywhere near where they live. To take such a journey would require really going out of their way, by bus, missing time from work (less pay) to buy products that cost more than they can afford.
Such families, the working poor, who do not qualify for government welfare benefits, often cannot afford fresh foods. Processed foods and meat are cheap in the local stores which look the other way on ethical issues. The food choices of the working poor is killing this group. The working poor often are the most overweight of all Americans due to a poor diet choice. Affordable food is often very fattening and very bad for your health. Time is also not on the side of the working poor who do not have time to prepare a fresh meal from scratch, so fast food takeaways become a way to feed the family.
And to boot, how would the working poor be able to grow their own food if they live in a city in an apartment? Some may be able to do a very small garden, if they are lucky, but it would not be enough to feed a family.
Yes, it is bad what is being done to animals. What is being done to humans is worse.
Travel Peaks
Feeling pretty good about the results, I have decided to continue in the process. In the past 2 months, I did experiment by sneaking in one item at a time of the forbidden list and found out my body has bad reactions from almost every form of processed food, dairy products, caffeine and sugar. I don't even crave these things any more.
Then I did some research for an essay on vegetarianism. I watched a few videos "Supermarket Secrets" and "What's Really In Your Christmas Dinner" and between that and what I have read on the subject, I have mixed feelings on the vegetarian lifestyle.
While what I have done with my own diet is not what I would have referred to as vegetarian at all, some would classify it as such in terms of macro-vegetarian or pescetarian. What exactly is a vegetarian?
One becomes a vegetarian for various reasons including health concerns, economic issues, environmental issues, ethical or moral concerns, or even socially. The extent of vegetarian is defined in several ways.
A true "Vegan" is one who abstains from all forms of animal products. They won't even eat dairy products such as cheese, eggs, or ice cream and will refuse products such as honey. A vegan will also not wear animal skins, silk or wool. They will not use any product that contains any form of animal by-product or made by animals.
Some are vegans because of medical necessity as they may be allergic to such things, but most who are vegan are so by choice. They have a deep commitment to ending the exploitation and mistreating of animals and refuse to participate in supporting a system which contributes to such suffering.
The breakdown of other forms of vegetarians depend on what is included in the diet.
A "Lacto-vegetarian" allows dairy based products in their diet, but still abstains from meat and some will also abstain from using other animal based products while others will not. This all depends on if this form of vegetarianism is based on health concern or ethical/moral/environmental concerns.
An "Ovo-vegetarian" allows eggs and egg products in their diet while abstaining from meat. As with the lacto-vegetarians, some will and some won't use animal based products.
A "Macro-vegetarian" will not eat processed foods, including flour and sweeteners, and choose unprocessed, unrefined foods like whole grains, beans, seaweed, vegetables, fermented foods and even fish. Depending on why this method is chosen, followers will either avoid or use animal based products.
"Pescetarians" avoid eating all meat except for fish. Some may or may not include dairy and egg products in their diets. And as with the other branches of subcategories of vegetarians, they may or may not use animal based products depending on the reason they chose this path.
The pescetarian is a controversial vegetarian because many who would never consider themselves a vegetarian eat this way from time to time. Many in this group are occasional meat eaters.
The other end of controversy comes in the extreme vegans known as the "Fruitarians." They will not eat or use any product of animal origin, but they go a step further. They will not eat anything that harms a plant. If it involves uprooting and killing the plant, it is not on the diet. If it comes from the plant and that will regenerate itself, it is allowed.
For instance, a fruitarian will eat fruits, nuts and seeds, but they will not eat any plant that is completely uprooted and destroyed from its lifesource such as turnips and potatoes.
Why on earth would one become a vegetarian of any form? After all, it is human nature and part of the food chain to include meat in our diets, right?
If any animal was hungry enough, it would cast aside any issues and eat you. Hunger must be fed in whatever form is available. If you are in a land hit by drought and the only thing standing in between you and death is a roaming chicken, your survival instinct would say eat the chicken. If you refused and died, that hungry chicken would certainly peck at your corpse.
For ethical and moral reasons, many choose to be vegetarian. Animals raised exclusively for slaughter are mostly in very cruel conditions. They are given very little room to move around and kept indoor in very dimly lit environments that are often unsanitary. They are overfed, pumped with steroids and antibiotics to keep them artificially healthy and big. Then when their end comes, they are either given electrical shocks or gassed into submission in order to be slaughtered.
It is not a pleasant life for these animals. Due to concern for the welfare of how these animals are treated, most vegetarians refuse to support a system that is cruel to animals.
While free-range animals may have a better life, killing another living thing in order to support the diet of a human is unacceptable to most vegetarians. Even hunting game in the wild is not acceptable. At least with free-range or wild animals, they are allowed a more natural life with less cruelty inflicted upon them (except for an untimely death.)
If all meat products sold were hunted or free-range, there would be an increase in the price of meat which would make it hard for most low income families to afford.
The way animals are raised should be a red flag for those concerned about health issues. What goes into these animal's bodies is what goes into yours. If you have no problem with the killing of animals for food, at least consider how they lived before they came to your plate.
Another issue is on the environment. Land use where these animals live often leave toxic results within the soil they live, the toxic fumes put into the air from the methane gas by-products on the animals as well as the fumes on the trucks that take them away. A slaughter-farm is detrimental to the ozone as well as to the soil and water.
However, free-range and wild animals alone can become detrimental to themselves. While land space starts to shrink, the areas these animals can roam without human interference will be limited. This creates a danger of more animals which could become extinct if they are not bred in environments which are safe and someone is out to look after them.
Political and social concerns can also weigh in on the matter. The land used to raise the feed for these captive animals could feed many starving nations. In the Western world, we eat far more meat than anyone else in the world where meat access is considered more of a special treat rather than a daily must.
Even if we could use all the excess land for feeding people instead of cattle, this does not necessarily mean people won't go hungry in other countries. Most often, aid is blocked from getting to the people in need by war conflicts and unethical governments. We could raise all the excess food we wanted on this land, but it would go to waste anyway if the ones who need it cannot get it.
Of course, some are vegetarians because of religion. They believe the life of an animal is just as sacred and valuable as the life of a human. Just as they would not take the life of a man, they would not take the life of an animal.
As with issues of faith, I cannot argue with a belief system, just agree to disagree.
When one chooses vegetarian because of health issues, it is usually not out of concern of how the animals are treated, but what the animals are doing to them. On this issue it is one I can truly related. The way these animals are raised, crammed into tight spaces and pumped up with chemicals, drugs and over fed, it is asking for an invitation to cancer or heart disease.
Protein is an essential part of the human diet. It is a complex balance to achieve. One could get protein from rice or beans, but they are two different elements of the complete protein structure you need. If you combine beans and rice, you get the complete protein structure.
Meat has a complete protein structure. Meat also is rich in iron and certain minerals. On the other hand, meat has cholesterol. Any living thing with a liver or a brain produces it. Cholesterol eaten in excess will harden your arteries, but balanced with oils containing certain fatty acids which break down the cholesterol effects can cancel out the bad things.
Of course there are other options for a complete protein structure. The rice and beans combo is almost worldwide for that reason. Soybeans, once touted as the great substitute for meat, has come under fire lately as not that great. Most soybeans in the US are genetically modified. And the health benefits are not exactly as great as some claimed in the past. Non-GM soybeans are still an acceptable alternative to a meat protein. An added benefit is you can get other minerals such as calcium which you cannot get from meat. For women who need to get calcium, soy is a good supplement.
I don't like what is being done to animals, but then I am also more concerned with the life of humans.
Those farm workers who help pick the vegetable that are available in your supermarket are often earning low wages with hard working conditions. Family owned farms are being muscled out by big corporate farms who are merciless with the land and the people who work it. All those buy one get one free deals in the store are not losses taken by the store, but losses taken by the farms and essentially the farm workers who must produce twice as fast to compensate.
Low income workers have a hard enough time with feeding their families while many of these vegan advocated come from upper-middle class societies. It is easy for those who are better off to get to a farmer's market and buy fresh foods direct from the growers. It is easy for them to raise their own products for consumption. What is not easy for them is to relate to those who do not have the same advantages.
A family where both parents are working full time near minimum wage jobs may not even have a car and must rely on public transportation. They cannot just ask for time off in the day to go to the farmer's market which is often not anywhere near where they live. To take such a journey would require really going out of their way, by bus, missing time from work (less pay) to buy products that cost more than they can afford.
Such families, the working poor, who do not qualify for government welfare benefits, often cannot afford fresh foods. Processed foods and meat are cheap in the local stores which look the other way on ethical issues. The food choices of the working poor is killing this group. The working poor often are the most overweight of all Americans due to a poor diet choice. Affordable food is often very fattening and very bad for your health. Time is also not on the side of the working poor who do not have time to prepare a fresh meal from scratch, so fast food takeaways become a way to feed the family.
And to boot, how would the working poor be able to grow their own food if they live in a city in an apartment? Some may be able to do a very small garden, if they are lucky, but it would not be enough to feed a family.
Yes, it is bad what is being done to animals. What is being done to humans is worse.
Travel Peaks
posted by Callen Damornen at 11:56:00 am
2 comments
