Why People Become Vegetarians

A lot of people who eat meat try to figure out why vegetarians don't eat meat and live a different lifestyle. It's not an easy thing to answer. People who don't eat meat do so because of numerous reasons.

Many vegetarians cite the poor treatment of animals as one of the main reasons they have ethical problems with eating meat. Chickens, for example are debeaked, put into small cages, and then slaughtered. Think about how much you would enjoy having your nose cut off, being put into an eight foot by eight foot egg laying room, and then having someone kill you because you didn't produce enough. As if that weren't bad enough, animals that are raised for food are also given food that is laced with powerful growth hormones, and then thrust into stressful living arrangements.

People who become vegetarians for this purpose often draw ethical boundaries in different spots, depending on their personal beliefs. For instance, some staunch vegans won't consume yeast, wear wool, or even eat certain vegetables, such as carrots, that require killing the plant to harvest. On the opposite side of the spectrum, some vegetarians–sometimes referred to as pseudo-vegetarians–will actually eat fish and chicken on a regular basis.

Another reason vegetarians claim for not eating meat is that it conflicts with their dietary preferences. Some of these vegetarians simply do not like the texture and taste of meat; others do not eat it because it is high in cholesterol and often contains high concentrations of hormones and preservatives.

Vegetarians who state environmental reasons for not eating meat make make up the group who represent another group. They grumble that meat consumption pushes farmers to deforest more and more land to provide grazing for cattle. Many other vegetarians, however, have completely different reasons in addition to those mentioned already.