What were your reasons for becoming a vegetarian?!
What about you guys?
Answers: I became a vegetarian mainly because I have digestive issues, and cutting meat out of my diet helped me feel a lot better.
What about you guys?
Animal cruelty, originally. While I still do not support killing animals, I do it now more because I cannot stand the idea of eating flesh. I've been a vegetarian for 18 years. I find fast food places to be the most disgusting aspect of the american diet.
I became a vegetarian because of the abuse of animals. I feel that animals should not be treated harshly before they die, so I stopped eating meat products. :-)
i became a vegetarian because i wanted to eat healthier foods. not eating meat cuz u dont want to hurt animals isnt bad, that just shows ur a very compassionate person and hate to think that something is dying just 4 u to stuff ur face. i hate to think of what animals go thru for people just to eat meat. its the persons' individual choice. i love animals, and i love veggies, so it wasnt too hard of a decision to make.
i did it because it is a healthy way to eat as long as you know how to eat right. and also because i dont like meat and what animals go through.
For me...
animals
my health
environment
:-) Congrats on being vegetarian
Cause of animal cruelty
Also not eating much fast food burgers etc
The motivation in my decision was to not support animal cruelty and the horrors of the commercial meat industry.
Later on, as I started learning more about the environmental benefits of being vegetarian, so that's a big plus.
Another added benefit that I discovered after I had been vegetarian for about 6 months was that the arthritic pain I've had since I was a little kid went from everyday pain in several joints to pretty much no pain at all.
To the person who doesn't think that animal rights is a valid reason for going vegetarian, that is a very ignorant thing to say. No one else is judging you on your decision and the reason behind it, why do you feel you have the right to judge others? Just because you feel no compassion for animals doesn't mean that no one should.
Contrary to Matthew S's assumption, our teeth are not "made for eating meat". We have the ability to cut into various substances with them, and our "canine" teeth might make biting into and crushing some foods easier. But look at our canine compared to those of the cat, for example. They're pathetic by comparison.
Most of our teeth are actually for masticating and chewing, something natural carnivores do not do. I could also mention the differing jaw action, stomach contents and acidity, different intestine and methods of absorption in the intestine of natural carnivores, to name a few important biological differences.
i am and have been a vegetarian all my life. It is cruel to eat animals, and why should we make our bodies a graveyard?!?! and what's the point? there is sooooo much better food we can eat. Why should we sacrifice one soul to be eaten? what if someone came up to you and said: i'm gonna kill you now because i want to eat you for dinner tonight. You don't realize what you're eating until you see it that way. Animals have a right to live, just like we do. I believe in non-violence!
The things they are feeding these animals nowadays. The sicknesses the pus oozing out of them and they're still being packaged. Animals being fed genetically engineered foods. That's not even natural. There was an investigation about chickens and you could clearly see pus oozing out of the chicken's breast. They were told to just cut off the oozing part and package the rest including the wing. You may find plenty of those at your local grocery store. Even thouch the breast was infected, the whole chicken may have very well been infected as well. But the FDA stamped it off! and it was sent out to the stores. I don't eat anything with animals anymore and i am trying to stay away from corn, soy, canola, and cottonseed oils, as well as anything that has to deal with them. That includes high fructose corn syrup, corn, soy, etc. I only buy foods that are labeled non GMO or CERTIFIED ORGANIC. And trust me they are expensive but i'm not willing to catch cancer (of any type) stomach leasions, swollen liver, infected kidney's or anything else.
1. Environmental reasons
2. Ethical reasons
3. Health reasons
4. Political reasons
Not necessarily in that order.
i became vegetarian as a way to rebel and become independent at fourteen. I now cook for myself and i am much happier.
I never liked the taste of meat to begin with so thats a plus too!
i love animals and i can't stand the smell, taste, and look of dead animals
I had to read an excerpt from "animal liberation" for a philosophy class. I was really anti-vegetarian previously, but reading that book convinced me that unnecessary killing was wrong. I just can't ignore a good argument.
After reading info on factory farms on the web, I decided veganism was the most ethical choice. My reasons for staying vegan have evolved somewhat since then, but that's why I went veg at the time.
That is the only good reason for becoming a vegetarian and I have many meat products I have cut out for that same reason.
If you are a vegetarian because of the maltreatment of animals, there are providers who treat their animals right. (Ex: cage free chickens)
If you are vegetarian because you find something wrong with eating animals. This is insane, our teeth are made for eating meat. Many animals themselves eat meat, there is nothing cruel about eating as long as the animals aren't tortured or wasted.