Is There Something to Vegetarianism Research Paper

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VEGAN & VEGETARIANISM

Veganism & Vegetarianism

Many people associate vegetarianism or veganism with being healthy. Indeed, many of the people that engage in either lifestyle cite better health as being a primary reason for their choice. However, there is the open question as to whether a vegan or vegetarian diet is better than other diets that include one or more types of meat. This report aims to find out by studying those actively living a vegetarian or vegan lifestyle and deciphering whether there is indeed an incentive to eschew meat in favor of a diet that excludes some or all animal products. While there are some obvious health benefits that commonly occur with eating a meatless diet, it is far from conclusive that doing so is clearly superior to diets that include meat.

Further, there is a variety of reasons why people are vegetarian or vegan. These reasons include religion, concerns about animal cruelty, environmental concerns and others beyond that. For some, it may be a combination or two or more reasons. The high-level reasons just mentioned can actually be drilled down into more specific topics. For example, animal cruelty can manifest in the form of people that believe animals have the same or similar rights as humans, that killing an animal unnecessarily is immoral and so forth. Environmental concerns can include things like methane from herds of cows, the downsides to eating red meat and so on.

Even with all of the negative aspects that many people point to in relation to eating meat, there are those that say that not eating meat can lead to shortfalls in important nutrients and vitamins such as protein and others. While there are natural alternatives in many cases, there are those that state that some of those solutions are impractical and/or that there is nothing wrong with eating meat. The primary and secondary research in this report will cover all of those angles and then some.

Literature Review

One thing that should be noted straight off the top about vegans and vegetarians is that their numbers are not all that high. Indeed, the Vegan Times states that "3.2% of U.S. adults, or 7.3 million people, follow a vegetarian-based diet. Approximately 0.5%, or 1 million, of those are vegans, who consume no animal products at all. In addition, 10% of U.S., adults, or 22.8 million people, say they largely follow a vegetarian-inclined diet" (Vegetarianism in America, 2016). Although vegetarians represent a rather small part of the United States population, there are countries that have much higher rates of people eating vegetarian or vegan diets. For example, India has a vegan or vegetarian population of nearly a third, coming in at about thirty-one percent (Yadav, 2006).

Something else that must be noted is that veganism and vegetarianism is not the same thing. Vegetarians are those that do not eat meat at all. This would include poultry, beef, lamb, pork and so forth. Vegans do that but they also eschew any food that comes from an animal and this holds true even if the animal is not harmed or killed. In addition to not eating the animals themselves, vegans will not eat dairy (e.g. milk, cheese, etc.) or eggs as those come from animals. Vegans also typically refrain from wearing leather, fur, wool and other animal-sourced materials due to the perceived or verifiable killing or cruelty involved. Indeed, harvesting wool typically just involves the shearing of a sheep rather than its death but vegans typically take a pretty hard line on the matter. Some approach the pro-vegan or pro-vegetarianism lifestyle as a "movement" while others just point to the health effects of eating meat and how "we are what we eat" (Bisogni, Connors, Devine & Sobal, 2002).

Of course, there is the majority of people that can basically be called omnivores in that they eat food from all of the food groups at one time or another including meat, dairy and fruits/vegetables. However, there are some in-betweens and variations such as Pescatarianism These are people that will not eat any meat with the exception of fish and other seafood such as crab, lobster and shrimp. There are also "flexitarians" that act as vegetarians some or a lot of the time but do eat the occasional meat product every now and then. In other words, they generally avoid eating meat but do not have a problem doing so once in a while ("Move over vegetarians," 2012).

There is the open question as to whether food preference even matters.

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According to an article from Harvard Medical School, "studies are confirming the health benefits of meat-free eating. Nowadays, plant-based eating is recognized as not only nutritionally sufficient but also as a way to reduce the risk for many chronic illnesses" (HWHW, 2009). However, there are other sources that point out that red meat and other "bad" foods are actually just fine so long as they are consumed in moderation. Anything ingested and consumed to excess can cause problems. This is true when speaking of many things including meat, wine/alcohol, salt and other things. Even oxygen and water can be deadly to humans if taken to excess. Many people point instead to diets, however they are comprised, that are balanced and do not include too much of any bad foods. In general, avoiding high amounts of salt, sugar (or its variants) and saturated fat is all that is necessary maintain health. Further, all of things are needed in some amounts to maintain normal body function. It is when they are consumed excessively that problems present themselves. To put it concisely, a vegetarian diet may lend itself more to being healthy but there are other ways to accomplish the same or similar ends (Wyness, 2015).

Methodology

The primary research in this report, that being the interviews done by the author of this report, will focus on vegetarianism at a high level rather than drilling up to things like Pescatarianism or down to veganism. In other words, the research question that will be answered by this research is whether a meatless diet is healthier than one that includes meat to any degree. A total of two people were interviewed for this report and their responses, in conjunction with the literature review, will lead to the conclusions and findings that are generated as a result of the work behind this study. The first interview conducted for this report was with an old co-worker of the author of this report. That person is a dedicated vegan that does not wear or eat any animal products of any sort. The second interview was with a person that was born and raised in India for much of her life. As noted elsewhere in this report, vegetarianism and its variants are very common in that country.

The interviews in this report are primary research and were done to get a first-hand perspective from people who actively engage in some form of vegetarianism. The secondary research conducted for this report was the literature review that was presented earlier in this report. Only peer-review articles or other scholarly/authoritative sources were used for that literature review. This would include articles in peer-reviewed and/or scholarly journals, reputable websites and so forth. This is done to ensure that only reputable and proven data is used to make conclusions. This helps create both validity and reliability as part of the research. These two facets must be present in any good research or the conclusions put forward will not hold up to scrutiny from peers or people that research the same/similar project going forward.

Findings

There is actually a sufficient amount of information on vegetarianism but as the Harvard article pointed out there has been a shift from studying the health deficiencies to more recently, studying the benefits of avoiding meat, regardless of what form or vegetarianism that someone may practice. One major theme that seemed to stand out in each of the articles was the connection between being vegetarian to one's self-identity and their change becoming a lifestyle above and beyond just changing the food they ate. Not only did I find this in the articles I read but it also came through in the interviews as well. For instance, when discussing how she felt if she "cheated," Ashmita said, "I actually feel bad emotionally because it's a lifestyle that I want to adopt and I'm failing so I do feel bad emotionally." As it relates to the Indian interviewee, that person noted that the cow is considered sacred by many in that country and this stems from religion rather than any sort of specific focus on health alone. While concerns about health are certainly a factor, the reverence for cows and an aversion to meat in general (beef in particular, obviously) is probably the main catalyst for nearly a third of India eating a meatless diet. In terms of the common American manifestations of meatless diets, veganism in particular has taken on a "status" and as a "movement" but that is….....

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