Destiny Smith

English II

12-15-2017

Should people become vegetarian?

There has been a long standing debate about whether or not people should convert to vegetarianism. To be vegetarian means to

abstain from eating meats and may also include abstention from by products of animal slaughter. The advantages of becoming

vegetarian is that a vegetarian diet delivers complete nutrition and can provide health benefits, a vegetarian diet can help alleviate

world hunger, and vegetarians live longer. The disadvantages of becoming vegetarian is inadequate amounts of protein, limited food

choices, and differences in choice to family and friends. People should not become vegetarian because eating meat is not cruel or

unethical, a vegetarian diet does not lengthen your life, and vegetarian diets can cause the death of animals too.

People should not become vegetarian because eating meat is not cruel or unethical. ​Radical environmentalist Derrick Jensen

states, “Every organism on earth dies or is killed, at some point, so other organisms can live.” The author who wrote this is saying that

if eating meat it unethical because the animals are living, then eating plants is also unethical because plants are also living. Since the

author says eating plants would also be unethical according to their logic, this supports the claim that people should not become

vegetarian because eating meat is not cruel or unethical.

 People should not become vegetarian because becoming vegetarian will not make you live longer. Jenny Chang-Claude, the

head of the Unit of Genetic Epidemiology,​ says, “When a peer-reviewed Apr. 11, 2005 study from the German Cancer Research

Center compared health conscious meat eaters with vegetarians, there was no difference in overall mortality rates.” Since the author

says that there is no difference in the mortality rates of meat eaters with vegetarians, this supports the claim that people should not

become vegetarian because becoming vegetarian will not make you live longer.

People should not become vegetarian because vegetarian diets can cause the death of animals too. Author Steven L. Davis

says, “According to a 2003 study by Steven Davis at Oregon State University, about six animals per acre, or 52-77% of the animals

(such as birds, mice, and rabbits) that live in agricultural crop fields, are killed during harvest.” The author is saying that by harvesting

these vegetarian crops, they are killing animals that live in those fields. Since animals are being killed in crop fields, vegetarians are

no better than meat eaters which therefore supports the claim that people should not become vegetarian because vegetarian diets can

cause the death of animals too.

Some who support the claim that people should become vegetarian say that human anatomy has evolved to support a primarily

vegetarian diet. Humans do not have the large mouth or long, pointed teeth of carnivores. This is illogical because our taste buds

evolved to crave meats savory flavor. Eating meat has been an essential part of human evolution for 2.3 million years. Kathy Freston

says, “The inclusion of meat in the ancestral diet provided a dense form of nutrients and protein that, when combined with

high-calorie low-nutrient carbohydrates such as roots, allowed us to develop our large brains and intelligence.”
 This issue should be addressed because most people judge others based on if they’re vegetarian, vegan, meat eater, etc.

Everyone should be open minded and accept others food choices. Eating meat is not cruel or unethical because eating plants would

also be unethical since plants are living, a vegetarian diet does not lengthen your lifespan because people who were vegetarian meat

eaters had near the same life span as meat eaters, and vegetarian diets cause animal deaths as much as meat eating diets do. Therefore,

people should not become vegetarian because eating meat is not cruel or unethical, a vegetarian diet does not lengthen your life, and

vegetarian diets can cause the death of animals too.

Annotated Bibliography

“Why Vegetarianism will not save the world” by Ian MacKenzie September 11, 2011:

https://matadornetwork.com/bnt/why-vegetarianism-will-not-save-the-world/

This article talks about how making every human become vegetarian will not save the world. The author interviews Lierre Keith, the

author of “The Vegetarian Myth”. I relate to Lierre because I believe that vegetarianism will not save the world. She mentions how

she classifies vegetarians/vegans into three groups, (political, moral, nutritional), and I classify vegetarians/vegans in those groups as

well. “...the planet is being destroyed by the social arrangement called civilization. And agriculture is the activity at the base of

civilization. Agriculture is, in fact, the most destructive thing that people have done to the planet.” Lierre is saying that eating animals

is damaging earth but it isnt eating animals, it's the agriculture where people remove all living things from the area including bacteria

and cities are also damaging.

“Should we all be vegetarians?” opinions by the public, unknown date.

http://www.debate.org/opinions/should-we-all-be-vegetarians

This website includes the public’s opinions on whether or not people should become vegetarian. I used this website to see what

reasons people used so I could refute them in my counter argument.

“Why you shouldn’t be a vegetarian” by Cynthia Perkins Unknown date.

http://www.holistichelp.net/why-you-shouldnt-be-vegetarian.html

This website includes an article about why people should not become vegetarian. They talk about how meat has certain vitamins that

the human body needs that a vegetarian diet cannot receive.

“Proven Advantages and Disadvantages of Being Vegetarian” by unknown, unknown date

https://healthyfuturesva.com/proven-advantages-and-disadvantages-of-vegetarianism/

This article talks about the advantages and disadvantages of being a vegetarian. I used this website in my introduction.

“Shattering The Meat Myth: Humans Are Natural Vegetarians” by Kathy Freston, November 17, 2011

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/kathy-freston/shattering-the-meat-myth_b_214390.html

I used this article for my third body paragraph to help my background evidence.