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Healthy Guide To Making The Switch By Dana Meachen Rau

1912 Words8 Pages

The Question--Personal Connection Over five years ago, both of my sisters, upon viewing a documentary depicting how the meat on our plates gets there, decided to become vegetarians. To accommodate my sisters since they made this decision, my family has made more meals that contain no meat. A year ago, my sisters convinced my parents and me to give up red meat. However, I am not sure if I should stop there. Should I become a full-blown vegetarian? From what I have heard being a vegetarian has multiple pros, including personal health and environmental benefits, but I have also heard some negative aspects about giving up meat. So I wanted to decide for myself if being a vegetarian would be a good decision for me and maybe even for my parents. …show more content…

Most of the books about vegetarianism were cookbooks, but I did find one called Going Vegetarian: A Healthy Guide to Making the Switch by Dana Meachen Rau. The book contains exceptional information about making the switch from being a meat eater to being a vegetarian. After finding that book, I thought I should find some of the basic benefits and cons of becoming a vegetarian. From the Nestle-Family website, I found some of the main health benefits and problems of not eating meat and I also learned that there are different types of vegetarians. The Chris Kresser website also had exceptional information about the drawbacks of vegetarianism. Next, I wanted to find some statistics about how common vegetarians are. To obtain this information, I found sources such as nymag.com and PsychologyToday.com. I still felt that I was lacking pros, so I found the PETA website which includes the environmental benefits of being a vegetarian. At this point, I felt that I did not have a full grasp on the history of vegetarianism, therefore I found the Vegetarian Society and Vegetarianism and the Major World Religions websites, where I learned how the modern vegetarianism came about. Lastly, I wanted a more personal approach on deciding if I should become a vegetarian, so I conducted interviews with both of my …show more content…

According to a survey conducted by the Humane Research Council of almost 12,000 people, 84 percent of vegetarians and vegans eventually go back to eating meat (Dahl). That is a colossal fail percentage. One may say that it is difficult to make such a drastic adjustment and that is why the fail percentage is so high. This theory can be disproven since the movement to stop smoking began in the same decade as the big push for animal rights and vegetarianism, in the 1970’s. Since then the percent of people who smoke has fallen 50 % while the percent of people who are not vegetarians has stayed the same, about 98% (Herzog). Each year though, it seems to be easier to stay vegetarian. In the survey by the Humane Research Council, of the 84 % of people who went back to eating meat, 50 percent was after one year and ⅓ was after three years. Erin said, “Being a vegetarian is a commitment, but after a while it becomes easier”, which is what the data has also shown. Mara said, “Being a vegetarian is not very difficult for me”, so the success rate may also have something to do with

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