From: abulsari@aton.abo.fi
Subject: A beginner's guide to vegetarianism
Organization: Abo Akademi University
Date: Fri, 13 Nov 1992 09:25:03 GMT

I got this from Michael Traub some time back.


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                   A Beginner's Guide to Vegetarianism
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	I want to  talk  to you about animals.  As members of ar-news,
I'm sure  this  a subject very close and  dear  to all  of our hearts.
However, I have in mind a specific group of animals--those that are on
our dinner plates.

	I've  loved  animals  all  of  my  life,  but  only  became  a
vegetarian a year ago.   At first, my parents didn't understand, but I
explained to them that  it is a  very natural step to take for someone
who truly loves  animals.  I've  always struggled with the question of
eating animals,  but  never knew that there was any alternative.  This
brings me to the reason why  I've written this  article.  To tell you,
the animal lover, that there is a wonderful world full of alternatives
to the lifestyle most of us were raised with.

	Why should you consider becoming a vegetarian?  For one thing,
there are  very good health reasons.  First, the most common cause  of
death in the  U.S.  is by heart attack.  Whereas  the average American
man is at a 50% risk, a vegetarian male has only a 4% chance.  Second,
according  to the  USDA, at least  one out of every fifty eggs and one
out  of every three chickens sold  in  supermarkets are  infected with
live salmonella bacteria.  Also,  most commercial mayonnaise can carry
this bacteria because it  is made with  raw eggs.  However,  this risk
can be  greatly  reduced by  proper handling and  preparation.  Third,
consider this--nearly 50% of the antibiotics manufactured each year in
the U.S.  are fed to animals which are later eaten by us.  Some health
experts argue that  this reduces the  effectiveness of the antibiotics
for  humans by creating mutant  antibiotic  resistant bacteria; others
(like my biology  teacher) say  that there is no conclusive scientific
evidence.  You decide.

	Health reasons aside, there are ethical reasons why you should
consider going meatless.

	These reasons may include concern about the environment: every
quarter pound  of hamburger you  eat destroys  55 square  feet of rain
forest because many cattle eaten in the U.S. have been fattened up  in
former  rain forests converted to grazing  ground.   Altogether,  more
than 50% of current tropical rain forest destruction has been directly
linked  to   raising  livestock.    Another  natural   resource  often
overlooked  is  water.  To produce  a pound of protein,  it takes 1065
gallons of  water  for soybeans, 1490 gallons  for corn and a whopping
3,000 to 5,000  gallons for meat.  Not so amazingly, more than half of
the water consumed in the U.S. each  year is used up in factory animal
farming!

	If  you  are concerned  about  world  hunger,  consider  these
comparisons--twenty vegetarians can be fed on the land  needed to feed
one  person consuming a  meat-based diet.  If  Americans reduce  their
meat intake by only 10%, 60 million people (the number  of people  who
will starve to  death this year) could be adequately fed by the  grain
saved,  because  for the feed cost  of an 8 oz. steak, 45 to 50 people
could each have a full cup of cooked cereal grains.

	As animal lovers, the most important moral reason is realizing
that eating animals is a form of animal abuse.   You will be saddened,
as I  was, to learn  of  the overcrowded and unsanitary conditions  in
which animals  are  subjected to as livestock.  More than  95% of  all
animal suffering in this country occurs  in factory livestock farming.
The sheer number of animals raised for our consumption beats all other
forms  of  animal abuse,  including cosmetic and product testing,  and
medical and  scientific  experimentation.  Unfortunately,  most  of us
have long ago learned to disassociate the animal  from the meat we eat
and  this has lead to an imbalance between us and the other creatures.
This  imbalance is  manifested  in how  these  animals  are  "farmed."
Today, animal farms no longer  resemble the quiet family farms that we
see on television.  Instead, these are large factories  which use huge
machines  and modern technology  to make raising livestock  profitable
and  impersonal.  No consideration  is ever  given  to the comfort  of
these animals,  except to keep them alive in large enough  quantities.
Here is a small fraction of the torture that goes on in  the livestock
industry: The United States consumes around 6.3 billion pounds of fish
flesh  annually.   At  the  age  of  20  weeks,  85  million pigs  are
slaughtered  for U.S.   dinnertime fare  each  year.  According to the
U.S. Department of Agriculture, another 24 million die before reaching
slaughter age.   In addition, 416,000  pigs die from "shipping stress"
on the  way  to  the  slaughterhouse  because  of  careless  and  even
malicious handling;  animals have  been  observed to  be  electrically
shocked and battered.   Without  anesthesia, male  pigs  and  cows are
castrated.   Speaking of  cows,  there are  approximately 5.5  million
dairy cows in the  U.S. and  instead of their 25  years lifespan under
natural living conditions, these animals live only 3 to 5 years,  with
most becoming hamburger.  More than a million calves a year are raised
for veal; during their short life  span of around 16 to 18 weeks, they
are  given no water to  drink or any solid  food.  To  make sure  that
their  flesh is white (anemic), they  are fed  milk replacers that are
deliberately deficient.   Their entire  miserable life is  spent  in a
crate  not  even big enough  for  them  to  stand  or move around  in;
needless to say, almost all  of them never see daylight.  If you think
that is  cruel, listen to this.  Day-old chicks' beaks are dismembered
through  a process that  burns their beaks off  (and sometimes part of
their face, too)  with a hot  knife.  Since  only female  chickens lay
eggs, more  than *280  million  male  chicks every year are considered
waste and  tossed into plastic bags  on top  of each other and left to
die*.   This staggering number is only a small fraction of the 5 to  6
billion  chickens that  are  cruelly  slaughtered  each  year  for our
consumption.   The  slaughtering  process  consists  of  hanging  each
chicken upside  down on a conveyer  line as their  heads  are  dragged
through an electrified water trough.  Next their  throats are slit and
their bodies go through the  scalding hot water tanks, sometimes still
alive.

"Poor animals!  How jealously they guard their pathetic 
bodies ... that which to us is merely an evening's meal, but 
to them is life itself." 		--T. Casey Brennan

"Recognize meat for what it really is: the antibiotic- and 
pesticide-laden corpse of a tortured animal." 
				            --Ingrid Newkirk
					      PETA National Director

WHAT CAN YOU DO

	If these  facts are hard for you to  swallow, no pun intended,
I've got good news--you can do something about it.  Don't take  a part
in  supporting  these  inhumane  acts.   Start  on  your   alternative
lifestyle by reducing the intake of animal flesh and  broadening  your
eating horizon by trying ethnic foods, many of which include delicious
meat-free dishes.  When you cook, try substitutes like tofu and tempeh
instead of meat.  If you think tofu is for wimps, think again.  It  is
rich  in protein  and are  now  made into  delicious food  items  like
cheese,  hot  dogs, sandwich  meat-substitute, margarine, and  drinks.
Also, mayonnaise is now  available without eggs.  These and many other
healthy substitutes can  be  found  in  health  food  stores  and some
supermarkets like Vons and  Ralphs.   If you  don't quite know  how to
cook  vegetarian,  there are lots  of great  cookbooks  available;  my
favorite  is  Sunset's  Vegetarian  Cooking,  which  has  easy-to-make
recipes ranging from main dishes to desserts.

	I do  not  claim  to be  an  expert on nutritional  vegetarian
diets, nor am I about to give out advice on this topic, but I will say
one sure thing  --  MEAT  IS  NOT  ESSENTIAL TO GOOD HEALTH.  What  is
essential is  that  your meat-free diet  include nutrients  that  were
previously part  of the animal diet.  Don't take  my word for it there
are many well written books on vegetarian health.   Next  time you are
in a bookstore, browse in the cookbook or nutrition section and you'll
be sure to spot a few.

	Becoming a vegetarian  isn't something you should do overnight
or even  over several weeks.  Like most everyone else in this country,
I was raised on meat and giving it up was a big deal,  both physically
and mentally.  I  started weaning  myself away from meat about 2 years
ago.  Do I miss eating  meat?  Not any more.   If  you are considering
becoming a vegetarian, start slowly  and gradually change your  eating
habits.  Most important--don't force yourself and listen to your body!
If you get a craving for  that  hamburger  or pepperoni pizza, eat it.
Chances  are,  after  you've been meat-free, even  for a  short while,
eating it may be difficult.

	Now, I  understand that vegetarianism isn't  for everyone.   I
want those of  you  interested to know  that  it isn't  something  you
should be  afraid of trying.  If you  are like me, as you start on the
road to  becoming a vegetarian, you  may  be surprised  by all the new
things to learn about your new lifestyle.   Don't let  them  overwhelm
you.  Remember, make gradual  and small  changes when you feel you are
ready.

	Join  other  famous  vegetarians,  such  as  Albert  Einstein,
Socrates, Plato, Leonardo da  Vinci,  Leo Tolstoy, Sir  Isaac  Newton,
H.G.  Wells, Upton Sinclair,  Charles  Darwin,  Geoerge Bernard  Shaw,
Benjamin  Franklin,  Ramanujan, Linda  and  Paul  McCartney,  Madonna,
Christie Brinkley, Leonard Nimoy, Paul Newman, Bob Dylan, John Denver,
and athletes  like  Murray  Rose,  Peter Burwash,  and Chip  Oliver in
making this world a better place to live for all the animals!



References:

1.	Lappe, Frances Moore.  Diet for A Small Planet.  New York: 
Ballatine Books, 1982.

2.	Newkirk, Ingrid.  Save the Animals!: 101 Easy Things You Can Do.  
New York: Warner Books, Inc., 1990.

3.	Null, Gary.  The Vegetarian Handbook: Eating Right for Total 
Health.  New York: St. Martin's Press, 1987.

4.	Pemberton, Cindy, and Brown, Marcia.  The Creative Eater's 
Handbook: Better Nutrition Through Vegetarian Eating.  California: 
American Heart Association, 1983.

5.	Doyle, Rodger.  The Vegetarian Handbook: A Guide to Vegetarian 
Nian Nutrition.  New York: Crown Publishers, Inc., 1979.

6.	Sequoia, Anna.  67 Ways to Save the Animals.  New York: 
HarperCollins Publishers, 1990.



Mona  Wong  is the  founder of  Animal Alternatives--a  not-for-profit
organization dedicated  to  finding  alternatives to our dependency on
animals  in the  following  areas:  personal  lifestyle, beauty  care,
product  testing, and scientific research.   We welcome  new  members,
comments and suggestions.  Our address is  P.O. Box 262396, San Diego,
CA 92196-2396, USA.

Newsgroups: rec.food.veg