This contract farming is causing the demise of the family farmers. Eight of these control half the business. World hunger is another reasons to become vegetarian. The amount of grain a cow eats in a day could feed 15 starving people. For every pound of meat produced 15 people go hungry.
Animal rights is one more reason to become a vegetarian.
Nearly five billion animals are slaughtered for food each year. As the cows get auctioned to feedlot, they get branded again and again until they finally end up at the slaughter houses. Chickens are also treated cruelly. They are crammed into cages so tightly that they can barely move, and are driven insane. Pigs are treated the same way and often bite each other's tails and even killing each other.