We do a lot of volunteer things. We don't sit at home and rock in a rocking chair. Fiber-based plant products are healthier than animal products, which typically include saturated fat and cholesterol that clog arteries and make people fat, vegetarians say. Many also worry they will be harmed by the hormones in meat and milk or by the pesticides animals often ingest. The North American Vegetarian Society estimates that 10 million Americans consider themselves vegetarians, though about two-thirds of them sometimes eat meat.
Little information is available on ages or backgrounds.
But this is sort of the first generation of older people who are very invested in their own health care. Amie Hamlin, the founder of Club Veg in Binghamton, N.Y., said more than half of the people who attend her events are over 50 and starting to experience health problems. Maintaining a vegetarian diet has become easier for regular folks as more health-food stores open and supermarkets set up special sections. Fifteen years ago, I couldn't find anything to eat. But she does not discourage it, either.