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VEGETARIANISM |
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One of the most important things we can do to help animals is not to eat
them. There are lots of good reasons for being a
vegetarian.
It’s kinder for
animals.
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Lots of
people think that animals live happily on the farm, just like in story
books, but often that’s not the case at all. Most farm animals live in
very crowded conditions and cannot run around and play in the sun.
Do you
remember how we looked at how hens are kept? Well, pigs are kept in
very similar conditions. It’s a very cruel way to
keep animals and even more cruel to kill them later just so
that people can eat
them.
We should always remember that animals have
feelings too, and people should not use them as a food when there are so
many healthy alternatives available.
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It’s better for the
environment.
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Breeding
animals for food is very bad for the environment too. Rainforests are very
important to provide oxygen for us to breath, but in Central America they
are being cut down to provide land for cattle to graze. Those cattle are then used
for burgers such as McDonalds.
Most of the plant
food grown in the world is used to feed farm animals, which are then used
to feed people. If the plant foods were fed directly to people instead
there would be less starving people in poor countries and less damage
caused by animals to the environment.
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It’s healthier
for
people too.
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People
get sick all the time, but vegetarians seem to be a lot healthier. One of
the most common illnesses in the world is heart disease. It is caused when
a substance called cholesterol clogs up the arteries and stops blood from
flowing through. Cholesterol comes from animal foods (meat, eggs and milk)
so if we don’t eat them we have less chance of having heart
disease.
Vegetarians also have less chance of being
sick from cancer, food poisoning and many other
illnesses. |
If you
ask someone “who was the most intelligent person in the world?” most
people will say “Albert Einstein”. Guess What!!! Albert
Einstein was a vegetarian, so are many other famous people, including
Michael Jackson, Dannii Minogue, Lisa Simpson and Dan Castanella (He’s the
person that does the voice of Homer Simpson).
The first
actor to ever play Tarzan was called Johnny Weissmuller. He was a very
strong person and an Olympic swimmer. He was vegetarian
too.
 It’s still important to eat healthily. Even
though many biscuits and soft drinks are vegetarian that doesn’t mean that
you should live on these types of foods. It’s very important to eat plenty
of fresh fruit and vegetables, cereals, legumes and fortified soy milk
(that is with added B12 and calcium) every
day. |
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Here
are some favourites to try: |
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Toasted tomato and avocado
sandwich
Banana soy milk smoothies
Veggie burgers
Baked
beans on toast
Cold
soy yoghurt poured over fruit salad
Nuts,
dried fruits and banana
chips. | Vegetarianism always
creates lots of questions. Here are some of the more common
ones.
Do I have
to eat meat to get protein?
No. You can
get protein from lots of other foods such as nuts, baked beans and
tofu. Actually, most foods contain
protein.
What would
happen to all the animals if everyone stopped eating
meat?
Although it would be nice thing to happen, not
everyone would become vegetarian at the same time. As less people
eat meat, farmers will breed less animals, so the amount of cruelty would
stop gradually.
Is it
cruel to eat vegetables too?
The main difference
between plants and animals is that animals have a brain and a nervous
system and plants do not. If an animal feels pain he can react
to save himself (such as by running away). This is an example of the nervous system telling the
brain to do something to avoid danger. Plants are not able to run
away from danger and so it is not worth them having a brain and nervous
system and so they do not feel
pain. |
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