Why Should YOU Become a Vegetarian Leah Marofsky

Why Should YOU Become a Vegetarian? Leah Marofsky

Ve ge m ta r ia ni s • The practice of abstaining from the consumption of meat – red meat, poultry, seafood and the flesh of any other animal • 1 person can save *100* animals for every year that they don’t consume meat • Studies have shown that 7. 3 Million Americans Are Vegetarians and an additional 22. 8 Million Follow a Vegetarian-Inclined Diet

3 Main Benefits for Becoming a Vegetarian Statistics: Three Main Reasons: 1. Overall Health Benefits 2. Animal Welfare 3. Environmental Concerns The Amount (%) of people that became vegetarian for the three main benefits: - 34%: Overall Health Benefits - 35%: Animal Welfare - 31%: Environmental Concerns

Overall Health Benefits • Cancer: A diet filled with fruits, vegetables, and fiber can help reduce the risk of lung disease and related illnesses. • Prevent Type 2 Diabetes: vegetarian diet includes complex carbs and fiber that help the body manage insulin more efficiently. • Hormone-free eating: Fruits, vegetables, and soy products are never injected with growth hormones and other chemicals that may harm the human body. • Low Cholesterol Levels: Without unhealthy meat and fat sources in the diet, cholesterol levels of vegetarians are much lower than meat eaters. • Lower blood pressure: Vegetarian diets can be naturally low in fat and sodium, helping reduce blood pressure and improve circulation instead. • Heart: Studies show that being a vegetarian cut risks of heart problems

Animal Welfare • More than 25 billion animals are killed by the meat industry each year • Animals are used for our clothing, food, entertainment, and experimental every day • Animals are kept in overcrowded stalls/cages/crates where they can’t even turn around their whole life • Deprived of veterinary care, exercise, and sunlight • Factor Farming: animals are injected with hormones and stimulants to make them grow bigger and faster/fed antibiotics • Testing shampoo, cleaners, cosmetics, etc. cause animals to be poisoned, blinded, and killed every year

Environme nt Concerns • Damage to the earth like air and water pollution, the erosion of lands, waste of precious energy, and deforestation • Reduces destruction of tropical rainforests, wildlife habitat, and help save endangered species • Every second, one football field of rainforest is destroyed in order to produce 257 hamburgers • In order to raise cattle • Diet reduces pollution in the land waters • Factory farms spray herbicides and pesticides • These chemicals destroy topsoil and leak into near by streams/rivers • Eating one hamburger does as much damage as driving your car for three weeks • Diet reduces CO 2 • If everyone stopped eating meat, it would eliminate all the pollution in the world

• http: //dictionary. reference. com/browse/vegetarianism • http: //www. vegetariantimes. com/article/vegetarianism -in-america/ • http: //www. statisticbrain. com/vegetarian-statistics/ • http: //voices. yahoo. com/17 -benefits-being-vegetarian -589913. html • http: //www. happycow. net/why_vegetarian. html • http: //www. peta. org/ SOURCES