Recently, a former superstar made the news by suggesting that people could help the environment if they adopted a vegetarian diet meal plan for as little as one day a week. Some media treated his suggestion with due respect. Other media outlets derided him, suggesting that the former rock star was living in his hippy past.
What the media almost universally overlooked was the truth behind his words. If everyone understood the facts about vegetarianism, they would understand why so many people have given up meat eating and felt better for it. Let’s take a cold, hard look at meat eating from a vegetarian’s point of view.
Americans consume far more beef per capita than any other nation and our environment suffers as a result. We could utilize our precious arable land far better by raising protein rich plant crops than we do by raising cattle. This is an established fact. There is plenty of proof for this that is buried rather than confronted.
People living near beef processing plants and process plant workers report a high incidence of health problems directly related to the processing of beef. There is sound medical evidence to prove this, but one way to find out for yourself would be to visit one of these places. But be prepared – you may get sick from the smell before you even enter the premises.
Unless you are a hardened killer, you will be shocked by what you see inside the meat processing plant. To call it inhumane is putting it mildly. While the killing process itself is not necessarily an environmental issue, it is a moral one. It is doubtful that you will reach for a shrink-wrapped sirloin steak quite so quickly after you have seen what happened at the slaughterhouse. You are more likely to turn away and go to the vegetable department and start your vegetarian diet!
The beef industry goes to great lengths to promote the health benefits of meat eating. Aside from protein, there is very little to substantiate their claim that meat is an essential part of one’s diet. An argument might be made that an occasional small serving of meat may be in order, but so many eat phenomenal amounts of meat and it is a major contributor to numerous serious health problems, including heart disease and cancer.
There are very few people who have turned to a vegetarian diet meal plan who ever go back to eating meat. Those who do generally eat far less than they did before. Vegetarians, contrary to what the meat lobbies try to make us believe, are healthier and happier than heavy meat eaters.
Interestingly, even the Catholic Church recommends that and most major religions advocate abstinence from meat from time to time, if not permanently. Hindus and many Buddhists have been vegetarians for millennia and it has worked for them. In fact, it seems like the only ones who advocate a high meat diet are the cattle industry lobbyists!
Don’t be so quick to laugh along with the media the next time a superstar takes a stand for a vegetarian weight loss diet. That would be a good start to a vegetarian diet meal plan.