Vegetarians choose their dietary regime for many different reasons. Some of the factors that drive people to become a vegetarian or maintain that lifestyle are as follows:
Food safety – many people believe that a vegetarian diet is safer as it can help to reduce infections from E.coli contamination which can sometimes be found in meat and dairy products. There have also been other food scares linked to animal flesh such as avian flu which affects chickens and other poultry, foot and mouth disease in sheep, high mercury levels in farmed fish, as well as “Mad Cow Disease” in cattle. There is also wide concern about artificial growth hormones used in non-organically farmed animals.
Medical advice –Both western and traditional or alternative medicine often advise patients to follow a vegetarian diet to treat various conditions.
Ethics - Many vegetarians believe the slaughter of animals for the purpose of consuming them as food is unethical, or in contravention of animal rights. These people feel it is unnecessary and wrong to kill other living creatures.
Religious reasons – some religions, such as Hinduism, Jainism and some Buddhist sects prescribe vegetarianism as part of their creed for various reasons, including to show compassion to all living beings.
Psychological - some vegetarians find meat and meat products unappetizing, and feel that they cannot consume them.
Cultural - Some people choose to eat a vegetarian diet simply because they were brought up in a vegetarian household or belong to a culture or society which is traditionally vegetarian.
Food safety – many people believe that a vegetarian diet is safer as it can help to reduce infections from E.coli contamination which can sometimes be found in meat and dairy products. There have also been other food scares linked to animal flesh such as avian flu which affects chickens and other poultry, foot and mouth disease in sheep, high mercury levels in farmed fish, as well as “Mad Cow Disease” in cattle. There is also wide concern about artificial growth hormones used in non-organically farmed animals.
Medical advice –Both western and traditional or alternative medicine often advise patients to follow a vegetarian diet to treat various conditions.
Ethics - Many vegetarians believe the slaughter of animals for the purpose of consuming them as food is unethical, or in contravention of animal rights. These people feel it is unnecessary and wrong to kill other living creatures.
Religious reasons – some religions, such as Hinduism, Jainism and some Buddhist sects prescribe vegetarianism as part of their creed for various reasons, including to show compassion to all living beings.
Psychological - some vegetarians find meat and meat products unappetizing, and feel that they cannot consume them.
Cultural - Some people choose to eat a vegetarian diet simply because they were brought up in a vegetarian household or belong to a culture or society which is traditionally vegetarian.