teescha
05-27-2006, 11:16 PM
Vegetarianism is it a movement or a moment?
I embrased Lacto vegetarianism in 1995 and still continuing to be. The reason would be my keen interest over Buddhism (esp. the consept of Karma).Vegetarianism is the practice of not eating meat, including beef, poultry, fish, or their by-products, with or without the use of dairy products or eggs. The exclusion may also extend to products derived from animal carcasses, such as lard, tallow, gelatin, rennet and cochineal. Some who follow the diet also choose to refrain from wearing clothing that involves the death of animals, such as leather, silk, fur and many down feathers. While most vegetarians consume dairy products, veganism is a stricter form which excludes dairy, eggs, and any foods that contain these or other animal products. Still stricter is fruitarianism, which excludes all food but the botanic fruits of plants.
Indian vegetarians, primarily lacto-vegetarians, are estimated to make up more than 70% of the world's vegetarians. In the Western world, the popularity of vegetarianism steadily grew over the 20th century as a result of nutritional, ethical, and more recently, environmental concerns.
In a survey in the U.S. in 2000, 2.5% of the 968 people surveyed identified themselves as ovo-lacto-vegetarians [1]. In 2003 the same source recorded 2.8%[2], indicating a modest growth of 4% per year over the 4 years. A 1994 and 1997 survey showed about 1% [3], again indicating that the general trend has been upwards.
Practices of vegetarianism include:
• Lacto vegetarianism — Lacto vegetarians do not eat meat or eggs but do consume dairy products. Most vegetarians in India and those in the classical Mediterranean lands, such as Pythagoreans, are or were lacto vegetarian.
• Ovo-lacto vegetarianism (also called eggitarian colloquially in India) — Lacto-ovo vegetarians do not eat meat but do consume dairy products and eggs. This is currently the most common variety in the Western world.
• Ovo vegetarianism — Ovo vegetarians do not eat meat or dairy products but do eat eggs.
• Veganism — Those who avoid eating any animal products, including eggs, milk, cheese, and sometimes honey, are known specifically as dietary vegans or strict vegetarians. Most additionally avoid using animal products, such as leather and some cosmetics, and are called vegans.
Many vegetarians consider the production, subsequent slaughtering and consumption of meat or animal products as unethical. Reasons for believing this are varied, and may include a belief in animal rights, or an aversion to inflicting pain or harm on other living creatures. The belief also exists among vegetarians that other lives should not have to end in order for theirs to continue. In developed countries, ethical vegetarianism has become popular particularly after the spread of factory farming, which has reduced the sense of husbandry that used to exist in farming and led to animals being treated as commodities. Many believe that the treatment which animals undergo in the production of meat and animal products obliges them to never eat meat or use animal products. Some others believe in karma.
Many vegetarians choose to be so in part because they find meat and meat products aesthetically unappetizing. Proponents assert that human beings are not instinctively attracted to eating live or dead meat in nature. For example, the carcass of a cow lying in a forest would attract a real carnivore like a wolf or leopard, but would disgust most human beings. The metaphor by the poet Douglas Dunn is that if one gives a young child an apple and a live chicken, the child would instinctively play with the chicken and eat the apple, whereas if a cat was presented with the same choices, its natural impulse would be the opposite.
I embrased Lacto vegetarianism in 1995 and still continuing to be. The reason would be my keen interest over Buddhism (esp. the consept of Karma).Vegetarianism is the practice of not eating meat, including beef, poultry, fish, or their by-products, with or without the use of dairy products or eggs. The exclusion may also extend to products derived from animal carcasses, such as lard, tallow, gelatin, rennet and cochineal. Some who follow the diet also choose to refrain from wearing clothing that involves the death of animals, such as leather, silk, fur and many down feathers. While most vegetarians consume dairy products, veganism is a stricter form which excludes dairy, eggs, and any foods that contain these or other animal products. Still stricter is fruitarianism, which excludes all food but the botanic fruits of plants.
Indian vegetarians, primarily lacto-vegetarians, are estimated to make up more than 70% of the world's vegetarians. In the Western world, the popularity of vegetarianism steadily grew over the 20th century as a result of nutritional, ethical, and more recently, environmental concerns.
In a survey in the U.S. in 2000, 2.5% of the 968 people surveyed identified themselves as ovo-lacto-vegetarians [1]. In 2003 the same source recorded 2.8%[2], indicating a modest growth of 4% per year over the 4 years. A 1994 and 1997 survey showed about 1% [3], again indicating that the general trend has been upwards.
Practices of vegetarianism include:
• Lacto vegetarianism — Lacto vegetarians do not eat meat or eggs but do consume dairy products. Most vegetarians in India and those in the classical Mediterranean lands, such as Pythagoreans, are or were lacto vegetarian.
• Ovo-lacto vegetarianism (also called eggitarian colloquially in India) — Lacto-ovo vegetarians do not eat meat but do consume dairy products and eggs. This is currently the most common variety in the Western world.
• Ovo vegetarianism — Ovo vegetarians do not eat meat or dairy products but do eat eggs.
• Veganism — Those who avoid eating any animal products, including eggs, milk, cheese, and sometimes honey, are known specifically as dietary vegans or strict vegetarians. Most additionally avoid using animal products, such as leather and some cosmetics, and are called vegans.
Many vegetarians consider the production, subsequent slaughtering and consumption of meat or animal products as unethical. Reasons for believing this are varied, and may include a belief in animal rights, or an aversion to inflicting pain or harm on other living creatures. The belief also exists among vegetarians that other lives should not have to end in order for theirs to continue. In developed countries, ethical vegetarianism has become popular particularly after the spread of factory farming, which has reduced the sense of husbandry that used to exist in farming and led to animals being treated as commodities. Many believe that the treatment which animals undergo in the production of meat and animal products obliges them to never eat meat or use animal products. Some others believe in karma.
Many vegetarians choose to be so in part because they find meat and meat products aesthetically unappetizing. Proponents assert that human beings are not instinctively attracted to eating live or dead meat in nature. For example, the carcass of a cow lying in a forest would attract a real carnivore like a wolf or leopard, but would disgust most human beings. The metaphor by the poet Douglas Dunn is that if one gives a young child an apple and a live chicken, the child would instinctively play with the chicken and eat the apple, whereas if a cat was presented with the same choices, its natural impulse would be the opposite.