Going Veg

For the first week of my project, I decided to adopt one of the most popular ethical diets: vegetarianism. A 2008 study released by Vegetarian Times claims that 3.2 percent of U.S. adults eat a vegetarian diet while 10 percent of Americans say they largely follow a vegetarian-inclined diet (normally, I would fall into this category). While these figures may seem fairly insignificant, they represent a huge change in the number of vegetarian Americans today. According to a 1994 study, less than one percent of Americans were vegetarians. Similarly USDA has published reports stating that red meat consumption declined about ten percent between 1980 and 1999 while fruit consumption rose four percent. Not only have many people changed their food consumption habits in the past few decades, but they have also changed their attitudes toward vegetarianism. More and more consumers are limiting their consumption of meat in favor of more fruits and vegetables as a way to reduce their risk of heart disease, their exposure to harmful pesticides, and their fat and caloric intake. These changes have driven food producers, supermarkets, and restaurant owners to offer more healthy vegetarian options. There is about a 30 percent market share for vegetarian products, and now even large fast food corporations like Burger King offer veggie burgers on their menus.

There are environmental, ecological, and ethical arguments for becoming a vegetarian. U.S.-produced meat contains dangerously high quantities of deadly pesticides. While many people believe the USDA protects consumers' health through regular and thorough meat inspection, fewer than one out of every 250,000 slaughtered animals is tested for toxic chemical residues. Moreover, more than half of the antibiotics used in the U.S. are fed to livestock. Raising livestock also greatly contributes to the depletion of natural resources. Pound for pound, far more resources must be expended to produce meat than to produce grains, fruits and vegetables. While 25 gallons of water are needed to produce a pound of wheat, 5,000 gallons are needed to produce a pound of California beef (Third International Congress on Vegetarian Nutrition 1997). Thirty-three percent of all raw materials (base products of farming, forestry and mining, including fossil fuels) consumed by the U.S. are devoted to the production of livestock, as compared with 2% to produce a complete vegetarian diet. According to GoVeg.com, switching to a vegetarian diet allows you to save 100 animals each year. Does this mean I will save two this week?

What I ate today: a banana; a samosa, macaroni and cheese, and a corn and edamame salad from Whole Foods; and vegetable lo mein and a spring roll