Student at Cosumnes College in Sacramento, CA reads a Why Vegan in the Fall of 2003.Responses to Questions and Comments From Pedestrians
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The questions on health and nutrition are answered by Jack Norris, Registered Dietitian. I like meat. Although I also used to like meat and though it may taste good, eating it supports a great deal of cruelty that I hope you would not want to pay for. What About Free Range? Free range farms are often not much better than factory farms. See: The only way to be certain that the animal products you buy come from humanely raised animals is to visit the farms yourself to see the conditions. One possible exception to this rule is that the beef, pork, and lamb meat from Niman Ranch has been certified by the Animal Welfare Institute which has relatively strict standards. I agree that animal farms are cruel, but I have to eat meat for my health. This is a difficult question because you need to know why they are saying this. Sometimes people use health as an excuse, but you can't assume it. Even though I'm a Registered Dietitian, I have a hard time with this sort of statement because the person always thinks they know more about it than a random leafleter, especially if their doctor, naturopath, Chinese medicine practitioner, accupuncturist, etc., told them they need to eat meat. I think the best thing to say is, "If it wasn't for your health, would you be a vegetarian?" If they say yes, you can discuss it more and point them to VeganHealth.org. This can get them to at least admit that they should try a bit harder. Ask them if it would hurt their health to cut out half the meat they eat -- most Americans eat more than the recommended amounts. |
I cannot become vegetarian because carbs make me gain weight. Vegetarians have lower rates of obesity. For people who easily gain weight or need to lose weight, there are "good" carbohydrates and "bad" carbohydrates. Processed carbohydrates with little fiber, such as sugars, pasta, white rice, french fries (and all potates actually) and white bread are "bad." But carbohydrates in whole foods (except potatoes) like bananas, beans, brown rice, whole wheat bread, oatmeal, etc., are good carbohydrates. These foods will actually help people keep weight off. A whole foods (no processed foods), vegan diet, while eating as much as you want, is probably one of the easiest ways to lose weight (see the study Toward improved management of NIDDM: A randomized, controlled, pilot intervention using a lowfat, vegetarian diet.). So, how you do on a vegan diet will probably depend on how much processed food you eat. On the other hand, someone who has a hard time keeping weight on will want to eat the processed carbs, especially if they are athletic. If someone raises a pet hen do you think it's wrong to eat her eggs? Raising a hen under humane conditions and eating her eggs is much different than eating eggs from a commercial farm. If the chicken is allowed to live out her life, then I would have little problem with it. I don't seek out such a situation because I have no need to eat eggs. |