Author: Willa Goodman

As my final week of my vegetarian journey comes to a close, I have ultimately realized that this lifestyle could be very practical for me long term. My body has completely adjusted to the dietary changes, and I feel better than I ever have before. I have a strong feeling I’ll continue sticking to this lifestyle from here on out.

On my previous post, I discussed the topic of iron related issues that can arise throughout one’s transition into vegetarianism. On that post, I received a comment from someone asking if I could further address the possible money related issues regarding vegetarianism.

When tackling the reasons for why the rates of vegetarianism is so low in the US, I immediately assumed one reason could be that it takes less meat to fill you up than vegetarian food, which made me believe that it would ultimately be cheaper to follow a diet containing meat vs not. I also came to this conclusion off of the fact that the menus at fast food chains (which more than 1 in 3 americans eats at on a given day) contain little to no fruits and vegetables. Since the food items at those chains are so low, I figured their ability to make their prices so low correlated with their lack of vegetarian items. It turns out my assumptions are actually completely false.

Vegetarianism can be a somewhat harder diet to follow for numerous reasons, like the effort it takes to prepare delicious & filling vegetarian dishes, but the idea that maintaining a vegetarian diet is proportionally more expensive than meat is simply false. In a study posted in the Journal of Hunger & Environmental Nutrition, it concluded that not only are vegetarian diets linked with better overall health, but that vegetarians (on average), save about $750 more per year than meat eaters. The vegetarian diets this study was based off of not only costed much less, but also contained much higher amounts of nutrition (via fruits, veggies, and whole grains) within its 2,000 calories when compared to the regular diet. A misconception about people following a vegetarian diet is that one must shop solely at Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s and buy all organic food in order to be a successful, satisfied vegetarian. But in reality, as long as your diet follows the no meat rule, you can utilize any and all things in the grocery store, organic or not.

Often times, food companies will stamp “organic” on their product, allowing themselves to increase the price. Though there are varying opinions regarding the actual value of organic vs. inorganic food, if you’re trying to save money, there’s truly no harm in buying non-organic stamped food. Pasta, dairy, pizza, eggs…etc. The vegetarian diet isn’t, and shouldn’t be considered restricting. The bottom line here is that prior to (my) prior belief, following a vegetarian diet does not mean spending higher amounts of money per year, and if you do it smartly, you could end up saving lots.

In my last post, I talked about the reasons for why there is such a lack of vegetarians in the US. I went over various reasons, the last of which being due to health reasons, in other words, those who had tried vegetarian diets realized they had felt healthier prior to when they quit meat. I concluded the post by discussing the importance of iron (which happens to be found primarily in meat), and the fact that you can in fact achieve iron sufficiency without meat, it just takes a little extra effort.

On my last post, I received a comment asking me about alternative ways in which one can maintain sufficient iron levels without meat, as well as if there are currently resources available in helping new vegetarians adapt to the lifestyle. Without further ado, let’s get into it.

Though the most iron dense foods around are meat (primarily beef), there are other non-meat foods that contain the component, just in lower levels per serving.

Some of these foods include lentils, beans, spinach, tofu, seeds, (such as pumpkin, sesame, and squash), dried apricots, chickpeas, and baked potatoes. Though all of these foods contain lower mgs of iron per serving compared to meat products, they can still very much get the job done when eaten regularly.

If you’re someone who for some reason can’t rely on the above foods to maintain their iron levels, then a great alternative is daily supplements.

As I mentioned before, I am very anemic, and though I do eat many of the foods listed above, my body doesn’t absorb iron as well as other people’s. Because of this, I take daily iron supplements, which are over the counter, and give you a healthy daily dose of iron. These are perfect for people who are vegetarian, or whose bodies simply don’t absorb iron as well.

If you’re a carnivore, however, you should talk to your doctor before taking these supplements. This is because unlike some vitamins/minerals, iron can be quiet dangerous when over consumed, so it’s important to make sure that iron supplements make sense when combined with your personal diet and lifestyle.

Now when it comes to resources people can use when acclimating to a vegetarian lifestyle, I’d say the best options around would be a dietician and/or your medical doctor. Since dietician’s are highly knowledgeable about the world of foods and nutrition, I think conversing with one during and/or prior to becoming a vegetarian would be highly beneficial. If you don’t have access to a dietician (which many people don’t), then I’d suggest relying on the internet to inform yourself about helpful tips and tricks to transitioning from a meat eating lifestyle to a vegetarian one. Besides that, obviously keeping in touch with your regular doctor while transitioning is very important as well.

As for my personal experience, I have started to becoming incredibly used to my vegetarian lifestyle. Since beginning my iron therapy a few weeks ago, I have generally felt more energized, alert, and healthy. And though I used to love chicken and fish, I find that I no longer crave them like I used to.

I day to day life, I have began to emphasize the natural world around me more and more, and often find myself advocating for the vegetarian diet casually among my peers. Through speaking openly about my journey, my family have also decided to hop on board, and have decided to try living a more green lifestyle. So far, they’re finding it highly doable, as well as  beneficial to their health and their minds (for moral reasons).

My goal from here on out is to continue to inform as many people as possible about the positive effects vegetarianism has had on me and my health, and continue to spark conversation about the importance of animal rights.

https://www.nomeatathlete.com/relax/

https://www.webmd.com/diet/iron-rich-foods#2

In my last post, I posed a future aim to find information about why the US’s rates of meat consumers are so high, and to see whether or not a decrease in this percentage is realistic. 

According to an article in Psychology Today, though our society has gained much knowledge and awareness about the atrocities of the meat industry, we still have yet to moralize our preference for no animal cruelty into a set value. Having this shift from a meat culture into a vegetarian one has proved difficult for multiple reasons, one of which is from an economic perspective.

In the US, maintaining meat in one’s diet provides more “bang for your buck”, then not. Because of the US’s industrial scale production of meat, it is extremely cheap. Not only is meat cheaper than vegetables/vegetable based products, but it is far more nutrient dense. Therefore, it takes way more food to fill one up on a vegetarian diet than it does otherwise. This reality has allowed for meat to become a staple in the American diet. This is a hard issue to combat, especially considering the economic pressures that come with trying to feed yourself, let alone an entire family.

Another factor that persuades the eating of meat is its health benefits. Besides the fact that meat has a higher protein density than anything else, meat (particularly beef), provides heaps of iron, which has been found to be a critical component to our overall health. Though iron is present in other foods like quinoa, tofu, legumes, etc. the amount of iron in these foods is proportionally insufficient compared to the amount found within one serving of beef. Iron is essential in maintaining proper amounts of oxygen carrying red blood cells in our bodies. If our body doesn’t have enough iron, then we cannot produce the amount of red blood cells needed for proper heart and lung functioning. This can result in major fatigue, inability to breathe properly, and other major issues. As someone who is highly anemic, I cannot emphasize iron’s importance enough.

Iron’s importance is just one example of how overall health can actually be affected by meat, which may be one of the reasons Americans feel inclined to eat it.

In a different Psychology Today article about the declining vegetarians in the US, it was reported that back in 2005, 3 times as many US adults reported being “ex vegetarians” than current vegetarians, showing that about  75% of prior vegetarians had resorted back to eating meat. Out of those, 35% of them went back because they had noticed a decline in their health.

After realizing this pattern, I figured that many of these health concerned people were/are probably unaware of 1) iron and its importance, and 2) one’s ability to sustain healthy levels of iron through daily supplements. From this, I concluded that if Americans were more aware of the fact that one can feel just as healthy without meat as they do with it, that they may be less likely to quit the vegetarian lifestyle due to health related reason, and that there may be more people willing to join the vegetarian lifestyle.

I realize that educating people about iron and their ability to feel great without meat wouldn’t necessarily lower the US’s number of carnivores by a huge amount, but it’s something. After reading articles proposing the two reasons above and various others, I feel that it may be more realistic for people to try and take steps in reducing their weekly meat intake, instead of finding ways to turn all Americans over to the vegetarian lifestyle.

Sources:

“Why Do Most Vegetarians Go Back To Eating Meat?” Psychology Today. Accessed October 24, 2018. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/animals-and-us/201106/why-do-most-vegetarians-go-back-eating-meat.

“Why Are There So Few Vegetarians?” Psychology Today. Accessed October 24, 2018. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/animals-and-us/201109/why-are-there-so-few-vegetarians.

As my first two weeks of vegetarianism comes to an end, I have realized that this lifestyle is not very hard to maintain in the real world, or in a college environment (that is, if you have the means to do so). In learning about the macro-nutritional value of many non-animal products, I’ve been able to create meal combinations that fill me up in the same way that meat would. Getting to a comfortable place in my diet has allowed me to focus more on the ins and outs of the practice of nonviolent eating.

In continuing my research into the world of animal nonviolence, I located an article called Factory Farming: Misery for Animals on the Peta’s website, which touches upon the cruel practices of the meat industry. Many of the practices stated were ones I had never known existed, and frankly, they made me feel nauseous. A few of the unnatural practices of major factory farms include (though are not limited to), the use of antibiotics to speed up growth and keep animals alive in unsanitary conditions, genetic manipulation to aid in further growth and production rates of the animals, and the defeathering/hair removal of animals by means of boiling water, or the hacking and skinning of their bodies, all while conscious. It’s practices like these and the numerous others (storing animals in incredibly confined spaces, etc), that make me not only want to quit meat for good, but also figure out why there are not more vegetarians in the US.

Back in 2014, it was shown that vegetarianism in the US, (for all reasons, including non-violence) included about 2% of all people. This number seemed surprisingly low to me, especially considering the numerous publishings exploiting the ugly side of the meat industry, as well as the increase in mainstream health fads, etc. I found that this percentage (though one of the lowest in the World), was not incredibly far off from most other countries, whose percentages ranged from about 2-11%, according to World Atlas.

In India however, vegetarians take up a whopping 38% of the population, making them the most vegetarian friendly country there is. According to an article in the Huffington Post, there are various reasons for this difference in numbers, one of which includes the major presence of religion in India. The majority of Indian people are of Dharmic faith, meaning they practice one of the four primary Indian religions, (Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism), all of which put emphasis on the idea of ahimsa, or nonviolence. Other reasons include the heavy use of agricultural practices in non-coastal Indian areas, (and therefore many vegetable based cuisines), as well as the higher cost of meat vs. vegetable products.

As I continue my personal journey of vegetarianism, my overlapping goal is to figure out some of the root reasons for the incredibly low rates of vegetarianism in the US, and attempt to uncover some possible ways in which we can push to increase the desire for adapting to a vegetarian diet in resistance of nonviolent practices.