October 23, 2008
Nancy Aguilera
English 110

To Be Or Not To Be

In the chapter “Vegging Out” from the Slice of Life, Jeffery Steingarth conveys the difference between being a vegetarian and a vegan. He explains how Americans are trying to be vegetarians, but only because it is the newest upcoming fad amongst Americans today. He also points out one of the major reasons why he decided to change from being a vegetarian to a vegan was due to lower serum cholesterol. Most people vary widely in how their serum cholesterol reacts to change in their diet.

“Most Americans go vegetarian for their health as their runner-up reason.” Primary reasons include environment and animal rights (303). Reasons for being a vegetarian are to become more health conscious and thus have fewer heart attacks, lower blood pressure, and trimmer figures than meat eaters. Moreover, vegetarians tend to lead healthier lives in general, and exercise more than average (303). Vegetarians also are against animal cruelty and the way animals are being raised for human consumption. Animals are being confined, fed grain and water that is being hauled over long distances. This is causing more waste than we can possibly use for fertilizer or fuel (307). More than half of Americans’ water supply is used for raising beef, and twenty vegetarians can be fed on the same amount of land needed to feed one meat eater. Meat has been known as the petroleum by product. We grow forty pounds of soybeans with the amount of oil consumed in producing a pound of beef (307). This does not mean that we have all have to stop eating meat completely, but to start eating less meat and to raise it in a sustainable manner.

Even though vegetarians seem to lead a healthier life, it can also lead to an unhealthy situation. Most humans would suffer from the lack of vitamin and amino acids that we need to consume so to avoid that, they have to take vitamin or supplemental pills on a regular basis. The most common deficiency is vitamin B12, vitamin D and iron; however, the main concern is the need for protein. Traditionally meat, poultry and fish were the main sources for humans to receive protein. Nowadays we can find protein in numerous ways, like in tofu, soybean, arrowroot and fresh walnuts, but we should not hold ourselves to one type of means for a diet. Vegetarians today have vast amount of choices regarding how they can receive the protein they need, but most vegetarians or vegans do not search out these other means of receiving protein. Now there are restaurants and supermarkets that cater to vegetarians and vegans.

However, being a full-fledged vegan is not all that it seems to be. It is more than just cutting out all forms of meat. It is cutting out all dairy which includes milk, eggs, cheese and butter, but also limiting the whitest forms of sugar and flour. Some vegetarians may restrict from their diets onions, scallions and garlic, which are thought to inflame the passions, while most macrobiotic restaurants flee from members of the nightshade family, such as eggplant and tomatoes. These strict rules are from the Buddhist and other traditions in China, Japan and India, cultures where they have definite vegetarian guidelines (305). Another factor to consider is by being a vegetarian or vegan you must show great creativity in the kitchen to be able to keep your life appealing and delicious when it comes to food choices. In addition, a meat eater has endless amounts of restaurants to pick from compared with a vegetarian or vegan. Non-vegetarians have many alternatives when it comes to dining out, such as choosing from a fast food or a sit-down restaurant that caters to our individual taste.

Nowadays there are numerous choices we can make when it comes to changing our eating habits to help cut back on high cholesterol other than becoming a vegetarian or vegan. Another option would be to go on a low fat diet which would limit the intake of saturated fats on a daily basis. The problem is more and more people are choosing to be vegetarian because it is the newest upcoming fad among Americans. If you were to ask people what type of diet they are on they might respond vegetarian, but do not follow the guidelines of a true vegetarian when it comes to their beliefs. Americans are creating a new fad about why they should become a vegetarian; mostly it is because their friends and families are doing it and they feel a need to fit in or look cool among their social groups. Other reasons why people are becoming vegetarian are for environmental and sustainability reasons, such as to fight back about the use of chemicals on farm lands; moreover, people want to create an individual identity and want to break away from the mainstream values.

There are vast reasons why people want to become vegetarians including health, social, individual identity, or disciplinary reasons. We need to take a deeper look into the reasons why we want to change our diets. Is it because of health reasons or is it because our friends are doing something new to be cool? If it is to fit in and be cool, it could be the wrong decision and one may end up having health problems, such as vitamin D, B12, or low iron deficiencies. If people really want to become a full-fledged vegetarian or vegan, they should research the background and try it out for thirty days to make sure it is the right choice for their overall health.

Work Cited
Steingarten, Jeffery. “Vegging Out.” Slice of Life: Overlook Duckworth, Peter Mayer Publishers, Inc., 2005. 302-308.

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