FAQ
Q: Will I get enough protein?
A: Most American's eat twice as much protein as necessary. Sufficient protein can be obtained from a variety of vegetarian sources, including legumes, beans, soy products, nuts, seeds, whole grains, fruits, and vegetables.
Q: But I don't like tofu.
A: You don't have to eat tofu if you don't want to. However, there are many different ways of cooking tofu to make it taste good as well as a myriad of meat substitutes that can be incorporated into your diet. Additionally, soy has been known to lower cholesterol, protect against cancer and reduce the risk of heart attack. Still not convinced? A healthy, well-balanced vegan diet can easily be achieved without the inclusion of tofu or other meat subs.
Q: Aren't humans meant to eat meat?
A: We may have the technology, but our bodies are not equipped to process animal products. Our alkaline saliva is not meant to break down animal flesh, that's why carnivores have acidic saliva. Our stomachs also have 10 times less hydrochloric acid than carnivores. Additionally, Compared to carnivores our intestines are very long, so while animals quickly pass food through their digestive systems, we have food rotting, decomposing and fermenting in our intestinal tracts and colons.
Q: How does my eating meat affect the environment?
A: The urine and feces of factory farm raised animals are polluting and contaminating soil and water all over the country. The methane resulting from the "gas emissions" of 10 billion animals a year is directly responsible for global warming. Furthermore, the amount of land, food, water, and energy used to raise 10 billion animals a year for slaughter could be used to grow food for all of the starving people in the world. Seriously. Becoming vegan or vegetarian is actually a step toward ending world hunger.
Q: What if I don't care about the environment?
A: Do you care about animal cruelty? 10 billion animals are slaughtered for human consumption every year in America, the vast majority coming from factory farms. Animals are confined to miniscule spaces, subject to branding, castration and mutilation.
Q: What if I buy organic and free-range animal products?
A: Industries that exploit animals like to put out statements or design labels that are designed to trick consumers into believing that they treat animals well. On organic and free-range farms, most animals are mutilated without the use of painkillers, kept in filthy, disease-ridden sheds, and finally forced to endure a long trip to the slaughterhouse without food or water. There are no humane slaughterhouses. In fact, free-range and organic animals are often sent to the same slaughterhouses that kill animals from factory farms.
Q: But I have no qualms about torturing or killing animals.
A: How about putting chemicals into your own body? Because these animals live in the filth of their own urine, feces and vomit, with infected festering sores and wounds they must be given regular doses of antibiotics to stay alive. Antibiotic resistance in humans can be directly linked to eating these animals. Additionally, pesticides used on food supplies for farm animals or directly sprayed onto the skin of animals to ward off parasites, insects, rodents and fungi are passed on to the humans who eat them. Of all the toxic chemicals found in food, 95 to 99 percent come from meat, fish, dairy and eggs. Finally, to grow animals larger or have them produce more, they are given steroids and growth hormones. EVERY TIME YOU CONSUME FACTORY FARMED CHICKEN, BEEF, VEAL, PORK, EGGS OR DAIRY YOU ARE EATING ANTIBIOTICS, PESTICIDES, STEROIDS AND HORMONES.
Q: But I like meat.
A: Ask yourself, “Would I want to cut an animal’s throat?” And if your answer is “no,” as it is for most Americans, then ask yourself what it is about eating flesh that is so appealing that you’ll pay others to do something you wouldn’t do yourself and that you don’t even want to watch. And what exactly are you eating? "Meat" is the decomposing, decaying, rotting flesh of a dead animal. As soon as an animal dies, it starts "breaking down". How much time has passed between the time when the animal was slaughtered and the time you are eating it? It could be weeks, even months. You want to put a dead animal corpse, that has been rotting away for months, into your body?
Q: What about fish?
A: Fish and other seafood contain high levels of contaminants from industrial and environmental pollutants, waste products, and pesticide residues from farms. They also contain high levels of mercury (a suspected carcinogen) and chemicals which can cause neurotoxicity (impairing mental state and ability).
Q: Why shouldn't I drink milk?
A: First of all, lets just take a minute to think about how unnatural and disgusting the idea of consuming the mamary secretions of another animal is. It is certainly not normal to drink human breast milk after infancy, but drinking milk from another animal has somehow become normalized. Most small family farms have been replaced by corporate-owned factories where cows are warehoused in huge sheds and treated like milk machines. To keep milk production as high as possible, farmers artificially inseminate cows every year. Growth hormones and unnatural milking schedules cause dairy cows' udders to become painful and so heavey, they sometimes drag on the ground, resulting in frequent infections and overuse of antibiotics. A healthy cow can live 20-25 years, but a typical factory-farmed cow is "used up" in four years and then sent to the slaughterhouse. If that doesn't bother you, dairy products are frequently contaminated with pesticides, hormones and antibiotics and are linked to allergies, heart disease, cancer and other diseases. Also, contrary to popular belief, milk and cheese may actually cause osteoporosis, not prevent it, since their high-protein content leaches calcium from the body.
Q: Why shouldn't I eat eggs?
A: Besides the fact that eating chicken eggs is literally eating the unborn fetus of another animal, chickens raised for eggs live under horrific conditions. Hens "lucky" enough to be raised on commercial cage-free farms are not kept in cages, but they still have their sensitive beaks cut off with a hot blade and are crammed together in filthy sheds where they will live for years until their egg production wanes and they're sent to slaughter. They suffer from lung lesions and ammonia burns and have breast blisters to add to their suffering. Conditions are even worse for chickens that are not raised "free-range" or "cage-free".
Q: Isn't it expensive to be vegetarian?
A: Food is expensive. Whether you are buying "Grade-A" beef or organic fruits and veggies. However, it is often more expensive to buy products that are free-trade or environmentally friendly. We don't buy these products because they are cheap or convenient. We are making a statement with our purchasing power of the kinds of practices that we choose to support.
Q: But I don't want to read the ingredient list of everything I eat.
A: Choosing to become vegan or vegetarian isn't necessarily about making your body "pure" or refusing to eat something because it has trace amounts of animal products. Any degree to which you limit your consumption of animal products is a step in the direction of ending animal suffering and saving the environment. Can't give up cheese or ice cream? You don't have to. By eliminating other animal products from you diet you are still making a significant difference.
Q: Won't I have a hard time eating out or when others cook for me?
A: Yes, it will be more difficult to find options at restaurants and will pose a challenge for those cooking for you, but as vegetarianism and veganism are becoming more and more common, it becomes easier to find Veggie options. If you had a food alergy, friends and family would be accomodating, why should they be less understanding of a conscious decision not to eat animal products?
Q: Will it really make any difference in the big picture?
A: Yes! By becoming vegan or vegetarian, you are literally saving the lives of at least ninety animals a year. You are also making those around you examine their own eating practices, potentially resulting in the conversion of more and more people to vegetarianism and veganism.
