Why be Vegetarian/Vegan?
Compassion for other animals
All animals feel pain and suffering and have a desire to live. It is easy to go to the grocery store and buy animal products without even thinking about the fact that it came from a once living breathing animal not too different from ourselves. One of the best things we can do to stop suffering in the world is to try to avoid buying animal products.
Concern for our environment
Being vegetarian/vegan does more to help the environment than you could do if you stopped driving your car! According the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, the livestock industry is responsible for 18% of greenhouse gas emissions. www.fao.org/newsroom/en/news/2006/1000448/index.html
Improved health
“It is the position of the American Dietetic Association and Dietitians of Canada that appropriately planned vegetarian diets are healthful, nutritionally adequate, and provide health benefits in the prevention and treatment of certain diseases. Well-planned vegan and other types of vegetarian diets are appropriate for all stages of the life cycle, including during pregnancy, lactation, infancy, childhood, and adolescence.
Vegetarian diets offer a number of nutritional benefits, including lower levels of saturated fat, cholesterol, and animal protein as well as higher levels of carbohydrates, fiber, magnesium, potassium, folate, and antioxidants such as vitamins C and E and phytochemicals. Vegetarians have been reported to have lower body mass indices than nonvegetarians, as well as lower rates of death from ischemic heart disease; vegetarians also show lower blood cholesterol levels; lower blood pressure; and lower rates of hypertension, type 2 diabetes, and prostate and colon cancer.”
—Journal of the American Dietetic Association - June 2003, Volume 103, Number 6
Read more at TryVeg.org
Local support groups:
Alabama Veg Network
alabamaveg.ning.com
Birmingham Vegan Meet Up
www.meetup.com/Birmingham-Vegan-Vegetarian-Meetup-Group/
