Why do vegetarians not eat meat?

Answer 1

This is a great question. There are a variety of reasons that people choose not to consuming animal corpses (i.e., meat). These reasons tend to fall into four main categories:

Animals:
"The green pastures and idyllic barnyard scenes of years past are now distant memories. On today's factory farms, animals are crammed by the thousands into filthy windowless sheds, wire cages, gestation crates, and other confinement systems. These animals will never raise their families, root in the soil, build nests, or do anything that is natural to them. They won't even feel the sun on their backs or breathe fresh air until the day they are loaded onto trucks bound for slaughter."

Earth/Environment:
There are many negative environmental impacts of meat eating, such as the following...
"Growing all the crops to feed farmed animals requires massive amounts of water and land—in fact, nearly half of the water and 80 percent of the agricultural land in the United States are used to raise animals for food."

"Farmed animals produce about 130 times as much excrement as the entire human population of the United States, and since factory farms don't have sewage treatment systems as our cities and towns do, this concentrated slop ends up polluting our water, destroying our topsoil, and contaminating our air."

Health:
"Leading health experts agree that going vegetarian is the single-best thing we can do for ourselves and our families. Healthy vegetarian diets support a lifetime of good health and provide protection against numerous diseases, including our country’s three biggest killers: heart disease, cancer, and strokes."

Religion:
Many religions encourage vegetarianism. "Hinduism and Jainism teach vegetarianism as moral conduct." Some denominations of Christianity (such as Seventh-day Adventists) also advocate vegetarianism. It is also encouraged in some forms of Buddhism (such as Chinese Mahayana Buddhism).

Hope this helps. :-)

Answer 2

There are a variety of reasons. Some people don't eat meat for health reasons, while some are vegetarians for ethical or religious reasons. Some environmentalists are vegetarians because raising animals for food is harder on the environment, and some are vegetarians because they believe raising animals for food is wasteful. There are probably even more reasons out there, but I'm just listing the first ones that come to mind.
A lot of people become vegetarians for one reason, and later they adopt the other reasons because they realize that vegetarianism has so many benefits. I first became a vegetarian for ethical reasons, but then I noticed that I was feeling physically better than I ever had before. I also did some research for a paper that I wrote in my English class, and I learned about how much stress that is put on the environment by the animals that we raise for food. Although I really only cared about who had to die for my meal in the beginning, now I can say I'm a vegetarian for lots of reasons :)

Answer 3

My reason for being a vegetarian is becaus it's my choice. I mean I have reasons like not killing animals and in my religion you shouldn't eat meat but the real reason is that I prefer not to eat meat. I don't like eating dead animals. It's just not right to eat animals. In my religion, god put animals on this world to help us. I know the circle of life and how humans are the ones eating mostly everything but that doesn't mean that they were here to help us. But anyways, I think that my reason for being a vegetarian is my choice and nobody can tell me to change. It's a right that we all have.

Answer 4

My reason for not wanting to eat meat is to cultivate my compassion. I'd be a hypocrite if on the one hand I want to help all living being and on the other hand I can't be bothered to order non-meat dishes.

I personally do not believe there's any kind of moral superiority in skipping meat. So I am an opportunity-vegetarian. I don't tell my boss and coworkers about vegetarianism if they want to go to a steak house. I can't help them if they are suspicious of me for not eating "real food".

Have you ever met middle-aged people who cannot eat red meat because of doctor's orders? that's not by choice or forethought.

Have you ever encountered the culture in south-east Asia where cattle (used to) help people plant food. It tells you a lot about the honor of a people if they choose to honor the cattle by not slaughtering and eating them.

Can't say vegetarianism is always right. People from Tibet would know about this. There are places in this world where vegetables don't grow. You'd have to eat the sheep and the cattle to stay alive. No shame for eating meat there.

Answer 5

In my case...

1. In my family, no one eats meat. In my religion, it's pretty much frowned upon to eat meat.

2. I'm a fan of the animals.

3. The smell of meat grosses me out. The look of meat grosses me out, especially ground meat. I can't eat anything that looks like it has been digested, excreted, and then fished out of the toilet bowl in the gas station bathroom.

4. It's healthier to be a vegetarian, if you have a balanced diet.

5. I'm not stupid enough to think, "well, we are animals, and animals eat other animals, and other animals were put here for us to eat, so I will eat them. After all, I have the teeth for it." I'm not a mindless drone like that. I actually have a mind of my own and can make decisions for myself, regardless of what my teeth are built to do. My hands are built pretty well for choking people to death, but I wouldn't ever use them for that.

Answer 6

Because they wouldn't be vegetarian if they did eat meat.

Answer 7

There are many reasons why vegetarians don't eat meat. One reason could be due to health concerns. Another could be due to environmental factors, like animal rights. Another could be affliated with their religion. It's a personal decision for everyone. The best source to ask that question is to ask someone you know who is vegetarian :)

Answer 8

go on this www.meat.org this will tell you why, it's a upsetting video... i will never eat meat again , it makes me feel sick thinking about the animals and how they're treated it's not fair. i love animals too much that's why my career is to be a vet. I can't stand seeing animals suffer!
I have animals of my own 3 dogs, rabbit, fish etc and would never let anything harm them. Animals have feeling just like people!!! It disgusts me that we live in a society of cruelty!
No one would treat people this way so why animals

Answer 9

For me, it's because I love animals and I see them as equals. It used to upset me when I was at home and there was meat on the table and I HAD to take some. (I often used to slip it to the cat!)

I have animals, quite a lot and I feed some of them meat because they are carnivores, we're omnivores so we can replace what's in meat with other foods.

Answer 10

properly, i won't be in a position to speak for *each and every physique* - merely like some human beings could be pleased with smoking a cigarette for a movie and a few might refuse, i'm specific that some vegetarians could be pleased with eating meat for a movie and a few might say no. yet individually, i might ask them to replace it with tofu or something - and in the event that they refused to comprehend my ethical ideals, i might refuse to be of their movie.