Is Vegetarianism pointless?

Question

I was thinking about becoming a vegetarian, i looked up a few details on the net and found the whole concept very hypocritical. How can you refrain from eating the meat of an animal yet still see no problem with eating eggs and cheese, drinking milk etc, do these veggies realise that by doing this they are still promoting agriculture and providing the farmer with all the encouragement he need to carry on using animals for his financial benefit?
I'm aware that there is an alternative of becoming a Vegan and that in my opinion is the only thing worth doing, why only go half way? Does anyone else think that being a Veggie is pretty pointless?

Answer 1

The value in being a vegetarian lies in its consequences (especially if you are going to be a veg. out of concern for animals.) Imagine a person who cuts back from eating meat 7 days a week to only one day a week. Now of course it would be great if they cut out meat altogether, but given that, is not to deny the good done in cutting out 6/7ths of the meat they consume. Similarly it would probably be best if a vegetarian did become vegan, but that does not mean that there is no value in just being a veg. Even though they did not cut back as much as they could have, they did do somewhat, and that is valuable in itself. Furthermore, since it would be very difficult for most people to go directly from eating meat to being a vegan, vegetarianism does provide a pragmatic middle ground, without which there would probably be fewer vegans and more meat consumption. As for being hypocritical, who isn't? How environmentalists do not do absolutely everything possible to cut back on the amount of pollution they cause? How many people who would not let a child starve to death if they could do something about it do not give all their money to unicef? If a person who thinks they have a moral duty to save a child from starving to death if they could do so gives $1,000 to Unicef but drives a $10,000 car they do not need, then they are a hypocrite, but that doesn't mean their $1,000 was pointless. Similarly a person concerned with animal rights would be a hypocrite for eating cheese from a factory farm, but that hardly means their vegetarianism is pointless.

Everybody is a hypocrite. But that doesn't mean that the effort of all us hypocrites is pointless, only that we do not do as much as we could.

Answer 2

Well i mean it depends on your own opinion. I mean some people live with a family that is not vegetarian/vegan so being vegetarian is hard enough. It also depends on where you live because for example in chicago there are alot of vegetarian/vegan reasteraunts so those are good alternatives for eating out. Some people are uneducated and dont know what goes on behind the scenes in the dairy industry. But some people buy organic products and are insured that the animals who provided these products were not harmed.
You can do what you want. Most people think killing animals is worse than harming them. It's a tough desicion. I would suggest you become vegetarian because of all the health benefits. You can't go wrong with becoming vegetarian because it's just a better and healthier lifestyle.
Good luck!

Answer 3

I think that if you are interested in becoming a Vegetarian, whether all the way IE:Vegan, or Veggie & still eating Fish, eggs, milk, cheese,whatever--you should do so.
For some crazy reason, people have made Vegetarianism into a Whizzing contest--to see who can be the BEST kind of Vegetarian.
This puts a lot of people off and makes them reluctant to even try Vegetarianism. It took me 20 years to accomplish because I didn't think I could do it perfectly.
It's a great, healthy way to eat.
Try it with no judgement of yourself or others and see what you think.
Good luck.

Answer 4

People become vegetarians fro different reasons. Some do it because of religion. Others because they don't like the taste of certain meats. And then there are those that are against eating meat because of the way the animals are raised and then slaughtered. Milk and cheese production does not harm the animal but the conditions they are raised in may be cruel. It's really a personal choice, but one should have a balanced diet to optimize their health. You can get enough protein from being vegetarian, you just have to be more creative. I don't think it's pointless, but an informed choice for many.

Answer 5

It's not pointless. For a lot of people it's step one.
There's a saying " Vegetarians grow up to be
vegans." No one starts out vegan unless they
were born and raised that way.

Also think about this: If everybody stopped eating
flesh who would want to slaughter animals just so
they would end up having to dispose of dead bodies?
You'd see a reduction in the amount of animals raised
if all they sold was milk and eggs. Why overbreed when
you can only use so many? Do you really think Americans
eat enough eggs alone to require the deaths of 3.5 billion
chickens?

Answer 6

Every person has to make their own personal decisions. If someone feels they want to become vegetarian because they like animals (they are cute, etc....) then for them it is not pointless as they have chosen to not eat the animals and thereby not having to have an animal killed for them to eat. This in turn decreases the demand for the animals for food.

In fact the growth in the number of stores that offer a greater variety of food products for non meat eaters has grown substancially. Whole Foods, Wild Oats, Henry's, Trader Joe's, and other similar stores have grown in the hundreds across the US from only a few stores 20 to 30 years ago. They offer a lot of organic foods (including meat), but significantly more alternatives than standard grocery stores (Kroger, Safeway, Albertsons, etc..) for vegetarians. Whole Foods seems to carry over 50% of the ice cream section as non-dairy ice cream. Even Wal-Mart is known to carry meat alternative vegetarian foods and is pushing for more organic foods (better conditions for any animals involved).

Restaurants these days are also moving to offer veggie alternatives. Chain places like Chili's, Denny's, and Burger King never used to have veggie burgers, but in recent years they have begun to offer them.

If there was not any point to vegetarianism, then none of these things would happen. There would never be a demand for the alternative foods that these places are selling. From that point of view is it not pointless, because it has created businesses that never existed which now contribute to the economy and add choice to the consumer.

The large corporations sell these products too. Boca Burgers are actually a Kraft company, and Kellogs owns Morningstar Farms. So these companies sell vegetarian food because they see it is business that has a large enough market. Again, they wouldn't bother if it wasn't enough to make money from, which points to the fact that it is making an impact on the market. So from that point of view it isn't pointless.

It is however, one's own personal choice whether they would want to choose that lifestyle.

Answer 7

We have our own views and principles to live by in this life, this will determine our concept and acceptance of life. Scientifically, I subscribe to your view. There is nothing with being a vegan, but it could be quite inappropriate because majority of them consume animal protein indirectly. And what about those animals that are used in tilling the land where vegetables are grown? aren't they quite sidelined and also abused in the process? right. . the eggs and milk are also animal products.. and my most curious concern. . if one really won't take in something from animals, then it becomes pointless to take medicines or vaccines for your health because these products are tested initially on animals and some components also are derived from these creatures. It is a free world anyway, but if you have to make a choice make something that is sensible.

Answer 8

Well, it depends on the reasoning the person has behind it..some religions or having certain health issues or...things like that are pretty legit ..or..you GENUINELY cant stand the thought of eating any animal..but those who do it for like, political reasons or..just to follow a trend are just absurd..they are the hypocrital ones who swear they wont eat a chicken but still wear leather or things like that. I tried it for a while but stopped because I realized that physically i couldnt do it and that I was stupid because I had no real legit reason and felt very poser. lol.

Answer 9

For me, vegetarianism is vast. it is your selection. basically make an effort to renowned the place your nutrients comes from and the end results of ingesting it. Joe: Morals do no longer inevitably come from God. in the event that they only got here from God then might atheists be amoral people who did despite they needed without regard to outcomes or maximum appropriate and incorrect? by way of fact then they does no longer be atheist, they could be sociopaths. there are a number of motives for starting to be vegan, animal cruelty being one in each of them. If we've been to persist with your argument that we are all animals and animals consume one yet another, then might that is okay to consume a canines? Or a cat? How approximately torturing canines or cats? by way of fact cows, chickens and pigs being raised in production facility farms are tortured, needlessly. could desire to you spot that happening and not think of that's misguided? maximum of my buddies consume meat, and that i do no longer think of myself greater advantageous than them by way of fact they know the place there meat comes from, settle for that the cruelty occurs and that that's misguided, yet make the determination that they might nevertheless rather consume meat. I even have appreciate for that, by way of fact they're making an counseled determination. i'm no longer attempting to cram my ideas down your throat; i could no longer care much less in case you have been a vegetarian or no longer, yet I do have a project including your susceptible intent for why ingesting meat is superb.

Answer 10

Becoming a vegetarian entirely is pointless......

What I feel is you need not renounce non veg completely....

But given a choice you should prefer veggie stuff...

In this way , u can stay healthy and also hav no problem if u hav no choice..

This is what I follow :)