Game of Words: View vs. Counter View 1.28

Vegetarianism - a way of life.



VIEW

- Aparna Shastry, 1 BBA B

If the age old saying goes “You are what you eat” then I honestly don’t think the eternity of mankind is looking too good. Why do I say this? It’s because since the beginning of humanity, the only food man knew to sustain was meat, from caveman period through colonialism and now the modern man. But now, with all the endless options of fruit, vegetables, nuts, etc, why do we still eat animals?

Here are some reasons why vegetarianism should be the new lifestyle choice for us:

1.    Sparing Animals: This is arguably the most popular reason to convert, but yes, PETA will tell you that pardoning the lives of innocent animals is a true battle of conscience for most. But a common question I get is “If we stop being non-vegetarians, won’t the Earth be overrun with livestock?” It is a futile and ignorant thought, since the only reason we now have livestock in such large numbers is because we breed them as such to support the meat industry. If you stop breeding and raising them, their numbers will reduce to a normal, non-endangered, animal’s population size. Imagine if the roles were reversed. You were the helpless human, fed to be so obese you couldn’t even stand up, surrounded by other equally obese and helpless humans living for weeks in your own excrement, only to be put under a cleaver, processed and then stuffed in a sandwich. Doesn’t sound like much of a life, does it? Being at the top of the food chain, we are capable of pain, fear, sadness, excitement, joy and a range of other emotions. They feel it just as we do. And if we truly had emotions too, we’d understand that taking another life at the monetary gain of another is just plain apathy.

2.    Sparing the Environment: To most, this is a pointless argument, as one would say that reducing the number of cars on the road or segregating and recycling garbage would have a larger impact on our ecosystem. But again, you’d be wrong. Livestock production accounts for 15% of global greenhouse gas emission. That’s more than all the world’s automobile emission combined! In addition to this, livestock farms require thousands of litres of pure drinking water and tens of thousands of acres of useful farmland and luscious green forests. Compare this to the meagre amounts of water that cereals, fruits and vegetables consume and you have yourself a real wastage of natural resources. Thus, leading a vegetarian lifestyle would reduce your carbon footprint by 50-54% (compared to meat-eaters) make a gigantic impact on climate change.

3.    Sparing Your Body: Agreed, meat contains a high amount of protein; something most meat-eaters use to justify their preference for meat. Nut legumes, nuts, pulses and other plant-based foods have more than enough protein to lead a healthy and fit life. Researchers have also found that vegetarians have lower blood pressure and BMI (Body Mass Index) as well as LDL (bad) cholesterol in their bodies which in turn leads to their longevity and reduces their risk of contracting chronic diseases (according to Harvard Health Publications). Your risk of developing diabetes, obesity and even cancer reduce significantly if on a vegetarian diet. It has also been scientifically proven that a vegetarian lifestyle can help in solving acne-related problems and other skin diseases. Hence, just a simple removal of meat from one’s diet can keep the planet as well as your body happy and healthy.  

COUNTER-VIEW

- Mikhail, 1 BBA B

In a world where non vegetarians are put under pressure by vegetarians due to the dietary lifestyle they lead, here is my counter. Being a vegetarian or a non-vegetarian or a vegan is  a choice and everyone has the right to follow whatever they choose. The problems with vegetarians and vegans is that they like to condemn non-vegetarian lifestyles which is uncalled for. The choice to be a vegetarian may be due to religious reasons or just a person’s preference. In my counter-view, I won’t get into the topic of religion as it is too complex and controversial.

I would like to first start with the topic of health. Vegetarians like to say that they are healthier due to their diet but the fact of the matter is that a well balanced omnivorous diet trumps any vegetarian diet in all aspects. It has been noted that vegetarians are at the risk of becoming dangerously anemic due to them not getting enough vitamin D, B12 and iron. They are also unable to get sufficient amounts of Omega 3 fatty acids which is crucial for one to lead a healthy lifestyle. In research carried out by Sydney’s Garvan Institute of medical research, it was found that vegetarians had 5% less dense bones then that of non-vegetarians.

The next point I would like to make, revolves around the moral that vegetarians always try to put out to the world, that we should not kill God’s living creatures. This moral of theirs is laced with hypocrisy as plants are also God’s creature that do respond to stimuli like light and touch. Some people also believe that plants feel pain. In addition to this point, wherein vegetarians condemn the killing of living creature, I would like to ask them if they are sure that they aren’t killing living creatures themselves. Most will say they don’t. I would like to bring out an example of a cockroach. Don’t we all tend to kill this little insect on the basis that it scares us or that it “grosses” us out? In this case, vegetarians are no better but a little worse than non-vegetarians due to their hypocrisy. In the end, a life is a life, no matter how small.

Finally I would move on to the topic of the environment. It has been argued many a times by vegetarians that the cultivation of meat is harmful to the environment. I would like to counter that argument with a statement, that the cultivation of fruits and vegetables is even more harmful. Cultivation of fruits and veggies requires the use of pesticides and insecticides to prevent “pests” from eating the crops. These pesticides and insecticides have dire implications on the environment. These chemicals can enter the soil and then is leached into the water supplies. This sort of contamination of resources can have major neurological effects on us humans and on animals alike. While on the topic of water supplies, cultivation requires huge amounts of it. This may result in water shortage and sometimes drought. Not to say that non-vegetarians don’t eat plants as well, but if this lifestyle was adopted by everyone, every one of the above affects would amplify tremendously!

Therefore I would like to conclude by saying that vegetarianism as a lifestyle has its draw backs as well and therefore is more viable on paper but not in reality. If everyone converted to this lifestyle, it would result in mass deforestation in order to get more land for cultivation, drought situations due to the overuse of water resources and massive chemical imbalances in human and animals due to heavy use of pesticides.