Your Reasons?

[Kutl3ss]

Health, enviroment, animal welfare, human welfare in no particular order.

 

[youthwalk]

distaste.

 

[DharmaBum]

Health and ethics. Especially after reading Peter Singer's Animal Liberation.

 

[Vegangelist]

Definitely animal welfare. All the way.

I became a vegan 10 years ago, when I found out the terrible (inhumane, unimaginable, incomprehensible) conditions under which animals are kept in order to satisfy our appetite for animal products and by-products. When I actually looked a little deeper into it I realised I could not support that attitude to animals.

The more I've learned over the past 10 years has made me 10 times more secure in the knowledge that I am doing the right thing. Because of my interest in veganism and the books I’ve read, I have learned more about the environment, the politics of food, fair trade, animal welfare, corporate farming, the breakdown of our communities, the power of the superstores – the list goes on - than I ever realised existed.

And I know I am doing the right thing. I am acting against animal cruelty. I am acting against people thinking it is all right to treat animals like insentient machines. I am refusing to participate in the barbaric practice of modern day global farming.

So now it's "all of the above". Veganism is just right.

 

[K9_Trainer]

More distaste than anything else.

I love animals, but i'm one of those people who believe that God gave us animals to hunt and eat, as there's a verse in the Bible saying so. So I have nothing against hunting appropriate animals for food.

I absolutely hate beef and pork....its sooooo disgusting. I was going down the isle at the store that had all sorts of weird meats like chicken feet, beef tongue, beef lips, etc...I was gagging just looking at them with the thought that somebody actually ate that stuff

And I've boycotted eggs because I don't like the conditions they keep their laying hens in...small boxes where the poor thing barely has enough room to stand up and turn around...artificial light and nothing but normal chicken food. Then they're sent to the dog food factory after reaching a certain age or after they stop laying.

I have my own hens at home and i've formulated a special diet for them which they love and I get the best eggs you've ever tasted. They make store bought eggs seem tasteless. And they're big yolked. My dad owned chickens and fed them a normal diet and they layed every 3 days...Mine lay 3 days in a row, take a day off, lay three more days in a row etc.

I had a cornish hen at one time that regularly layed double yolked eggs; twice as big as a normal egg.

 

[~InHisHands~]

Although I'm not a vegetarian yet, I marked why I would become one. I hope that's alright. I have some environmental concerns as to what the Government is doing with our meat. And as I've grown older I seem to be developing more of a distaste for "most" meat in general. I've noticed over the past year or so, a lot of people getting some sort of bacterial infection in their stomachs. I had one at one time. I'm starting to wonder if it has to do with the meat. I made it through nearly 40 yrs. of life without an infection in my stomach and then one day I had one. This was just after they announced that they were going to start injecting cattle with hormones. I recently saw a story on Yahoo news where they spoke of injecting packaged meats like hotdogs and what have you with 4 strains of bacteria to supposedly kill some other bacteria to keep it from growing in these meats. That definitely was a red flag to me.

 

[smiledaily]

health/nutrition

 

[whatisyourstory]

- animal rights and welfare
- environmental and economic concerns
- food allergies
- health and nutrition

Despite having food allergies, my concern has foremost been with the well-being of other species and the environment.

I'm right with you

 

[DaughterofZion63]

I originally became a vegetarian for animal rights and welfare reasons, but it has also become a health thing for me. I have learned to incorporate healthier forms of protein in my diet, also including better carbohydrates and good amounts of fiber. My weakness is cheese. I want to be a vegan someday, but it is so ridiculously hard! I do get cravings for things like Chick Fil A, McDonald's (gross!), etc., but I know I will never eat another bite of meat (beef, chicken, pork, fish, anything) again. I just can't bring myself to do it.

I don't think it is wrong to eat animals, but I definitely think it's wrong for me. I know God gives us power over the animals of the earth, but I don't remember Him saying we can torture them and hurt them and treat them like they don't matter... I still don't think I would eat them even if we DID treat them with respect, but I would definitely feel a lot more supportive of the meat industry.

 

[barefeetonholyground]

Health, Animal Welfare, and Mild Lactose Intolerance. In that order.

 

[tigercub]

Bit hesitant to post what I'm about to - I've been flamed/attacked for it in the past.

A multitude of reasons really. Originally it was because as a young child, I just could not understand why people would willingly eat the flesh of a dead creature. So I decided I wouldn't. As I grew up and learned more, I decided it was also cruel to eat animals, and quite possibly not right in the eyes of god. I won't go into why here, but I remember a topic on CF somewhere about that very subject...a while ago.

Also environmental concerns (any idea how many resources cattle farming uses?) plus it's just not natural to have as many cows/pigs/other farmed animals as we do in the world today. Overpopulation!

Oh and I believe eating meat has a negative impact on a person's health. Ditto with dairy...but at this stage there is still (minimal, and usually fat-free) dairy in my diet.


So yes, lots of reasons. Though I'm sure my mum reckons I am vegetarian just to make life more difficult!

 

[Beautiful Fireball]

Health being number one, but closely followed by ethical and environmental reasons.

 

[TheOtherHockeyMom]

I started out for animal rights/ethical/moral reasons, and as I learned more about the health and environmental reasons, I added them to my list of reasons. Now I'm also more motivated in moving toward a vegan diet because my nursling is bothered by dairy products in my diet.

 

[silscr]

I wanted to try something new and lose some extra weight I had put on, but now I'm really excited about this and loving it, so I am going to stick to it

Plus I just felt led, basically

 

[silscr]

I voted for this lol naw:
because I simply LOVE to read labels and ask questions of waitstaff

I voted for this:
health/nutrition

Tkx!

 

[Ave Maria]

I am a Vegan because of environmental concerns, animal rights concerns, animal welfare concerns, and human rights concerns.

 

[Penumbra]

Environmental, Economic, animal welfare, and health reasons.

-Lyn

 

[send.the.rain]

For me it's animal rights and welfare. There is no excuse that can be given to justify the way that food animals are treated. I also don't think that it's necessary to take the lives of animals, especially when we are perfectly capable of living without doing so.

 

[cyberfitnessguru]

I saw a PETA video about 5 years back and since then I cant stand meat thats been through that process.

 

[gerbilwoman]

Animal welfare and animal rights. Also the environmental benefits are a big plus as I'm into that as well but I wouldn't have done it for that alone.