Health Trends: Veganism

Jazmyn Hill, Reporter

Vegan and vegetarian food choices are alternate options to an omnivorous diet.

“I ate a lot of meat. They show these commercials – ‘steak, that’s what a man eats’ – selling the idea that a real man eats meat,” actor Arnold Schwarzenegger said to Plant Based News. “But you’ve got to understand – that’s marketing. That’s not based on reality.”

Meat consumption has also been shown to contribute to accelerated aging, abdominal fat, diabetes, and deficiencies in seven different nutrients, opposed to a vegan or vegetarian risking being deficient in four, according to nutrientfacts.org.

“It is a lot easier to be healthy just because there’s no red meat,” sophomore Morgan Albano said.”I don’t really have a favorite vegan dish I do enjoy vegan macaroni though. Love a good macaroni. “

The murder rate of these animals continue to rise, as billions more continue to be slaughtered a year for the sake of meat. Ironically, the health benefits do not justify the purpose of such killings.

This takes a toll on the human race as well for, largest water footprint is from cow’s meat (at 15,400 mᶾ/ton), followed by sheep (10,400 mᶾ/ton), pig (6,000 mᶾ/ton), chicken (4,300 mᶾ/ton) and eggs (3,300 mᶾ/ton) according to vegansociety.org.

The media and celebrities have had a large influence on the growth of veganism and the spread of its benefits.

“Male calves are of no use to the dairy industry and are less suitable for beef production. This means that every year around 95,000 male dairy calves are shot soon after birth and discarded as a by-product.-”Dairy’s ‘dirty secret’: it’s still cheaper to kill male calves than to rear them ,” said a spokesperson from “The Guardian”, according to vegansociety.org.