The Environmental Costs Of Factory Farming And Ranching
Long ago, eating meat was a good source of nutrition, since the use of hormones, pesticides and mass production methods was as yet unheard of. A family raised and processed their own livestock. Every morning the large golden eggs were plucked from the chicken’s nests, which were lovingly cared for and fed healthy pesticide-free grains..
Today's factory farms use everything, but in the process they leave behind an environmental toll that generations to come will be forced to pay. Raising animals for food requires more that half the water used in the United States each year and one-third of all raw materials, including fossil fuels. This industry is the greatest polluter of our waters and is directly responsible for 85 percent of soil erosion. Our country's meat addiction is steadily poisoning and depleting our land, water and air.
Of all agricultural land in the United States, 87 percent is used to raise animals for food. That's 45 percent of the total land mass of the United States.
Methane is one of four greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming. The world's 1.3 billion cows produce one-fifth of all methane emitted into the atmosphere.
Raising animals for food causes more water pollution in the United States than any other industry because animals raised for food produce 20 times the excrement of the entire human population-230,000 pounds every second.
Of all raw materials and fossil fuels used in the United States, more than one-third is used to raise animals for food.
Rain forests are being destroyed at a rate of 125,000 square miles per year. The primary cause of deforestation is raising animals for food.
Coupled with the inhumane treatments of animals that are raised for human consumption, the costs of raising and processing these animals for human consumption is becoming too high. Make a commitment to reduce or eliminate meats from your diet, and learn to live from the plant foods the environment naturally provides. The animals and your conscience will be better for it.
Long ago, eating meat was a good source of nutrition, since the use of hormones, pesticides and mass production methods was as yet unheard of. A family raised and processed their own livestock. Every morning the large golden eggs were plucked from the chicken’s nests, which were lovingly cared for and fed healthy pesticide-free grains..
Today's factory farms use everything, but in the process they leave behind an environmental toll that generations to come will be forced to pay. Raising animals for food requires more that half the water used in the United States each year and one-third of all raw materials, including fossil fuels. This industry is the greatest polluter of our waters and is directly responsible for 85 percent of soil erosion. Our country's meat addiction is steadily poisoning and depleting our land, water and air.
Of all agricultural land in the United States, 87 percent is used to raise animals for food. That's 45 percent of the total land mass of the United States.
Methane is one of four greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming. The world's 1.3 billion cows produce one-fifth of all methane emitted into the atmosphere.
Raising animals for food causes more water pollution in the United States than any other industry because animals raised for food produce 20 times the excrement of the entire human population-230,000 pounds every second.
Of all raw materials and fossil fuels used in the United States, more than one-third is used to raise animals for food.
Rain forests are being destroyed at a rate of 125,000 square miles per year. The primary cause of deforestation is raising animals for food.
Coupled with the inhumane treatments of animals that are raised for human consumption, the costs of raising and processing these animals for human consumption is becoming too high. Make a commitment to reduce or eliminate meats from your diet, and learn to live from the plant foods the environment naturally provides. The animals and your conscience will be better for it.
Why Switch To Vegetarianism
If you’ve eaten meat and animal products your whole life, you might think, why switch to a vegetarian diet? You’ve lived your whole life eating eggs, hamburgers, hot dogs, and poultry, so why switch now?
There could be many reasons to switch. Start by looking in the mirror. Are you at a healthy weight? Do you look and feel good most of the time? Do you wake up energized? Or do you wake up tired and sluggish?
How is your general health? Is your blood pressure within a healthy range? Are your cholesterol and blood sugar ranges normal? If they’re not, consider what you’re eating on a daily basis.
How do you feel after eating? Do you feel energized, as if you’ve fed your body what it needs? Or are you tired and dragged out? Do you often need a nap after eating? Is that what food is supposed to do for us, make us tired and sleepy?
Not really. Food should nourish and feed the body and leave us energized and refreshed. The human body is a machine and needs fuel that keeps it running in peak condition. When we’re fat, with high blood pressure, Type II diabetes, high cholesterol and other unhealthy conditions, it’s like a car engine that hasn’t been tuned or isn’t running on the optimal type of gasoline it needs to run efficiently. Your body is the same way. It needs the right kind of fuel to run at peak efficiency, and when you’re eating high-fat meat, or meat that’s been fed antibiotics throughout its life, that’s simply not the kind of fuel the human body evolved to run on.
Try eating vegetarian for a week or a month. See if you don’t feel different, more mentally acute and more physically fit and energized. At least reverse the portion sizes you’ve been eating, and make meat more of a side dish, if you can’t stop eating meat altogether. Even that change can make a big difference in your overall health and well-being.
If you’ve eaten meat and animal products your whole life, you might think, why switch to a vegetarian diet? You’ve lived your whole life eating eggs, hamburgers, hot dogs, and poultry, so why switch now?
There could be many reasons to switch. Start by looking in the mirror. Are you at a healthy weight? Do you look and feel good most of the time? Do you wake up energized? Or do you wake up tired and sluggish?
How is your general health? Is your blood pressure within a healthy range? Are your cholesterol and blood sugar ranges normal? If they’re not, consider what you’re eating on a daily basis.
How do you feel after eating? Do you feel energized, as if you’ve fed your body what it needs? Or are you tired and dragged out? Do you often need a nap after eating? Is that what food is supposed to do for us, make us tired and sleepy?
Not really. Food should nourish and feed the body and leave us energized and refreshed. The human body is a machine and needs fuel that keeps it running in peak condition. When we’re fat, with high blood pressure, Type II diabetes, high cholesterol and other unhealthy conditions, it’s like a car engine that hasn’t been tuned or isn’t running on the optimal type of gasoline it needs to run efficiently. Your body is the same way. It needs the right kind of fuel to run at peak efficiency, and when you’re eating high-fat meat, or meat that’s been fed antibiotics throughout its life, that’s simply not the kind of fuel the human body evolved to run on.
Try eating vegetarian for a week or a month. See if you don’t feel different, more mentally acute and more physically fit and energized. At least reverse the portion sizes you’ve been eating, and make meat more of a side dish, if you can’t stop eating meat altogether. Even that change can make a big difference in your overall health and well-being.
Nourishing Our Body, Nourishing Our Spirit
Many times our choice to become vegetarian isn’t only for health, environmental, or economical reasons, but also spiritual. There is a heartfelt connection between vegetarianism and the deeper side of nourishment. We must learn to nourish ourselves not only physically, but also spiritually.
The subject of nutrition is not simply a question of the food we eat at meals. Besides nutrients, foods contain scents, colors and invisible particles that attract pure light, light that is so essential for our joyful life and well-being. The choice we make is therefore always of consequential significance.
Grains, fruits and vegetables naturally grow and flourish in sunlight, and you could deduce they are actually their own form of light. In order to develop the qualities of the heart, we must eat not only peacefully, but consciously. Therefore it makes sense to consume food that is nourished by sunlight. As a result, our emotions and our essence are illuminated and nourished as well.
It’s long been said that your body is your temple and everything that enters that temple has a direct result in who we become. Therefore, when we choose to nourish our bodies with healthful, nutrient-dense plant foods from the earth, we are in turn nourishing our souls, our spirit, and our being. The quality of your food and its physical properties not only transforms our emotions and mind, but can actually change your appearance and personality.
By focusing our diet on fresh fruits and vegetables that are in season and organically produced, we are in turn connecting with nature and learning to live in harmony with it. By committing and devoting ourselves to a vegetarian lifestyle, we’ve also committed to nourishing our souls and our inner well-being. You can’t ask for a more perfect health food than that!
Many times our choice to become vegetarian isn’t only for health, environmental, or economical reasons, but also spiritual. There is a heartfelt connection between vegetarianism and the deeper side of nourishment. We must learn to nourish ourselves not only physically, but also spiritually.
The subject of nutrition is not simply a question of the food we eat at meals. Besides nutrients, foods contain scents, colors and invisible particles that attract pure light, light that is so essential for our joyful life and well-being. The choice we make is therefore always of consequential significance.
Grains, fruits and vegetables naturally grow and flourish in sunlight, and you could deduce they are actually their own form of light. In order to develop the qualities of the heart, we must eat not only peacefully, but consciously. Therefore it makes sense to consume food that is nourished by sunlight. As a result, our emotions and our essence are illuminated and nourished as well.
It’s long been said that your body is your temple and everything that enters that temple has a direct result in who we become. Therefore, when we choose to nourish our bodies with healthful, nutrient-dense plant foods from the earth, we are in turn nourishing our souls, our spirit, and our being. The quality of your food and its physical properties not only transforms our emotions and mind, but can actually change your appearance and personality.
By focusing our diet on fresh fruits and vegetables that are in season and organically produced, we are in turn connecting with nature and learning to live in harmony with it. By committing and devoting ourselves to a vegetarian lifestyle, we’ve also committed to nourishing our souls and our inner well-being. You can’t ask for a more perfect health food than that!
PETA
People have different motivations for eating a vegetarian diet. For many people, it’s a health issue. They need to reduce their weight, bring down their blood pressure and cholesterol, and manage their blood sugars. A vegetarian diet helps them do this.
For others, it’s also moral and ethical decision not to eat animal products. Through the centuries, we’ve become accustomed to thinking of man as superior to all other animals on the planet. We use animals for food, clothing, shoes, belts or other accessories. We use them for scientific experiments. We discount their place on the earth and consider that animals are here to serve us and our needs.
PETA stands for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, and is an organization devoted to changing that mindset among humans. They are against using animals for food or for clothing, especially for what they consider the needless or particularly inhumane use of animals, such as killing or trapping them for their fur.
They are passionate about their cause. In their own words, PETA believes that animals have rights and deserve to have their best interests taken into consideration, regardless of whether they are useful to humans. Like you, they are capable of suffering and have an interest in leading their own lives; therefore, they are not ours to use—for food, clothing, entertainment, experimentation, or any other reason.
We are supposedly an evolved society. But how evolved can a society be that thrives on the suffering of animals? In his excellent book, When Elephants Weep, author Jeffrey Masson explores the emotional lives of animals and presents compelling evidence for it. As a species, we must begin to re-evaluate our place on this earth and where we fit in relation to every other creature that inhabits it. PETA believes this as well and is a passionate advocate for the rights of animals.
People have different motivations for eating a vegetarian diet. For many people, it’s a health issue. They need to reduce their weight, bring down their blood pressure and cholesterol, and manage their blood sugars. A vegetarian diet helps them do this.
For others, it’s also moral and ethical decision not to eat animal products. Through the centuries, we’ve become accustomed to thinking of man as superior to all other animals on the planet. We use animals for food, clothing, shoes, belts or other accessories. We use them for scientific experiments. We discount their place on the earth and consider that animals are here to serve us and our needs.
PETA stands for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, and is an organization devoted to changing that mindset among humans. They are against using animals for food or for clothing, especially for what they consider the needless or particularly inhumane use of animals, such as killing or trapping them for their fur.
They are passionate about their cause. In their own words, PETA believes that animals have rights and deserve to have their best interests taken into consideration, regardless of whether they are useful to humans. Like you, they are capable of suffering and have an interest in leading their own lives; therefore, they are not ours to use—for food, clothing, entertainment, experimentation, or any other reason.
We are supposedly an evolved society. But how evolved can a society be that thrives on the suffering of animals? In his excellent book, When Elephants Weep, author Jeffrey Masson explores the emotional lives of animals and presents compelling evidence for it. As a species, we must begin to re-evaluate our place on this earth and where we fit in relation to every other creature that inhabits it. PETA believes this as well and is a passionate advocate for the rights of animals.
Caged Chickens And Hormones
If most of us thought about the conditions in which chickens used for meat and eggs are raised and slaughtered, we’d become vegetarian on the spot. Egg-laying chickens can be raised in cages with 6 chickens to a cage, each chicken getting only 67 square inches of space for its lifetime.
Unless they’re certified and labeled as being free-range or organic or natural, they might have been fed growth hormones to get them to slaughter faster, and antibiotics to combat the diseases which come from being raised in cramped and less-than-clean conditions.
And consider what the recommendations are for cleaning up after touching poultry? It’s recommended to clean surfaces with bleach to remove bacteria, and to wash your hands thoroughly after touching a chicken.
Do you really want to put something into your body that requires bleach to clean up after? Something that needs to be cooked to specific temperatures to be sure you’ve destroyed any bacteria that could make you sick?
Chickens and turkeys have become so mass-produced and injected with antibiotics and hormones that there’s no taste to it anymore, so why bother? Even the most humanely treated chicken has either been stunned in a salt-water brine before being beheaded. In John Robbins excellent book and video, Diet for a Small Planet, he shows us pictures of chickens being grabbed in groups by the neck and thrown into cages. Can you really consider eating a chicken with that vision in your head?
Any means of mass-producing animals for human consumption is by its very nature unhealthy and cruel for the animals, and unhealthy for humans as well. Even if you’re of the opinion that man is a natural hunter, how natural is it to eat an animal that’s been raised in captivity and fed a diet of hormones and antibiotics?
If most of us thought about the conditions in which chickens used for meat and eggs are raised and slaughtered, we’d become vegetarian on the spot. Egg-laying chickens can be raised in cages with 6 chickens to a cage, each chicken getting only 67 square inches of space for its lifetime.
Unless they’re certified and labeled as being free-range or organic or natural, they might have been fed growth hormones to get them to slaughter faster, and antibiotics to combat the diseases which come from being raised in cramped and less-than-clean conditions.
And consider what the recommendations are for cleaning up after touching poultry? It’s recommended to clean surfaces with bleach to remove bacteria, and to wash your hands thoroughly after touching a chicken.
Do you really want to put something into your body that requires bleach to clean up after? Something that needs to be cooked to specific temperatures to be sure you’ve destroyed any bacteria that could make you sick?
Chickens and turkeys have become so mass-produced and injected with antibiotics and hormones that there’s no taste to it anymore, so why bother? Even the most humanely treated chicken has either been stunned in a salt-water brine before being beheaded. In John Robbins excellent book and video, Diet for a Small Planet, he shows us pictures of chickens being grabbed in groups by the neck and thrown into cages. Can you really consider eating a chicken with that vision in your head?
Any means of mass-producing animals for human consumption is by its very nature unhealthy and cruel for the animals, and unhealthy for humans as well. Even if you’re of the opinion that man is a natural hunter, how natural is it to eat an animal that’s been raised in captivity and fed a diet of hormones and antibiotics?
Cow Slaughterhouses
Even if you don’t eat meat, you might think drinking or using milk is part of a vegetarian diet. We all have images of farmers pumping milk by hand, and it seems a natural part of life and a benign use of the cow. But we don’t really think much about it at all, do we?
Do you know how a cow raised for producing milk lives its life? Like most animals used for mass consumption, a milk cow lives in cramped and often filthy conditions. It is fed hormones to stimulate its reproductive processes, because that’s what a mother’s milk is for – to feed its baby. As soon as a calf is born though, it’s taken from its mother. A male calf often goes to a terrible fate to be raised for veal; a female calf often has the same fate as its mother.
Often the cows mourn for their babies. They’ll be seen bellowing for them and looking for them. Mass producing milk for human consumption has disrupted the natural order of things.
The cows are fed hormones to continue to stimulate milk production. The electric pumps are painful to the cow’s udders. With the hormone stimulation, cows are forced to produce 10 times more milk than they would ordinarily.
When their milk-producing days are over, the cows are then slaughtered for ground beef. It also takes enormous natural resources to feed and water all these cows. The water table is being depleted to sustain this enormous industry. And the waste produced by all these large animals is having a detrimental effect on the environment.
We really don’t need to consume milk after a certain age. Why would we continue to support this industry that’s built on animal suffering? To really top it off, humans are not meant to drink cow milk. Calves are meant to drink cow milk and we humans are meant to drink human milk. Our bodies were not designed to digest the proteins in cow milk – so why bother? Especially when you can get more calcium from a green, leafy vegetable?
Even if you don’t eat meat, you might think drinking or using milk is part of a vegetarian diet. We all have images of farmers pumping milk by hand, and it seems a natural part of life and a benign use of the cow. But we don’t really think much about it at all, do we?
Do you know how a cow raised for producing milk lives its life? Like most animals used for mass consumption, a milk cow lives in cramped and often filthy conditions. It is fed hormones to stimulate its reproductive processes, because that’s what a mother’s milk is for – to feed its baby. As soon as a calf is born though, it’s taken from its mother. A male calf often goes to a terrible fate to be raised for veal; a female calf often has the same fate as its mother.
Often the cows mourn for their babies. They’ll be seen bellowing for them and looking for them. Mass producing milk for human consumption has disrupted the natural order of things.
The cows are fed hormones to continue to stimulate milk production. The electric pumps are painful to the cow’s udders. With the hormone stimulation, cows are forced to produce 10 times more milk than they would ordinarily.
When their milk-producing days are over, the cows are then slaughtered for ground beef. It also takes enormous natural resources to feed and water all these cows. The water table is being depleted to sustain this enormous industry. And the waste produced by all these large animals is having a detrimental effect on the environment.
We really don’t need to consume milk after a certain age. Why would we continue to support this industry that’s built on animal suffering? To really top it off, humans are not meant to drink cow milk. Calves are meant to drink cow milk and we humans are meant to drink human milk. Our bodies were not designed to digest the proteins in cow milk – so why bother? Especially when you can get more calcium from a green, leafy vegetable?
Veal
There are few issues that make a more compelling argument for a vegetarian diet than that of veal and how it’s produced. While the meat industry is, by its very nature cruel and inhumane, the veal industry is the worst.
Baby calves are taken from their mothers, often at just one day old. They’re kept in pens that prevent movement, to keep their muscles soft. To produce the pale, soft veal that is so highly prized by gourmets, the calves are fed a liquid that’s deficient in iron and fiber that creates an anemia in the animal.
The confinement in which they live for their short lives creates a significant level of chronic stress for the animal and they’re subsequently given much higher levels of medications that can be harmful to humans. The confinement makes them weak, often unable to stand. We treat criminals who have committed the most vicious crimes imaginable more humanely than we treat innocent calves.
Why would anyone want to consume meat that’s delivered to the table infused with the suffering of animals? What culinary experience can ever be worth it when you know what the animal, especially a calf, has to go through?
At age 20 weeks, the calf is then slaughtered. All the meat we eat has been mass produced and slaughtered. Their life is inhumane and their death is inhumane, in addition to which it’s becoming less and less healthy for us to eat. Veal is the premier example of this industry. Changing to a vegetarian diet not only is a much more healthy way to eat, it’s way of living in balance with the earth. It may have been one thing centuries ago to hunt for meat because it was a means for survival. Today’s mass-produced meat industry is nothing like that and is more a cause of illness and poor health than it is for survival or nutrition.
There are few issues that make a more compelling argument for a vegetarian diet than that of veal and how it’s produced. While the meat industry is, by its very nature cruel and inhumane, the veal industry is the worst.
Baby calves are taken from their mothers, often at just one day old. They’re kept in pens that prevent movement, to keep their muscles soft. To produce the pale, soft veal that is so highly prized by gourmets, the calves are fed a liquid that’s deficient in iron and fiber that creates an anemia in the animal.
The confinement in which they live for their short lives creates a significant level of chronic stress for the animal and they’re subsequently given much higher levels of medications that can be harmful to humans. The confinement makes them weak, often unable to stand. We treat criminals who have committed the most vicious crimes imaginable more humanely than we treat innocent calves.
Why would anyone want to consume meat that’s delivered to the table infused with the suffering of animals? What culinary experience can ever be worth it when you know what the animal, especially a calf, has to go through?
At age 20 weeks, the calf is then slaughtered. All the meat we eat has been mass produced and slaughtered. Their life is inhumane and their death is inhumane, in addition to which it’s becoming less and less healthy for us to eat. Veal is the premier example of this industry. Changing to a vegetarian diet not only is a much more healthy way to eat, it’s way of living in balance with the earth. It may have been one thing centuries ago to hunt for meat because it was a means for survival. Today’s mass-produced meat industry is nothing like that and is more a cause of illness and poor health than it is for survival or nutrition.
The Difference Between Vegan & Vegetarian
Whether you are preparing meals for someone else or thinking about changing your own diet you need to know the difference between a vegetarian and a vegan. Put simply, a vegetarian is someone who does not eat meat or fish and a vegan is someone who eats no animal products at all.
There are, of course, people who eat meat and fish occasionally. They may be in the process of changing to a full vegetarian diet or concerned to reduce their intake of saturated fat. They might be considered as semi-vegetarians.
Some vegetarians will consume milk and dairy products but will not eat eggs. They are often called lacto-vegetarians. They would be vegans except that they include milk in their diet.
Other vegetarians avoid milk, but will eat eggs. They are ovo-vegetarians. They would be vegans if they did not consume eggs.
At some points many vegetarians may pass through one or other of these stages if they are moving towards a fully vegan diet. A vegan avoids all animal products even in clothing. Some vegans will not even eat honey or yeast.
All these dietary preferences should be respected as valid life-style choices. The dietary preferences of your diners should be seen as a challenge rather than a chore.
It is possible to ensure a nutritious diet for an adult by following any of these plans. For a full vegan protein should come from pulses and grains combined in interesting combinations. Vegetarians will eat these dishes too. If you provide a variety of dishes your diners can make their own choices.
If you want to make the change to a fully vegan diet yourself it is best to begin with a gradual change. First work towards a vegetarian diet and then slowly move towards a vegan diet. Try not to be too hung up on the categories of vegan or vegetarian. Feel you way and enjoy getting the know the potential of the full vegetarian through to vegan spectrum.
Whether you are preparing meals for someone else or thinking about changing your own diet you need to know the difference between a vegetarian and a vegan. Put simply, a vegetarian is someone who does not eat meat or fish and a vegan is someone who eats no animal products at all.
There are, of course, people who eat meat and fish occasionally. They may be in the process of changing to a full vegetarian diet or concerned to reduce their intake of saturated fat. They might be considered as semi-vegetarians.
Some vegetarians will consume milk and dairy products but will not eat eggs. They are often called lacto-vegetarians. They would be vegans except that they include milk in their diet.
Other vegetarians avoid milk, but will eat eggs. They are ovo-vegetarians. They would be vegans if they did not consume eggs.
At some points many vegetarians may pass through one or other of these stages if they are moving towards a fully vegan diet. A vegan avoids all animal products even in clothing. Some vegans will not even eat honey or yeast.
All these dietary preferences should be respected as valid life-style choices. The dietary preferences of your diners should be seen as a challenge rather than a chore.
It is possible to ensure a nutritious diet for an adult by following any of these plans. For a full vegan protein should come from pulses and grains combined in interesting combinations. Vegetarians will eat these dishes too. If you provide a variety of dishes your diners can make their own choices.
If you want to make the change to a fully vegan diet yourself it is best to begin with a gradual change. First work towards a vegetarian diet and then slowly move towards a vegan diet. Try not to be too hung up on the categories of vegan or vegetarian. Feel you way and enjoy getting the know the potential of the full vegetarian through to vegan spectrum.
What Is Vegetarian Cheese?
Cheese is often thought to be the ideal vegetarian food. It is frequently served as the only vegetarian choice on less imaginative menus.
But there are draw backs to regular cheese. Firstly, it is usually made with rennet. Rennet is an enzyme found in the stomachs of calves. So regular cheese is not a completely vegetarian product.
Some of the better retailers sell rennet-free cheese. It can be hard to find. You have to read the label carefully to check that cheese is rennet-free if you want a thoroughly vegetarian cheese.
The second problem is with the milk itself. Many vegetarians object to milk because cows are kept in intensive conditions and forced to calve every year so that they continue to produce milk. The unwanted male calves are shot at birth or kept for raising to produce veal. Even non- vegetarians have ethical objections to the nature of the dairy industry.
Many people, especially children, have health problems with milk. They may be lactose intolerant or concerned about their cholesterol levels. The modern diet tends to be high in dairy products and hence in animal fats that raise cholesterol.
But cheese is a favorite comfort food. It would be hard to give it up altogether. Are there vegetarian cheese alternatives to milk-based cheese?
Yes, there are. There are cheese-like soya products and there is cheese which is made from yeast.
Both these kinds of vegetarian cheese are lactose-free, free of saturated fat and will not raise cholesterol levels. Vegetarian cheese of either kind is the ideal product for those who are lactose intolerant or have been advised to follow a diet that is low in saturated fat because their cholesterol level is too high. Vegetarian cheese that is specially formulated to suit children's tastes can be purchased. Whether you choose soya cheese or cheese it is possible to make most of your favorite recipes with vegetarian cheese.
Cheese is often thought to be the ideal vegetarian food. It is frequently served as the only vegetarian choice on less imaginative menus.
But there are draw backs to regular cheese. Firstly, it is usually made with rennet. Rennet is an enzyme found in the stomachs of calves. So regular cheese is not a completely vegetarian product.
Some of the better retailers sell rennet-free cheese. It can be hard to find. You have to read the label carefully to check that cheese is rennet-free if you want a thoroughly vegetarian cheese.
The second problem is with the milk itself. Many vegetarians object to milk because cows are kept in intensive conditions and forced to calve every year so that they continue to produce milk. The unwanted male calves are shot at birth or kept for raising to produce veal. Even non- vegetarians have ethical objections to the nature of the dairy industry.
Many people, especially children, have health problems with milk. They may be lactose intolerant or concerned about their cholesterol levels. The modern diet tends to be high in dairy products and hence in animal fats that raise cholesterol.
But cheese is a favorite comfort food. It would be hard to give it up altogether. Are there vegetarian cheese alternatives to milk-based cheese?
Yes, there are. There are cheese-like soya products and there is cheese which is made from yeast.
Both these kinds of vegetarian cheese are lactose-free, free of saturated fat and will not raise cholesterol levels. Vegetarian cheese of either kind is the ideal product for those who are lactose intolerant or have been advised to follow a diet that is low in saturated fat because their cholesterol level is too high. Vegetarian cheese that is specially formulated to suit children's tastes can be purchased. Whether you choose soya cheese or cheese it is possible to make most of your favorite recipes with vegetarian cheese.
Is A Vegetarian Diet Safe For My Child?
If you are already a vegetarian or are planning to become a vegetarian and have children you may be concerned about whether a child can get enough nutrients on a vegetarian diet. It is commonly thought that a growing child needs meat and that children should not be vegetarian.
This is a fallacy. A child can eat a balanced vegetarian diet that provides all the nutrients needed for healthy growth. All that is required is some knowledge and planning on your part.
The main problem that emerges with a vegetarian diet where children are concerned is the same as with any other diet. Children's appetites are small in comparison to those of adults but their nutritional needs are high.
Children need small, frequent meals. Those meals need to be packed with nutrients. Otherwise they are just eating empty calories that can lead to obesity and other health problems.
Children are hungry when they come in from school for very good reasons. They are highly active and need to eat something right then and there. You should aim to keep a range of vegetarian snack ready.
Peanut butter on a slice of whole meal bread is ideal. It contains protein in the bread and the peanuts, which are both also a good source of zinc and calcium. If you select a brand of peanut butter that does not have sugar added to it this is healthy vegetarian snack.
Children are often reluctant to eat vegetables. They often seem too much like hard work to a small child. But few children will refuse a raw carrot cut up into sticks or grated carrot.
Pulses and grains are often unpalatable to children. But they can be mashed and formed into burgers that children love. Tomato sauce is always a favorite but avoid commercial sauces that have sugar added.
When you need to make children's food sweet use honey, unrefined sugar or pureed fruit. If a child does not become accustomed to sweet food it will not crave for the high levels of sugar that are found in many processed foods.
If you are already a vegetarian or are planning to become a vegetarian and have children you may be concerned about whether a child can get enough nutrients on a vegetarian diet. It is commonly thought that a growing child needs meat and that children should not be vegetarian.
This is a fallacy. A child can eat a balanced vegetarian diet that provides all the nutrients needed for healthy growth. All that is required is some knowledge and planning on your part.
The main problem that emerges with a vegetarian diet where children are concerned is the same as with any other diet. Children's appetites are small in comparison to those of adults but their nutritional needs are high.
Children need small, frequent meals. Those meals need to be packed with nutrients. Otherwise they are just eating empty calories that can lead to obesity and other health problems.
Children are hungry when they come in from school for very good reasons. They are highly active and need to eat something right then and there. You should aim to keep a range of vegetarian snack ready.
Peanut butter on a slice of whole meal bread is ideal. It contains protein in the bread and the peanuts, which are both also a good source of zinc and calcium. If you select a brand of peanut butter that does not have sugar added to it this is healthy vegetarian snack.
Children are often reluctant to eat vegetables. They often seem too much like hard work to a small child. But few children will refuse a raw carrot cut up into sticks or grated carrot.
Pulses and grains are often unpalatable to children. But they can be mashed and formed into burgers that children love. Tomato sauce is always a favorite but avoid commercial sauces that have sugar added.
When you need to make children's food sweet use honey, unrefined sugar or pureed fruit. If a child does not become accustomed to sweet food it will not crave for the high levels of sugar that are found in many processed foods.
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