You should be proud

[deadly7]

Well iago, you should be proud of me. For my freshman comp class in college we have to do a persuasive research paper.. I had absolutely no idea what to pick so I'm basically arguing the pros of a vegetarian lifestyle. ^^
I was also curious to see if you had any scholarly articles that you just like.. link everybody to when they go "OMG VEGAN" or something, though. I've found quite a few but hey, you can never have enough sources.

[iago]

I've read a lot of different things about that, but I don't keep links. :/

I suggest checking out the Wikipedia article on "humans", under the section "diet", I found a few good links from there (although several are to papers, not Web sites). There is correlation between certain types of cancer and meat intake (and we all know that correlation implies causation (just kidding!)).

Also, keep in mind environmental issues. I don't have a link handy, but the meat industry is the highest producer of greenhouse gases, and disposing of the "solid waste" from farms has become a serious issue. Groundwater/runoff contamination, among other things, are destroying the farmland. Not to mention it takes at least 10x more land to raise cattle compared to vegetables, for the same amount of caloric intake.

Part of that goes back to the Tragedy of the Commons, which is something I recommend reading for this essay. Sure, animals can be grown in a way that doesn't destroy the land, but if Farmer A does that, and farmers B through Z use the way that destroys the land and they raise 10x as many cattle for cheaper, Farmer A is going to be in the welfare line. Same goes for vegetable production, with pesticides and stuff, but cattle are much worse.

Another danger is that livestock are given a lot of chemicals, like unnecessary antibiotics, growth steroids, etc. Unnecessary antibiotics in livestock, like humans, leads to antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria, creating a need for stronger antibiotics. That's a cycle that we're eventually going to lose. Also, the chemicals fed to cows almost certainly make it into the meat that people eat.

One of the main arguments against vegetarianism/veganism is that we don't get enough vitamins/minerals. That is, of course, nonsense. The Canadian Foodguide (and I'm sure the American Foodguide as well, or whatever you call it) says that a well-planned vegan or vegetarian diet can provide all required nutrients and lower the risk of heart disease and cancer. That's almost a direct quote from a pamphlet I lose. Another argument against it is that vegetarians/vegans are always hungry, but that's not true either -- if you get enough protein and fat, you'll feel full.

Then there's always the the cruelty side. Babies taken away from their parents when they're born, and killed outright if they're useless (ie, male cows aren't kept because they can't produce milk). Babies are fed nutritional supplements and kept in cages, away from their parents. Chickens are often debeaked, which is arguably a painful process. Animals are frequently abused/killed. It's not a fun time for them.


Those are the arguments that come to mind first and foremost. You will, of course, have to find proper studies/articles to reference, which I'm afraid I can't help you with. That's funny, because it's what you asked for -- sorry about that. :) But I think the above arguments are the main ones that vegetarians/vegans use.

Also, I'd be interested in at least seeing your bibliography, or even seeing your full paper if you don't mind. :)

[deadly7]

Actually, papers are a lot more helpful than websites (we're required to use "Scholarly Sources", which makes sense).. so I certainly will check those out. Haha, my statistics teacher yelled at my whole class for a lecture about 'correlation != causation'.. it was funny.

Environmental issues.. I wasn't thinking of those. I personally had more of the health issues in mind (I only have 8 pages as the limit), but I'll definitely see if I can incorporate it into my paper. The majority of my argument will probably be about health benefits, though.

Yeah, I've read a few articles/abstracts describing the problems of an inadequate diet, but many of them also supported vegetarian lifestyles as proper ones lead to healthier lives. I've also found articles talking about a correlation between vegetarian lifestyles and lower risk for cancer, which I didn't know if you knew or not. I certainly knew about food "poisonings" (E Boli, E Coli) from improperly cooked meats, but not about cancer.

Ah. I wasn't sure whether or not to include the ethical side of the argument in my paper. I mean, sure it's a large part of people's list of reasons to switch over to vegetarian lifestyles, but arguing about the ethics could be an 8-page paper in itself. I may just allude to this (e.g. "While ethical reasons for vegetarian lifestyles certainly exist, health benefits not found in omnivorous lifestyles are easily seen.") or something to that nature.

I'll gladly send a copy of the final paper when I turn it in.. we get about 3 weeks to do all of the work, I think, so it might be a while. But I'd definitely enjoy getting feedback on my writing in general, since I usually only have my teacher and my girlfriend look at my papers.

[Rule]

(e.g. "While ethical reasons for vegetarian lifestyles certainly exist, health benefits not found in omnivorous lifestyles are easily seen.") or something to that nature.

That sucks.  Avoid the passive voice, and avoid that route.

[iago]

Environmental issues.. I wasn't thinking of those. I personally had more of the health issues in mind (I only have 8 pages as the limit), but I'll definitely see if I can incorporate it into my paper. The majority of my argument will probably be about health benefits, though.

It's one issue that's normally overlooked, which is why I mentioned it first. :)

Yeah, I've read a few articles/abstracts describing the problems of an inadequate diet, but many of them also supported vegetarian lifestyles as proper ones lead to healthier lives. I've also found articles talking about a correlation between vegetarian lifestyles and lower risk for cancer, which I didn't know if you knew or not. I certainly knew about food "poisonings" (E Boli, E Coli) from improperly cooked meats, but not about cancer.

I thought about the food "poisoning" as well, but the problem is, you can get food poisoning from vegetables in some cases, as well, so that doesn't really prove anything.

Ah. I wasn't sure whether or not to include the ethical side of the argument in my paper. I mean, sure it's a large part of people's list of reasons to switch over to vegetarian lifestyles, but arguing about the ethics could be an 8-page paper in itself. I may just allude to this (e.g. "While ethical reasons for vegetarian lifestyles certainly exist, health benefits not found in omnivorous lifestyles are easily seen.") or something to that nature.

If you aren't going to look at it in detail, I probably wouldn't even touch on it. It's an extremely subjective area, with a ton of propaganda thrown around (whether or not the propaganda is true or not is sort of beyond what this thread requires).

Also, what Rule said about passive voice. :)

[deadly7]

That sucks.  Avoid the passive voice, and avoid that route.

That really wasn't the sentence I was going to use.. it was a very rough "Hmm, I need to acknowledge it somehow" kind of statement. I haven't even started the prospectus, so I'm not bothering worrying about any of those fine details right now. Thanks, though. Although, what do you mean by "avoid that route?" Every teacher I've had (including this one) likes it when other topics are acknowledged but not discussed.

It's one issue that's normally overlooked, which is why I mentioned it first. :)

Hmm. Now that I think about it more, the environmental problems could easily tie into the health problems (not all of them, though, since.. the effect of greenhouse gases, for example, hasn't been proven extensively).

I thought about the food "poisoning" as well, but the problem is, you can get food poisoning from vegetables in some cases, as well, so that doesn't really prove anything.

Really? I haven't found any readings anywhere about vegetable poisining. I'm sure it's happened, but I'm led to believe it's probably nowhere near as common as issues with undercooked meat, diseased cattle, etc etc.

If you aren't going to look at it in detail, I probably wouldn't even touch on it. It's an extremely subjective area, with a ton of propaganda thrown around (whether or not the propaganda is true or not is sort of beyond what this thread requires).

That's pretty much why I don't want to thoroughly examine it--going through mounds of propaganda to find the meat and bones of the argument really seems well outside the scope of this paper, imo.

Also, what Rule said about passive voice. :)

See above, but thanks. :D

[Rule]

I don't have time for a proper reply, but even a brief discussion of the ethics in this situation is worthwhile.  I don't think anyone becomes a vegetarian or a vegan strictly for health reasons.

[iago]

Really? I haven't found any readings anywhere about vegetable poisining. I'm sure it's happened, but I'm led to believe it's probably nowhere near as common as issues with undercooked meat, diseased cattle, etc etc.

You're probably right, with vegetables it's more because of contamination, I think.

But the first one that comes to mind is right here. I read about that last week, and since then have used the word "botulism" about a dozen times. It's my new favourite word. :)

I also seem to remember a whole ton of spinach being recalled because it was contaminated with e. coli.

[CrAz3D]

They recalled something because it gave people gas?  Hell, I'm surprised beans are still sold, then.

[iago]

Are you talking about Botulism, a toxin that people die from, or E. Coli, a bacterium that causes serious food poisoning?

[CrAz3D]

oooh, I was thinkin something different

[deadly7]

I don't have time for a proper reply, but even a brief discussion of the ethics in this situation is worthwhile.  I don't think anyone becomes a vegetarian or a vegan strictly for health reasons.

Didn't you read my post? I have 8 pages max, with which I'm guessing the brunt of it would pertain to health issues. And to properly discuss the ethics, even briefly, is an endeavor unto itself, and highly unnecessary for such an assignment.

You're probably right, with vegetables it's more because of contamination, I think.

But the first one that comes to mind is right here. I read about that last week, and since then have used the word "botulism" about a dozen times. It's my new favourite word. :)

I also seem to remember a whole ton of spinach being recalled because it was contaminated with e. coli.

Ah. Yeah, that would make sense, since usually one type of bacterium usually can wipe out/infect mass amounts of crops due to the agricultural system.

Really? I'll have to look that up.. Thanks!