Rabbit's Vegetarian Page
Subscribe to the Australian Vegetarian Mailing List. This mailing list is dedicated to those people
living in the Australasian region (Australia, New Zealand and Asia area). Share delicious recipes,health tips
and more.
Vegetarian Facts
Consider that one of the largest and smartest animals in the world (the elephant!) is a vegetarian
Cooking news
Read how hydrogenated fats are not good for you and may help stop you losing weight.
Read about the benefits of avacados and other veges and look at sites featuring vege recipes.
A recent health food article stated that if you have to fry anything use a non-stick pan or
a little butter. Butter did not have the harmful qualities of processed oils. (Even so, butter
should only be eaten in small quantities).
Dewey's World - Hydrogenated Oils article
California Avacado Commission
Sanitarium - The Health Food Company
Woolworths (in Australia)
Vegetarian articles
Beyond 2000, will we still eat meat?
Read about Mozart, the cockatoo who
wouldn't eat meat
What is a vegetarian?
A vegetarian is a person who doesn't eat meat. This includes poultry, red meat, fish and other sea food.
Vegetarians still eat dairy products such as eggs, cheese, milk, yogurt and icecream. Because of this they
are often called lacto-ovo vegetarians. Turning vegetarian is the first step towards an animal product
free lifestyle. Often, many vegetarians take a further step and become vegans.
What is a vegan?
A vegan is a person who doesn't eat meat AND doesn't eat dairy products.
Strict vegans often don't buy leather, fur and other products derived from animals.
To replace milk, they often drink 'soya milk' made from soya beans.
Vegans also often eat tofu, another product derived from soya beans.
Why should I be a vegetarian?
The following is a summary of the three main reasons why you
should adopt a vegetarian diet (courtesy of the Vegetarian Youth Network's page).
1. HEALTH
"The beef industry has contributed to more American deaths than all the wars of this century, all natural disasters, and all automobile accidents combined. If beef is your idea of `real food for real people,' you'd better live real close to a real good hospital."
--Neal D. Barnard, M.D., President, Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, Washington, D.C.
- Meat/Dairy centered diets are linked to many types of cancer, as well as heart ailments, diabetes, obesity, gallbladder disease, hypertension, and more deadly diseases and disorders.
- The National Cancer Research Institute found that women who eat meat on a daily basis are almost 4 times more likely to get breast cancer than those women who eat little or no meat.
- Meat contains approximately 14 times more pesticides than plant foods; dairy products contain 5-1/2 times more pesticides than plant foods.
- Million pounds of antibiotics are used in animal production every year.These drugs end up in your milk and meat.
- 95-99 percent of toxic chemical residues in the American diet come from animal sources.
- By reducing your consumption of meat,, dairy products and eggs by 50%, you reduce your risk of a heart attack by 45%.By following a pure vegetarian diet (no animal products at all) you reduce your risk by 90%.
- Meat and dairy products raise the acid level in human blood, causing calcium to be excreted from the bones to restore the body's natural pH balance. This calcium depletion results in osteoporosis. Contrary to the common belief that dairy products
are necessary to prevent osteoporosis, dairy consumption actually increases the likeliness of this crippling disease.
- About 30% of all pork products are contaminated with toxoplasmosis, a disease which is caused by parasites. It can be passed on to consumers.
- The vegetarian diet is more likely to meet the government recommendations for fat, carbohydrate, and protein than a nonvegetarian diet. The government as well as many other organizations tell us to reduce our fat intake (especially saturated fat)
and also to eat more grains, fruits, and vegetables. This is easy for a vegetarian!
- On a meatless diet, you are less likely to get a bacterial infection such as E. coli, Camphylobacter, and Salmonella.
2. ANIMAL WELFARE
"If slaughterhouses had glass walls, everyone would be vegetarian. We feel better about ourselves and better about the animals, knowing we're not contributing to their pain."
--Paul (1942-) and Linda McCartney
- About 7 billion farm animals die or are slaughtered each year in the U.S. for the production of flesh food.
- There are virtually no laws against cruelty to animals raised for food in the U.S. The Animal Welfare Act, which governs the humane treatment of animals, excludes animals intended for food consumption.
- Up to five hens are crowded into a cage with floor space hardly larger than a record-cover, for their entire life-time.
- Many factory-farmed animals never see a blade of grass in their lifetime.
- In the egg industry, male chicks are considered useless so are often thrown into a grinding machine- ALIVE!
- Animals raised for food production are nearly always deprived of natural sexual, social, hygienic, and parental behaviors.
- Reason for veal's light color and tender texture: Veal calves are force-fed an iron-deficient, anemia-producing diet devoid of solid foods.
- Bulls raised for meat-production are routinely castrated without any type of anesthesia or pain-killers.
- The slaughtering process is inhumane. When the animals are stunned before they are slaughtered, it is not always reliable and the animals are in pain as they move towards their death.
3. ENVIRONMENTAL/WORLD PROBLEMS
"A reduction in beef and other meat consumption is the most potent single act you can take to halt the destruction of our environment and preserve our natural resources. Our choices do matter. What's healthiest for each of us personally is also healthiest for the life support system of our precious, but wounded planet."
--John Robbins, author of Diet for a New America, and President, EarthSave Foundation, Santa Cruz, California
- Livestock production is a major cause of desertification (where the land dries out and loses its precious topsoil so vegetation is unable to grow on it anymore) as well as deforestation (loss of trees).
- Two hundred years ago American cropland had topsoil that averaged 21 inches in depth. Today, only about 6 inches remain. Every year in the U.S. an area the size of Connecticut is lost to topsoil erosion- 85% of erosion is associated with livestock production.
- Spinach grown on an acre of land can yield 26 times more protein than beef produced on the same acre.
- Number of pure vegetarians who can be fed on the amount of land needed to feed one person consuming a meat-based diet: 20
- 60 million people will starve to death this year- 60 million people could be adequately fed by the grain saved if Americans reduced their intake of meat by 10 percent.
- Some beef comes from cattle raised on land that was formerly rainforest. This land is not good for grazing and it lasts only for a few years, after which more rainforest must be destroyed to raise the cattle on.
- For each quarter-pound fast food hamburger sold that came from cattle raised on former rainforest land, 55 square feet of rainforest was destroyed.
DID YOU KNOW? - more facts about vegetarianism
The following facts are from the Vegetarian Society of the UK's web site:
It has been estimated that a lifelong vegetarian prevents the suffering and slaughter of over 900 animals and over half a tonne of fish.
Studies have shown that mortality from heart disease is an amazing 30 per
cent less among vegetarians.
Vegetarians also tend to have lower blood pressure than meat-eaters
An acre of land can produce 10,000 pounds of green beans, 30,000 pounds of
carrots, 50,000 pounds of tomatoes, but only 250 pounds of beef.
The wider adoption of vegetarianism would lead to better use of resources
and better protection of the environment.
Medical research has shown that on average, a lifelong vegetarian visits the
hospital 22 per cent less often than an average meat-eater.
A study conducted over 13 years by Oxford University concluded that
vegetarians were 40 per cent less likely to suffer from certain cancers.
Vegetarians are also 50 per cent less likely to suffer from gall stones and
less likely to suffer from diet-related diabetes.
Many famous actors, singers, models and other celebrities are vegetarians.
Famous vegetarian actors include Brad Pitt, Kim Bassinger, Richard Gere,
Alicia Silverstone, Alec Baldwin, Drew Barrymore, Paul Newman, Liv Tyler,
William Shatner, David Duchovny, Daryl Hannah and Dustin Hoffman.
The photo above was taken from the AR Picture Gallery..
Above: This calf is imprisoned within a small crate in which it can only stand up or lie down. It is kept in
semi-darkness in isolation and is fed a nutrient-deficient diet designed to keep its flesh light. Many calves,
cows, pigs, lambs and other "meat" animals are kept in very unhealthy and inhumane conditions.
Vegetarian Fact Sheets & Information Pages
Going Vegetarian - from Vegetarian Society of UK. This contains answers to frequently
asked questions about vegetarianism.
"Why Vegan?" fact sheet - from veganoutreach.org. Contains a detailed explanation
of why you should go vegetarian. One of the best vegetarian fact sheets on the internet.
Vegetarianism: Eating for Life - fact sheet from PETA. A good summary of
why you should turn vegetarian.
Beyond Beef - contains "facts about rainforest destruction,
resource depletion, global warming, world hunger, human disease, animal suffering and other compelling reasons why more
Americans are eating less beef."
Vegetarianism: A means to a higher end-Excellent page which explores the many benefits of vegetarianism. i,e, health & nutrition, economics, ethics, religion and karma and 'beyond vegetarianism' (spirituality).
A Vegetarian's Guide: Dead Animal Flesh is not food - Another very informative web site which contains answers to frequently
asked questions about vegetarianism.
Rabbit's Other Vegetarian Pages
Rabbit's Mega List of Vegetarian Links! - A great resource! Links to many vegetarian
fact sheets and pages containing information about vegetarianism.
Rabbit's Favourite Vegetarian and Animal Rights Quotes - A huge
collection of quotes about vegetarianism and animal rights. Updated regularly.
Rabbit's Other Vegetarian Page - Contains information about the possibility
that Jesus was a vegetarian and other issues.
Click here to return to front page