Green vs. red
By Hailey Kim and Vivianne Lee
Edited by Sarah Ryu
Design by Nicole Yang
Edited by Sarah Ryu
Design by Nicole Yang
Vegetarians practice a diet excluding meat, fish, and sometimes, dairy products. Vegans take a step further by not using leather, fur, silk, or cosmetics derived from animal products. Health, environmental, and ethical reasons are just a few motivations for becoming vegan. Vegans promote a more humane and caring world by living compassionately themselves while letting other animals live at the same time.
Even though vegans object to consuming meat in general, the inhumane practice of factory farming is what makes meat even more harmful. Many people nowadays avoid meat because of the environment cows grow in. They mostly grow up in dirty areas where they can hardly move around and their food is unhealthy. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, poor sanitation and the poor management on animal waste may lead to various major health concerns such as the H1N1(swine flu) or the Avian flu. There are numerous misconceptions and misunderstandings about vegans. Stereotypes may include, “vegans don’t consume enough protein” or because of their different appetites “it is always hard to find the food they could actually eat.” However, vegans are resourceful enough to get the proteins they need from their plant-based diets, from fruits, sugars, and a lot more. Along with the ethical reasons, health issues are among the main reason why they avoid eating meat. They do not want to risk adding dangerous levels of cholesterol in their body. Too much protein can cause calcium to be taken away from bones which creates risk of kidney disease, colon cancer, and kidney stones. Vegans have a wide variety of normal and delicious food choices. Due to the “different means wrong” stereotype people believe that prevents individuals from finding new food very tasty. There are enough vegan chefs, and vegan restaurants that help prove that plant-based cooking can be creative, easy, and delicious. |
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