Many vegetarians cite the poor treatment of animals as one of the main reasons they have ethical problems with eating meat. Chickens, for example are debeaked, put into small cages, and then slaughtered. Think about how much you would enjoy having your nose cut off, being put into an eight foot by eight foot egg laying room, and then having someone kill you because you didn’t produce enough. As if that weren’t bad enough, animals that are raised for food are also given food that is laced with powerful growth hormones, and then thrust into stressful living arrangements.

Vegetarians come in a variety of types who practice their beliefs in varying degrees. Some object to destroying plants for the purpose of harvesting vegetables for consumption like carrots for one. The strictest variety do not even eat yeast products and object to wearing wool made from animal fibers. Far less strict are the pseudo-vegetarians who do not consume meat but are open to eating fish and chicken.

Another reason vegetarians claim for not eating meat is that it conflicts with their dietary preferences. Some of these vegetarians simply do not like the texture and taste of meat; others do not eat it because it is high in cholesterol and often contains high concentrations of hormones and preservatives.

Vegetarians who state environmental reasons for not eating meat make make up the group who represent another group. They grumble that meat consumption pushes farmers to deforest more and more land to provide grazing for cattle. Many other vegetarians, however, have completely different reasons in addition to those mentioned already.