1. Vegetarianism

2. What is a vegetarian? Sometimes referred to as a “plant based diet”
Someone who does not eat meat (beef, pork, lamb, goat, etc.), poultry (chicken, duck, etc.), fish, or seafood
3 different types of vegetarians
Lacto vegetarian
Ovo-vegetarian
Lacto-ovo vegetarian

3. What is a vegan?
Someone who does not eat anything from an animal – meat, milk products, and eggs
Many vegans go beyond diet, and don’t use other animal products either

4. # of vegetarians in Canada:
Between 3 - 7% of Canadians are vegetarians -
1.1 million – 2.4 million people
About 1.5% of the population is vegan
340, ,000 people

5. Why do people become veg*n?
Religious Reasons
Many religions lean towards, recommend or encourage vegetarianism – either some of the time (on special holy-days) or all of the time

6. Some religions that lean towards veg*nism in some way:
Hinduism
Buddhism
Seventh-Day Adventists
Rastafarianism

7. 2. Health Reasons
Many positive health reasons why someone might become a vegetarian or vegan
What are they?

8. a. Diseases that a plant-based diet protection against........
1. Colon cancer
3rd most common type of cancer in Canada
Risk of C.C. decreases the less meat you eat

9. 2. Breast Cancer
- Canadian Cancer Society says that breast cancer risk decreases the more fruit and vegetables you eat

10. REMEMBER: our bodies produce all the cholesterol we need
2. High Cholesterol/ Clogged Arteries
REMEMBER: our bodies produce all the cholesterol we need
Only animal products have cholesterol

11. 3. Less chance of being overweight – which may lower risk of other diseases
- plant-based foods tend to be much lower in fat in general and bad fat in particular

12. Also, a vegetarian diet results in:
Significantly lower rates heart disease
Significantly lower rates of diabetes

13. b. Why are there health benefits?
Because vegetarian diets are:
lower in fat, especially saturated fat
lower/no cholesterol,
higher in fibre,
higher in vegetables and fruits (and all the super beneficial anti-oxidants).

14. 3. Ethical Reasons
Some are concerned about animal exploitation and suffering
Some don’t think animals should be killed so that humans can eat them

15. Some wonder…
…..whether humans - who have a choice of foods - have the “right” to impose their dietary preferences on animals

18. Concerns over how animals are raised on farms
Animals are no longer raised outdoors on peaceful farms by family farmers

20. Today, over 90% of animals killed and eaten in Canada are raised on “factory farms”
Do animals suffer on factory farms?

21. What is a “Factory Farm”?
A facility that raises large numbers of livestock indoors under conditions of extremely restricted mobility

22. - Most animals never set a foot outdoors, or display any of their natural behaviours

24. * Even the animals that are raised outdoors are very tightly packed into one area

26. What is a Battery Cage?
A confinement system used for egg laying chickens
98 per cent of Canada’s 26 million egg-laying hens are kept in these for their entire life (2yrs)
They are unable to perform natural behaviours
Each bird has less space than a sheet of notebook paper.

28. What is a gestation crate?
A metal enclosure used in pig farming
Female pig (sow) is confined for her life (3-5 years)
Crate is 7’ x 2’

30. What is de-beaking?
Also called ‘beak trimming’
A process whereby part tip of the chickens beak is burned off
Why is this done? B/c chickens are stressed under the confinement, and debeaking reduces fighting and cannibalism in chickens

32. Concerns with slaughter:
Violations of animal welfare laws at slaughterhouses make people turn away from eating meat

33. http://veggietestimonial. peta. org/psa. aspx

34. Environmental /Ecological
According to the United Nations, eating meat, dairy and eggs has a HUGE impact on the environment
Has the largest impact on climate change of any human activity
More of an impact on the environment than all transportation combined

36. Resource Use
In Canada, farm animals also outweigh people by a factor of four to one.
On a given day there are approximately
14.6 million beef and dairy cattle,
13 million pigs,
8 million turkeys,
96 million chickens, and
30 million people alive in Canada

37. A meat-based diet requires 7 times more land than a plant-based diet
We could have a lot more forests if people ate less meat

38. Not to mention…
Water pollution
Air pollution

39. What do vegetarians eat? Vegetarian Food Guide
Some experts propose slightly different food groups for vegetarians and vegans
How are they different from Canada’s Food Guide?

40. What do vegetarians eat?

43. A few menu items include:
Breakfast
Lunch
Dinner

45. Tofu/soy is also used to make ‘faux meats’

46. Local Vegetarian Restaurants there are over 50 vegetarian restaurants in the GTA!
There are over 50 vegetarian restaurants in Toronto!

48. A few famous vegetarians

51. Does it have to be all or nothing? ?
Meatless Mondays, Weekday Veg – there are many ways to make a difference – for your own health, the future of the planet, and the lives of animals?

52. Weekday Veg (Graham Hill) http://www. ted
What’s Wrong With the Way We Eat? (Mark Bittman)

53. The end