People are drawn to vegetarianism for all sorts of reasons. Some want to live longer and healthier lives, others have made the switch because they want to preserve the earth’s natural resources or because they´ve always loved animals and are ethically opposed to eating them. Or ultimately, for religious beliefs.
“I didn’t have a religious purpose when I became a vegan ten years ago,” says Terence Heaven, editor at Macao Museum of Arts. “I already was a vegetarian for nine years before that and it came naturally. Environmental concerns plus enjoying good health were my main reasons. After my example, all my family turned to vegetarianism,” he adds.
Vegetarianism used to be simple. Its followers excluded from their diets the flesh of any animal. But today, there are ‘veggies’ who eat fish, and people who don’t eat meat but don’t call themselves vegetarians. The Vegetarian Society, in existence since 1847, has a simple definition: “Vegetarians do not eat fish.” A new word arose from that discussion and so, ‘Pescetarians’ emerged.
For the sake of clarity here are some common definitions: Vegan: eats no products derived from animals. Vegetarian: eats no part of any dead animal, although dairy products and eggs are part of their diet. Pescetarian: abstains from eating all meat and animal flesh with the exception of fish, shelfish or crustaceans.
But why go vegetarian, what are the benefits?
Thanks to an abundance of scientific research that demonstrates the health and environmental benefits of a plant-based diet, it’s proven that an estimated 70 percent of all diseases, including one-third of all cancers, are related to diet. It is said that vegetarian diets reduce the risk of chronic degenerative diseases such as obesity, coronary artery disease, high blood pressure, diabetes and certain types of cancer including colon, breast, prostate, stomach, lung and esophageal cancer.
Tania Afonso, a Lawyer in Macau, has been a vegetarian for 23 years. She has been through three pregnancies and nursed three children, all vegetarians from the womb. “They are healthy happy children just like any other. Their childhood has been smooth in terms of the acceptance of their diet by others. I became a vegetarian when I was a teenager, so the decision might have been part rebellion and part search for a different and healthier lifestyle. Nevertheless, today I am conscious that the choice I made long ago was a good choice for me and for my family,” says Tania.
It is clear that meat-free and meat-substituted meals increasingly make up more and more of what we eat. The marketers and the activists are dealing with new groups of people, known as meat-avoiders and meat-reducers. There are increasing numbers of these people, either cutting down on meat or trying not to eat it where possible, but without necessarily ever calling themselves ‘vegetarians.’
