Chook Me!

What percent of vegetarians become so due to religious reasons, moral reasons, health reasons, ect.?

The question "why choose vegetarianism?" has many answers. People choose to become vegetarians for many different reasons. But most vegetarians cite one or more of the following issues as their main reason for dropping meat from their diet: : • Health concerns: A healthy vegetarian diet can decrease the risk and symptoms of many chronic diseases such as diabetes and heart disease. • Religious restrictions: Hinduism and Buddhism hold vegetarianism as an ideal way to promote nonviolence and spiritual fulfillment. If Kosher or Halal meat isn't available, observant Jews and Muslims keep a vegetarian diet. Other religious groups that avoid meat include Seventh Day Adventists and Jains. • Environmental degradation: Many environmentalists assert that the large-scale meat and poultry production is environmentally unsustainable. They point to issues with water quality, waste disposal, overuse of antibiotics, and other concerns. • Animal rights issues: Ethical vegetarians are concerned about animal cruelty. Many animals live in truly abysmal conditions and are treated horribly prior to and during slaughter. • Food safety: Approximately 5,000 Americans die of food-borne diseases each year. There have been many large-scale recalls of meat contaminated with e-coli and many local incidents where restaurant patrons were sickened by improperly cooked meat and eggs. What percentage of vegetarians are adopting the lifestyle and diet due to health concerns? What percent give up meat for religious reasons? How many are switching to vegetarian lifestyle because of animal rights? I'd like to know what is driving vegetarians to their choice to. What is the most popular reason for being vegetarian? And how popular is that reason over the other reasons?

Public Comments

1. I'm a vegetarian for all of those reason except religiou. I don't know the stats, and I'm sure there's a lot of overlap. Interesting question!
2. You would really have to do a lot of research to find the answer to what per centage for any catorgy. Your best bet is to poll various veg*ns and see what their reason. But there will be a lot of over lapping, since many people become a vegetarian for more then one reason
3. I don't think it would be possible to get any good statistics about this. Many people seem to have several reasons about why they're vegetarian. They might become vegetarian for one reason and then stay vegetarian for a completely different reason, or become vegetarian for several reasons, or get more and more reasons over time.
4. http://www.time.com/time/covers/1101020715/poll/ Time/CNN Poll. It includes vegans and *sigh* semi...vegetarians.