Most of us are hit with some pretty common (and sometimes silly) questions about being veg. Luckily, they are all super easy to answer. Keep your cool, and answer questions thoughtfully, because even though it might seem obvious to you, it may not be to others! Click the questions below for snappy responses to:
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Where do you get your protein?
You can get all the protein you need on a vegetarian or vegan diet—and without the saturated fats and cholesterol, not to mention no
animals having to die for your food. If you eat a mix of soy products, nuts, legumes, grains and tasty
mock meats you’re more than sorted. Variety is the key and that’s what makes veggie food fun!
In actual fact, we in the West usually eat
too much protein. We’re a country of meat-a-holics and the dead animals on people’s plates aren’t doing their health any favours.
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What about iron?
Leafy green vegetables are a great source of iron. Eating plenty of leafy greens and combining that with foods rich in vitamin C, such as oranges, lemons and tomatoes will keep you in tip top shape. In fact, studies have shown that vegans on average have higher levels of iron absorption than meat-eaters!
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Aren’t animals protected from cruelty in Australia?
Actually, no! In Australia, ‘codes of practice’ bend the rules so that farmers can imprison and painfully mutilate farmed animals in ways that would be illegal if they were dogs and cats.
Mother pigs are locked in cages so small they can’t turn around.
Battery hens spend their whole life in a space smaller than an A4 piece of paper. Piglets,
lambs and
calves have their tails cut off, and are castrated
without pain relief. Does that sound like protection to you? By switching to a vegetarian diet you can save 100 animals’ lives every year and vote against animal cruelty.
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Won’t you get sick of eating salad?
There’s heaps more to veggie food than lentils and leaves. Vegetarians eat everything meat eaters do—just without the corpses and a whole lot less pain and suffering. In fact, with great
mock meats, and a world of yummy veggies to work with, the only things you miss out on are the artery-clogging saturated fats, and the cancer-causing chemicals. Veggie burgers, lasagnes, vegan cheese cake, vegan cheesy pizza and yummy stir fries are just a few of the
guilt-free tasty treats you can enjoy as a vegetarian!
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Don’t you need meat to be healthy?
Far from it! Not only does a vegetarian or vegan diet have everything you need to
look and feel great, but eating meat has been linked to all the biggest killers in the western world. And on average
vegetarians live longer lives. By switching to a vegetarian or vegan diet you can reduce your risk of strokes, diabetes, heart disease and cancer. So if we can live happy
healthy lives without harming animals, why don’t we?
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Isn’t going veg a bit extreme?
What’s so extreme about wanting to stop
cruelty? Isn’t it more extreme to lock mother pigs in a space where they can’t turn around for months on end? Or to castrate piglets, calves and lambs without anaesthetic? If you think that’s cruel then it’s simple—don’t pay people to do it. By switching to a healthy vegetarian diet you can
save 100 animals’ lives every year.
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You’re still going to eat fish, right?
Fish aren’t floating vegetables! They
feel pain just like any other animal. In fact, experts say fish have good memories and can learn from each other. But the final moments for a fish caught for food are painful and terrifying. When they’re dragged out of the ocean in giant nets their eyes and swimming bladders can explode from the change in pressure. And if that doesn’t kill them, then they slowly suffocate to death at the surface. Suffering is suffering, whether it’s a dog or catfish!
And if
omega 3 is what you’re worried about, then linseeds, tofu and walnuts are all great brain foods, without the risk of mercury contamination (common in fish, and known to cause brain damage). Besides, some of the greatest minds were vegetarians, such as Da Vinci, Einstein, Ghandi, Pythagoras and many more.
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Didn’t we evolve to eat meat?
It doesn’t matter if we used to eat meat, or we can eat meat, the fact is
we don’t have to. With a world of healthy, flavoursome
vegetarian and vegan food to choose from, there’s no need to
hurt animals and the
environment. And if we can improve our
own health and the environment by choosing not to harm animals for our food, shouldn’t we do that? After all—isn’t evolution about
adapting to better suit your environment? +
Isn’t it natural to eat meat?
What’s so natural about purchasing a plastic wrapped corpse from the supermarket? And what about
chickens on factory farms, who are bred to grow
3 times faster than natural? Many of these birds die because they are unable to even lift their own body weight to reach food and water. And how about confining animals in sheds and cages, where they must live in their own waste, pumped full of
antibiotics to prevent them dying from diseases caused by their filthy conditions? Does that sound natural to you? Switching to a vegetarian or vegan diet saves lives, reduces your greenhouse emissions and reduces your risk of all the biggest illnesses in the western world.
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Aren’t vegetarians all boring people who don’t have lives?
Hell no! Some of the most
amazing artists, athletes and geniuses don’t eat animals. Paul McCartney, Pamela Anderson, Missy Higgins and Einstein are all vegetarians.
