- You’ll help reduce environmental pollution: Animal farming is one of the biggest causes of water pollution in the UK. Globally, farmed animals consume increasing amounts of precious water, land and energy. Humans have been farming for 10,000 years but we have only kept animals in such large numbers for the past 50 years. These are 4 times as many farm animals in the world today as there were in 1945. To support them, much of the world’s tropical rainforest has been cut down to provide grazing land, which is making global warming worse and killing off the rich variety of animals and plants that live there.
- Say YES to life: Choosing a vegetarian lifestyle is not only a rejection of the killing of animals but it is a statement against all-unnecessary violence and harm. To try to live our lives without causing suffering to animals is the logical extension of opposition to the persecution of humans on the grounds of race, religion, colour and political beliefs. Nearly 2000 people per week become vegetarians and for every 1% of the population that go vegetarian 9 million animals are saved each year. There are 850 million animals slaughtered for food each year though.
Also in such religions i.e. Hinduism and Buddhism they believe that animals are sacred and should be treated fairly because they have lives too and they believe animals are at the same level as humans.
Vegetarians believe that animal testing is wrong but why are animals still being used. Its because they are cheap and easy to handle and so this has become a habit for scientists. It is just a cruel way of gaining results but most of the time they don’t receive the results they need from this because animals have different body formations and functions as humans.
Animal experiments also protect drug companies sued by patients who have suffered serious side effects. British courts are easily fooled by claims that, having performed these animal tests, a manufacturer is blameless for any injuries.
Most vegetarians believe animals have rights just as we do and they should be treated equally with respect no matter how big or small. They also think the killing of animals is unnecessary and cruel. They believe that using available land to raise vegetables and grain instead of cattle and other animals makes good economic and ecological sense.
The every-day choices we make relating to food, clothing, sport and entertainment can create positive change - not only for animals, but also for people, the environment and our own health. When it comes to shopping, there are now so many alternatives to products that cause suffering; it may only be just a case of switching brands. In fact we can use our own consumer power to determine the kinds of products that go on sale in the shops. In this way, we help break the dependence our culture has on animal exploitation. And so called brands like the producers of Adidas continue to fund the slaughter of kangaroos to make football boots. On Saturday 8th February was a campaign on the Internet and a street march to make the final push for them to stop using kangaroo skin.
There are various organisations that support these types of campaigns such as:
VIVA = Vegetarian International Voice for Animals
Animal Aid who work off of donations
SIAV = Seriously Ill against Vivisection etc.
Juliet Gellatley created National Vegetarian Week. She created the Viva! Life magazine as well. Juliet has given hundreds of speeches on animal rights and vegetarianism and ardently believes that youth education is the key to a more compassionate world. Livestock is an inefficient way of feeding people and that it causes pollution on a staggering scale. She discusses that incarcerating and killing animals causes great pain and suffering. Meat eaters in Britain each year consume their own weight in animal flesh. Over the period of a lifetime it amounts to 907 animals, which are dived out ass follows: 5 cattle, 20 pigs, 29 sheep, 780 chickens, 46 turkeys, 18 ducks 7 rabbits and 2 geese.
But do we share respect for them and compassion and as much love as we say we do? Well only you yourself can answer that.
Overall I think animal testing is wrong and I’m trying to help animals by being a vegetarian but I also feel if the youth of today’s society had more education on matters like this then we could do more to save our world e.g. like car pollution etc. I totally believe that livestock is a waste of time and we could help people in third world countries with the grain the excess animals consume and by more animals living on this earth then there should be, they are making pollution higher. And its not just vegetarianism but other subjects that are crying out for concern because slowly we are killing ourselves and we will also slowly die out too.
Remember if you decide to make one positive change in your life today, it will make a better world for animals and humans tomorrow, veggie or vegan.
If you would like to thank me for writing my speech out on the net then email me at .
It took me awhile so be grateful and when copying feel free to cut out any bits you don’t like I don’t mind. When I did do my speech I used some props like gross pictures of the bad conditions these animals were in and also the way in which they had been slaughtered. It was very graphic and disgusting what they did to them. Poor things!!
When saying this speech which I memorised a lot of, took me 13 minutes to read when I was practising. I will send this speech to the net when I get my mark from the seriously horrid hard-marking teacher! Terry damn it! I will tell you what mark I got as well. Apparently we are not allowed our marks back!! We just an overall mark in August! How gay is that! (no offence to any gay person, for I is lesbian as well, soooo…)
Also (I seem to use this word a lot, its actually quite annoying! lol!) if you would care for a list of different types of vegetarians and a few things they could avoid then here it is:
- Semi or Demi vegetarians – don’t eat red meat but will eat fish and poultry.
- Lacto-ovo vegetarians – don’t eat meat, poultry of fish but will eat dairy products (milk, yoghurt, butter, cheese)
- Lacto vegetarians – don’t eat meat, poultry, fish or eggs but will eat dairy products.
- Ovo vegetarians – don’t eat meat, poultry, fish, dairy products, but will eat eggs.
- Vegans – don’t eat meat, poultry, fish or animal products including dairy products and eggs.
- Macrobiotic – exclusion of all meat and dairy products and eggs. Occasional use of mainly lean fish. Progressive levels of the diet become increasingly restrictive with gradual elimination of all animal origin foods, fruits and vegetables. At the final level, only brown rice is eaten.
To be avoided:
- Gelatine – made from animals mainly used in jellies, jelly sweets, sweets, ice cream.
- Fats in cakes and pastry – Use vegetable fat instead of animal products such as lard and butter.
- Cheeses – Choose cheeses that state ‘suitable for vegetarians.’ Rennet used in cheese comes from animal products. Avoid cheese altogether for Vegans.
- E-numbers – They are made from cochineal (made from beetles) and also edible bone phosphate, so avoid.
- Vitamin D – comes from lanolin in sheep’s wool, avoid products listing this ingredient.
- Worcester Sauce – Made from anchovies (fish) so avoid as a flavouring.
- Eggs – Vegetarians prefer to eat free-range eggs and as few as possible. Processed foods usually contain eggs from battery farms. Vegans would also avoid.
I hope this has helped whoever is reading this a great deal. Luv Archie x x (real name Sarah)
