How could being vegetarian stop animals from being eaten?

Because it feels good to do something that makes us feel like we have an impact on the world when in fact, it doesn’t do much. We want to feel like we can accomplish something.

That being said, I agree with you. Being vegetarian doesn’t really save animals because so many people eat meat anyway. If you are against eating animals, then you shouldn’t eat them anyway if that’s against your beliefs but don’t be upset if the world doesn’t follow in your path.

The vegetarians I know are actually primarily vegetarians because of the health benefits, not animal rights.

It’s the same kind of vote-with-your-wallet idea as not shopping at Walmart because you disagree with their policies. You might not bring them down, you probably won’t bring them down, but you definitely won’t bring them down if you don’t do your part to make a change.

There have been times when large numbers of people have stopped eating beef for one reason or another (like in World War 2 when it was rationed, or in the 70s when there was a meat shortage because it was too expensive to raise cattle.) In those instances, there was a large drop in beef production, and ranchers either let their land go idle or switched to other uses.

If 50% of the US population went vegetarian, there would be a tremendous realignment of the economy. The meat industry would be greatly disrupted, fast food outlets would either change drastically or go out of business. And there would be a huge drop in the number of animals being slaughtered.

@seekingwolf Well said!

@zenvelo What you said and what PETA think might happen will never happen. We live in a constant world where everything has its constant pace (like meat-eating).

Giving other people the ‘dream-comes-true’ about being vegetarian won’t save animals in reality.

Because there are some people who don’t look at it with your “if you can’t beat them, why not join them” attitude. Some people look at the situation as “I’d rather be part of the solution than part of the problem.” It’s not about stopping meat eating around the world, it’s about not participating in something they don’t believe is right.

Here is a way that vegetarians stop animals from being eaten:

There is an animal, and a vegetarian does not eat it. Afterward, the animal has not been eaten.

What is confusing about that?

@nikipedia As I said if a vegetarian refuses to eat an animal that animal will still be eaten by other non-vegetarian people (It won’t be bred if not to be consumed).

There are more non-vegetarian people than vegetarian people in this world and their numbers keep growing.

@seekingwolf most of the vegetarians I know do it for animal rights and humane reasons.

@Your_Majesty The smaller the demand the less supply will be produced. If people eat less animal products, the producers will produce less. They won’t impregnate as many cows, or slaughter as many.

@JLeslie Most vegetarians I know do it for health reasons or religion reasons.

The demand for meat will never decrease (except, for certain animal diseases but that is temporary and never because of vegetarians). I told you that there are more meat eaters each year so the demand for meat will keep growing no matter how many vegetarians in this world.

If everyone took the “nothing will ever change so I won’t bother” attitude, nothing worthwhile would ever be achieved. I don’t believe I’m going to change the world be choosing a vegetarian diet, but I know for sure that I’m doing my part.
Change takes place one person at a time.

Many people see “not eating” a given animal as the best way to prevent cruelty to that animal. However, I also see widespread agriculture (which destroys topsoil as well as native animals’ habitat) as cruelty to animals that vegetarians would prefer to pretend does not exist. If you shoot deer to keep them out of the corn that is going to feed vegetarians, how are animals not suffering for your diet?

Everything needs to eat something to live. Everything. And the fertilizer that feeds the soil all the nitrogen it needs, must come from either fossil fuels, or animal source (such as blood and bone meal, with manure). Plants don’t “just happen” – they need nutrients. Even if vegetarians do not eat animals directly, the soil that feeds their food, must.

Animals are part of the circle of life. Just as plants. Just as us. Just as fungus.

We live in a constant world where everything has its constant pace (like meat-eating).

That makes no sense. 50 years ago well over 50% of the adult populations in the US smoked cigarettes. Now it’s down to 20%, and in some places (like California) even lower. If people switched from eating meat to being vegetarian, the meat industry would ge reatly reduced.

And don’t tell me that the rate of meat eating is constant. It is almost non existent on the Indian subcontinent.

Aside from the moral arguments, here’s another thing to consider: As marketers become aware of an increasing population of people who don’t eat meat, they see a growing potential demand for good non-meat food options, both on restaurant menus and in supermarkets. Vegetarian items will figure more and more prominently in cookbooks, magazines and on cooking shows.

Because of all that increased exposure, not eating meat will no longer seem like such a fringe thing to do. The idea that every meal as to feature meat will lose traction. People will see that one doesn’t have to choose between eating conscientiously and eating well.

Many people entertain the idea of becoming vegetarian, but face all kinds of psychological barriers. Every consumer who walks into a restaurant and asks what’s vegetarian on the menu, or asks their local market to carry more vegetarian choices will nudge the market further toward including vegetarians in the culinary mainstream. That will help break down the psychological barriers.

As that happens, fewer animals will die.

@zenvelo Cigarettes and meat consumptions are two different things. You just can’t compare them like that.

Of course not I know that not every countries/nation/tribe/etc eat meat but most people nowadays are meat eaters, taking these minorities vegetarian tribes to support the idea of changing in meat-eating culture is pointless.

Nowadays people has been living with meat-eating culture in their lifetime and they will pass this ‘gene’ to their offspring. As I said there are more and more meat eaters compare to vegetarians every years. What make you think there’s a possibility that 50% of human population will turn vegan while they can prefer being omnivores?

“no matter how many people become vegetarians there would be much more meat eaters” Faulty premise. And seriously, what’s your beef with vegetarianism?

“Nowadays people has been living with meat-eating culture in their lifetime and they will pass this ‘gene’ to their offspring” What a fatalistic (and inaccurate) attitude. “That’s just the way it is” has been used as excuse for sexism, racism, and any number of other conditions that need to change. Luckily, those that see the need for change don’t have your philosophy.

In 2000, Americans consumed an average 57 pounds more meat than they did annually in the 1950s and our culture is in no way healthier (heart disease, obesity, diabetes, etc) for it. Reducing the pressure for artificially cheap meat (subsidized corn prices, rainforest clear-cutting) benefits our health and our environment. A society that has less demand for meat will produce less meat, whether through vegetarianism or just being smart enough to reduce comsumption.

@Your_Majesty The demand for meat will never decrease (except, for certain animal diseases but that is temporary and never because of vegetarians). I told you that there are more meat eaters each year so the demand for meat will keep growing no matter how many vegetarians in this world.

Where on earth did you get that idea? Do you have some type of evidence for this mis information? Are you assuming this? Does this assumption include the entire human population of the earth, or just your tiny corner? I mean…wow.

@Plucky Even without that we already know that there are more meat eaters than vegetarians in this world. Yes, I am assuming the population of human worldwide.

In case you insist for a prove, here you go. All you need to do is Google it around.

@Your_Majesty No offense intended, but you have some odd ideas.

To answer your original question, it’s a simple mathematical equation. Less demand = less production.

In the US, the percentage of the population who do not eat meat has risen. It’s still a quite small portion of the population, but will hopefully continue to rise.

Vegetarianism
Vegetarianism around the world
The costs of cheap meat
Effects of a meat based diet

You seem to think that people are arguing that there are more non-meat eaters than meat eaters. That’s not the case. And really has no bearing on the discussion.

@Your_Majesty Even without that we already know that there are more meat eaters than vegetarians in this world. Huh? I never said otherwise. I did not say there were, or weren’t, more meat eaters. That’s so not the point here.

I was replying to you stating two things:
1. That the demand for meat will never decrease.
2. That the number of meat eaters grows each year.

Both of which are false.

@Your_Majesty There is a movement in America to educate people about how animals live and die before we eat them. Most people in this movement are not strict vegetarians, they eat meat, but they eat less of it. There is also a lot of medical data showing a vegetarian diet, or mostly vegetaian diet is much healthier, can even reverse arterial plaque which leads to heart disease. Sure people will continue to eat meat I think, but I predict in America there is a very large part of the popuation moving towards vegetarianism or at minimum eating less meat, and also wanting cows and chickens not produced in such a factory way. All of this together hopefully will mean fewer animals dying than if we just ignore all of this information.

I don’t understand why you think there is zero impact if some stops eating meat. If I stopped the 20 chickens I eat a year would not have to die and the 2 cows 3 pigs, etc.

Supply and demand. That’s all it is.

Vegetarians want to set a positive example.

I think the miscommunication that is occuring above is a result of reading the statistics incorrectly.

Based on the article that Yourmajesty cited above here is what’s true:
If you broke down the world population there would be a higher percentage of folks who do eat meat, compared to folks that do not. Ratios don’t matter at this point.

However in that same article it says while the number of vegetarians is not growing as rapidly as in the past, there is still a steady increase of people buying vegetarian products. Nowhere in that article did it say that the number of meat eaters is growing or increasing. In fact, if omnivores are increasing the number of vegetarian meals that they are eating than that would decrease the total amount of meat that their eating.

Example for additional clarity: If you eat 3 meals a day 7 days a week that gives you 21 total meals. If instead of eating 4oz meat at every meal {5 pounds 4 oz} you have a vegetarian dinner 2 nights out of the week you reduce your overall meat consumption {4 pounds 12 oz}

Here is another assumption that is skewed: If there is a cow lined up to go to the slaughter house, just because an emo kid from Connecticutt watches “Super-Size Me” and decides to become a vegetarian that cow is still going to die. True.

However, supply and demand is still the deciding factor. The Amercian meat industry does not like waste. If they over-produce cattle that meat isn’t left to rot. It get’s purchased at very low cost by the government which means lower profits. It is still costs $ to raise an animal to kill-age, so if the industry get’s a smaller return (commercial meat sales) on their investment (cost of feed/water/run-off maintenance/etc) the amount of beef raised is reduced the following fiscal year. This helps keep the market price consistent, but it hides the manipulation of the actual production numbers.
So, while emo kid’s lifestyle change may not have made a difference to that cow in the slaughterhouse, over the course of a year (and lifetime) his purchases do make a difference in meat production.

unless folks keep increasing their average portion size of meat as has happened over the past 40 years

Be thorough in your reivew of statistics, both PETA and the American Meat Industry are guilty of cherry picking data to enhance their argument, but the economic basics still stay the same.

It may not stop animals being eaten altogether but it can reduce it. This may not be the ultimate aim of PETA but it is a good start. The less animals being bred for consumption the better, even if it doesn’t stop completely. I would have thought that was fairly obvious though.