By Mary Vause
Cavalier Daily Staff Writer
Ask vegetarians about their lifestyle and you may just put down that hamburger.
You see them sidling nervously to the fringes of the cookout. Maybe there's one in your family who you and the rest of your cousins taunt mercilessly as she subtly refrains from grandma's pot roast. You ask them cynically, "Why are you a vegetarian?"
"I just don't believe in eating meat," they say politely as you chomp aggressively on your ham sandwich.
And with your mouth still full of ground animal flesh, you shrug incredulously and roll your eyes.
But there are many at the University who take vegetarianism - and the ethical implications of eating meat - seriously.
Even the University's founder expressed disdain for a meat-based diet. History Prof. Peter Onuf, however, is quick to dispel the assumption that Jefferson eschewed meat for moral reasons.
"It was for his health, for a better diet. He was very much into living a healthy, disciplined life," Onuf explained.
While Jefferson's pseudo-vegetarianism (he did flavor his vegetables with meat) was health-oriented, other modern-day vegetarians often cite ethical reasons for their lifestyle.
First-year College student Leslie White has been a vegetarian for two years and recently made the switch to veganism, a diet that bans meat and other animal products such as eggs and dairy.
"I became vegetarian and then vegan because of the idea that you should have respect for all forms of life," White said. "If you put it from the perspective of animals such as dogs, cats or dolphins - animals we never could imagine eating - what's the difference between these animals and farm animals?"
White cited Paul McCartney as a famous vegetarian she admires. McCartney's saying "If the slaughterhouse were made of glass, no one would eat meat" embodies the resentment some vegetarians have against the way animals are raised for slaughter.
White gave the example of the mal-treatment of dairy cows, which she learned about in the book Becoming Vegan by registered dieticians Brenda Davis andVesanto Melina. The natural life span of the dairy cow is approximately 20 years, but on a farm the cow is slaughtered at age five or six for beef. Cows also endure repeated artificial impregnations that allow the dairy farmer to milk her dry over and over, which can cause a loss of nutrients and other health problems for the bovine population.
Michelle Meyer, a graduate instructor who plans to receive her Ph.D. in ethics this year, has been a vegetarian for eleven years. Meyer's reasoning for her dietary choices also stems from the way farm animals raised for meat must live. She said that animals are subjected to horrible conditions before slaughter because of the emphasis placed on market value and efficiency - with little or no consideration for moral obligations humans have to the animals.
"To save money, as many cows as possible are shoved into the truck on the way to the slaughter house," Meyer said. "Many of the cows get sick or trampled on the way. Upon arrival, the 'downer cows,' which are so injured they can't move on their own, are dragged out by their broken limbs and then their throat is either slit or they're shot through the head. The cows who survive the trip are often anally electrocuted."
From the comic, ever-upbeat cows who grace Chick-fil-A ads, to the cartoon fish on a can of tuna, the meat industry makes it easy for consumers to distance themselves from the violence of the meat house. Well-lit and wrapped in aesthetically-pleasing packaging at the grocery store, the meat sits in refrigerated aisles, smiling at shoppers as if it had been "plucked off a tree," Meyer said.
Movies like "Charlotte's Web" and "Babe" do their part to further the fairy tale that the cuddly farm animals of movies are not precursors to the food on the dinner plate. It is an image that People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals - an animal rights advocacy group - tries to dispel.
"Life on 'Old MacDonald's farm isn't what it used to be," PETA states on its Web site. "The green pastures and idyllic barnyard scenes portrayed in children's books are quickly being replaced by windowless metal sheds, wire cages ... and other confinement systems integral to what is known as 'factory farming.'"
Although some students use vegetarianism to address the serious issue of cruelty to animals, this dietary decision also is part of a choice for a healthy lifestyle.
Despite popular myth that vegetarians are "sickly" and that a meat-less diet is inadequate, the American Dietetic Association asserts that in fact just the opposite is true. According to the ADA's Web site, "appropriately planned vegetarian diets are healthful" and "nutritionally adequate." A vegetarian diet also provides health benefits in the prevention and treatment of diseases such as obesity and coronary artery disease.
First-year College vegetarian Mythili Rao has foregone meat since she was 10 and said she has not experienced any health drawbacks.
"I played sports all through high school without eating meat. I had my growth spurt without eating meat," Rao said. "With vegetarianism, you do have to be thoughtful about what you eat in general, but I think that's a good lifestyle for anyone to have."
Both White and Meyer mentioned Ming Dynasty as a favorite local restaurant that caters to vegetarians. This Chinese restaurant, located on Route 29, offers an entire menu of soy-based food. Items such as soy sesame chicken and soy sweet-and-sour chicken simulate the taste of meat for vegetarians who may miss the flavors of the food group they've rejected.
Additionally, the Charlottesville Vegetarian Festival is an annual event sponsored by local animal rights groups. The festival, held near the Downtown Mall, allows vegetarians to celebrate their diet with vegetarian food provided by local restaurants. Non-vegetarians also can sample the food and consider the lifestyle.
White attended the event and found it very empowering.
"It was nice to be around people who felt the same way as me," she said. "It really motivated me to keep it up."
Such support can prove crucial because, as a minority of the University population, lack of awareness and misinformation concerning vegetarians' lifestyle can be a source of frustration. Vegetarians often are bombarded with one question: "Why?"
"People ask me why I'm a vegetarian and I say, 'Well let me tell you a little bit about it,'" Meyer said. "And then they say 'Oh gross don't tell me that,' but they'll still go to Burger King and have a Big Mac."
Meyer wants people to face the reality of eating meat and to recognize the importance of taking responsibility for their actions.
"When you weigh the very real pain that the animal feels against the fairly frivolous enjoyment that human beings get out of eating animal flesh, I think the pain of the animal clearly outweighs our enjoyment," she said.
With the wealth of reasons and options for a non-meat diet, perhaps the appropriate response for vegetarians being grilled about their lifestyle choices - "Why are you a vegetarian?" - is "Why aren't you"
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