Vegetarianism: The Five Types Of Vegetarianism

Vegetarianism is becoming more widespread, particularly because of the belief people have that meat can potentially harm the body. The term ‘vegetarianism’ is used to describe people who avoid eating eat or seafood and possibly dairy foods or eggs. According to Nutrition Australia, the term is not well defined and it includes “people with a wide range of attitudes and eating behaviours with respect to foods of animal region” (para. 3). There are a broad range of vegetarians based on how much food is derived of plant origin, from animals and other sources. Thus, there are five types of vegetarians; Semi vegetarian diet excludes red meat and consumes poultry with/or fish, eggs and dairy food. Lacto vegetarian diet avoid meat, poultry, fish and consumes dairy foods. Lacto-ovo vegetarian diet excludes meat,

Lastly, a vegan consumes food of plant origin only. There are more extreme forms of vegetarianism, however the five categories above account for all but a very small minority of vegetarians in Australia whom view eating meat as an objectively bad idea. However, there are strong arguments for consuming meat. The first reason is that meat is a very rich source of protein which assists with the building of muscles and bones. Secondly, humans are designed to consume meat and have been eating it for a long time, which suggests that it is not unhealthy. Often, vegetarians need to take supplements to get the essential vitamins and minerals required. Finally, people can limit the amount of meat consumed without cutting it out of their diet completely, if they believe too much is harmful. Therefore, this essay will present arguments against vegetarianism while focusing heavily on the food consumption and production, food policy and law, food technology, food security, and the influences on food choice including culture, religion and socioeconomic status related to