Health, environment, ethics help to explain peoples' interest in vegetarianism

People give many reasons for choosing to be vegetarian, including health benefits, ethical concerns about animals, and consideration for the environment. To learn more about these motivations, researchers from the UK used a message board within an online vegetarian forum to conduct a small survey of 33 vegetarians, mainly from the United States and Canada. The most commonly mentioned motivations for first becoming vegetarian were health considerations (feeling better when they became vegetarian) and compassion for animals. The researchers differentiated between these two groups, saying that the focus of those primarily interested in health was internal whereas those primarily interested in ethical issues had an outward focus. Both groups, however, expressed similar environmental concerns and commitments. Many respondents said that environmental considerations, such as recycling, using public transportation, purchasing organic food, and composting, were an integral part of their lifestyle. Although environmental considerations were not their main reason for becoming vegetarian, many individuals, whether initially motivated to become vegetarian for health or for ethical reasons, became much more interested in the environment after becoming vegetarian. Respondents said that their dietary choice had become a part of their effort to protect the planet. Motivations for vegetarianism are complex and seem to evolve over time.

Fox N, Ward K. 2007. Health, ethics and environment: A qualitative study of vegetarian motivations. Appetite [Epub ahead of print].

By Reed Mangels, PhD, RD, FADA

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