Annotated & Anecdote

ANNOTATED BIB:

"To Meat or Not to Meat. " Current Events  9 Feb. 2009: 7. Children's Module. ProQuest.  CCBC Essex, Baltimore, MD.  14 Mar. 2009 

This periodical presents the question of whether or not children should be vegans or vegetarians.  It presents both sides of the argument.  It is dangerous for children's digestive systems and calorie intake, and the flip side, that it encourages the “go green” movement and conscientious eating habits.  I like that this document leaves it up to the reader to decide if being vegan or vegetarian is good or bad, especially for children.  For the purposes of this paper, and eventually beyond, I became a vegetarian, with the exception of fish and other seafood.  I like how the article makes the differentiation between vegan and vegetarian.  Vegan is avoiding all animal products, even eggs and milk.  Vegetarian is only avoiding the meat itself.  One of the things that the article ignores is the fact that vegetarians come in different forms, like myself.  They say, “Vegetarians do not eat meat, fish, or poultry,” but after doing other online research in chat rooms and vegetarian informational sites I found that I can be a vegetarian while eating seafood.  I wish the article would have pointed that out.  The writer refers to reliable sources that even I have heard of, for the most part.  The American Diabetes Association is an advocate of vegetarianism because it has been shown to lower the risk of heart diseases and some cancer.  That makes me feel better about my choice.  I wanted the article to stress more the importance of finding other sources of protein.  My parents made me realize that I have to find foods to substitute in place of the meat I used to eat, which also made me research what is in foods.  The article was easy to read, but it presented very black-white, yes-no choices.  Being a vegetarian is more than that.

“Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine; Doctors endorse vegan and vegetarian diets for healthy pregnancies." NewsRx Health  22 Mar. 2009: 26. Sciences Module. ProQuest.  CCBC Essex, Baltimore, MD.  14 Mar. 2009 

The NewsRx article I read is shedding light on the idea of vegetarianism and being vegan during, and even after pregnancy.  It was a really easy read, but was full of facts.  The talk of vitamin B12 was new to me.  I have heard of it, and my aunt is crazy about taking B12 all the time, but I never knew how to get it.  Apparently most breakfast cereals and soy milk have a lot of B12, which is extremely healthy, especially for pregnant women and their children.  Also, a vegetarian diet, when consumed correctly, has more fiber and antioxidants than a non-vegetarian diet.  Something I did not like about the article was all the acronyms it used.  I understand that for some people, things are easier to read when they do not have to sound out all the words, but I have trouble reading letters that do not make words.  In addition, only good things are said about being a vegetarian and pregnant simultaneously.  I have found through additional research that it can be extremely dangerous, more to the child than the mother, to be vegetarian while pregnant.  Serious birth defects can result from the slightest B12 deficiency.  It is really important for pregnant mothers who read this to take it very seriously.  Eating what she considers a balanced diet may not be enough.

Mayer, Heather. "Should You become a Vegan or a Vegetarian?" Scholastic Choices. 1 Oct. 2008: 15,T7. Children's Module. ProQuest.  CCBC Essex, Baltimore, MD. 14 Mar. 2009 

This document is to help people decide whether or not they should become vegetarian or vegan.  It is based on more than just the ethics of eating animal meat, but the ability to obtain necessary vitamins, proteins, and other nutrients.  I enjoyed the difference from this article to the other two I read.  This one has a miniature questionnaire at the end to help teens and adults decide if they should become a vegetarian.  An important aspect is the reasoning behind the decision, and that could have been expanded upon.  It was a little bit less than half of the article, but it was a short article, and could have been more.  I really like that the article explained how to get the nutrients, and also terms people may not know, like fortified.  Apparently that means the food did not originally have it, but that given company added it so to be more nutritious.  I agreed with the realistic presentation of everything in the article.  They tell what you will be missing if you choose to become vegan or vegetarian, and even why it matters.  Most people know that they need protein and B12 and other healthy sounding things, but most people also do not know why, or what the results will be if they do not eat those things.  Overall, this document was the most sensible and fair in my eyes.

ANECDOTE:

For the purposes of this paper, and because of how much I was grossed out after reading how cows are killed, I decided to experiment with becoming a vegetarian.  I'll still eat seafood, but that comes in limited supply anyway.  The fatty acids are good only about once a week.  I love chicken.  Grilled chicken, fried chicken, broiled chicken.  Chicken with salad, on salad, by the pool, as my midnight snack.  That kind of makes me sound like a freak, but I love chicken in its various forms.  But being a vegetarian is good, right?  It will make me more conscious of what I eat, right?  Well, maybe.  My brothers good friend gave up meat for an entire year.  He was fit and healthy.  After that year, though, he was fat.  No two ways about it, he gained a LOT of weight.  Crap.  When summer rolls around, and Sarah can't stand staring at the grilled chicken on fresh beds of lettuce any more, she will be a blimp.  Maybe not, right?  I have to be so careful what I eat now!  I don't get protein from meat, obviously.  I did some research.  Things like nuts and dried berries have protein, so I've been eating them.  Until I talked to my vegetarian friend, that is.  Everything besides meat with protein also has tons of calories and carbs!  I may as well eat nothing but pasta in the morning, afternoon, and night.  This is going to be harder than I thought.  I'm not living in the world where cows and chickens and pigs everywhere will be saved because I stopped eating them, but for now, I feel good about my decision.  My cheese, lettuce, and tomato sandwiches are just as good as they would be with meat... except for that whole protein problem.