Research Paper on The Motivations for Becoming a Vegetarian

Food is deeply ingrained in human culture. It is influenced by culture and in turn culture is influenced by food. But it is more than just food that is such an important part of culture; it is the way it is prepared, the ways and customs by which it is eaten, with whom it is eaten, even what is not eaten at all. It can be surprising just how much what people are disgusted or refuse to eat can say about them and their culture. I recently read an interesting research article about entomophagy, the act of eating bugs, and why it is a taboo in colonialist culture. According to Landhuis, humans as a species have long consumed bugs, especially in equatorial locations where the bugs are larger and more worth the process of getting them. People who settled in more northern locations did not have the amount and size of bugs in their environments that would make them worth the effort, and so northern cultures generally do not practise entomophagy (Landhuis, 2018).

When European explorers and colonists met with people of southern locales where bug-eating was practiced, the act was seen as lowly, even bestial. Due to the low status that became associated with entomophagy, it more firmly became a taboo in the colonists’ cultures. Food taboos like this exist in many different forms and varieties around the world and may be particular to certain subsets of people within a culture, such as women, or to special events like funerals (Meyer-Rochow, 2009). They are intrinsic to the cultures they belong to and are complexly linked with that culture’s statuses, values, morals, beliefs, and several other factors. Taboos may even be different for different cultures or subsets of culture within the same geographical region. My own diet of veganism may at its simplest be considered a diet formed by avoiding taboo meats and animal products, although many more cultural factors play into my dietary choices.

For vegetarians and vegans of other cultures, the cultural reasons are likely different and yet lead to similar results. I will explore the role that different cultural motivations, aversions, and constraints play in influencing diets of vegetarianism or veganism, especially from a personal perspective of my own Canadian culture. Among the many motivations for becoming vegan, a love and respect for animals played the strongest role in my decision to change from a mainstream Western diet to a vegetarian and then vegan one. In Ontario where I grew up and currently live, pets play an integral role in many households. I personally grew up surrounded by animals. When I was little, my brother and I learned to horseback ride, where I first began to love the horses, goats, and the stubborn pony at the farm we rode at. Taking care of the animals by feeding them carrots, refilling water buckets, brushing them down, and even mucking out stalls helped to teach me humility and a respect for the animals I was working with. When horseback riding lessons stopped, the love of animals had already been developed in me, so I begged my parents for a pet horse of my own. Our backyard was not nearly large enough, so they compromised and came home with three young cats for me to love. I am still deeply bonded with the two cats that are alive today, Jake and Jetta.

Several of my classmates and friends also had pet cats or dogs growing up. Caring for those tiny beings who are dependent on their humans forges a bond and love between them. Research even shows that individuals who had more pets during childhood are more likely to have concerns over animal welfare into adulthood, increasing the likelihood of adopting a vegetarian or vegan diet. This holds true for other cultures as well. The Orang Asli of West Malaysia never consume animals that they have reared or kept as pets (Meyer-Rochow, 2009). The more importance placed on caring for animals in a culture, the more likely people will be motivated to adopt a vegetarian or vegan diet that reflects their cultural values and morals regarding animals. Thinking about the wellbeing of my own cats certainly motivated me to adopt a diet that I felt reflected my concern and love for animals. Especially after better understanding the workings of large-scale, industrialized farming, I am happy to avoid all animal products to stop animals from suffering for my benefit. For others, the motivation for becoming vegetarian or vegan may be more deeply rooted in concern over the environment.

My own transition to a vegan diet was partially influenced by my appreciation and concern for the environment. I have always been raised to love the great outdoors, and this love has persisted to guide my life choices. In the last few decades, the impacts of food production on the environment have become more well-known and have driven rising concern in Canadians and Americans. The health of the environment is essential to the continuation of humankind and is very important to some individuals. People with stronger cultural ties to the environment and caring for it may be more motivated to adopt a vegetarian or vegan diet, which reduces the environmental impact of the individual. Raising meat and dairy, among other animal products, can be very resource intensive, taxing the environment more than an equivalent amount of vegetarian food would.

This further plays into the welfare of other people, as re-allocating resources to producing vegetarian food would alleviate harmful environmental impacts while providing more food for consumption. In this way, people who place a cultural importance on environmental health may be motivated to change their diet to a vegetarian or vegan one. On the other hand from motivations, aversions may also play a role in influencing individuals to adopt vegetarian or vegan diets. Some vegetarians or vegans are disgusted by the taste of meat or have a distaste for it. Underlying health reasons for food aversions may also affect the establishment of food taboos. In Papua New Guinea, the Kiriwina Islanders do not allow pregnant women to eat certain fish or fruits as they are believed to cause complicated births, as well as hydrocephalus, club-foot, or distorted belly in their babies. Although food taboo is cultural, in some cases it is likely caused by observations or beliefs over time that the taboo foods cause health problems or illnesses.

A similar mechanism for the establishment of food taboos may exist for vegetarianism and veganism. A number of vegetarians and vegans choose this diet for health concerns, such as to lower the risk of disease. Developing an aversion to meats may serve an evolutionary purpose to protect people from meat-borne illnesses and higher rates of disease, becoming more and more integrated in culture through time. Lastly, food constraints also play a role in vegetarian or vegan diets. Food constraints may make individuals or an entire culture more likely or less likely to eat vegetarian or vegan foods, depending on the situation. Constraints may also range from environmental to socio-economic to religious. When I visited northern Manitoba in Canada, it was difficult for me to find vegan food, let alone vegan food at an affordable price. In the northern reaches of Canada, unsuitable environmental conditions make growing enough plant-based food to feed the population impossible. Imported fruits, vegetables, and grains cost far more than they do in southern Canada and are more difficult to acquire, a further socio-economic constraint. This constraint on people in northern Canada prevents the adoption of a vegetarian or vegan diet.

Due to their environment, cultural foods consist more heavily of meats, especially of local animals such as caribou and fish. In other environments, an abundance of plant-based foods or a lack of game animals may influence a culture to be more vegetarian instead. In this way the environment constrains diet and influences cultural practices and foods. Due to a complex combination of moral, environmental, and health reasons, among others, I chose to adopt a vegan diet wherein I only consume plant-based foods and avoid all animal products. Across the world, others have made similar decisions to adopt this type of diet, although their reasons are influenced by their respective cultures, which are different from my own. A variety of diverse motivations, aversions, and constraints, which are all affected by culture and affect culture in turn, influence individuals’ dietary decisions. Just as my cultural values, morals, beliefs, and socio-economic abilities have influenced my decision to become vegan, so too do these factors influence others in their own dietary choices.