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Vegetarianism and the Environment Vegetarians are often stereotyped as hippy, tree-huggers fighting for a cause. In some cases this is true. But these days, vegetarianism has taken on a whole new life. It is definitely more of a common practice these days. This is evident by looking at restaurant menus with vegetarian friendly sections, whole food markets are taking off, new lines of food products have been introduced which offer vegetarian “sausage,” “burgers,” and “chicken nuggets.” This is a big change that has occurred within the last ten years. The question one should ask is why is there such a following of this practice now. Several factors can answer this question including religious practices, its conduciveness with a low fat, healthy diet, and also for animal rights and environmental benefits. The way a vegetarian diet is better for the environment than a meat based diet is because raising livestock is far more detrimental to the environment than raising grains, fruits, and vegetables. Vast acres of trees are cut down to make room for cattle. In fact that is what has happened to much of the rain forests in South America. Not only does livestock farming take up a lot of space, but the animals