Should People Become Vegetarian?
Posted on AllSides April 11th, 2016
In 2012, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) estimated that Americans ate an average of 52.3 pounds of beef, 57.4 pounds of chicken, and 43.5 pounds of pork, per person. Vegetarians, about 5% of the US population, do not eat meat (including poultry and seafood). The USDA includes meat as part of a balanced diet, but it also states that a vegetarian diet can meet "the recommended dietary allowances for nutrients."
Many proponents of vegetarianism say that eating meat harms health, wastes resources, causes deforestation, and creates pollution. They...