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Vegetarianism Essay

This is a model  vegetarianism essay .

As I always stress, you should  read the question very carefully  before you answer it to make sure you are writing about the right thing.

Take a look at the question:

Every one of us should become a vegetarian because eating meat can cause serious health problems.

To what extent do you agree or disagree?

Staying on topic

If you rush to start writing and don't analyse the question and brainstorm some ideas you may include the wrong information.

There are religious or moral arguments for not eating meat, but if you discuss those you will be going off topic .

This question is specifically about the health problems connected to eating meat.

So you must discuss in your answer what some of these problems are and if you think there are real health risks or not.

Knowing about the topic

And don't get worried that you do not know much about diet and health.

As part of your IELTS study it will help if you know the basics of most topics such as some health vocabulary in this case, but you are not expected to be an expert on nutrition.

Remember, you are being judged on your English ability and your ability to construct an argument in a coherent way, not to be an expert in the subject matter. So relax and work with

Organisation

In this vegetarianism essay, the candidate disagrees with the statement, and is thus arguing that everyone does not need to be a vegetarian.

The essay has been organised in the following way:

Body 1: Health issues connected with eating meat (i.e. arguments in support of being a vegetarian Body 2: Advantages of eating meat

Now take a look at the model answer.

Model Essay

You should spend about 40 minutes on this task.

Write about the following topic:

Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own experience or knowledge.

Write at least 250 words.

IELTS Vegetarianism Essay - Sample Answer

Vegetarianism is becoming more and more popular for many people, particularly because of the harm that some people believe meat can cause to the body. However, I strongly believe that it is not necessary for everybody to be a vegetarian.

Vegetarians believe that meat is unhealthy because of the diseases it has been connected with. There has been much research to suggest that red meat is particularly bad, for example, and that consumption should be limited to eating it just a few times a week to avoid such things as cancer. Meats can also be high in saturated fats so they have been linked to health problems such as cardiovascular disease and diabetes.

However, there are strong arguments for eating meat. The first reason is that as humans we are designed to eat meat, which suggests it is not unhealthy, and we have been eating meat for thousands of years. For example, cavemen made hunting implements so that they could kill animals and eat their meat. Secondly, meat is a rich source of protein which helps to build muscles and bones. Vegetarians often have to take supplements to get all the essential vitamins and minerals. Finally, it may be the case that too much meat is harmful, but we can easily limit the amount we have without having to cut it out of our diet completely.

To sum up, I do not agree that everyone should turn to a vegetarian diet. Although the overconsumption of meat could possibly be unhealthy, a balanced diet of meat and vegetables should result in a healthy body.

(264 words)

You should begin by intoducing the topi c. The introduction in this vegetarianism essay begins by mentioning vegetarians and the possible harm of eating meat .

It then goes on to the thesis statement , which makes it clear what the candidate's opinion is.

The first body paragraph has a topic sentence which makes it clear that the paragraph is going to address the possible health issues of eating meat.

Some reasons and examples are then given to support this.

The second body paragraph then has a topic sentence which makes it clear that the main idea is now about the arguments for eating meat .

The conclusion in this vegetarianism essay then repeats the opinion and gives the candidates final thoughts.

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Embracing a plant-based diet

Focusing on whole foods from plant sources can reduce body weight, blood pressure and risk of heart disease, cancer and diabetes — and it can make your environmental impact more sustainable. Stanford Healthy Living instructor Dr. Reshma Shah offers simple ways to incorporate more plants into your diet.  

Your diet is one of the first places to start if you’re looking to manage your health and weight. Focusing on whole foods from plant sources can reduce body weight, blood pressure and risk of heart disease, cancer and diabetes — and it can make your environmental impact more sustainable.

But how do we embrace plants in our diets if we’re so accustomed to including meat and dairy as primary nutrition sources?

We spoke with Dr. Reshma Shah, a physician, plant-based eating advocate, co-author of “Nourish: The Definitive Plant-Based Nutrition Guide for Families” and Stanford Healthy Living instructor, about simple ways to incorporate more plants into your diet and the benefits this can provide for both you and the planet.  

Focus on whole, minimally processed foods.

People use many different terms to describe a plant-based diet, including vegetarian, lacto-ovo vegetarian, pescatarian, and flexitarian to name a few. The most restrictive is veganism, which  excludes all animal products, including meat, eggs and dairy. 

While there are health benefits to adopting a vegan diet, highly processed foods with little to no nutritional value, like Oreos or French fries, could still be a legitimate part of a vegan diet.

In contrast, a whole-foods, plant-based (WFPB) diet: 

• Emphasizes whole, minimally processed foods
• Limits or avoids animal products
• Focuses on plant nutrients from vegetables, fruits, whole grains, legumes, seeds and nuts 
• Limits refined foods like added sugar, white flour and processed oils 

Recommendations from organizations including the U.S. Dietary Guidelines for Americans, World Health Organization, American Diabetes Association and American Cancer Society tout the benefits of plant-based whole foods and caution against high amounts of red and processed meats, saturated fats, highly refined foods and added sugar. 

The vast majority of what nutritional experts are saying reflects the mantra made famous by Michael Pollen in his book “The Omnivore’s Dilemma” — eat food, mostly plants, not too much . 

Eating a plant-based diet helps the environment.

According to a report by the U.S. Food and Agriculture Organization, “The meat industry has a marked impact on a general global scale on water, soils, extinction of plants and animals, and consumption of natural resources, and it has a strong impact on global warming.” 

The meat and dairy industries alone use one third of the Earth’s fresh water , with a single quarter-pound hamburger patty requiring 460 gallons of water — the equivalent of almost 30 showers — to produce.

Reducing your meat and dairy consumption, even by a little, can have big impacts. If everyone in the U.S. ate no meat or cheese just one day a week, it would have the same environmental impact as taking 7.6 million cars off the road.

Plant-based diets prevent animal cruelty. 

Ninety-four percent of Americans agree that animals raised for food deserve to be free from abuse and cruelty , yet 99% of those animals are raised in factory farms, many suffering unspeakable conditions . 

If you would like to lessen your meat and dairy consumption due to animal welfare concerns but aren’t ready to eliminate all animal products from your diet, then you can start by taking small steps, like going meatless one day a week or switching to soy, almond or oat milk. Shah admits that initially she was not ready to give up animal products entirely. 

“I think it is a process and recommend that people go at the pace that feels comfortable for them.” 

Plant-based diets include all nutrients — even protein.

According to the American Dietetic Association, “appropriately planned vegetarian diets, including total vegetarian or vegan diets, are healthful, nutritionally adequate, and may provide health benefits in the prevention and treatment of certain diseases. Well-planned vegetarian diets are appropriate for individuals during all stages of the life cycle, including pregnancy, lactation, infancy, childhood, adolescence, and for athletes.”

Shah says that there are a few key nutrients that strict vegans and vegetarians should keep in mind, including B12, iron, calcium, iodine, omega-3 fatty acids and vitamin D, but all of these can be obtained through plant-based foods, including fortified plant-based milks, fresh fruits and vegetables or supplemental vitamins, if needed. 

“I think the number one concern for people is that they won’t be able to get enough protein eating a plant-based diet. I also think that people widely overestimate the amount of protein they need.”

All plant foods contain the nine essential amino acids required to make up the proteins you need, and many vegetarian foods like soy, beans, nuts, seeds and non-dairy milk products have comparable amounts of protein to animal foods. 

“Ninety-seven percent of Americans meet their daily protein requirements, but only 4% of Americans meet their daily fiber requirements . I’ve never treated a patient for protein deficiency. If you eat a wide variety of foods and eat enough calories, protein should not be a concern.”

Savor the flavor of plant-based foods. 

Adopting a plant-based diet does not mean subsisting on boring, tasteless food. Shah enjoys incorporating flavorful, varied dishes from around the world, including Ethiopia, Thailand and her native India. 

To get started on your plant-forward journey:

• Start small: Start with adding a “Meatless Monday” to your meal plan and investigate one simple and delicious recipe to try each week. Once you have identified a few favorites, you can add them to your rotation and maybe go meatless one or two days a week. You can learn a few easy techniques to incorporate in many dishes, like roasting vegetables or blending quick and easy soups. 
• Change your plate proportions: Instead of giving up your meat-based protein completely, try to reduce the space it takes on your plate. Instead of a quarter-pound sirloin steak or a full serving of roasted chicken, try a vegetable-heavy stir-fry with a few slices of beef or a salad with chicken. Once your palate and mindset have adjusted to the smaller quantity of meat, try replacing it occasionally with plant-based proteins like tofu, seitan or beans.  
• Be prepared when dining out: If possible, try to examine the restaurant menu ahead of your meal, so you’ll arrive with a plan of what you can eat. Ask for the vegan options and don’t be afraid to request substitutions or omissions for your dish. Fortunately, with more people choosing a vegetarian lifestyle, many restaurants now provide tasty, meat-free options to their customers. 
• Share a dish: Bring a dish to share at a party or potluck; this will lessen your worries about food options. Let your host know ahead of time that you are planning on bringing a dish or, if that is not possible, be upfront and find out if any modifications can be made to accommodate your preferences. Often a simple solution can be found with a little advanced planning.
• Accommodate family members: It can be tricky when one family member is ready to commit to a new diet and lifestyle while others are not. Shah recommends approaching this situation compassionately and allowing for flexibility, if possible. Hopefully your family will be willing to support you even if they are not ready to make the same commitments. Communication is key, and Shah says that the conversation is over the minute someone feels judged, so try to look for points of compromise to reach an amicable solution. 
• Feeling satisfied: A diet of nothing but lettuce and vegetables will leave you feeling hungry and unfulfilled. Be sure to bulk up your meals with filling, fiber-rich whole grains, plant-based proteins and healthy fats. Plant-based meat substitutes like Beyond Beef, seitan and veggie burgers can also be a satisfying choice when you are craving your favorite meat-based comfort food.

Remember that small, consistent changes can add up to big benefits for your health and the planet. Treat yourself and others with compassion as you embrace this new lifestyle, and take time to enjoy the different flavors and textures you discover in your journey.

“It is a really delicious, healthful, sustainable and compassionate way of eating. It doesn’t have to be perfect. Just start simply, do what feels comfortable for you and your family, and don’t forget to celebrate the joy of eating and connection around food.” 

Dr. Reshma Shah will be teaching a plant-based online cooking class with Healthy Living this summer on Tuesday, July 13, from 4:00 – 5:30 p.m.

• https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6518108/
• https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2212371713000024 
•  https://www.portland.gov/water/water-efficiency-programs/save-water-home 
•   https://water.usgs.gov/edu/activity-watercontent.php  
• https://www.ewg.org/meateatersguide/a-meat-eaters-guide-to-climate-change-health-what-you-eat-matters/reducing-your-footprint/)  
• https://www.aspca.org/about-us/press-releases/aspca-research-shows-americans-overwhelmingly-support-investigations-expose 
•  https://www.sentienceinstitute.org/us-factory-farming-estimates
•  https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19562864/ 
•   https://www.ars.usda.gov/ARSUserFiles/8040053 0/pdf/0102/usualintaketables2001-02.pdf

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Essay Samples on Vegetarianism

Vegetarian vs. meat eater: a comparative analysis.

The choice between a vegetarian and a meat-based diet has sparked numerous discussions about health, ethics, and environmental impact. This essay aims to provide a comprehensive comparison and contrast between these two dietary choices. By examining their health implications, ethical considerations, and environmental effects, this...

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Vegetarianism: Meat Eating Versus Nutrition

Vegetarianism may seem like a popular diet fad, but it has been advocated by many cultures around the world. Restaurants advertising “vegetarian options” on their menu is becoming customary. Vegetarianism is a dietary choice, to abstain from meat, that people adopt for many reasons. There...

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Problem Solving Ability And Adjustment In Relation To Vegetarian And Non Vegetarian

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Why would anyone consider becoming a vegetarian? Is a vegetarian diet healthier, or are there too many risks? The article, “Vegetarian Diets: Health Benefits and Associated Risks” by Navneet Kumar Kaushik, Anup Aggarwal, Mohita Singh, Shelja Deswal, and Priyanka Kaushik discusses the popularity in recent...

Non Vegetarian Diet Vs Vegetarian Diet: The Question About Nutrition

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Nutritional Benefits of Vegetarian and Plant-Based Diet

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The Benefits of Vegetarianism and Detrimental Effects of Meat Consumption

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The Benefits Of A Plant-Based Diet For Health

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The Hidden Politics Of Vegetarianism Caste And The Hindu Canteen

Food practices varies in Indian culture with its diverse traditions. Hindus are considered as vegetarians, as a common assumption though the fact remains some of them including Brahmins, eat meat. The Vedic texts strongly recommend non-violence against all life forms while it doesn’t explicitly prohibit...

Best topics on Vegetarianism

1. Vegetarian vs. Meat Eater: A Comparative Analysis

2. Is It Ethical to Eat Meat: Navigating the Moral Dilemma

3. A Lot of Conflicting Ideas About the Vegetarian Diet

4. Moral Vegetarianism: Responsibility Or Necessity

5. Vegetarianism: Meat Eating Versus Nutrition

6. Problem Solving Ability And Adjustment In Relation To Vegetarian And Non Vegetarian

7. Vegetarianism And Practice Of Not Eating Meat

8. Non Vegetarian Diet Vs Vegetarian Diet: The Question About Nutrition

9. Nutritional Benefits of Vegetarian and Plant-Based Diet

10. The Need of Converting American Citizens to Vegetarianism

11. The Benefits of Vegetarianism and Detrimental Effects of Meat Consumption

12. The Benefits Of A Plant-Based Diet For Health

13. The Hidden Politics Of Vegetarianism Caste And The Hindu Canteen

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Home — Essay Samples — Life — Vegetarianism — Why Vegetarianism Is Better Than Meat Eating: Health, Environmental, And Ethical Reasons

Why Vegetarianism is Better than Meat Eating: Health, Environmental, and Ethical Reasons

• Categories: Vegan Vegetarianism

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Published: Dec 16, 2021

Words: 1458 | Pages: 3 | 8 min read

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Ielts exam preparation for a higher band score., ielts essay: everyone should adopt a vegetarian diet.

You should spend about 40 minutes on this task.

Write about the following topic:

Everyone should adopt a vegetarian diet because eating meat can cause serious health problems.

Do you agree or disagree?

Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own experience or knowledge.

Write at least 250 words.

Model Answer 1:

People should consume more vegetables and fruits and as little meat as possible because intake high amount of meat can cause serious health issues. In my opinion, the consumption of a vegetarian diet is a better way to live a healthy life and I agree with the notion.

Firstly, vegetarian diets are cheaper and more healthy. If the majority of people become vegetarians, a nation needs to struggle less to become self-sufficient on food production. Moreover, such diets are easily accessible both for the poor and rich citizens. Most importantly, plant-based food provides necessary vitamins and food values, especially fibre, which protect us from many dangerous diseases. Not to mention, producing vegetarian food is more ecologically sustainable, and it reduces damage to the environment.

On the contrary, a certain portion of meat is necessary for a balanced diet because it contains protein, calcium and other vitamins. Nevertheless, these can be also gained from alternative sources like beans, mushrooms and nuts. Most meats are cholesterol-rich, which is detrimental to the human body and cause diseases. On top of that, deadly illnesses like cardiovascular diseases, obesity and brain haemorrhage are increasing gradually all around the world due to a high intake of red meat in different countries and I believe a vegetarian diet is a perfect solution to all these problems.

In conclusion, a healthy diet determines our wellbeing and life expectancy. Since a vegetarian diet is far beneficial than meats, we should choose wisely and decrease our meat intake as little as possible.

[By – Amraiz Ali Shahzad ]

Model Answer 2:

When it is perfectly possible to lead a healthy life by eating plant-based food, I see no justification for killing birds or animals for our food. Therefore, I completely agree with the argument that everyone should adopt a vegetarian diet.

There are several benefits to following a vegetarian diet. To start with, plant-based food is rich in vitamins, minerals, anti-oxidants and other nutrients required for good health. What’s more, most fruits and vegetables contain little or no cholesterol or calories. Research has shown that vegetarians are less likely to develop health-related problems like obesity, cancer or heart diseases. Health benefits are not the only reason to follow a vegetarian diet. When we obtain our food from plants, we can also stop cruelty to animals.

By contrast, non-vegetarian foods such as fish and meat are high in cholesterol, fat and calories. Regular consumption of red meat is known to increase a person’s risk of cancer and heart disease. In addition, unlike fruits or vegetables, fish and meat cannot be eaten raw. The slaughtered animal may have some illness. If half-cooked meat is eaten, it can cause deadly infections in human beings. In fact, many cases of food poisoning are caused by the consumption of contaminated meat.

The quality of non-vegetarian food has also deteriorated over the years. Seafood has become contaminated due to the pollution in ocean water. It is a well-known fact that farm animals are given steroids to grow rapidly. When we eat their meat, the steroid also enters into our body. This leads to several problems like precocious puberty in children.

To conclude, vegetarian diets are healthy and do not constitute cruelty to animals. Therefore, I believe that everyone should adopt vegetarianism.

[Written by – Manoj ]

3 thoughts on “ IELTS Essay: Everyone should adopt a vegetarian diet ”

Excellent examples to prove to be vegetarian in IELTS essay. I need help in IELTS reading & listening in table chart completion.

Thanks for essay. My question is what is the best way to end an IELTS essay?

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Vegan vs. Vegetarian Diets: Impacts on Health Essay

Vegans and vegetarians are people who do not engage in the consumption of meat. However, vegetarians have the option of consuming animal products like eggs and milk, but this option is not available to vegans; vegetarians tend to avoid the intake of all the animal proteins (Craig 1627). It is assumed that most vegans choose their food due to their religious and political beliefs, while vegetarians act out of choice. In effect, Veganism is a way of life that seeks to eliminate the consumption of animal products. On the other hand, vegetarianism is the practice of diet choices that exclude meat products. Mostly, vegans do not consume anything that is obtained from animals, like milk, eggs, honey, or any other supplements derived from animals. On the other hand, vegetarians tend to exclude meat products like fish and meat from their diet, while some of them take dairy products and eggs.

Over the years, there has been an increase in the popularity of vegetarian diet. Mostly, vegetarian diets are associated with many health benefits due to the high intake of vitamins, folic acid, magnesium, potassium, unsaturated fats, and phytochemicals (Phillips 134).

Most vegan diets have less cholesterol, less saturated fat, and high fiber compared to some vegetarian diets. In effect, these groups of people are normally thinner, have lower serum cholesterol levels, tend to have fewer cases of high blood pressure, and have a reduced risk of getting lifestyle related diseases. While vegetarian diets seem to be the healthy way of living, they increase the number of nutritional deficiencies in the body, as one foregoes the intake of animal products. Of particular concern among the list of micronutrients that such groups of people are likely to be lacking include vitamin B-12, Omega 3 fatty acids, and calcium, among others (Key, Appleby, and Rosell 36). Resultantly, it is imperative that vegans engage in the consumption of supplements to substitute the minimal intake of foods containing these nutrients.

Numerous health effects are related to the intake of vegan diets. Vegans are thinner in nature, have lower levels of cholesterol, and considerably lower levels of blood pressure compared to vegetarians. One study by Marsh, Zeuschner, and Saunders shows that the health benefits were true for all the races that were vegan in nature; they included the whites, African-Americans, and Hispanics (260). The study showed that the cholesterol level of vegans was about 44%, which was a lower level than their omnivore counterparts (Phillips 138). One major cause of cardiovascular disease is obesity. Thus, cardiovascular disease is not prevalent among vegans due to their lower body mass index (BMI). Essentially, a good BMI is an efficient protective factor, as it implies lower blood lipid levels and reduces the potential for heart disease among the vegans.

Further, vegans tend to have a higher intake of vegetables and fruits compared to their omnivore counterparts. Mostly, a high intake of fruits and vegetables tends to increase folic acid, phytochemicals, and antioxidants in the body, all of which are associated with low cholesterol levels. Consequently, a higher intake of fruits and vegetables leads to fewer occurrences of stroke and reduced mortality from stroke and resultant heart disease. Vegans also consume a lot of nuts, whole grains, and soy, which are associated with cardio-protective effects.

An Adventist health study showed that non-vegetarians had a higher risk of both prostate and colorectal cancer compared to their vegetarian counterparts. It is stated that a vegetarian diet offers protective nutritional components for the ailments (Le and Sabaté 2131). Overall, the BMI of vegetarians being lower than that of non-vegetarians acts as a protective factor against the development of cancer as opposed to non-vegetarian populations (Le and Sabaté 2131).

Primarily, vegans tend to consume more vegetables, legumes, tomatoes, fiber, vitamin C, and vegetables compared to their omnivore’s counterparts. All the nutrients derived from the fruits tend to be highly protective against cancer. For instance, the intake of vegetables and fruits is termed protective against mouth, lung, stomach, and esophagus cancers. Further, the frequent consumption of legumes offers a protective lining in the stomach, which guards against prostate and stomach cancer.

Moreover, the consumption of foods rich in flavonoids, phytochemicals, fiber, vitamin C, and fiber offers protection against various forms of cancer, with garlic being associated with protection against colorectal cancer. Despite the benefits of most of the foods that the vegetarian population eats, there has been a slight difference in cancer rates between vegans and non-vegetarians. This could be attributed to poor preparation methods and inadequate intake of vitamin D, which also increases cancer risk among the vegan populations.

Further, the proteins that are avoided by the vegetarian societies seem to cause serious health consequences to those who consume them. Processed meat and red meat are two protein sources that have increasingly been associated with many cancer problems. Notably, people with a high intake of red meat suffer the greatest risk of developing cancer, with a risk of about 20-60%. Among the prominent types of cancer that these populations are associated with include the cancer of the liver, lung cancer, colorectal, and esophageal cancer. Moreover, eggs intake is seen to lead to a high risk of pancreatic cancer in various populations.

While vegans avoid the consumption of the food purported to cause higher cancer incidences, they engage in the use of high legume amounts. However, while the use of legumes helps in developing a stomach lining that guards against stomach cancer, it also facilitates colon cancer. Nonetheless, the use of soy foods among the vegan populations tends to protect them from prostate cancer.

While the consumption of vegan diets is associated with some benefits, there are also some risks associated with such foods. Primarily, most vegans emphasize on a high intake of vegetables, which are also dominated by fruits. They also include a high intake of cereals, which are both unrefined and refined, as well as legumes. Cereals and legumes tend to release moderate amounts of bio-available protein levels, yet very rich in nutrients like phytate. Nonetheless, vegan diets exclude fish, shellfish, and meat, which are the primary sources of nutrients that one could consume. In effect, the vegan foods are highly devoid of vital nutrients necessary for physiological functions. In effect, both vegetarians and vegans are prone to vitamin B-12 deficiency, iron, zinc, and calcium deficiencies. They also tend to lack vitamins A and D, among other important fatty acids.

It is estimated that about 68.5% of vegetarians and 83% of vegans suffer from the problem of vitamin B-12 deficiency compared to 5% of non-vegetarians (Craig 1630). The purpose of vitamin B-12 is to work in synergy with folate to synthesize DNA and red blood cells.

The two nutrients are also important in the generation of the myelin sheath, which is a protective cover on the nerves that helps in carrying out nerve impulses. In effect, the lack of nutrient implies that vegans and vegetarians may suffer conditions like fatigue, lethargy, weakness, poor memory, anemia, neurological, and psychiatric issues, among others. In fact, a child brought up with this kind of diet tends to face worse struggles, as they hardly acquire the nutrients even when given some animal products to boost their vitamin B-12 levels. In effect, the standard of reasoning, problem-solving capacity, and learning is low among children with vitamin B-12 deficiency.

The level of calcium intake is equal in both vegetarians and omnivores, although it is lowest for vegans. Vegans tend to lack calcium, as they eliminate foods that are rich in calcium from their diet. Further, it is harder for vegans to acquire calcium from plants, as most plant foods contain phytate and oxalate, which tend to inhibit the absorption of the nutrient. This, further, limits the amount of calcium that the body can get from the plant foods. In effect, while the level of calcium is high in plant foods like kale and spinach, the plant calcium is poorly absorbed into the body during digestion (Craig 1633).

Overall, the health benefits of a vegan and vegetarian diets are positive because the diets are largely protective against cancer, among other lifestyle diseases like cardiovascular disease. However, the diets tend to limit the absorption of various other essential nutrients like calcium and vitamin B-12, leading to deficiencies in the nutrients. Therefore, it is imperative that vegans and vegetarians increase their supplement intake of the vital nutrients they do not acquire from both fruits and vegetables.

Works Cited

Craig, Winston J. “Health Effects of Vegan Diets.” The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 89.5 (2009): 1627S-1633S. Print.

Key, Timothy J., Paul N. Appleby, and Magdalena S. Rosell. “Health Effects of Vegetarian and Vegan Diets.” Proceedings of the Nutrition Society 65.01 (2006): 35-41. Print.

Le, Lap Tai, and Joan Sabaté. “Beyond Meatless, the Health Effects of Vegan Diets: Findings from the Adventist Cohorts.” Nutrients 6.6 (2014): 2131-2147. Print.

Marsh, Kate, Carol Zeuschner, and Angela Saunders. “Health Implications of a Vegetarian Diet A Review.” American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine 6.3 (2012): 250-267. Print.

Phillips, Frankie. “Vegetarian Nutrition.” Nutrition Bulletin 30.2 (2005): 132-167. Print.

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Beliefs and Attitudes toward Vegetarian Lifestyle across Generations

Peter pribis.

1 Department of Nutrition and Wellness, Andrews University, 8475 University Boulevard–Marsh Hall 313, Berrien Springs, MI 49104-0210, USA; Email: ude.swerdna@rkacnep

Rose C Pencak

Tevni grajales.

2 Department of Educational & Counseling Psychology, Andrews University, 4195 Administration Drive–Bell Hall 159, Berrien Springs, MI 49104-0104, USA; Email: ude.swerdna@invet

The objective of the study was to examine whether reasons to adopt vegetarian lifestyle differ significantly among generations. Using a Food Frequency Questionnaire (FFQ), we identified that 4% of the participants were vegans, 25% lacto-ovo-vegetarians, 4% pesco-vegetarians and 67% non-vegetarian. Younger people significantly agreed more with the moral reason and with the environmental reason. People ages 41–60 significantly agreed more with the health reason. There are significant differences across generations as to why people choose to live a vegetarian lifestyle.

1. Introduction

A vegetarian diet is defined as a diet “consisting wholly of vegetables, fruits, grains, nuts, and sometimes eggs or dairy products” [ 1 ]. There are many variations of vegetarian diets. Semi-vegetarians avoid meat, poultry and fish most of the time. Pesco-vegetarians avoid meat and poultry but eat fish. Lacto-ovo-vegetarians avoid all meat, fish, and poultry but do eat milk, cheese, yogurt, other dairy products and eggs. Vegans avoid in their diet all products of animal origin [ 2 ].

Different vegetarian diet variations are chosen for different reasons depending on age, gender, religion, educational level and overall perceived health beliefs. A study publish in 1992 found that the highest number of vegetarians, 46 percent, chose a vegetarian diet for health reasons, 15 percent chose to be a vegetarian for animal rights reasons, 12 percent for friend/family influence, 5 percent for ethical reasons, 4 percent for environmental issues and 18 percent indicated other reasons [ 3 ].

A study conducted in the Netherlands researched the attitudes towards food and health among adults. The results showed that vegetarians had smaller households, higher education levels, higher socioeconomic status, lived in more urbanized residential areas; tended to agree that product information, specialty shops, health and ecological products, and social relationships were important, and were more ‘health-occupied’ than the meat eaters [ 4 ]. A study conducted in the UK examined the attitudes toward following a meat, vegetarian or vegan diet and the role of ambivalence (emotions) on these attitudes. The results indicated that people tend to have most positive beliefs and attitudes towards their own diets, and most negative beliefs and attitudes towards diets that differ from their own [ 5 ].

There has been an increase in the interest and popularity of the vegetarian lifestyle overtime. According to a research conducted by the Vegetarian Resource Group, in 1994 approximately 1% of U.S. population could be considered vegetarian; 2.5% in 2000; 2.8% in 2003 and 2.3%, which represents about 7 million people, by 2006 [ 6 ]. A poll conducted by the same group in 2008 discovered that about 6.7% of people always order a vegetarian dish when eating out (up from 5.5% in 1999) [ 7 ]. The proportion of young people who are vegetarian is still higher (6–11%), with similar levels of vegetarian teenagers being reported in both the United Kingdom and Australia [ 8 , 9 , 10 ].

Although there has been increased interest in the vegetarian lifestyle overtime, it is not clear what the main reasons are as to why people adopt this lifestyle. The focus in this report is to examine the beliefs and attitudes towards a vegetarian lifestyle across generations and to report on a theoretical model of the relationships between attitude, beliefs, knowledge and misconception concerning vegetarian lifestyles.

2. Experimental Section

2.1. recruitment of subjects.

This cross-sectional, observational study was completed at Andrews University which is a Seventh-day Adventist (SDA) institution of higher learning. SDA represent a unique population known for their wide range of dietary habits. This conservative religious group prohibits the use of alcohol, tobacco, and pork and recommends that members adhere to lacto-ovo-vegetarian diet [ 11 , 12 ]. The study was approved by the University’s Institutional Review Board (IRB protocol # 07-122). Participants were drawn from a large undergraduate introductory-level nutrition class that is open to students from all academic directions. Students were recruited by the instructor and assured that anonymity and confidentiality would be maintained. Participation in the study was voluntary. Those who choose to participate received ten bonus points which were counted toward their final grade. Data collection took place over the Thanksgiving holiday in 2007. Students were asked to recruit their parents and grandparents for participation in this survey.

2.2. Assessment of Food Intake and Attitudes toward Vegetarian Lifestyle

Each participant was asked to complete a four-page Lifestyle Practices Survey which consisted of four parts. Section one had 11 basic census questions (gender, ethnicity, marital status, education, occupation, age, etc. ). In section two a 29-item Food Frequency Questionnaire (FFQ) was used to accurately ascertain the vegetarian status of the participants. In section three, questions addressed the use of herbs and supplements. In section four participants were asked to describe which lifestyle they practice (non-vegetarian, pesco-vegetarian, lacto-ovo-vegetarian, or vegan). Using a Likert Scale from 1 to 5 (strongly disagree [ 1 ]–agree[ 2 ]–no opinion[ 3 ]–agree[ 4 ]–strongly agree[ 5 ]) participants answered questions concerning their attitudes, beliefs, knowledge, and misconceptions about vegetarian lifestyles ( Table 1 ).

Selected questions used to assess nutritional knowledge, health food beliefs, attitudes toward vegetarian lifestyle and nutritional misconceptions.

2.3. Statistical Analysis

Data were analyzed using One-Way-ANOVA, Pearson correlation and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) [ 13 ] techniques with SPSS (version 15.0) and AMOS 7.0 statistical software. One-Way-ANOVA was used to test comparison between age groups. Descriptive data was tested for normality. Pearson correlations were examined to check for the internal validity of the data. In the development of the lifestyle questionnaire cluster analysis was used to group the questions into four separate areas labeled: knowledge about nutrition; beliefs in health foods; attitudes about vegetarian lifestyle; and nutritional misconceptions. P ≤ 0.05 was considered statistically significant.

3. Results and Discussion

3.1. sample size and characteristics.

Overall there were 609 participants who completed the survey. Descriptive data are shown in Table 2 . Out of the 609 participants, 215 (35%) were male and 394 (65%) were female. The mean age was 32.0 years for males and 30.6 years for females. Body Mass Index (BMI) was calculated for all participants. The mean BMI was 25.0 for males and 24.4 for females. Using the Food Frequency Questionnaire (FFQ), we identified that 4% of the participants were vegans, 25% lacto-ovo vegetarians, 4% pesco-vegetarians and 67% non-vegetarians.

Selected characteristics of the study population ( n = 609).

3.2. Reasons for Vegetarian Lifestyle

The lifespan of a generation is not clearly defined. Depending on the cultural norms for marrying age it is generally 20 to 30 years per generation. The age distribution of the population did create four clusters of similar age groups, however, with not very clearly defined beginnings and ends. We have done several statistical analyses defining generation between 20 to 25 years. They all provided somewhat similar results, therefore we are reporting the results using following generational categories: 11–20 years, 21–40 years, 41–60 years, and 61 and older. We asked four questions concerning reasons why they choose a vegetarian lifestyle—the moral reason (it is wrong to kill animals), the health reason (vegetarians live longer and are less sick), the environmental reason (vegetarian lifestyle is much more protective against the environment) and (because 80% of our respondents were Seventh-day Adventists) the faith reason (being vegetarian is part of Adventist lifestyle). The results ( Figure 1 ) showed that the younger people (11–20 years) significantly agreed more with the moral reason (p = 0.003). People ages 41–60 significantly agreed more with the health reason (p = 0.010). Finally, younger people (11–20 years) also significantly agreed more with the environmental reason (p = 0.025). There were no significant differences concerning the faith reason (p = 0.715).

Distribution of attitudes concerning different reasons to be vegetarian across generations.

3.3. Verification of Vegetarian Status

Previous studies raised concerns that self-defined vegetarian status can be an unreliable indicator of true dietary preferences [ 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 ]. Table 3 represents the self-defined versus verified vegetarian status of the subjects. The bolded numbers represent those that defined their dietary preferences correctly. In order to make the self-identification process easier when asking participants what lifestyle they follow, the different vegetarian lifestyles were defined, e.g., vegan was defined as—eats vegetables, fruits, legumes, grains; lacto-ovo-vegetarian as - eats dairy products, eggs, vegetables, fruits, legumes, grains, etc. The results vary greatly according to the group. In non-vegetarians 97% of females and males identified themselves correctly, in pesco-vegetarians only 32% of females and 17% of males identified themselves correctly. In lacto-ovo-vegetarians 82% of females and 78% of males identified themselves correctly, and in vegans 48% of females and 57% males identified themselves correctly. The data for vegans however need to be interpreted carefully because of small numbers.

Self-defined vs. Verified Vegetarian Status by Gender ( n = 600).

3.4. Theoretical Model of the Relationship between Attitudes, Beliefs, Knowledge and Misconceptions Concerning Vegetarian Lifestyles

This study examined the way underlying health concepts could explain why people chose vegetarian lifestyle using the SEM statistical method. SEM is a powerful multivariate statistical method being used in social sciences, and with increasing frequency in health behavior research. SEM examines underlying relationships among variables in the model and helps to explain social or behavioral phenomena [ 13 ]. Our model ( Figure 2 ) was constituted by four sets of concepts: the Attitudes toward vegetarian lifestyle , Nutritional knowledge , Nutritional misconceptions and Health food beliefs . How are Attitudes toward vegetarian lifestyle related to Nutritional knowledge , Health food beliefs and Nutritional misconceptions ?

The hypothesized model was assessed by AMOS version 7.0 using the maximum likelihood method. The model was evaluated by four fit measures: a , the chi square b , the Comparative Fit Index (CFI) c , the Good-of-Fit-Index (GFI) and d , the Root Mean Square of Approximation (RMSEA). The results for three out of the four indices support the proposed model. The chi square had a value of 165.057 (Df = 82, n = 609), p=0.000, indicating a non-acceptable match between the proposed model and the observed data. However due to the size of the sample additional fitted indices were considered. The CFI = 0.926, GFI = 0.965, both of them indicating an excellent fit of the model. The RMSEA measures the discrepancy between the sample coefficients and the population coefficients equals 0.041 (confidence interval 0.023 – 0.050) indicating an acceptable fitting [ 18 ].

Findings support model that suggests that the Attitudes toward vegetarian lifestyle are significantly correlated with Nutritional knowledge (r = 0.43, p = 0.000) and have negative effect on Health food beliefs (r = −0.21, p = 0.034) and Nutritional misconceptions (r = −0.46, p = 0.000). The observed effect between Nutritional knowledge and Attitudes toward vegetarian lifestyle (r = 0.43, p = 0.000) is bilateral suggesting that these variables influence each other. Increased nutritional knowledge might lead to positive attitude toward vegetarian lifestyle, and vice versa vegetarian lifestyle may promote increase in nutritional knowledge. Further, Nutritional knowledge has negative effect on Nutritional misconceptions (r = −0.32, p = 0.000) and positive effect on Health food beliefs (r = 0.28, p = 0.012). The model seems to indicate that in our population positive attitude toward vegetarian lifestyle is knowledge base instead of just being nurtured by some traditional nutritional beliefs or misconceptions. Positive attitudes toward vegetarian lifestyle contribute to the reduction of nutritional misconception and non scientific beliefs about health foods.

The data presented in this paper indicate that there are significant differences across generations as to why people choose to live a vegetarian lifestyle. Young people under the age of 20 seem to choose vegetarian lifestyle for moral and environmental reasons, while the middle age group of people between ages 41 to 60 seem to choose this lifestyle for health reasons. This trend seems understandable, given the wealth of publications documenting the health benefits of vegetarian and low-meat diets [ 11 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 ]. For younger people health issues are not priority, however as they age this increases in importance as shown by the data. The health reason to be vegetarian in our population produced the strongest attitudes on the Likert scale, confirming previous finding that Adventist traditionally chose vegetarian lifestyle for health reasons.

Structural Equation Modeling testing a theoretical model of the relationship between attitudes, beliefs, knowledge and misconceptions concerning vegetarian lifestyles.

3.5. Study Limitations

Several potential limitations to this study should be considered. This is a population-based cross-sectional study, which included both genders and all age groups. The study was conducted on a campus of a American private university which may limit the generalizibility of the results. Although the sample size of the population was large enough, some groups such as the over sixty or vegans were underrepresented so the results should be interpreted with caution. Although SEM is a sophisticated analytic tool for testing theoretical models in behavioral or social science, the analyses are correlational which makes it difficult to establish causality. Because the isolation of variables in the model are impossible, all models must be looked at only as estimation of reality [ 23 ].

4. Conclusions

There are significant differences across some generations as to why people choose to live a vegetarian lifestyle. Younger people seem to be motivated by moral and environmental reasons, while those who are middle-aged seem to be motivated by health reasons. In our study, the non-vegetarians and lacto-ovo-vegetarians had the least difficulty correctly identify their vegetarian status. In our population the positive attitude toward vegetarian lifestyle is more knowledge based (supported by scientific information and facts) instead of just being fostered by some traditional nutritional beliefs or misconceptions (based on popular ideas and folkloristic practices).

Acknowledgements

We would like to express our gratitude to the many students their parents and grandparents who participated in this research. Thanks to Alice C. Williams, Marcia A. Kilsby and Carolyn J. Baltazar for their technical assistance.

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Spring Cleaning to Refresh; Bacon and Egg Don to Comfort

Eric Kim’s recipe combines soft scrambled eggs, crisped bacon and furikake-flecked rice for a fantastic breakfast-for-dinner dish.

By Sam Sifton

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A Strange Life: Selected Essays of Louisa May Alcott

“I write for myself and strangers,” Gertrude Stein once announced. So, too, Louisa May Alcott, who wrote for herself as well as the strangers who have been reading Little Women since 1868, when it first appeared. For more than a century and a half, Little Women has inspired playwrights, composers, filmmakers, scholars, novelists, and of course countless young girls. Jane Smiley salutes those young girls—she was one of them—in her warmly appreciative preface to A Strange Life , Liz Rosenberg’s slim new collection of Alcott’s essays.

When she first encountered Little Women , Smiley realized that a book about girls was actually famous and that every library had it. Later it even seemed that the book had to be about Alcott’s own life. And since many others have felt the same way—with good reason—it’s not surprising that new biographies come down the pike every few years, intent on changing the negative view of Alcott best expressed by Henry James, who belittled her as “the Thackeray, the Trollope, of the nursery and the school-room.”

Martha Saxton’s feminist Louisa May: A Modern Biography (1977) and, more recently, biographies by Harriet Reisen, Susan Cheever, and Eve LaPlante, and by scholars such as John Matteson, have demonstrated that Alcott was much more than the author of what she self-deprecatingly called “moral pap for the young.” Rather, as a woman of imagination with considerable stylistic range, Alcott composed gothic tales, short stories, satires, fantasies, adult novels, poetry, memoirs, and essays in which she wrote of female independence and its costs in a restrictive domestic circle. She was also a prolific letter writer who converted into a tart prose style much of her anguish—and anger—at the circumstances in which she found herself, as a woman, as a dutiful daughter, as a second-class citizen, and, ironically, as a best-selling author who worked hard to maintain her popularity.

Rosenberg, the author of Scribbles, Sorrows, and Russet Leather Boots: The Life of Louisa May Alcott (2021), aimed at young readers, is thus not the first person to suggest that Alcott, and in particular her nonfiction, are worthy of serious attention. There’s also Elaine Showalter’s excellent selection of Alcott’s prose in Alternative Alcott (1988); there’s the Portable Louisa May Alcott (2000), edited by Elizabeth Lennox Keyser, and The Sketches of Louisa May Alcott (2001), collected by the Alcott specialist Gregory Eiselein, not to mention the superb selection of her nonfiction in one of the Alcott volumes published by the Library of America.

In A Strange Life , Rosenberg wisely includes Alcott’s best-known prose works—the excellent, slightly fictionalized memoir “Transcendental Wild Oats” and the exceptional (abridged) Hospital Sketches —and sets them alongside excerpts from her semiautobiographical nonfiction to show that her prose, as she explains in her introduction, “canters along; she covers great distances in the fewest words; there is no dilly-dallying.” Maybe so; what’s also true is that Alcott can write with unmistakable acerbity.

Rosenberg provides some biographical information on Alcott as well but unfortunately doesn’t explain why she chose certain pieces and not others, or why she arranged them in the order she did. Presumably the essay “Happy Women” (1868), her penultimate selection, is meant to present Alcott at her feminist best. True, it was written as a buck-me-up advice column for the unmarried woman, counseling her not to fear becoming an “old maid” since “the loss of liberty, happiness, and self respect is poorly repaid by the barren honor of being called ‘Mrs.’” In stock terms, Alcott advises, “Be true to yourselves; cherish whatever talent you possess, and in using it faithfully for the good of others, you will most assuredly find happiness for yourself.” But pieces that Rosenberg didn’t include, such as “Unofficial Incidents Overlooked by the Reporters” (1875), Alcott’s account of the centennial celebration in Concord, Massachusetts, have far more bite:

We had no place in the procession, but such women as wished to hear the oration were directed to meet in the Town Hall at half-past nine, and wait there until certain persons, detailed for the service, should come to lead them to the tent, where a limited number of seats had been reserved for the weaker vessels.

Rosenberg also reprints short excerpts from Alcott’s travel book, Shawl-Straps : An Account of a Trip to Europe (1872), but these selections—from the essays “Women of Brittany,” “The Flood in Rome,” and “Visit from a King”—are flat and predictable. And while she includes Alcott’s autobiographical sketch “My Boys,” a forgettable group of portraits intended mainly for young people and originally published in Aunt Jo’s Scrap-Bag (1872), Rosenberg fails to note that this was the first in a series of six Scrap-Bag books ( Shawl-Straps being the first), and that in them Alcott cleverly assumed the voice of Jo March Bhaer, from the best-selling Little Women —presumably to make money.

Despite the thinness of these sketches, they could be enriched if the reader knew the books from which they’re taken or more of the circumstances under which they were written. For Alcott worked obsessively to become a successful writer and, not coincidentally, her impoverished family’s breadwinner. Her father, Amos Bronson Alcott, was eccentric and impecunious—and lovable, as long as you weren’t related to him. A self-taught Connecticut peddler turned educator, Bronson for a time ran the progressive Temple School in Boston. But after he published Conversations with Children on the Gospels (1836–1837), in which he included allusions to sex and birth, scandalized Bostonians withdrew their children from the school, forcing it to close. His next venture was short-lived; he admitted a Black child to a new school and even his die-hard supporters bolted.

Then in 1843, when Louisa was ten, Bronson marched his family off to the town of Harvard, Massachusetts, about fourteen miles from Concord, where the Alcotts had been living. At a farm inappropriately dubbed Fruitlands, Bronson believed that they and a small band of cohorts could create a new Garden of Eden by living off the fruit of the land. “Insane, well-meaning egotists,” the antislavery writer Lydia Maria Child called them.

At Fruitlands, Abigail May Alcott, Louisa’s mother, was tasked with the cleaning, the washing of clothes, and the cooking, though there was little of that since utopia mandated a diet of mostly raw vegetables. (Rosenberg calls Bronson “a prescient and intelligent vegetarian pre-hippie.”) She was miserable, and the children almost starved. The model for the beloved Marmee, the mother of the brood in Little Women , Abigail was the youngest child in a family of prominent Boston Brahmin liberals; her brother was the passionate Unitarian abolitionist and women’s rights advocate Samuel Joseph May. She studied French, Latin, and chemistry privately in Duxbury, Massachusetts, and later helped form the Philadelphia Female Anti-Slavery Society. In 1830 she married the self-involved Bronson, who confessed in his journal, “I love her because she loves me.” In Little Women , Marmee understandably declares, “I am angry nearly every day of my life.”

In “Transcendental Wild Oats” (1873), Alcott changes the names of the Fruitlanders and, Rosenberg argues, “alternates broad comedy with tragedy.” As she puts it, “Alcott never lingers on the psychological devastation” that she likely experienced but rather

focuses on the characters around her and records the homely details of daily life (“unleavened bread, porridge, and water for breakfast; bread, vegetables, and water for dinner; bread, fruit, and water for supper”), leaving little room for disbelief.

Yet Alcott’s details are telling. Her irony is unmistakable, and her voice devastating in its affectlessness. As she observes, these “modern pilgrims,” most notably her father, possessed “the firm belief that plenteous orchards were soon to be evoked from their inner consciousness.” Once in their prospective Eden, she acidly continues, “no teapot profaned that sacred stove, no gory steak cried aloud for vengeance from her chaste gridiron; and only a brave woman’s taste, time, and temper were sacrificed on that domestic altar.” Fortunately the sojourn in paradise lasted only seven months.

The Alcotts eventually resettled in Concord, where Louisa grew up near Emerson, Thoreau, and later Hawthorne. But since “money is never plentiful in a philosopher’s house,” as she later recollected, the family temporarily moved to a basement apartment in Boston. After her mother formed what was basically a female employment agency, Louisa volunteered to take a position as a lady’s live-in companion in Dedham, Massachusetts. It turned out to be a degrading experience that she partly fictionalized in the essay “How I Went Out to Service” (1874), with which Rosenberg opens her volume, claiming it’s yet another example of Alcott’s ability to “strike the intersecting point between tragedy and comedy.” It’s a fine essay but not particularly comic: it’s a chilly story of exploitation and sexual harassment despite the moralizing conclusion about how the experience taught her many lessons.

Doubtless it did, but it also seems that Alcott wrote more for strangers than herself, often muzzling the intensity of her response to those who underestimated, harassed, or took advantage of her. She had begun to sell stories to help support her family, and though she’d already published two in the prestigious Atlantic Monthly , she also tried her hand at teaching again, despite her hatred of it. The publisher of The Atlantic , James Fields, loaned her forty dollars to help outfit her classroom, but when she came to him with another story—according to Rosenberg, “How I Went Out to Service”—he told her bluntly, “Stick to your teaching.” Rosenberg omits what happened later: after the success of Little Women , Alcott paid back the loan, telling Fields she’d found that writing paid far better than teaching, so she’d stick to her pen. “He laughed,” she said, “& owned that he made a mistake.”

She never forgot the insult. Like Marmee, who said she was angry nearly every day of her life, Alcott added, “I have learned not to show it.” Instead she found ways to stifle her rage, distancing herself from her feelings and retreating into the safety of platitudes, which often deaden her prose. For instance, at the conclusion of “How I Went Out to Service,” she tacks on a lesson about “making a companion, not a servant, of those whose aid I need, and helping to gild their honest wages with the sympathy and justice which can sweeten the humblest and lighten the hardest task.” It’s not clear if she’s counseling the reader or herself.

That’s far less true, though, in Hospital Sketches (1863), Alcott’s first successful book, in which she combined her recollections with material from the letters she wrote home while serving as an army nurse at the Union Hotel Hospital in Washington, D.C. Having “corked up” her tears, she nonetheless writes with feeling about “the barren honors” that these soldiers, cut to pieces at Fredericksburg, had won. She washed their bodies with brown soap, dressed their wounds, sang them lullabies, mopped their brows, and scribbled letters to the mothers and sweethearts of the nameless men, some without arms or legs, who lay in excruciating pain in the hotel’s ballroom. Such “seeming carelessness of the value of life, the sanctity of death” astonished Alcott, who wanted to believe that none of them had been sacrificed in vain.

She lasted only six weeks before she fell ill with typhoid pneumonia and had to be taken home to Concord by her father. The physicians who treated her shaved her hair and dosed her with calomel, a mercury compound that ultimately ruined her health. Alcott, encouraged by a friend to publish her experience, wrote of the desperate conditions that had made her, like many others, so sick: the fetid water and poor ventilation and scant or inedible food. And she wrote not just of the clammy foreheads and agonized deaths, and the insouciance of doctors who made a young woman tell a desperate man that he was dying, but also of the inescapable racism even of her fellow nurses:

I expected to have to defend myself from accusations of prejudice against color; but was surprised to find things just the other way, and daily shocked some neighbor by treating the blacks as I did the whites. The men would swear at the “darkies,” would put two g s into negro, and scoff at the idea of any good coming from such trash. The nurses were willing to be served by the colored people, but seldom thanked them, never praised, and scarcely recognized them in the street.

When she voluntarily touched a small Black child, she was labeled a fanatic. Alcott then offers a typical homily:

Though a hospital is a rough school, its lessons are both stern and salutary; and the humblest of pupils there, in proportion to his faithfulness, learns a deeper faith in God and in himself.

These homilies, like her detachment, may have been a marketing strategy, since she worried always about hanging on to her audience. Yet she did still write for herself after all. “Darkness made visible,” as she called it, was what she also sought, anticipating, in her way, what the witty Emily Dickinson surmised: “Success in Circuit lies.”

The Corruption Playbook

Ufologists, Unite!

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I'm a conservative who was born and raised in California. I moved to Arizona for political reasons but only lasted 3 months.

• Jayne Ashton, 63, is a native Californian with conservative politics.
• She moved to Arizona around 2017 to flee California's liberal politics.
• But she only stayed three months before realizing there's no place like home. 

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Jayne Ashton, a 63-year-old retired police dispatcher who moved from Homeland, California, to Benson, Arizona, in 2017 to escape California's liberal politics and be closer to family. She only stayed in Arizona for three months before realizing she wanted to return home to California.

Jayne: I'm a born and raised Californian, originally from Bloomington in San Bernadino County. I stayed there until I was in my 20s.

I eventually settled in Homeland, California, where I lived for about 25 years. I reared my daughter there with my ex-husband and commuted 87 miles one way each day. I owned a home and lived on an acre and a half. I took my daughter to school with a pony and cart every day.

You see, California isn't what people think it is. When you say you're from California, they think of LA, San Francisco, and San Diego. But California is so vast. You can live out rural and live just as good as if you lived in Tennessee.

I'm a conservative and I'm always trying to hold down the red in this crazy state. I'm a retired police dispatcher and believe crime needs to be punished, and I don't think it is here in California.

It was politics and crime that initially got me thinking about leaving California around 2016 and 2017. The increase in high-density housing and traffic throughout the state played a part too.

Everybody was telling me California was going downhill and I needed to move. I was concerned the state was going to tax my retirement, which didn't end up happening. But I had a family member in Benson, Arizona, about an hour east of Tuscon.

So, I sold my house and I moved. It seemed like a mass exit at the time, so I felt the need to do it too. It was almost like fleeing sheep.

I chose Arizona because it was only a six-hour drive from California. But even as I was leaving, I was thinking it was a big mistake.

Benson, Arizona is in the middle of nowhere .

There's nothing out there but a Walmart, an Ace Hardware, and a Safeway. And there's only so much you can buy at Walmart.

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I'm a vegetarian. I haven't eaten meat since 1969 and I was starving in Arizona. I would have to drive an hour to Tuscon to go to Whole Foods to get any food I was used to. People would say: "You're a weirdo. You've got to eat meat." In California, you can find vegetarian places all day long.

I had money from selling my house and I initially wanted to buy a place in Arizona. But the houses I looked at fell through on inspection and I thankfully never did.

The state was good for me politically. A lot of people had the same beliefs as I do. But I don't live politics every day, and they did. I have it in the back of my mind but it's not a driving force for me.

People would always say to me: "Oh, you're a Californian? Well, I hope you don't bring your beliefs here." There was always some derogatory comment. They wanted to bitch about California. They don't want us there.

I'm also religious and I missed my church. I just wasn't happy. It was a dark cloud over me. I missed California every day. I only lasted three months in Arizona before moving back home.

When you're born and raised in California, you need to be in California.

It's like the Beach Boy's song, California Girls. It's an instilled trait. Californians don't always love other Californians, but we love California.

I ended up buying a house in Hemet, in Riverside County. It was all boarded up. It didn't have any electricity. It was horrible. But I was glad to be home. I'd rather live in a shitty part of California than live out of the state ever again.

I ended up living there for five years. I fixed up the house to some extent, sold it, and made a profit. Then I got the heck out of there and came to Tehachapi, where I've wanted to live since 1999.

Tehachapi is a lost treasure. It's one of the last conservative strongholds in Southern California. We have elk and deer and fox and everything. It's beautiful.

California has a reputation for being very liberal. But if you were born in a place like Tehachapi or Clovis, you're so far from someone who was raised in LA. It's a very different mindset. We're more of a country-western-cowboy-cattle-type of people.

It doesn't necessarily bother me that everyone else in the country thinks of California as being only Los Angeles or San Francisco. I know what I believe and what I stand for. People shouldn't judge California by its big cities.

I love the beauty of the state and the stable weather. You can go to the beach in an hour, you can go to the mountains in an hour, you can go to the desert in an hour. You can't beat the topography.

I don't ever want to leave California again.

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