Information on meat consumption and vegetarianism
Read the following texts.
a) Health: If a vegetarian diet (eine vegetarische Ernährung) is balanced and includes cheese, nuts, lentils (Linsen), soy (Soja), eggs and other sources of protein (Proteinlieferanten), then it is just as healthy as a diet that includes meat. Some scientists say that vegetarians are less likely to suffer from high blood pressure (unter Bluthochdruck leiden) and heart attacks. While our bodies certainly need enough protein, it shouldn’t be the biggest worry (die größte Sorge) when it comes to a healthy diet. One of the biggest health risks today is the high amount of sugar (große Menge an Zucker) that we consume. Consequently, people who worry about health risks should cut down on sugar (sollten ihren Zuckerkonsum reduzieren) and make sure they eat plenty of vegetables and fruits.
Datei: 5811710792_d90e02c71a_o.jpg von Secretaria de Agricultura e Abastecimento [CC BY 2.0], via flickr
Datei: Hog_confinement_barn_interior.jpg [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
Datei: 3APB125758.jpg von JimChampion [CC BY-SA 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons
b) Treatment of animals: Most of the meat that is offered in supermarkets and restaurants comes from factory farms. Animals at factory farms are often under stress because they have very little room. As a consequence they sometimes attack each other or try to eat each other. These attacks can cause injuries (Angriffe können Verletzungen hervorrufen) and infections. That’s why many factory farmers cut off the beaks (Schnäbel) of chicken and remove the teeth of piglets (entfernen die Zähne von Ferkeln). But you can also get meat from animals that are allowed to move freely within and outside their barns (außerhalb ihrer Ställe). These animals are called free-range animals (freilaufende Tiere). Meat from free-range animals is usually more expensive than meat from factory-farmed animals (Tiere aus Massentierhaltung).
c) Destruction of the rainforest:The average European (der durchschnittliche Europäer) consumes 61 kg of soy each year. Not directly, but indirectly, because we eat meat. Animals at factory farms eat a lot of soy and most of the soy that they eat is grown on fields in South America (wird auf Feldern in Südamerika angebaut), on areas that used to be rainforest (auf Gebieten, die früher Regenwald waren). This means that when we eat factory-farmed meat, especially chicken and pork, we indirectly destroy the rainforest in South America.
Material 1 – vegetarianism – Klasse 8: Herunterladen [docx][874 KB]
Schülerversion: Herunterladen [pdf][877 KB]