When he was working for Bell Canada as a telephone line repairman over six years ago, Casey Switzer saw first-hand the poor living conditions of farm animals.
Baby cows were tied up in cages and “rows and rows” of cattle had chains around their necks, he says.
“They were tied to bars, so they couldn’t move, covered in their own shit and piss,” says Switzer, a 28-year-old Carleton University graduate and information technology security specialist in Ottawa.
From that moment onwards, Switzer began to slowly adopt a vegan diet and lifestyle. With the help of a dietitian and some research, he began cutting out meat and dairy products from his diet.
“I swear, you could have asked me five hours before I got to the farm, and I would have given you some big jock answer about what I thought about vegans and vegetarians,” he says. “I just so happened to get a job on a dairy and veal farm, to fix the phones there, and basically everything I saw there sort of made me switch. Everything sort of clicked all at once. It was a big moment for me.”
After consuming an entirely vegan diet, composed of only fruit, vegetables, and grain products for a little while, Switzer now leads a pesco-vegetarian lifestyle. A pesco-vegetarian diet incorporates fish and certain kinds of seafood into his meals, along with vegetables and legumes. However, he still avoids eating meat and dairy products.
There are many reasons why individuals choose to live a vegetarian or vegan lifestyle.
Some do it purely for health reasons, while others are concerned about the environmental impact of farming and consuming animal products. Many people, like Switzer, choose to cut out meat and dairy from their diets and lifestyle because they feel the current practices and methods of farming are unethical and cruel.
Whatever the reason, it’s sometimes a challenge to stay healthy when minimizing or completely cutting out protein staples such as beef, milk and eggs. And there are significant differences between vegan and vegetarian diets.
Vegan diets exclude all animal products and animal-derived ingredients such as eggs, dairy, fish, meat, honey and gelatin, according to Ottawa nutritionist Sybil Hebert. In contrast, vegetarian diets include some animal products.
Lacto-vegetarians, for example, include many dairy products such as milk, cheese, butter and ice cream in their diet. A pesco-vegetarian, like the diet Switzer currently follows, eats fish and certain kinds of seafood, while still cutting out dairy products.
Living a vegetarian or vegan lifestyle can lead to an increased risk of unwanted weight loss and nutritional deficiencies, Hebert says. If it’s not done correctly, becoming a vegan or vegetarian can lead to extreme nutrient and vitamin deficiencies.
“There are nutrient deficiencies that are of concern with a diet that fully or partially excludes animal products, including iron, calcium, vitamin B12, omega-3 fatty acid, zinc and vitamin D [deficiencies],” Hebert says. “These deficiencies can cause immediate problems, like a lack of energy or ability to concentrate, or problems down the road, like osteoporosis.”
It is possible, however, to consume all necessary nutrients while leading a lifestyle that minimizes or excludes meat and animal products, according to fitness and food blog, livestrong.com.
Certain vitamins, such as Vitamin B12, are only found in animal products, making it essential for vegans to take a multi-vitamin or supplement while living a meat and dairy-free lifestyle, according to the website.
Vegetarians, on the other hand, can customize their meal plans around the animal products they choose to consume, therefore ensuring they are incorporating all essential nutrients into their daily diet, according to livestrong.com.
Pamela Saikaly, a third-year law student at Carleton University, has been a vegetarian since she was 10 years old. She agrees that it’s sometimes a challenge to follow a meat-free diet.
“The most difficult part would most definitely be trying to consume enough foods in order to get the nutrients that I miss out on,” Saikaly says.
“Iron and protein are much more easily absorbed into your body from meat, but can also be found in many different vegetables and legumes. Unfortunately, our body has a more difficult time absorbing iron from vegetables, thus you must take vitamins and supplements instead.”
All that said, Saikaly says she doesn’t regret her decision to stop eating meat.
“For myself, [meat] simply wasn’t appetizing and it seemed just very heavy,” she says. “The texture made me feel sick. It has now been 11 years that I have been a vegetarian and I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
