hey im amanda and im 13 im a vegetarian and proud of it and thank u peta for showing people what other people really do to animals and helping stop it

Posted by: Amanda. | January 20, 2009 05:05 PM

The CDC is corrupt to the core

When dog fighters got annoyed because the CDC kept track of fighting dogs that killed people, some CDC "scientists" linked to dog breeders just stopped keeping track, as a favor to freaking DOG FIGHTERS

The CDC should be deep-sixed. It's a waste of money, and all they do is lie anyway

Posted by: kelly | January 20, 2009 09:05 PM

It would not surprise me that the CDC is getting influenced by the meat industry

There is dirty business going on at the CDC

Posted by: kelly | January 20, 2009 09:07 PM

Thank you for this. It makes so much more sense now. I went veg at age 6 for ethical reasons. Had I (or my mother) taken that survey we would have answered no to both questions and I wouldn't have been counted as vegetarian. By the way, it stuck - still veg 26 years later. Only now I'm VEGAN.

Posted by: Elaine Vigneault | January 20, 2009 09:34 PM

hell yea!!! i hate it when journalest lie it pisses me off!! just becuse we're differebt doesnt mean that we arent here!!

Posted by: angelena | January 21, 2009 08:32 AM

It just shows you can't always trust the media

Posted by: Aaron | January 21, 2009 11:21 AM

Thank you for clearing that up. I became a vegetarian when I was 14 for ethical reasons, thanks in part to information I learned from PETA. And Ingrid planted the seed in me to go vegan (which I did) after hearing her speech on "Speaking Up for the Animals." Go PETA!

Posted by: Catherine | January 21, 2009 11:37 AM

Do a follow-up survey, and get more accurate results? :)

Posted by: Meech! | January 21, 2009 04:51 PM

Good point in pointing out that that survey may have underestimated the number of vegetarians because it only listed one of the reasons, however your conclusion that the mistake in the study means that more children than stated are vegetarian is not necessarily true. You fail to account for the possibility that the study may also overestimate the count because the questions only ask if the child tried a vegetarian diet over the last 12 months. If they tried it and gave up after a few weeks, children who are not vegetrians would have been counted, thus overestimating the number. Therefore, this study isn't necessarily skewed in one direction or another so much as completely worthless.

Posted by: Michael | January 22, 2009 11:04 AM

hm, I have been vegetarian all my life, it is more than 17 years right now:)

Posted by: Veronika | January 22, 2009 12:26 PM

I am a kid and a vegetarian!

Have been for about 4 years!

Posted by: Madison | January 22, 2009 02:51 PM

I would only become a vegetarian for the health benifits, but seriously, what the heck would we do with the growing population of cows? By your thinking, we would not be able to kill them, so we would eventuall be overrun by farm animals and such. I think that animals should be treated well, and they should die in a close to painless way. I just don't belive that becoming a vegitarian is a good choice. Also, cows "emit" methane gas, so it is pretty bad for the environment to be a vegitarian. I hope anyone thinking of becoming a vegetarian should seriously think hard about it.

Posted by: Dan | January 22, 2009 04:59 PM

Michael,

My gut feeling is that the vast majority of kids who go veg do it for ethical reasons, not for reasons of health or the environment, though the environment is most likely becoming a stronger factor.

My gut feeling also is that people (kids or adults) who go veg for ethical reasons are more likely to stick to it. Once you've been veg for a little while, meat no longer holds the least iota of interest to you (though you may be repulsed by it).

If they counted kids who are veg for ethical reasons, there would be way more.

Posted by: Mike Quinoa | January 22, 2009 06:38 PM

Hi Dan,

There would be no growing number of cows if more people were to become vegetarian. Factory farms control insemination of the cows they produce, and just as in any other business, when demand is low, less products are made. It would cost the farmers too much to feed more animals than they can sell, so they would impregnate fewer cows, decreasing the number of cows killed for food. And that's why people go veg :)

Posted by: Hannah | January 22, 2009 08:08 PM

Dan,

I wouldn't worry about us being overrun by farmed animals, since many, such as dairy cows, are artificially inseminated in the first place. Humans thus control their rate of reproduction.

You're right that methane from cows is a harmful greenhouse gas, but vegans partake of zero products from cows—a vegetarian may consume some degree of dairy products though.

Nevertheless, a lacto-ovo vegetarian diet is still by far a kinder diet to the earth than a meat-based one.

Posted by: Mike Quinoa | January 22, 2009 08:38 PM

Sorry Dan, but your comments make no absolutely no sense. The growing number of cows would overrun us? That is a very old and stupid argument that people never seem to tire of using.
The lone reason so many cows exist at all is because people breed them at extremely high, unnatural rates through unnatural methods like artificial insemination. The whole scenario that if the world adopts a plant-based diet overnight then and a threatening bovine overpopulation would ensue is nearly impossible and just reactionary, knee-jerk hyperbole.
And you state that going "vegitarian" is "just not a good idea" and one needs to really "think hard about it". Really? Why? Give or list your reasons or evidence as to why its a terrible idea, as you imply. It's definitely not a perfect diet. No diet is perfect. But it certainly has many broad benefits, most of which exceed the benefits of a non-vegetarian diet.
So back up your comments with some facts or reasons before you attack something, especially when it's obvious you've never really tried to understand it.

Posted by: Janay L. | January 23, 2009 10:59 AM

Madison Honey re-read your response and think about what you wrote bout COWS and METHANE

Posted by: jason | May 6, 2009 06:35 AM