How to Go Vegetarian or Vegan
Here are informative web sites that can get you started and keep you going as a healthy and happy herbivore!
Note: These links are provided for informational purposes only. BVS does not endorse, and has no control over or responsibility for the linked sites or their contents. These websites are not intended as medical advice, and they do not take the place of individualized medical care or advice. People should make dietary changes in consultation with their health professionals.
Contents:
- Veg starter kits and beginners’ guides
- Additional nutrition information—suggested reading
- The Impact of food choices on animals and the environment
- What about fish?
- Recipe sites providing hundreds of recipes by category
Vegetarian Starter Kits and Beginners' Guides
- Vegetarian Starter Kit from Physician's Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM)
- “The Whys & Hows of Vegetarian Eating” by Compassion Over Killing
- Vegan Starter Guide from Vegan Outreach
- Guide to Vegetarian Eating from Humane Society of the U.S.
Additional Nutrition Pages
- Vegan Outreach on Staying Healthy on Plant-Based Diets
- Vegetarian Diets: A Dietitian's Guide
Dr. Greger’s Optimum Nutrition Recommendations
- Vegetarian Resource Group on Nutrition
- Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics' Vegetarian Nutrition Dietetic Practice Group
Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics' Position Paper on Vegetarian Diets
NutritionFacts Daily Videos - Veg Kitchen's Healthy Eating Tips
- The China Study
- Vegan Food Guide: Daily Plan for Healthy Eating by Davis & Melina
- Vegan Nutrition—Ask the Dietitian
- NutritionMD
Impact of Food Choices on Animals and the Environment
Effect on Animals
- Farm to Fridge - James Cromwell narrates this video introduction to meat production
- Farm Sanctuary on Factory Farming
- Farm Sanctuary’s Photo Gallery
- Compassion Over Killing’s (COK’s) Photo Gallery
- COK's Online Videos of Modern Factory Farming Practices
- Humane Farming Association’s Photo and Video Gallery
- Vegan Outreach on Factory Farms
Vegan Outreach's Video Links to Undercover Investigations
Mercy for Animals Undercover Investigation Videos - Meet Your Meat - Alec Baldwin narrates a video introduction to meat production
- PETA's Vegetarian Video Gallery
- Humane Society of the United States
- Animals' Voice Photo Gallery - live markets, auctions, transport, castration, de-horning
- Slaughterhouse Abuse
- Slaughterhouses—Overview
- Cruel Slaughter Practices
Effects on the Environment
- Worldwatch Institute: Is Meat Sustainable?
- Worldwatch Institute: Livestock Emissions and Climate Change
- Worldwatch Institute: New Meat Byproducts: Avian Flu and Global Climate Change
- New York Times: Rethinking the Meat-Guzzler
- NIH's Environmental Health Perspectives: Global Farm Animal Production and Global Warming - Impacting and Mitigating Climate Change
- Waste of the West: Public Lands Ranching
- Natural Resources Defense Council: Pollution from livestock farms seriously threatens humans, fish and ecosystems
- E/The Environmental Magazine: The Case Against Meat
E/The Environmental Magazine: The Meat of the Matter - Univ. of Chicago Study: Vegan Diets Healthier for Planet, People Than Meat Diet
- Environmental Protection Agency: Animal Waste Management
- Sierra Club: Water Sentinels - Factory Farms / CAFOs
- Environmental Destruction
- ABC News: Meat-Eaters Aiding Global Warming?
- United Nations Report: Rearing Cattle Produces More Greenhouse Gases Than
Driving Cars
- Beyond Beef: The Rise and Fall of the Cattle Culture
- Beyond Beef Fact Sheets
- Photo Gallery of Environmental Impact of Livestock Grazing
What About Fish?
- PCRM: Is Fish Recommended to Eat?
- PCRM on Fish and Shellfish: A leading source of heavy metals and other contaminants
- U.K. Guardian: Fish: the forgotten victims on our plate - by Peter Singer
- Undercover Video of Fish Slaughter Facility; Fish Intelligence; Fish Feel Pain
- L.A. Times (Page 1, col. 1): Fish Farms
Become Feedlots of the Sea
Food & Water Watch: The threat of industrial fish farming
Commercial Fishing: Long-lines, Gill Nets, Purse Seines, Bottom Trawlers
HSUS Scientific Report: Fish and Pain Perception
Aquaculture, Marine Fisheries - Fish Feel
Veg Recipe Sites
The veg starter kits and guides listed above have excellent recipe sections. Here are some additional veg recipe sites that will provide a vast array of choices. Bon appétit!
- Global Vegan Kitchen
- ChooseVeg Recipes
- Our Favorite Recipes from HSUS
- Vegetarian Living Recipes
- VegWeb Recipe Directory
- Vegetarian Resource Group Recipes
- International Vegetarian Union Recipes Around the World
- All Creatures Recipe Pages
- VegCooking
- Fatfree Vegan Recipes
- The Vegan Chef
- In a Vegetarian Kitchen's Recipes