More people than ever before, especially in the United States, are becoming vegetarian or vegan. This trend has been growing for the past few decades for a number of reasons. With the rise of issues such as environmental concerns, health concerns and issues of the same nature, it is not surprising that more people are choosing this lifestyle.

About 10 percent of Americans say that they follow a strongly influenced vegetarian diet. What could be the reason for this? A poll showed that the number one reason people chose to have a vegetarian lifestyle was for health reasons. This is because the food system is a lot different than it was at the turn of the last century. Nowadays, the United States in particular, uses forms of pesticides that are sprayed on plants. This causes many health concerns as the same company that created Agent Orange in Vietnam creates the pesticides that go on America's food. Another main concern for people is the amount of hormones injected into meat and dairy animals to boost production. Many people claim there has not been enough time to study how this can affect human beings so it should not be considered safe. Another addition to this concern is that according to the EPA, the vast majority of meat that Americans eat is not fed their traditional grass or natural feed. They are fattened with corn products to speed up production. This might make people think twice about their food choices.

The second most important reason people choose to turn vegetarian is the supposed negative impact factory farms have on the environment. Large amounts of farm animals are concentrated in a small area, which creates enormous pools of waste. This can effect the quality of the air and water for people living near.

There are many sources of simple ways to become vegetarian if one uses the Internet. It is becoming a new trend because people seem to want to know where their food was created.