SOC 808 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Osteoporosis, Intensive Animal Farming, Devo
25 Jun 2018
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Title:
Learning About Vegetarianism
Description:
On a Sunday afternoon, a group of volunteers came together to host the annual community
gardening project at Milliken Mills Community Centre. Jenny, a volunteer, opens up about her current
health issue and her uncertainty in deciding to become a vegetarian during lunch time. She took the
opportunity to ask her peers for help and advice on how to approach the idea. Luckily, Jenna, the
project coordinator, is a vegetarian herself. She was able to teach Jenny about vegetarianism as well
as share some of her insights on the challenges and benefits of a vegetarian diet. After the
informative discussion, Jenny is committed to begin her transition to a healthier dietary lifestyle as a
vegetarian.
Character:
Jenny (female adult) is a 22 year old student at Ryerson University. She lives on her own in the
Milliken Mills community. She also has low income and works part-time at a grocery store. She often
eats out, which increases her consumption of red and processed meat. She has little knowledge on
how to cook as well. She is not a picky eater and eats about any type of food such as salad, steak,
pasta, curry chicken, burgers, Chinese food, e.t.c. She would like to eat healthier, but struggles to find
the time to learn to cook nutritious meals. Over time this amplified her risk of obesity and developing
Type 2 Diabetes. She researches about her condition and collected information on vegetarianism.
After thinking long and hard, she decides to become a vegetarian in hope to improve her health.
However, with doubts on the decision, she struggles to decide what her next move should be. She
volunteers regularly at her local community centre, which is where she met Jenna. It was Jenna who
influenced the Jenny’s success of the decision to become a vegetarian. She learned a lot more than
she expected. Jenna taught her everything to know from reducing meat consumption with the right
meat substitutions for protein to understanding the devastation that the meat industry has on the
impact of the environment. Jenny would like to become a lifelong vegetarian and is looking for
resources to help her achieve that goal.
Sahar (female adult) is a Middle Eastern female adult who is a volunteer at Milliken Mills community
centre. Sahar is a mother of three and a house wife who is on a tight budget. She cooks for her
family like she was raised - with lots of spices and meat, especially chicken. However, her family all
have very different dietary preferences. The whole family does not eat pork, and her husband, as
well as her middle child does not eat seafood. While Sahar and the youngest child eat pretty much
anything, the oldest daughter is a vegan who doesn’t consume any animal by-products. Cooking for
the family has proven to be a big challenge and quite a struggle for Sahar especially, while trying to
keep all meals healthy and nutritious, in addition to the limited budget.
Jenna (female adult) works full-time as the project coordinator at Milliken Mills community centre.
She is financially stable and lives with her partner of 8 years. She became a vegetarian more than
four years ago when she became aware of the cruelty that occurs in the meat farming industry. One
year into her journey of being a vegetarian, she began eating fish due to the fact that she had very
low iron and magnesium levels. She continues to eat fish a couple times a week to ensure that she
has enough iron and magnesium. She is always eager to support new people who would like to
transition to a vegetarian or pescatarian diet because it has helped her to have a healthier
relationship to food. She says that, “In the past, I used to feel guilty before I ate, thinking about the
cow that suffered to provide me this steak to eat.” She says that in a perfect world, she would
transition to a vegan diet, but says that she simply would become anemic, and it would be unhealthy
if she did that.
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Scenes:
Scene 1: A group discussion among a group of peers that illustrate factors that may influence the
success of a volunteer’s decision to become a vegetarian.
Jenna (happy and says): Great work guys! Another successful project to start off the summer for kids
in the neighbourhood.
Jenny: Glad I can help. I definitely learned a lot more about the fruits and vegetables I eat every day
while working on this project.
Sahar (says): I agree! I’m interested in learning even more about eating healthier and cutting back on
meat consumption.
Jenny (sad and says): Oh boy... Don’t even get me started. I eat out quite often and to be honest, I
am sick of it.
Sahar (confused and says): What do you mean?
Jenny (sad and says): Lately, I haven’t been feeling so well, and I think it’s from all the red and
processed meat I’ve been eating.
Jenna (says): Really? I’ve read an article and it says that consuming red and processed meat can
increase the risk of obesity and developing Type 2 Diabetes.
Jenny (sad and says): Yes, my doctor told me the same thing too. I have been thinking about
switching to a vegetarian diet.
Jenny: I heard that some people switch to a vegetarian diet for weight loss and to improve their
health, but I’m not sure if that’s the way to go.
Jenna (says): Well, I am a vegetarian myself. I have been for almost more than four years now.
Jenny: Wow! What’s that like?
Jenna (says): Well, it’s not as bad as everyone thinks. It’s really the best decision that I’ve ever made!
Jenna (says): Did you know there are 6 types of vegetarians? I am a Vegan, which avoids all foods of
the animal origin.
Jenna (says): There’s also Ovo-Vegetarians, which excludes all animal flesh and milk, but however,
consume eggs. Lacto-Vegetarians, excludes all animal flesh and eggs, but consumes milk. People
who are Lacto-Ovo Vegetarians avoids all animal flesh, but consumes eggs and milk.
Jenny: And...Individuals who are Pesco-Vegetarians, avoids red meat and fowl, but consumes fish
and seafood. Those who are Semi or Partial-Vegetarians, uses some milk products, eggs, poultry,
and fish, but consumes primarily plant based foods.
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
On a sunday afternoon, a group of volunteers came together to host the annual community gardening project at milliken mills community centre. Jenny, a volunteer, opens up about her current health issue and her uncertainty in deciding to become a vegetarian during lunch time. She took the opportunity to ask her peers for help and advice on how to approach the idea. Luckily, jenna, the project coordinator, is a vegetarian herself. She was able to teach jenny about vegetarianism as well as share some of her insights on the challenges and benefits of a vegetarian diet. After the informative discussion, jenny is committed to begin her transition to a healthier dietary lifestyle as a vegetarian. Jenny (female adult) is a 22 year old student at ryerson university. She also has low income and works part-time at a grocery store. She often eats out, which increases her consumption of red and processed meat.
