Is Vegetarianism Healthier than No vegetarianism?

Many people become vegetarians because they believe, in error, that vegetarianism is uniquely conducive to good health. The findings of several large epidemiologic studies indeed suggest that the death and chronic-disease rates of vegetarians—primarily vegetarians who consume dairy products or both dairy products and eggs—are lower than those of meat eaters. . .. The health of vegetarians may be better than that of no vegetarians partly because of non literary factors: Many vegetarians are health-conscious. They exercise regularly, maintain a desirable body weight, and abstain from smoking. Although most epidemiologists have attempted to take such factors into account in their analyses, it is possible that they did not adequately control their studies for non dietary effects. People who are vegetarians by choice may differ from the general population in other ways relevant to health. For example, in Western countries most vegetarians are more affluent than non vegetarians and thus have better living conditions and more access to medical care. An authoritative review of vegetarianism and chronic diseases classified the evidence for various alleged health benefits of vegetarianism:

Writer 3: An Evaluation Argument Looking Skeptically at Vegetarianism Here, Writer 3 uses portions of the same article to make an opposite case from that of Writer 2. She focuses on those parts of the article that Writer 2 consciously excluded. 

The link between vegetarianism and death rates is a classic instance of correlation rather than causation. While it is true that vegetarians have a longer life expectancy than non vegetarians and suffer from fewer chronic diseases, the American Council on Science and Health has shown that the causes can mostly be explained by factors other than diet. As the Council suggests, vegetarians are apt to be more health conscious than non vegetarians and thus get more exercise, stay slender, and avoid smoking. The Council points out that vegetarians also tend to be wealthier than non vegetarians and see their doctors more regularly. In short, they live longer because they take better care of themselves, not because they avoid meat.

Writer 4’s Argument (Example of Plagiarism)

According to the American Council on Science and Health, the health of vegetarians may be better than that of non vegetarians partly because of non dietary factors. People who eat only vegetables tend to be very conscious of their health. They exercise regularly, avoid getting fat, and don’t smoke. Scientists who examined the data may not have adequately controlled for these non dietary effects. Also in Western countries most vegetarians are more affluent than non vegetarians and thus have better living conditions and more access to medical care.

FOR WRITING AND DISCUSSION   Avoiding Plagiarism Individual task:

Reread the original article from the American Council on Science and Health (pages 359–360) and Writer 3’s use of this source in her paragraph about how non literary habits may explain why vegetarians are healthier than no vegetarians (page 361). Then read the paragraph below by Writer 4, who makes the same argument as Writer 3 but crosses the line from ethical to no ethical use of sources. Imagine that Writer 4 says in dismay, “How can this be plagiarism? I cited my source.” Write a message to Writer 4 explaining how this passage falls into the category of plagiarism.

The Researched Argument Group task:   Working in small groups or as a whole class, respond to the following questions.

1. Share with each other your messages to Writer 4. 

2. Explore the possible causes of Writer 4’s difficulty. Psychologically or cognitively, what may have caused Writer 4 to misuse the source? How might this writer’s note-taking process or composing process have differed from that of Writer 3? In other words, what happened to get this writer into trouble?