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 vegetarian or vegan!

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
• Motivations for making the change: consideration for animals, the environment, and your health
• What about fish? 
• Recipe sites providing hundreds of recipes by category

See also: BVS' List of Vegetarian-Related Web Sites

• Vegetarian Starter Kit from Physician's Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM)
• "The Whys & Hows of Vegetarian Eating" by Compassion Over Killing
• Vegan Starter Pack from Vegan Outreach
• Vegetarian 101 and Vegetarian Starter Kit from PETA
• Guide to Vegetarian Eating from Humane Society of the U.S.
• Vegan Basics: The Complete Guide for New and Aspiring Vegans, from Viva!
• In a Vegetarian Kitchen's Veg Tips

• Vegan Outreach on Staying Healthy on Plant-Based Diets
• Vegetarian Resource Group on Nutrition
• Vegetarian Nutrition Dietetic Practice Group of The American Dietetic Association
• VegRD Nutrition Answers from Virginia Messina, MPH RD
• American Dietetic Association's Position Paper on Vegetarian Diets
• Vegan Food Guide to Daily Food Choices by Davis & Melina
• Vegan Nutrition - Ask the Dietitian
• PCRM on Preventive Medicine and Nutrition Topics
• NutritionMD

• Mercy for Animals' Choose Vegetarian Guide
• Vegan Outreach's Why Vegan?

• Farm Sanctuary on Factory Farming
• Humane Society of the United States' About Farm Animals
• Farm Sanctuary's Photo and Video Gallery
• Compassion Over Killing's (COK's) Photo Gallery
• COK's Online Videos of Modern Factory Farming Practices
• Compassionate Consumers' Video on Wegmans Egg Production
• Defending Farm Animals' Photo and Video Gallery
• Humane Farming Association's Photo and Video Gallery
• Animals as Food Picture Index: Hot-Iron Branding, Chick Hatcheries, Debeaking, Dehorning, Downed Animals, Livestock Auctions & Transport, Rendering, & more
• Meet Your Meat—Alec Baldwin narrates a video introduction to meat production
• PETA's Vegetarian Video Gallery
• Humane Society of the United States' Photo and Video Gallery
• Long-distance Transport of U.S. Farmed Animals
• Slaughterhouse Abuse
• Slaughterhouse—Inside the U.S. Meat Industry
• Slaughterhouses—Overview

• Worldwatch Institute: Global Meat Consumption Has Far-Ranging Environmental Impacts
• Worldwatch Institute: Addressing the Effects of Factory Farming on the Environment, Human Health, and Communities
• 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: Environmental and Health Consequences of Pollution from Livestock Waste
• E/The Environmental Magazine: The Case Against Meat
• E/The Environmental Magazine: Another Inconvenient Truth: Meat is a Global Warming Issue
• E/The Environmental Magazine: The Meat of the Matter
• Christian Science Monitor: American Meat Eating & Global Warming
• Univ. of Chicago Study: Vegan Diets Healthier for Planet, People Than Meat Diet
• Environmental Protection Agency: Animal Waste Management
• Confined Animal Feeding Operations Photo Gallery
• Sierra Club: Groundwater Pollution from Factory Farms
• Sierra Club: Factory Farming Environmental Reports
• 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

• PCRM: Is Fish Recommended to Eat?
• Fish and Shellfish: Contamination Problems Preclude Inclusion in the Dietary Guidelines for Americans
• Why Public Health Strategy Should Promote Plant Oils in Preference to Fish Oils
• Fishing for Facts Report
• Fish Intelligence & Sentience; Health & Environmental Concerns
• L.A. Times (Page 1, col. 1): Fish Farms Become Feedlots of the Sea
• Fish and Crustaceans, Drive Fisheries, Pfiesteria, Photo Gallery 
• Commercial Fisheries and Marine Mammals
• Fisheries Factsheet
• The Aquatic Animals
• Does Eating Fish Harm the Planet?
• Sealife to Seafood

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!

• 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
• Living and Raw Food Recipes