For thousands of years, many around the world have viewed vegetarianism as a dietary choice. Some consider it a moral choice to avoid what they might consider inhumane treatment of animals. For others the choice was made for them due to the unavailability of meat. Still others practice vegetarianism as part of their religion. While many today still choose a vegetarian diet to take a stand against animal cruelty, the shift to vegetarianism for good health is becoming increasingly popular. More and more people are convinced that a vegetarian lifestyle is beneficial for both health and economic health. From the beginning, human culture is thought to have used agriculture and hunting to provide food for a diet heavily dependent on meat. In The Ethical Case for Carnivores, Leanid Josephus concludes that choosing to be a vegetarian comes from forgetting that hunting and eating meat is really what it means to be human. Supposedly, according to Josephus, to be a vegetarian means to lack confidence and strength (Josephus). By contrast, the most human attribute is not that bloodthirsty desire for conquest, but the incredible power to make an informed, intellectual choice. Thousands of people continue to choose a vegetarian lifestyle for one reason or another, often facing personal ridicule for choosing a path that at times may not be very popular in the personal culture in which they find themselves. Vegetarianism includes the results of a 2009 Time/CNN poll that interviewed vegetarians to find out the main reason they choose that diet. About a third chose "health" while only a quarter chose "love of animals" (vegetarianism). In most cases, those who practice vegetarianism re......middle of paper......d Rosalyn Carson-Dewitt. “Counterpoint: Vegetarianism is an unhealthy dietary choice.” Points of view: Vegetarianism (2011): 3. Points of view reference centre. Network. November 10, 2011.Josephus, Leanid. “The Ethical Case for Carnivores.” Harvard Highlight. November 29, 2007. Academic search completed. Network. November 10, 2011. Null, Gary and Martin Feldman. "Vegetarianism - Part 3: The economic and taste benefits of a vegetarian diet." Townsend letter October 2011: 52+. General A file. Network. 10 November 2011. “Vegetarianism”. Online collection of opposing points of view. Gale, Cengage Learning, 2010. Gale Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Network. November 10, 2011. "Myths About Weight Loss and Nutrition: How Much Do You Really Know?" Weight control information network. National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases of the Istituto Superiore di Sanità. 7 April 2010. Web. 10 November. 2011.