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Why become a vegetarian?
There are many reasons why people become vegetarians; some are for health reasons, others for reasons of animal welfare and many for a mixture of both. Some religions also require a vegetarian diet.
I remember that a few things happened that made me decide to take the plunge. I'd taken some chicken out of my fridge (bought just the day before) and was about to put it in the oven, when I noticed an extremely nasty smell coming from it that nearly made me feel sick - it was off! We'd also had a documentary on the tv about abattoirs (which I'd seen a few seconds of by accident) and it had upset me. It was Spring and I was oohing and aahing 
about how lovely the lambs in the field were when I suddenly made the real connection between them and the leg of lamb on our dinner plates. Having always been very soft hearted about animals (I cry at road kill!), and having never liked the gristly bits of meat, it was a very small step for me to become a vegetarian. I've never looked back.
Animal welfare
Personally I could never kill anything to eat it, so I can happily tuck into any vegetable or fruit and enjoy it without feeling guilty. It has been found through surveys that 60% of vegetarians became so due to concern for animal welfare. Anyone who has seen the horrific tv news stories in the past, showing French farmers burning live sheep as part of a protest, can see that when you farm animals, you see them only as a commodity not as a sentient being, and eventually you treat them badly, knowing that you can cut your costs by doing so as well. Familiarity breeds contempt is a truism in this context.
The environment
The second most common reason was due to environmental concerns. A third of all the grain we produce is turned into animal feed. Many people believe that if we all turned to a vegan diet in particular many of the food shortages in the world could be alleveiated as land currently used for livestock could be turned over to plant production and feed more people using the same amount of land. Apparently eight times more people could be fed for the same amount of space if they all turned to a vegan diet.
Health
When you also consider that there is a big push from government's all over the Western world to encourage us to eat at least five portions of fruit and vegetable a day, it appears that health is another very good reason to become vegetarian. People who eat plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables suffer less from colon cancer and a reduce their chances of having a stroke, developing diabetes, constipation, varicose veins, obesity and piles.
I'm not a vegan, but do try and make sure that all my dairy products come from free range animals and I always look for any labels that will help me decide which animals have been treated best. Don't be fooled into thinking that because eggs have pictures on the boxes of hens roaming in a meadow that they actually live like this. Even those called 'free range' only have to house their birds in a barn with access to the outside to be able to call them that legally. In reality however, the chickens at the back of the barn (housing thousands of birds) will never get to the exit to be able to roam outside as we'd like to imagine.
In the end it'sa personal choice, I've just give you a few of the reasons why many of us veggies became so in the first place. The fact that you're reading this article means you are ready to consider taking the plunge - so go on - why not give it a try?