Okay, I'm not sure rape is compatible with the Buddhist religion

Maybe he converted after. But if you're serving time for it, your religious rights, (including a proscription of eating meat), should be upheld if at all possible.

Polish prisoner compensated for non-vegetarian meals

I know that it probably costs them more, and juggling the dietary restrictions of several religions (i.e., Judaism, Islam, Seventh-Day Aventist (are there in SDAs in Poland?)) can definitely be a problem, but an effort should be made to accommodate if possible.

I know a lot of people will disagree with me on this. Hey, I don't really think prisoners are entitled to cable TV or the Internet. But although some prisoners have committed heinous crimes, they are not completely without basic rights; they are not animals. Food is a basic necessity, but our religion (or even our thoughts against religion, in the case of atheism) is an integral part of who we are. And the development of ethics should be encouraged in prisoners, who in many cases will rejoin society.

I don't think he would have had as good an outcome if he were a vegetarian for purely ethical rather than religious reasons. For example, I consider my diet ethical but it is not inherent in Paganism, so I could not have made the same argument.

The term is 'pescetarian', actually, and I am one

The rise of the non-veggie vegetarian

Why do I eat fish but not other animals? Because I have and can kill a fish myself. I can't bring myself to do the same for other animals, and I believe that if you're going to eat it, you should be willing to do so. People nowadays buy meat in pre-packaged cuts and really have no connexion to their food animals anymore. But that's also why I don't mind responsible hunting--so long as the meat is being used for food, and the animal is hunted judiciously. So I'm certainly not your average vegetarian, although I have described myself as a 'vegetarian who also eats fish' because it's just easier.

Nifty

Pass the tofu: 1 in 200 kids is vegetarian: CDC study is government’s first estimate of how many children avoid meat

Actually, the article does a nice job of 1) looking at the various types of vegetarianism and how people define themselves as vegetarian, 2) that it can be nutritionally complete, and 3) that it does not have to be low-fat/low-sugar, hence you can eat a poor vegetarian diet as well as a healthy one.

With the exception of one year where I lapsed into eating poultry, I have eaten only fish, cheese, eggs, and milk in terms of animal products since 1991, when I was 24 years old. My rule of thumb is that I only eat what I can kill...I think that we have in our modern age of refrigerators and supermarkets gotten too far away from where our meat comes from. I don't oppose hunting per se, as long as the meat is being used and the animal isn't being sought just for it's pelt or antlers, although I have greater respect for bow hunting than with guns (although I've read an article about how hunted animals are having to mate earlier and the weaker, smaller ones are actually winning out in evolution over the big and powerful.) That disturbs me. I think we should affect the natural world as little as possible, (although I recognise that man's ability to control his environment has made us the dominant species on the planet), but let's face it, most Americans hunt for enjoyment rather than necessity.) It's the people who never give a second thought to where that burger comes from that bother me, although I don't impose my beliefs on others.

According to the story, children tend to turn vegetarian once they are aware of how animals are killed, as opposed to looking for a healthier diet. YouTube videos of slaughter and animal husbandry conditions may have something to do with the number that have decided to cut out meat from their diets. Whatever the reason, I'm all for it. It takes fewer resources to raise crops rather than livestock and if done right can be healthier than a meat-based diet.