Also during the nineteenth century, the vegetarian movement started in Europe and the USA. But it was only in the 1960s that more and more people in the west decided to give up meat in their diets. So why do people choose t o be vegetarian? Many people decide to become vegetarian for personal reasons. First of all, some people think that it is healthier not to eat meat. Others believe that it is cruel to eat animals. The Irish writer George Bernard Shaw once said, ' Animals ar e my friends