I am not a vegeterian and only know one person who is.The major shift toward a vegetarian diet is because people have discovered the cruelties inherent in meat production and the link between meat consumption and many forms of human disease.
On average though, a vegeterian saves about 80 animal lives a year.
Remember on the Simpsons when Lisa decided to become a vegeterian and she goes to the Quik-emart and Apu and those two famous people (I forget who they are now) are on the roof and tell Lisa that they don’t even eat or drink anything from an animal (like milk or eggs.) People like that are called Vegans and do not eat meat, fish, fowl, or use animal products, including milk, cheese or eggs. Their diet contains no cholesterol!