I’m currently going on my third year as a vegetarian, and not to be dramatic, but it’s the best decision I ever made.
Background
I was introduced to the plant based lifestyle in none other than San Francisco, California. Between the weekly fresh avocado deliveries at work and the plethora of vegetarian-marked menu items at local restaurants, I began to realize there’s an entire culture separate from the traditional omnivore diet I was raised on.
I’m part of a family of six, very hungry omnivores. They eat fairly healthy, avoiding red meat unless it’s a special occasion (filet mignon to be specific). While living in San Francisco and being away from my family, I experimented with being a flexitarian (mostly vegetarian, but eats meat occasionally). Living on my own also made me realize I was never particularly fond of buying meat at the store and preparing it myself. Fast forward four months, my internship in SF had come to an end and it was back to college for me. I was interested to see if this new diet would stick.
It did. I returned to Lubbock, Texas to finish up my senior year at Texas Tech and found myself eating vegetarian on weekdays and treating myself to meat on weekends. This proved itself sustainable for both my wallet and my diet. I was saving money on groceries and feeling better than ever. I even got my boyfriend at the time to participate in this weekday/weekend flexitarian schedule with me. This pattern went on for about a year, until November 23, 2018.
Seeing Reality
I was helping my mom with the Thanksgiving turkey, getting ready to take it out of the plastic wrapping when I noticed something peculiar on the label. The turkey had a quality of life rating on it. How considerate. It was a three out of five because apparently it had some outdoor access. Low-key horrifying.
That was the last animal I ate. Quite appropriate if you ask me, given it was a lovely-tasting turkey we shared as a family around the Thanksgiving table by candlelight. The turkey isn’t the reason I went vegetarian, but it’s all I needed to finally make up my mind on going full vegetarian. There are a few key reasons why I went vegetarian and why I’m inspired to stay one:
- Animal Cruelty. This is my number one because if you know me, you know how obsessed I am with animals. Today, I own a 3 year old Holland Lop rabbit named Rocky (pictured below). All it took was one day watching Netflix documentaries about the meat industry and I was left horrified. I nearly went through an entire box of tissues because I realized these things are happening every day. We consume meat as a society, but fail to think about how it got to our plate. It’s the reality no one wants to hear about. I won’t go into detail here, but I saw enough to feel strongly about not supporting the meat industry. (Recommended documentaries: Food, Inc., Conspiracy, Earthlings)
- Looking and Feeling Healthier. People ask me all the time about my diet and exercise regimens. Of course I lead with the fact I’m a vegetarian, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg. By removing meat from my diet, I’ve turned to filling my plate with plant-based foods and actually eat 50/50 vegan-vegetarian. I am leaner and more toned than I’ve ever been in my life, have more energy and get sick maybe one a year. I can’t say enough positive things about plant protein. There’s no better feeling than fueling yourself from the most natural sources of energy. (Recommended documentaries: What the Health, The Game Changers)
- Resources. I was shocked when I realized how many resources we use on a daily basis just to sustain the meat industry. I don’t want to get into the details, but the point is to think about all the food, water and land it takes to raise just one cow for instance. It’s a lot! And to think those resources could be put towards communities that are starving—as one example—it’s absurd! There’s also so much waste produced from the slaughter houses that ends up back in the environment. It’s a shame to think the time and money we use to kill animals
Going Forward
I won’t say I’ll never eat meat again, but I definitely don’t see it in my near future if it is to happen again. As I like to underline in my posts, to each his own. I do not think everyone should be vegetarian. I simply enjoy sharing my point of view so maybe others that are on the fence about becoming vegetarian or vegan can find common ground with people like myself and finally make the change.
