You may or may not have read the title of this and thought "ha, those fru fru liberals and their animal rights activists. God put animals on this earth for me to eat and I will sure as heck do what I please with that!" Well, if this is you, I urge you to read on because there are some other things you should consider before putting that next bite of beef into your mouth.
First of all, I would like to say that no, I'm not a vegetarian. I have heavily considered it, but it's not something I can commit to right now simply because of some of the circumstances that have to do with how my meals are prepared. I have, however, tried to cut down on some of my meat intake and here are just a few of the reasons why:
1. Farms where animals are held in dense populations are some of the biggest contributors to greenhouse gasses.
Now I'm from a very rural town and I realize that a lot of people make their living from farming. One of my neighbors and parents' close personal friends. I don't want them to lose their source of income, but on a larger scale, I also don't want future generations to suffer from multiple health problems that will arise if we don't start taking care of our planet. It may not seem like you're doing a lot, but when you at least cut down on your meat intake, it's a small step towards taking a stand.
2. Animal cruelty.
Now I know this one was expected, and you may even stop reading at this point, but try and hear me out. I'm not saying all, but a lot of animals are very poorly treated when they're raised for commercial use. If you look it up, some of what you'll find is pretty gross too. Animals are packed together and hardly ever go outside. If you're taking the "we're using them for how God intended" approach, I'm pretty sure no one intended for them to be living in such terrible conditions. They're pumped full of hormones and antibiotics, and, in the end, it's not good for us when we consume them… which leads me to my next point:
3. Vegetarianism is A LOT healthier.
Yes, we need protein in our diet and meat has protein BUT there are so many other foods containing protein. And let's be honest here, you're probably not eating meat because you're very concerned about your nutritional intake. You're eating it because it tastes good. You know what else feels good when you consume it? Heroin. Not to say that meat is the equivalent of heroin, but not everything that feels good is good for you. Regardless, cutting meat out of your diet means that you're going to have to look to other sources of nutrition for your daily needs. A lot of this can come from fruits and vegetables which are so good for us and can push us towards a healthier lifestyle in other aspects of our lives.
It cultivates mindful living…
Mindful living is something that I'm trying to incorporate into my daily life. A lot of mindfulness revolves around being aware of the actions that you're making and being purposeful about those actions. It's beneficial in so many ways, including the improvement of your mental health. Making yourself aware of what you're putting into your body and the consequences of how it's made and where it comes from is just one step in the right direction. When it comes down to choosing to be a vegetarian, all of the circumstances you're taking into account before making your decision are putting you on the track towards mindful living. It can help you center yourself and make choices that are not only more beneficial to becoming a healthier you, but choices that will help make your environment more productive as well.
Overall, this wasn't intended to be an article to convince you to become a vegetarian. Rather, it was just to give you some other ideas to take into account in your daily life. Becoming aware of what you're putting into your body and how it is affecting the world can lead to nothing but improvement the more you put it into practice.
