If I had one dollar for every time someone asked me some variation of, “Why are you a vegetarian?” then paying for college would be no problem. It’s always the same scenario, no matter who asks: the subconscious look on their face is a mix between curious and genuinely concerned, as if I told them I have a severe illness. I have a few phrases prepared to tell them, after about 6 years of living a more animal-friendly lifestyle, things that I say every time I’m asked. So, here goes it: This is why I am a devout and proud vegetarian.
I am disgusted by how animals in the food industry are treated.
Hundreds of chickens crammed into small spaces, dark and cold, with no room to walk, “living” in their own feces and the dead bodies of other chickens, while being fed hormones and drugs to make them so unnaturally large that they can’t stand. Cows being forced to walk in a single file line, each watching the one in front of them being slaughtered. Piglets taken from their mothers right after birth, so the mother can then be slaughtered because she is then “useless”. It’s all horrifying to me, I hate it. And, just as there is no such thing as “humane murder”, there is no such thing as “humane meat products”. So, knowing all about how these voiceless animals are treated, I couldn’t conform to what tends to be seen as the “norm” and continue to not use my voice to help them. Knowing the terrible lives that they are forced into, I could not continue to eat meat and support the industry.
I feel so much healthier without meat.
Oh no, here it comes: the horrified look, the gasp, and then the dreaded question- “But… Where do you get your protein??????” Well, I must say, it’s not that hard. As an adult female of average height and weight, I need about 46 grams of protein per day. Now, vegetarians still eat dairy- do you know how much protein is in cheese or yogurt? What about tofu or a typical veggie burger? One serving of soybeans has more protein than one serving of just about every meat product. I get plenty of protein, I eat a lot of fruits and vegetables, and I feel so much healthier. Vegetarians notoriously have much better doctor’s visits than people who eat meat, because we are generally better off in terms of cholesterol, heart disease, cancer, and type 2 diabetes. I have so much more energy, my skin is clearer, and I sleep better.
It is good for the environment.
Producing meat products uses significantly more water than producing fruits or vegetables. Studies have shown that raising animals for food puts out more greenhouse emissions than every single form of transportation combined. In fact, producing one pound of meat uses 12x more land, 15x as much water and 13x as much fossil fuels as producing one pound of soy. And if that wasn’t enough, a lot of the land deforested in the Amazon is now used as cattle pasture. I mean… we all like Planet Earth, right? I feel like I’m doing my part to help by not supporting the meat industry.
The last reason that I’ll mention: I love being a vegetarian. Just as some love being a Christian, or some love being a student or musician or whatever else, I love being a vegetarian. That being said, in 6 years of this, I have never and will never try to force my way of life on anyone, I will not judge anyone, and I will not constantly lecture or “brag” about my lifestyle. And, as my dad constantly tests, I can, in fact, take a joke about it. Vegetarianism is as much a part of me as my gender, my name, or my other beliefs. If you want to learn more about anything said here, I encourage you to browse about the internet. If you are content, though, I’m happy for you, as your choice doesn’t personally bother me. But, please, have mercy… please stop asking why I don’t eat meat
