By writing this article I am by no means attempting to shame anyone into becoming a vegetarian, I am simply introducing the idea that living without meat, or cutting down how much we eat, is not impossible.

Becoming a vegetarian was something that I had always wanted to do but thought it was too hard. Growing up my family ate a lot of meat, therefore, making the concept of cutting it out of my diet seem impossible.

It was not until I lived abroad for a year in Israel that I became a vegetarian.

In Israel, unlike in America, meat is more expensive than vegetables. The program I was on budgeted our grocery spending with a monthly stipend, therefore, we tried to be frugal as possible and refrained from buying a lot of meat.

The meat was more expensive but it was also much harder to cook than vegetables. As novice chefs, the art of cooking meat was not something we had yet mastered and vegetables just seemed like a safer option. I did not even realize how little meat I was eating until my parents came to visit me.

This was around new years and the question of what new year’s resolution one was going to commit to and then most likely forget about lingered in the air. It was around this time that I decided to become a vegetarian. At that point, I did not have a specific reason yet but, I had always wanted to try it and a new year was about to commence so I thought why not.

I discovered the true reason I wanted to remain a vegetarian when I spent a week on an ecological farm called Hava & Adam in Israel.

I spent an entire week volunteering on this farm, helping them cook and clean up the garden to make room for their new crops to grow. This farm is completely vegan and self-sustainable. After learning about how their farm worked and seeing that it is actually possible to live without harming any animals or harming the environment I realized why I was, and still am, a vegetarian.

It is not because I believe that humans should not eat animals it is because the way in which kill these animals is inhumane and is harming the environment. The greenhouse gases emitted from the factory farms used to produce our meat is the number one cause of climate change.

The main reason I am a vegetarian is for environmental purposes, but I also believe the way we slaughter the animals we eat is inhumane and cruel.

The way we used to kill our meat before the industry became industrialized was much more hygienic and humane but was less efficient. This raises the question of what we choose to prioritize, humanity or efficiency.

In reality being a vegetarian is not as hard as I thought it was, I never really find myself missing meat or craving it and I can always find something to eat anywhere I go. While being a vegetarian may not be for everyone the amount of meat we eat and how it is affecting our environment is something to reflect upon since we only have one planet