"Like what do you eat then?" and "How do you not eat meat?" are questions a vegetarian is constantly getting asked. It is almost inevitable to get asked why I don't eat meat when going out to places, even getting weird looks from waiters when you say "no meat please."
Deciding to become a vegetarian sounds pretty challenging but once you learn the environmental impact eating meat has on the planet and the horrific truth about our food industry it becomes a no brainer. Factory Farming has to be one the the largest contributors to the maltreatment of animals everywhere yet the majority of all meat is a result of factory farming, yes there are industries that raise free range animals or don't feed them antibiotics but that is far to expensive for our entire food production to run off. The food industry is all about making the fastest bang for their buck and if that means harming animals than so be it they will.
These animals are thrown into confined spaces, usually more than one animal to the cage. Chickens for example get put four to five chickens in one cage for long periods of time. Most of which can't even turn around, their beaks and claws are forcefully removed so they don't kill each other just so the company can raise more to sell more. The amount of stress these animals endure even show up in the food you're eating.. those tougher spots to chew are a result of this inhumane factory farming.
You may think that your one burger or one chicken finger meal doesn't effect anything but multiple that by the entire world just having that one burger or one chicken finger meal, than we see a problem. The average American eats anywhere from 50-150 cheeseburgers a year. The lack of regulation when it comes to factory farming has huge environmental impacts. The Greenhouse Gas emission, Methane is 23 times more potent than Carbon Dioxide, well the antibiotics found in cattle food doesn't digest easily so every time that cow farts or burps Methane is being released into the atmosphere. One cheese burger ALONE can produce between 6.3-6.8 pounds of Carbon emissions. Just doing the math you can see what an environmental impact eating meat has on the planet.
Making the decision to become a vegetarian has been one of the most healthy lifestyle changes I've ever made. Getting protein from plant based sources has expanded my food choices dramatically, and I love it.
