I decided to end my consumption of meat in January of 2017, I was doing it for myself and the health benefits, but also in an effort to save our planet.

The hardest part for me was letting go of chicken. I was always a chicken eater and my mom would say, “you’re going to grow feathers and turn into one from eating it so much.” Whether fried, in a stew or baked, chicken would always be on my plate. It was my all time favorite dish. Red meat and pork, on the other hand, were never appetizing. I don’t know why, but I only ate small amounts compared to chicken.

My no meat effort lasted for about 6 months, all while I was away at college. Luckily for me, I lived with three other girls of which two were vegan and the other one was also discontinuing her meat consumption. It was easy to adapt to this new lifestyle.

The semester came to an end and I had to come back home. I didn’t expect my diet to change because I was already committed, plus I learned how to cook and knew I didn’t have to rely on my mom’s food anymore.

I come from a traditional Ecuadorian family where animal meats are part of what makes up the Ecuadorian cuisine. I also live in a town with many Hispanics, therefore we have an abundance of Latin American food with menus filled with meat dishes.

My mom never understood the reasons why I stopped eating meat and many times she would get mad because I wouldn’t eat her food. She accepts it to some extent now, but meat at home is still all around me.

About a month back with my family, the vegetarian diet went out the window. Well, at least not completely. At first, I was very strong about my diet and cooked for myself, but it wasn’t until one day that my mom made fried chicken. The smell swirled through my nose and my mouth began filling up with saliva. I started to crave it and wanted it but my conscience kept telling me no.

I remember when I just started to slow down on my meat consumption I watched a video by a YouTuber called Rawvana . She explained her journey of cutting down meat until she became a raw vegan. She talked about how it takes time and she still cheated once in a while by eating animal meats until she no longer craved it anymore. Also, that depriving ourselves won’t make the transition easier because at the end, we’re just going to want it more. I decided to listen to her and figured I would have some.

I felt guilty, I had eaten a poor chicken again. Then again, I felt satisfied. It was weird.

I felt like a hypocrite and stopped calling myself vegetarian. It’s just so hard to keep it up when there is meat everywhere I go; at home, at family gatherings at restaurants, and even at work (I do catering).

As an Ecuadorian, I am proud of my roots, culture, and traditions but I just wished there wasn’t meat in every dish we ate. I also noticed that telling Hispanics on how I don’t want to eat meat is seen as an insane thought, and sometimes they feel disrespected. I then receive a typical speech on how our ancestors were farmers and lived off eating meats. Also, at a Latino restaurant, I experienced a waitress who refused to make me a special dish without meat (since they didn’t offer vegetarian options) and whose attitude changed when I asked for no chicken or red meat.

I definitely cannot be a vegetarian while I’m at home so I started to re-evaluate what I am doing with my diet. I try to eat chicken or sea food whenever there is no other option for me at family events or when I’m going out to eat with friends. I know they try to accommodate to my needs sometimes, but where I live there are scarce options of vegetarian restaurants.

On the other hand, I will go back to college in Albany, New York, in less than two weeks and hopefully, I can start over. There are a variety of options of vegetarian and vegan restaurants to choose from there, but most importantly where I’m surrounded by people who have similar dietary needs like me.

Being vegetarian isn't hard. What makes it hard is living with a Latino family that loves to eat meat. This by far has been difficult for me and as to why I am no longer a vegetarian while living in a Latino household.