All my life, I have been incredibly desensitized to the meat industry. All I knew was that burgers tasted good and celery tasted weird. Family get-togethers always strongly revolved around the current state of whatever pig or cow or fish that was being prepared and school lunches always contained some kind of turkey or ham slice. Meat never seemed like such a big bad wolf to me. In fact, during the last two summers of high school I worked at a barbecue food truck. I think in some weird way, though, working at that establishment pushed me into vegetarianism. Actually seeing the food before it was cooked, having to physically prepare it for the smoker and split the raw chickens in half was, for a lack of better words, disgusting. On particularly difficult days where I’d have to clean the containers that once housed dead chicken bodies, I’d find myself crying over the sink, my tears mixing in with the soapy, bloody chicken water filled with despair for the poor unassuming lives lost.

Shortly after starting college, my friend Nicole introduced me to one of my now favorite spots to eat, The Great Sage. The Great Sage is a vegan restaurant in Clarksville, about 20 minutes away from campus and in addition to having the most delicious brunch I’ve ever tasted, it is also 100 percent vegan. Eating there helped me realize how delicious the world can be without meat. After enjoying a few meals there with my mom and sister, we had all come to the exciting decision to cut meat out of our diets and become full-time vegetarians.

All of a sudden I started to physically and mentally feel healthier. I was losing weight, feeling more energized and forcing myself to eat more and more vegetables. Other people, though, weren’t as excited for this change I was making. For some reason, people got very defensive when it came to my eating habits. Never did I ever take it upon myself to try and convince anyone of changing their diet, but after a few dinners of stating before a meal something along the lines of, “I don’t eat meat anymore” I realized others weren’t as prudent to a person's meal plan. All of a sudden I was being told how ditching meat all together was unhealthy, un-American and stupid.

Being shouted these judgments from people close to me was difficult, especially since I wasn’t taking part in their child’s play and telling them how inhumane their taste in food was. I debated never telling anyone of my vegetarianism again and silently eating a salad in the corner at any further get-togethers until I realized one thing, one thing which I honestly think is the golden rule of being a vegetarian: People find vegetarians so annoying because deep down they know that we are right. Also, maybe because the guacamole at Chipotle is free for us.

Just in case someone isn’t aware, though, don’t worry--I have all of the statistics memorized and ready to fire at any given moment. For example, the average person does not need to eat meat to be healthy. Essential proteins can be found in things like soy and the hormones injected into animals are anything but beneficial when it comes to the human body. Along with that, the meat industry controls thousands of animals lives and, while the death of those animals is immoral, it also means that thousands of animals need to be fed and prepared for slaughter, and being fed and prepared for slaughter means a lot of water. In fact, to provide one pound of beef 1,799 gallons of water are needed. This alone is running the world out of drinking water. Additionally, it is causing 50 percent of the world's global gasses, and because of all the land needed for grazing said animals is the number one source of deforestation. Eating meat is literally causing the apocalypse.

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Getting away from the topic of the end of the world, though; overall I can understand where meat eaters are coming from. For example, veganism is probably the smartest decision a person could make. Cutting out dairy is even more beneficial when it comes to another person’s health and the overall well-being of the environment, but I’m never going to be a vegan. I love ice cream too much, all right? So, all in all, I get it. Change is hard and nothing I say may ever change your mind about eating meat just as nothing any vegan may say will change my mind about ice cream, but it's always beneficial to educate yourself on what you're putting in your body and how it is affecting the world around you. In the end, maybe I'll never be able to give up that love for the birthday cake remix at Coldstone and you'll never give up bacon wrapped anything, but with consideration to the future, hopefully, someday we'll both order some weird tofu thing instead.