When I say "vegetarian," what do you think of? Hippies, probably. Makes sense. That's kind of what I think of when I hear "vegan." It kind of isn't fair, although I suppose some might consider my reasons for being a vegetarian pretty earth-mother. But, when I say I am "vegetarian," I mean that I won't eat seafood or meat, but I do eat eggs, milk, cheese, and gelatin. Gelatin isn't really vegetarian, but it's in some junk foods I like. So sue me.
I used to eat meat a lot. I love meat! Or at least, I loved chicken, beef, seafood, sushi, soup, and bacon. I was never a fan of pork. For me, there were few qualms about eating an animal. Yes, their lives up until slaughter should be as pleasant as possibly, and I would've felt better about it if it were me raising and killing the animal, but it is human nature to eat meat. We need protein, we're animals, it's what we do. Some argue that we don't need to eat meat anymore, but I counter-argue that meat tastes good and it has cultural significance as well.
I stopped eating fish in about spring 2009, I believe. After learning about how overharvested wild fish stocks are, the huge impact of by-catch, and problems generated by a lot of farmed fisheries, I made the decision to quit eating fish. There are "best options" out there, but I'm poor and can't afford them in comparison with the less-than-ideal options. I figured, in a capitalist society, you vote with your dollar, and I'll put my vote in my education. So, I have not eaten fish in quite a while.
As for meat, the decision to stop eating it was made by my boyfriend. He'd spent a morning when I was at work researching where our meat comes from. He found out all about the horrible hormones, additives, antibiotics, feed, and cruel conditions in which we typically treat our livestock. I agree that the conditions are deplorable. Should cattle really be eating other cattle? Absolutely not! In addition to the meat industry's lack of transparency and reluctance/refusal to test for mad cow disease, outbreaks of e. coli, etc., the government supports (and is comprised of food-industry people) legislation that protects big business at the cost, potentially, of the people. Food, Inc. etc.
That was in January 2010. I'd already spent some time playing with the idea of being a vegetarian, but never had the motivation. When my bf said he wasn't eating meat anymore, that was my kick start. I had a vegetarian buddy to keep me on track! That night, we went out to a steakhouse, and ate ribs and steak, and that was the last meat I ever ate. It was delicious.
In the following weeks, I at first went through intense cravings for meat, especially fried chicken. I can't count the number of dreams where I ate fried chicken. I never even liked fried chicken very much! I kept at it, and by the third month, I was dreaming about meat much more infrequently. By six months, I missed meat a lot less, and by my birthday (October), I was fine without it.
However, at Thanksgiving, I had a lot of trouble keeping it up. I went to my friend's family's Thanksgiving Dinner, and it was hard being the only vegetarian out of 20 people. I was highly tempted to eat meat, but I ended up not. The same trouble happened when I went home for Christmas and was severely tempted by all the delicious, amazing Mexican food. Oh, man, I still miss menudo and posole, and and and I can't even think about it.
Still, now it's May, and I'm used to being a vegetarian. There are lots of fruits and vegetables and grains that taste good, and are probably healthier for me. I have been eating more sugar, which I try to cut back on but the week before my period starts (sorry), I turn into a beast and can easily eat 4x the amount of sugar recommended for one day. I don't drink anything sweet, though, so that helps overall.
So what's my reason for becoming a vegetarian? Well, you could say it's because of the way the meat is raised, and for seafood, harvested. But that would be incomplete, and secondary. The main reason I don't eat meat is because of the amount of energy it uses. First, you have to raise the corn on which the animals are raised. That in and of itself is fairly oil-intensive. Then you transport the feed, and that produces carbon dioxide.
When you get the stock in those CAFOs, they produce a lot of waste and pollution. Cows produce methane, and no matter the species, you clear land to grow it. A lot of waste is channeled into ponds. It's disgusting. Then the animals live horrible lives, and die. We transport the meat (energy!), package it up in plastic, and buy it. Many Americans don't eat most of the animal, so it either gets sold to more specific markets, goes into pet food, or is wasted.
Overall, meat production as it stands is largely a wasteful, dirty process. As an environmentalist, and concerned human being/citizen of Earth, I can't condone it. I always try to buy the most environmentally conscientious foods and products I can (on my severely limited budget). I do not think that all people should give up all meat. I think that everyone in America should severely cut back their meat consumption for multiple reasons. Eating meat three times a week instead of ten would help, and even better if it's sustainable.
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