I started off going veg as a sacrifice for the Lenten season, which as some of you may know, is a Catholic observance where one vows do something or give something up as a symbol of their devotion to God. I chose to give up meat, partly because I knew it would be hard and I knew it would be a big sacrifice for me, but also partly because I admired the reasoning and value system behind vegetarianism. I fully expected to return to my old eating habits after Lent ended. However, I did not realize how much the idea of vegetarianism would come to mean to me and how it would begin to affect my life.
It wasn’t hard to stop eating meat. I was surprised at this. My family was in full support of me and they helped accommodate my meals to fit my sacrifice. However, what they did not understand is why I chose to continue with vegetarianism after the Lenten season ended. This is where it got a lot harder. Suddenly, I was making a much bigger choice: one where I was no longer choosing to abstain from meat for God and my religion, but I was choosing to abstain from meat for myself and my beliefs. My parents and family did not share these same beliefs and they could not understand why I was doing this. During the Lenten season, I had begun to research the meat industry and how animals were farmed. Needless to say, I did not like what I learned, not at all. Before becoming a vegetarian, I had considered myself an animal lover. My love of all living things only grew when I researched the meat market and found horror stories about the packaging industry and slaughter-houses.
Sticking with vegetarianism has been one of the best decisions for my body and the environment around me. First, vegetarianism has instilled a blossoming of compassion for the world and all of its inhabitants, as well as a new outlook of nonviolence and respect for all living things. Second, going veg helps the earth and our environment. Eating natural foods and no meat saves the resources, such as oil (which is used amply in operating the meat processing equipment, as well as transporting and storing the meat. Furthermore, by boycotting the meat industry, pollution goes down as we are producing less waste from the meat industry, which is a major source of contamination in rivers, streams, and lakes. Finally, becoming a vegetarian is beneficial to the body and to your health as well. The foods I consume are not pumped with any amount of steroids or unnatural pollutants. Also, by abstaining from meat, I am not subject to the high levels of saturated fat or cholesterol that meats contain.
I understand that there are people who strongly disagree with vegetarianism. I myself have encountered many people who love to argue with me and tell me that my choice is stupid. Mostly, theses people do not have the facts to back up their stand against vegetarianism. One of the arguments that stands out to me the most was one that was very unwelcome and surprising to me. It was my first experience being challenged about my choice in vegetarianism and it took place over the summer. An older man, in his fifty’s, worked as a farmer in a small town in Kansas and confronted me about my lifestyle. He would not accept the answers I gave him on why I was a vegetarian and instead seemed to take it as a personal attack on his business. I did not know this man well and I am in no way a confrontational person, so I was definitely not trying to offend him, convert him, or attack his business. However, he could not deliver any substantial arguments against vegetarianism and I still remain strong in my belief that vegetarianism is the best choice for the environment, for peace of mind, and for the body.
For more information, I suggest visiting:
http://www.prohealthblog.com/vegetarian-lifestyle/why-vegetarianism-is-good-for-you-and-the-planet.html
or
http://www.jainstudy.org/JSC6.02-Vegetarianism.htm
or
http://www.peta.org/
or
http://www.goveg.com/theissues.asp
(image from michiko280.wordpress.com/2008/06/)
1 comment:
I think going vegetarian is a noble choice. I don’t eat much meat myself, but I don’t think I could give it up for a lifetime. Not only does it reap health benefits, but it also saves the lives of animals.
The only thing I have to argue is, how are you saving resources in the meat industry by going veg? You claim that you don’t eat meat, and therefore more waste is saved. Instead, wouldn’t meat packaging companies still export the same amount of meat? They don’t tally the number of meat-eaters out there. If anything, it seems like more meat would be wasted. The number of meat received by grocery stores would remain the same, and since a few less people are buying it, more would go bad, creating more waste.
I am all-supportive of vegetarianism, don’t get me wrong. I’ve even considered going veg before as well, seeing as how I too care for animals and could never kill one myself. I think the attitude of many people is that they care for animals, but they picture a cow dying whenever they take a bite of a burger. Because of this, those meat-eaters don’t think about what it is they are actually eating or where it came from. If I weren’t so used to it, this would probably be enough to turn me veg too.
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