My Path to Vegetarianism (Part II)

Here’s Part I, in case you missed it.

Yesterday I talked about how I  became a vegetarian; today I’m going to cover why I choose to not eat meat.

There are many, many benefits of eating a vegetarian diet and I will not attempt to outline all of them here. Rather, I will share the things that motivated me personally to eat this way.

The animal aspect

First of all, I just don't like animals. I don't like petting them, I don't even like being around them, and I especially don't like eating them. This may seem confusing because the majority of vegetarians or vegans choose to eliminate meat for animal right's reasons. While I can understand (to an extent) where they are coming from, this was not a major pull for me. Although I’m not an animal lover I do not hate them; I see them as beautiful, fun, amazing creatures who enrich many people’s lives. From a distance I do enjoy them, think they are cute, and marvel at just how smart they can be, but I don’t like getting to close. Yet just because I am not drawn to animals (I just think fleas and manure), does not mean I don’t have compassion for them.  I think that animals should be treated kindly, they should not be hurt, abused, or forced to suffer. As incredible creatures made by God I think that they are deserving of gentleness on the behalf of humans. However, I firmly believe that animals are NOT humans. As human beings we are created in the image and likeness of God and endowed with a soul that enables us to share eternity with him. Animals are not blessed with this divine likeness and thus they are lower life forms entrusted to humankind to aid and accompany us.

What meat really is

I think many more people would be vegetarian if they actually stopped to think about what meat is. In today’s world we are so desensitized that we refer to baby cow flesh as veal, the rear-end of a pig as ham, etc. and we forget that we are actually eating baby cow flesh and the rear-end of a pig. Nom, nom? I don’t think so! As someone who is very easily grossed out, when I first actually thought about what I was putting in my body when I ate meat—decomposing animal carcass—I lost all desire to consume it.

Fish

Fish was the hardest kind of animal flesh for me to remove from my diet. It was also the last thing to go. Of all the types of flesh, fish was the one that I liked the most. However, the deal breaker for me was realizing how endangered some species were. Plus, when I thought about it, how is eating dead fish any different than eating any other kind of dead animal—be it chicken, cow, deer, cat or roadkill? It’s not, and I could no longer enjoy it knowing what it was and how it was harming our earth. That brings us to another point: vegetarianism is extremely good for the environment. There are many books, articles and web resources backing up this belief if you want more information.

Taste, texture, smell

I am a very sensual person, and by sensual I mean that I have sensitive    senses—I seem to notice smells and things very acutely. This is just another reason I don’t like meat. Smells that others relish, such as slow-cooked pot roast and sizzling bacon, are disgusting to me. Don’t even get me started on those bloody ‘juices’ that ooze from the stuff. Totally gross!!! I guess it all just really comes down to actually thinking about what meat is: bloody muscle tissue that we like to tear off the limbs of God’s creatures and let rot in our bellies. Eww! Some people may protest that I am giving too much information, or they don’t want to think about it. Really? Why shouldn’t we be fully cognizant and aware of where our food sources come from? Why shouldn’t we be able to think long and hard about it and not get grossed out? We are ingesting this stuff, you know; don’t we deserve to feed our bodies food that we can really feel good about?

Vegetarianism is healthier for you!

This is one of the main reasons for my switch to vegetarianism. The more I read, the evidence was just overwhelmingly in favor of eating a plant-based diet. Just read T. Colin Campbell’s book The China Study if you don’t believe me. (Note, that I have not read it…yet, but I have heard it praised and recommended by many individuals.) This is just one book out of many, but I have heard that it is an excellent and life-changing one. To explore some of the many other great resources out there on this topic just go to Google (or your favorite search engine) and type in: “benefits eating vegetarian.” There are multitudes of articles and links that pop up. It would take me forever to document them all here (plus this post would be annoyingly long) so I’ll just direct you there.

But don’t you miss meat?

No, not really. Every once in a while I’ll think a sloppy joe or something smells good, but then again, it’s not the meat I miss, it’s the sauce that it’s simmering in or some other facet of the dish. The meat turns me off every time. I have no more desire to eat meat then I do to go rip off the leg of a pasturing cow and start gnawing on it. For that matter, I have no more desire to eat meat than I do to eat playdough or tree branches! And that’s coming from a girl who battles major cravings in nearly every other food group.

I think when one is really aware of what meat is and how disgusting it is, the rest just kind of falls into place. Maybe it is not easy for everyone, but I truly believe that awareness is key.

In conclusion…

One last word of caution: A vegetarian diet can be a horrible and very unhealthy diet if you fill up on junk food, meat replacements, heavily processed foods, etc. Be sure to keep the building blocks of your diet fresh, organic, and FULL of leafy greens, succulent fruits, and delicious vegetables.
 
The main reason I went veg is because I just always felt it was right for me; intuitively I knew that it is the healthiest and best way to eat.

All things considered, being vegetarian is better for me, better for the earth and better for the animals. Really, why wouldn’t I be vegetarian?



P.S. If you are new to vegetarianism I encourage you to explore some of the excellent vegetarian information  sites out there. Today there is more vegetarian support available than possibly ever before. Take advantage of this to connect you to the tools and facts that will make your transition as easy and painless as possible. A good place to start is the Vegetarian Resource Group’s site where they also have lots of links to other helpful sites. Some even offer a free vegetarian starter kit to equip you with the info you need to get going. Good luck!