Hey earth muffins! A few months ago I shared that I have been vegetarian for over a year now. Whenever this comes up in my daily life, people often ask why I decided to stop eating meat. As many of you were interested in this diet change, I thought I would write a quick post about the reasons I made the switch! There are many reasons on why you could become a vegetarian, but every person (and their body) is different… Don’t feel like this post is pressuring you to make the switch! 😊 Let’s jump right into the reasons of why I’m vegetarian!
#1 – Environmental Concerns
I first started considering a vegetarian diet when I joined in on the Plastic Free July challenge. There were absolutely no plastic free options in my area, which annoyed me. I was sick of buying meat wrapped in plastic wrap AND on styrofoam boards – so wasteful! Looking at vegetarian protein options, there are more plastic free choices such as bulk bins for beans and lentils, recyclable cans of beans, etc. Not everything avoids plastic though… Tofu is always wrapped in plastic where I live, as well as seitan or tempeh. But, at least there are some options that avoid single use wrappings!
So, after deciding to give the vegetarian diet a try during Plastic Free July, I also did my research about the environmental effects of meat. Let’s just say the meat industry is extremely bad for the planet. I won’t get into a ton of details because there are many articles about this already; but, it is crazy to think that cows and sheep emit 37% of the total methane we produce. 37%!! Going vegetarian can save water, reduce pollution in waterways, avoid destruction of our soil, reduce the use of antibiotics and other drugs, and decrease our emissions (Source). After doing the research, I couldn’t just “forget” about the environmental consequences from eating meat… So the Mother Earth concerns was the main reason I decided to make the switch.
#2 – Animal Cruelty
Another thing that sealed the deal for me was stumbling upon a chicken farm near where I live. I was right in the research phase during Plastic Free July, and my boyfriend and I were taking a drive. We drove past a farm and just seeing how many poor chickens were in that barn (and the sounds they were making) was enough to make me decide I would try out the vegetarian diet. I feel like everyone is taught in school about the horrors of the meat industry, but for some reason it isn’t real until you witness it with your own eyes.
Animals don’t deserve to be treated in such a way: chickens de-beaked and starved of natural light; cows forced to eat corn even though they can’t digest it; piglets taken from their mothers as soon as they are born… Not to mention all the genetic modifications scientists are doing to make chickens bigger and pigs fatter quicker to speed up the slaughter process. I just can’t get behind an unethical industry. If you aren’t aware of the practices in the meat industry, I suggest checking out Diet for a New America by John Robbins (affiliate link). He gave up his Baskin-Robbins fortune because he didn’t believe in the practices of the industry… That tells you something for sure!
#3 – Health
The last thing that made me want to become a vegetarian is the health associated with a plant based diet. After learning about what the poor animals are fed in terms of antibiotics and other drugs, I felt like those move up the food chain into our bodies when we eat meat. The EPA estimates that 95% of pesticide residue in the American diet comes from meat and fish… Which is all cut out by being vegetarian!
On top of that, plant-based diets are one of the commonalities in blue zones. These blue zones are the areas of the world where people live the longest. I’d love to live a longer, happy life! While I’ve seen research that the vegetarian diet prevents against heart disease and cancer, this wasn’t something that made me switch. But it’s a great benefit now that I have! 🙃 In my post about being vegetarian for a year, I mention how great I’ve been feeling since I made the switch. So, health was the last thing that I thought about before I decided to give it a try! I’d love to hear from all of you if you are vegetarian or vegan – what made you switch?
Love,
Jenna ♥
So very interesting and thanks for the knowledge.
These are all great reasons! I was a vegetarian for a few years throughout high school and college, but it didn’t end up being a sustainable lifestyle for me. I can see the appeal though!
Good points! I also notice that I feel better, physically and especially mentally, when I don’t eat meat. I feel a lot more grounded. I am not a vegetarian, but I do frequently abstain from meat.
P.S. This is the second post from your blog that I have clicked on at the Mini Linky Party, so I decided I needed to subscribe! 😉 I noticed you are in Michigan–I used to live in Michigan as well. Lots of good farms and natural food stores up there!
I became vegan about three years ago. About the same time I retired. I did this for the animals. Pure and simple. The fact that being vegan lowers a person’s carbon footprint and has many health benefits is a happy side effect for me. I’ve seen the inside a slaughter house. I stumbled in one day, looking for a friend who works there, and I was just in time to see a cow, strung up by its back legs, throat slit and being gutted. I’m pretty sure it was dead as all this was happen. I’ve read were about 12% of cows are still alive and wake up from “sedation ” ( having a spike shot into its head. sometimes it doesn’t work). The same treatment is given to calves. Anyway, it soon became apparent that there is no such thing as a “humane slaughter” The two words don’t belong in the same sentence. And demands of the industry, having to speed up the killing process, corners are cut, animals are abused even worse. And this is just cows. Pigs sheep, chickens just as bad if not worse. So I couldn’t bear to eat the meat of tortured animals anymore. No animal deserves that treatment. None. Humans, with our supposedly big brains and evolved civilizations, can do better. Should do better. How will we ever learn to do better with each other if we persist in torturing and hacking the other species on earth into tiny, bloody, pieces, just for the sake of a sandwich.
I enjoyed reading your perspective. I’m not a vegetarian, but I have been using less meat and more alternative proteins (like beans) in my cooking. This is mostly because of health and environmental concerns, though it also saves money.