Living Without Meat

I cannot sit down and eat with either side of my family without someone saying something about my decision to be a vegetarian. I choose to live my life without meat, not just because I feel healthier without meat, but because I hate the injustice brought upon animals raised for slaughter. I’m fine, my doctors say i’m fine, and I have done extensive research on how to get nutrients and vitamins from other sources. But for some reason my family thinks I am going to die if I don't eat the thanksgiving turkey or the hotdogs they’re grilling at a family cookout. For me, it’s more like the ethical side of me, my conscience, will die if I do eat that hotdog.

So lets start with that. The ethical reasons on why I don’t eat meat. I’m not going to try to force you to become a vegetarian or vegan. I have nothing against people who eat meat, because it is your body, and you have the right to choose what you do and don’t put into it. Your body. And my body is my body. And the pigs body is his body. So that also means, I have the right to not put parts of that pigs body into my body. Chickens, pigs, cows, goats, ducks, fish, they are all sentient beings that know no malice. And what happens to them in the slaughterhouse deeply disturbs me. The filth and torture these wonderful, harmless beings have to go through disgusts me. I could not live with myself eating meat knowing what these beings go through to get to my plate. I will not go into detail about what happens in slaughterhouses, laboratories, fish farms, dairy farms, “cage-free” chicken coops, because I don’t want to seem like I’m forcing you into suddenly changing your whole life and  becoming a vegetarian or vegan. But, I won’t let anyone tell me I have to eat meat. If you are interested in learning about the horrors that animals have to go through for our sake, please do the research. Watch videos, read articles and studies, and there are many books. Research what happens to baby cows born on dairy farms, how they get cows to produce milk, how they fish and farm fish, how they slaughter pigs and chickens. Research animal testing and the fur industry. But if you have no clue what they go through, do not tell me that I should eat them anyways. I’ll stick with spinach and apples, thank you.

A study also found that our digestive system is more similar to those of herbivore  
mammals then carnivorous. When humans first developed on this planet, whether God put us here or we evolved from bacteria and microbes, we were omnivorous. We didn't start eating other beings until the caveman days, when fire was discovered and forging wasn’t keeping up with supply and demand.

“Where do you get your protein?” The golden question I get everytime. Yes, meat has a lot of protein, but eating a big mac or fried chicken won’t give me what I need. In fact, eating too much meat has shown to be very bad for us. Too much protein can lead to obesity, cancer, kidney problems, and dehydration. We are supposed to have between 40-60 grams of protein a day, there are 54 grams in one 6-ounce steak! Meat is NOT the only thing in the world containing protein! I can’t stress that enough. Other things that have protein that are actually a lot healthier for you are: spinach, dairy (if you eat dairy products), nuts, seeds, peanut butter, most grains (yes, bread!), broccoli, apples, beans, granola bars…..pretty much everything you eat has some amounts of protein in them! And I love a good salad, one with spinach, cucumbers, green peppers, tomatoes…..which contains proteins, lycopene, and other nutrients and vitamins that protect against disease and cancer and fuel your body! Meat doesn’t have cancer fighting lycopene in it, just fatty cholesterol. (and cholesterol only comes from animal products.) Also, vegans rejoice, a lot of junk foods like chips and oreos are vegan! As you can tell, I keep my health up by eating a lot more than chicken and fries. You don’t need meat to be in good health, and going vegan/vegetarian DROPS the pounds. When I switched to vegan, I dropped 20 pounds in three months by eating healthy and light exercise. I eat dairy now, but dairy is also horrible for your skin, so I’m going back to vegan soon. And yes, I went to my doctors regularly when I dropped all that weight, and he said I was healthy as a horse.  

So lets go to my 17th birthday. I had been vegan for almost four months. My aunt took me to a restaurant on the ocean, and the whole menu was seafood (which I already hated seafood anyways), except the spaghetti. So thats what I ordered, and when it came back, it was a tiny plate with hamburger in the sauce. When I asked for no meat, they said they didn't have it without meat, so i just got plain spaghetti. It wasn't a huge ordeal, until my grandmother (who isn't a great person anyway) yelled “Just eat the damn meat it won’t kill you!” No, it won’t kill me, but it would definitely kill the ethical side of me.

So my birthday dinner wasn’t great, next time I’m choosing where to eat and were going to the Olive Garden. But then, fast forward to when my grandmother was in the hospital, I was being lectured by my aunt on my dads side about good old protein. I hear the word protein way to much. And she went on and on about how I won’t get any protein unless I eat meat, and how I apparently know nothing about nutrients. And I argued back, but because I’m not seen as an “adult”, they didn’t listen. The whole point of this essay is to get people off of my back, really! I have done my research, and yes those who grew up in the era of “you eat what I put in front of you” may not understand, but I am an adult. I am a human being, a smart hard-working one, and I decide what goes into my body and what doesn't. And I don’t like things that come from pain and agony, that includes meat.