Sunday 9 February 2014

Why are you vegetarian?

I've lost count of the number of times over the years that I've been asked this question. It seems to happen less often now that being vegetarian is a very much accepted part of society. But even so, it is something that fascinates many meat-eaters - many who think being vegetarian just involves eating vegetables, means you must hate anyone who eats meat and are surprised you can get through the day without passing out from lack of protein. So here's my thoughts about being vegetarian, mainly so I can direct the next person to ask the dreaded question to this blog post and save myself a lot of time.


I haven't always shunned meat. Up until the end of primary school I would eat sausages, fish fingers and the occasional roast. I don't really remember actually deciding to stop eating meat completely, but I think it's at about that age that you start to think about the consequences of what you are doing. As far as I can work out it was as simple as this - I loved animals, so why was I eating them? It seemed wrong so the obvious thing to do was stop. Added to this was the fact that my mum was pretty much a vegetarian too (since she had been pregnant with me) so I was influenced by her. I carried on eating fish for a while but now am a fully committed veg head - no fish, nothing with animal derivatives, no gelatine (even though this means I can't eat haribo, nooo!) and I'm even careful about wine which may have animal products in. In short, I'm a bit of a pain!

I think one of the main reasons I have continued being vegetarian and that I can't ever see myself going back is that I just can't get my head around the idea of eating an animal. It's the thought of the flesh and that it was once something that was living. Now this may sound like I disagree with animals being killed at all - I don't. I am completely okay with other people choosing to eat meat, I feed my cat meat, and would never ask anyone to change because of my personal views. As long as animals are treated humanely (which is not always easy to be sure of I know) then I think breeding animals for the food industry is fine. Many people in my family eat meat and I wouldn't have a problem with having a carnivorous boyfriend. As I said, it's all about choice. 


I think a lot of people think that being vegetarian means you must have quite a boring diet - but that isn't the case at all! Not all restaurants are brilliant at providing choice but many have a fantastic range of great tasting food - all without the meat! (Although going abroad is often a different story, there's only so much cheese and tomato pizza a girl can take) I do have to be careful about getting enough protein in my diet but there are so many things that you can have instead of meat - quorn, tofu, lentils and pulses, quinoa, nuts, eggs... I also have to watch my iron levels, but I take a natural iron supplement to keep on top of that. I don't think that a vegetarian diet is particularly more or less healthy that that of a meat eater, it all depends on the individual. I know of vegetarians who don't really eat fruit and vegetables at all and survive on too much junk food. Similarly, many meat eaters have a brilliantly balanced diet, especially those who limit their intake of red meat. It's all about finding what works for you!

So, in conclusion, there are various reasons for my being vegetarian, but I think the best answer to the question would be with another - does it really matter? There are so many alternate diets out there that being a vegetarian seems relatively normal. It shouldn't be a big deal - and I hope that it will continue to be more accepted and seen as a natural choice in life. I say, embrace us non-meat eaters! After all, you don't have to worry about us eating all your bacon.









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