Why I Became A Vegetarian
There is a simple story to answer this question, and also a much more complex and, let’s be real, interesting story too.
The simple story is that I attended a Youth Strike for Climate in York where I’m attending university with a couple of my friends and we were all struck by the passion and knowledge of the young people there. After hearing speeches from children and grown-ups equally, my friend turned to me and said, “I don’t want to eat meat anymore”. I replied, “I’ll join you.”
From that point on, I have been vegetarian. Mostly.
The longer story is a lot more complex and started probably a couple of years back when I began to research and find out about the world, working my way through how I wanted to fit in with the world and the kind of person I want to be. I discovered that there are many implications to eating animal products including around ethics and animal welfare, the environment and personal health.
The Mindset Shift
I was interested mostly in the implications for the environment because I was so empowered by the low waste and low impact movements that I had become a part of so recently. I want to have the least negative impact on our beautiful planet as possible so this will always be my priority. So I started to look at the effect my diet was having on it. I didn’t realise how big of an impact I was actually having simply by making breakfast each morning, buying a snack or choosing my meal out.
The interesting thing I found was that these were all choices I was consciously making. I am not allergic to anything, as far as I know, and I don’t have any condition which prevents me from having any type of diet. Therefore every choice I was making to eat animals or their products was fully conscious and unnecessary. This struck a chord with me because I think people like me who don’t have any problems surrounding what they can consume sometimes can forget how difficult it must be to choose exactly what you have to eat so that you don’t become ill.
I had the ability to choose my diet so why wasn't I choosing the best diet for the planet and myself and the animals that so many of us claim that we love. This mindset shift showed me how much I had learnt over the past few years and kind of gave me permission to choose my diet and the things I eat, which I had never really considered before.
The health aspect didn't really come into it for me because I know I eat a varied diet and have always included over five a day of fruit and vegetables except on special occasions, of course. So really I was only dealing with the aspects of animal cruelty and environmental impact when I was making my decision.
I had the ability to choose my diet so why wasn't I choosing the best diet for the planet and myself and the animals that so many of us claim that we love. This mindset shift showed me how much I had learnt over the past few years and kind of gave me permission to choose my diet and the things I eat, which I had never really considered before.
The health aspect didn't really come into it for me because I know I eat a varied diet and have always included over five a day of fruit and vegetables except on special occasions, of course. So really I was only dealing with the aspects of animal cruelty and environmental impact when I was making my decision.
The Secrets of the Animal Agriculture Industry
Animal agriculture is said to be one of the biggest contributors to global warming and the climate crisis by many scientists around the world. Cows produce methane which adds to the ozone layer and they make us clear land which was forest or jungle to fit them in so removing important carbon stores. Cows are also accountable for so many animal products including leather, beef and dairy like cheese, milk and, butter meaning that we need so many more of them to produce all these products.
Deforestation is a scary but significant impact of animal agriculture. The animals being farmed need land so we clear forests to fit them in. And then they need feeding so we clear forests simply to make food for the animals that we are going to eat. This always feels odd to me because it's as though we should simply just skip the middle stage of eating animals and just eat the plants. Especially as consuming animal products is coming at the cost to indigenous people who have looked after the land for centuries and other species lives including the animals thriving in the rainforest.
Deforestation is a scary but significant impact of animal agriculture. The animals being farmed need land so we clear forests to fit them in. And then they need feeding so we clear forests simply to make food for the animals that we are going to eat. This always feels odd to me because it's as though we should simply just skip the middle stage of eating animals and just eat the plants. Especially as consuming animal products is coming at the cost to indigenous people who have looked after the land for centuries and other species lives including the animals thriving in the rainforest.
However, as I have continued my research, the other aspects like animal cruelty have begun to have a much bigger effect on how I view my food.
Like most other people, as a child, I had been to visit farms and seen calves, chicks, lambs and piglets and been able to hold and play with them. This is where we are meant to be taught that these animals grow up to feed us. But this really isn't the case. Many people can tell you that the burger they're eating has come from a cow, but will never look further than that thought and about how a cow is a living being.
Seeing footage and learning about what happens on farms around the UK and the world genuinely shocked me. And that shouldn't have been the case. People should already know where their food is coming from and how it is produced but we don't and I think that shows exactly how much we still lack transparency from some huge industries in our world. It makes me wonder what other secrets there are that I don't know about because of this lack of transparency.
The violence involved in animal agriculture shocked me but also the manipulation of the female body that I hadn't even considered as being fundamentally anti-feminist. Hens have to lay too many eggs which is unnatural for them so they become deficient in nutrients like calcium. Cows are forcefully impregnated so that they will produce milk more times than they should be and then their calves are taken away from them so they don't get to experience motherhood. When I began to consider these industries from a female perspective I realised just how much the industry was taking advantage of everything that made these animals females.
There are hundreds of charities out there finding out about the animal industries trade secrets and sharing knowledge on where our food comes from and what we can do if we disagree with what is happening. I implore you to have a little search on the internet to find out for yourself about the industry because I think it is so important to be informed about what we consume whether you choose to change your behaviour or not.
There are phrases and flung around about animals like free-range, saying cows produce too much for their calves anyway, talking about how they live in natural settings which people just take as being correct because why wouldn't they be. When I began to question everything to do with the industry you realise that these phrases may be true in policy terms but they never go as far as our imaginations. We always imagine the idyllic life some animals lead but this is simply not true. Educating myself has been the reason I have discovered so much and has ultimately been why I felt uncomfortable consuming meat.
Seeing footage and learning about what happens on farms around the UK and the world genuinely shocked me. And that shouldn't have been the case. People should already know where their food is coming from and how it is produced but we don't and I think that shows exactly how much we still lack transparency from some huge industries in our world. It makes me wonder what other secrets there are that I don't know about because of this lack of transparency.
The violence involved in animal agriculture shocked me but also the manipulation of the female body that I hadn't even considered as being fundamentally anti-feminist. Hens have to lay too many eggs which is unnatural for them so they become deficient in nutrients like calcium. Cows are forcefully impregnated so that they will produce milk more times than they should be and then their calves are taken away from them so they don't get to experience motherhood. When I began to consider these industries from a female perspective I realised just how much the industry was taking advantage of everything that made these animals females.
There are hundreds of charities out there finding out about the animal industries trade secrets and sharing knowledge on where our food comes from and what we can do if we disagree with what is happening. I implore you to have a little search on the internet to find out for yourself about the industry because I think it is so important to be informed about what we consume whether you choose to change your behaviour or not.
There are phrases and flung around about animals like free-range, saying cows produce too much for their calves anyway, talking about how they live in natural settings which people just take as being correct because why wouldn't they be. When I began to question everything to do with the industry you realise that these phrases may be true in policy terms but they never go as far as our imaginations. We always imagine the idyllic life some animals lead but this is simply not true. Educating myself has been the reason I have discovered so much and has ultimately been why I felt uncomfortable consuming meat.
The Disconnect With Animals As Food
Humans seem to have been brought up with a disconnect between realising the food we eat is animals and actually processing that this means our food had bodies and lives and families and were sentient. This cognitive disconnect we seem to have about realising the food we eat is animal products but not thinking further about the living animal fascinates and scares me. It is scary how humans can be convinced into not thinking further than the taste and name of the food and not about how it has come to be there. However, it also fascinates me that as a society we so willing to create this cognitive disconnect and never even think about why.
As a society, we are very prone to accepting certain ways of life and standards and never questioning why things are the way they are. I find this odd because I have always questioned everything and wondered why the norm became the norm because there was never anything to prevent something else becoming the norm. Accepting the norm sometimes can be okay when it isn't detrimental to species, planet or health, however, human consumption of animals is detrimental to this.
This thought simply made me question why omnivorous behaviour was still the norm when in a 21st-century world, it isn't necessary. Therefore I felt like I should and could question this norm, start to live outside of it and learn about the systems that force the status quo to stay.
As a society, we are very prone to accepting certain ways of life and standards and never questioning why things are the way they are. I find this odd because I have always questioned everything and wondered why the norm became the norm because there was never anything to prevent something else becoming the norm. Accepting the norm sometimes can be okay when it isn't detrimental to species, planet or health, however, human consumption of animals is detrimental to this.
This thought simply made me question why omnivorous behaviour was still the norm when in a 21st-century world, it isn't necessary. Therefore I felt like I should and could question this norm, start to live outside of it and learn about the systems that force the status quo to stay.
Actions Aligning With Values
I am a pacifist and I realised that eating meat will never align with this value. Being a pacifist, I believe in complete non-violence, but this isn't how the animal industry works. The animal industry is built on the violence of animals, their products and the humans working there. Therefore I felt real hypocrisy between my values and the way I was actually living my life, which honestly made me feel uncomfortable.
I didn't like knowing that the value that I held so dearly wasn't actually being upheld in my actions. Although, I do realise this cannot be helped because before you understand a situation you can't know whether what you are doing does align with your values or not. I am glad that I have now done the research on the topic and found out everything to be able to choose to go vegetarian. And I guess you could also call me a pregan (pre-vegan) because realistically I know that I will eventually become vegan to fully align with my values of pacifism, compassion and kindness.
If you're wondering why I haven't gone vegan even though I feel so strongly about my values. This is because I don't know enough about it to be able to healthily follow the diet. I am beginning to learn more about sources of different nutrients and how every vegan needs a supplement of B12, however, I don't feel like I know enough to do this properly yet.
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