My Path to Vegetarianism

Over the years, I have had several people ask why I became a vegetarian. I thought I would share that here for all 14 of you who follow my blog. ;-)

I didn't grow up in a home that always advocated vegetarianism. In fact, it was in some ways just the opposite. In sixth grade, my dad decided to take advantage of the barn and extra acreage we had and bought cows, goats and pigs. We spent two years getting up early each day to feed them and then time after school cleaning up after them and feeding them again. I hated it, but I learned exactly how tasty meat is that comes from animals that receive proper care.

Then, during college, my ever project hunting father, bought a steakhouse. Yep. And so we spent the next several months learning all the intricate delicacies of how to burn a steak. This particular restaurant had the recipe for the best ribs, ever. Seriously.

See, I grew up eating meat, with nearly every meal. And I enjoyed it. In fact, I imagine I wouldn't hate the taste of it now. I occasionally even now crave burgers, roast beef and tuna melts.

Several months after my father bought the restaurant, my parents separated. My father, who had been morbidly obese for as long as I could remember, sold the restaurant and decided that if he didn't drastically change his lifestyle he may not live to see his grandchildren. He had tried every diet known to man, and at his heaviest was over 600 pounds. Several years before, he had spent three weeks at a place we nicknamed "Wheatgrass Camp". This facility spent three weeks helping people cleanse their bodies and learn the value of a raw/live food diet. My father had lost quiet a bit of weight during that time, had become a fan of wheatgrass (a habit which he passed onto me), and quickly saw that if he really wanted to lose the weight he would need to drastically change what he ate. It was too difficult for him to maintain the change once he got home as was surrounded by unsupportive work and family demands.

After selling the restaurant, we packed him up and shipped him off to San Diego, to spend four months volunteering at Wheatgrass Camp so he could focus on dropping the weight. When I saw him two months later, he passed the 100lb weight loss mark. Within a year, he was under 300 lbs. During the time he was in San Diego, I spent two weeks with him, eating like he did. I lost 15 pounds and felt this amazing sense of clarity that shocked me. A change in diet could do this? It was a powerful experience for me that I see now was just one of many experiences that lead me to my current lifestyle and beliefs.

I came home and quickly faced the same difficulties my father had faced years before. But, the seed was planted. I started to simply reduce the amount of meat I was eating. It wasn't hard, at all. At the same time, I started a class all about sustainability, a subject which I had been passionate about since childhood. My mother tells this hilarious story of me when I was five or six. I had come home from school simply distraught. We had learned about recycling in school that day and I was convinced my family was destroying the earth because we weren't recycling. My mother tried to explain that there were no recycling systems in place where we lived, but I would not be consoled. Eventually, I patted my mother on the head, and told her, "It's okay, Mom. You just don't understand."

Yeah, I have always cared about recycling, so this class was no surprise. What was the surprise was the real skill my professor taught me: how to research and understand my impact as a consumer. I spent the semester learning about light bulbs, personal care products, LEED construction, socially just imports and the animal industry. And like most people will tell you who have walked this path before, right here is where you panic. There were SO many things I was doing and buying and supporting that were NOT good for me, the planet or the human race. But, as the panic subsided, I started to gradually make changes. I spent the next two years living as a preferred vegetarian. I ate as a vegetarian if it was convienent and I didn't have a major craving. Or if my roommate wasn't panicking about me getting enough protein and force feeding me chicken for a whole summer. :-)

When I moved to Tucson, I decided it would be a great time to make the whole transistion. I didn't do it perfectly, and in fact ate meat for a full six weeks when I came back home after my first year. But, I quickly reaped the benefits of cutting out meat. I felt better, slept better, controlled my weight, spent less on food, and felt less nauseous everytime I thought about the animal industry.

Along the way, I found lots of other reasons to support my decision:

The first is religious. In the Word of Wisdom, it admonishes the Saints to each meat sparingly, in times of extreme cold or famine. As I live in the US, where there hasn't been a famine since the 1930s and I have a heater in my apartment, I am not sure I could qualify for either of those exceptions.

The animal industry causes more pollution than our cars. Plain and simple. And you all know how I feel about pollution.

The amount of resources like water & corn used to maintain the US population's meat intake could alleviate poverty for millions and millions across the world if redistributed for the approximately 1/6 of the world's population who are literally dying from the squalor in which they live.

Not to mention that the most inhumane things are done on factory farms and slaughterhouses - for both the animals and the employees. In chicken farms, male chicks are thrown in the garbage, like trash. And those chicks that survive get their beaks cut off, because they live so jammed packed that they panic and would otherwise peck each other to death. Companies like Tyson Chicken specifically hire undocumented workers, and then provide information to immigration services for weekly raids, maintaining a culture of fear and explotation that prevents the employees from uniting and demanding appropriate working conditions.

People often tell me that being a vegetarian would be too hard for them, they could never figure out how to eat a diet free from meat. Actually, I find it about as hard as to abstain from alcohol. Being a vegetarian is a choice, one I make every day. Just like I choose to not drink alcohol, I chose not to eat meat. And I didn't just stop eating meat one day and never do it again. It took me time to fully change and find options to supplement my diet. Just like I tell people when they are looking at the products they use in their homes, it isn't terribly realistic to throw everything away and start all over. Make one change a month, research one product or idea a month. And then implement that one thing into your life. After six years of making changes, my lifestyle, perspective on things like sustainability, social justice and vegetarianism and especially my product use is dramatically different that it was when I first moved out to college.

I eat a fair amount of meat alternatives (my favorite brand is Quorn), and also have tried a whole variety of things I wouldn't have otherwise (like hummus and these AMAZING rosemary pita chips). Being vegetarian also saved me the money to allow to make other changes that are also just as important, like eating organic and local. My sister is also vegetarian or "meat-free" as she calls it. My brother is not. Most of my family, particularly the older generations think this is a passing phase. But, I am proud of what I have decided, and feel that in my own little way, I am making a difference. And that brings me great joy, peace and satisfaction.