The two simple questions that made me a vegetarian (neither about health)
Years ago, I used to be an avid meat-eater and I was relatively unapologetic about it even when vegetarians and vegans presented cogent arguments on why it's wrong to eat meat. I had cynically accepted the suffering and death animals go through as a fact of life and what they were bred for after all.
Luckily, I ended up asking myself two very simple questions (with a lot of help from others and one specific Gary Yourovsky lecture):
- Is it wrong to cause avoidable harm to conscious living creatures?
- Can I live without eating meat in order to avoid causing said harm?
My answers turned out to be a resounding YES to the former and a relatively confident I think so to the latter. And since I have always tried to live a moral life, I had to give it a shot and check if I was correct with my second answer. I quickly realized that I was and the only thing I miss a tiny bit to this day (more than 5 years later) is fish. My transition was basically instantaneous and it didn't and doesn't feel like a big deal.
Image Source: CC BY-NC 2.0 Carol Moshier
Of course, I realize I'm only halfway there because being a vegetarian does not get rid of the harm you are inflicting on animals because by consuming dairy and eggs, you are still perpetuating animal suffering. That's why I'm determined to finally make the switch to vegan in the very near future as it's taken me embarrassingly long already.
As mentioned in the title, I didn't do it for health reasons and there are plenty of other very good reasons to stop eating meat and/or animal products as well. Those two questions were just what got me to change my mind and accept I was wrong before.
So are any of you guys vegan or vegetarian? What are your answers on my two questions? Do you think being either is a good thing?
For whatever reasons, your decision is important and it is enough that you want it. I have not thought about being a vegetarian, but sometimes I do not eat a lot of meat and chicken, the fish does me some damage, maybe in the future I have to stop eating many things for health
Sure, it's a personal decision, but it has a social element as well. I hope that in the future more and more people will be using similar reasons to mine. Global numbers of vegans and vegetarians are certainly on the rise.
I am vegetarian and I my answers are "yes":)
Glad to hear that, but I need to say I'm not that surprised :) Which is a good thing in this case of course :)
Though I still eat meat or fish on occasion most of our dishes are vegetarian and vegan! Going the plant-based way has improved our health so much! Maybe I will decide to go 100% percent vegan one day too because my answers are the same. Have a great day!
That's great! I think that 90% is much better than nothing and in the end everybody goes at their own pace. Of course, in my opinion being 100% vegan is the goal and what should be done, but unfortunately I haven't managed to get there myself yet either. But it's high time I did.
Have a great day yourself!
I totally agree! If everybody would even start with going vegan for one day the world would be such a better place!
Thank you for sharing this. I was vegetarian for 5 years. I've now been vegan for more than 2 for quite the same reasons as you mentioned. Thank you for putting this reflection so clear. It seems like people get embroiled with all sorts of complexity that doesn't help this cause.
I'm very glad to hear that and thank you for the nice comment. I do really think it boils down to a few very simple concepts.
Mark Passio On Carnism & The Immorality Of Eating Meat (Dead Flesh) (8h audio)
Love Mark Passio; he explains is the best about everything, meat eaters included.
Thanks for sharing @krnel.
Right on!
Wow, that's a lot of content to go through! :) I wouldn't say I agree with everything that I heard in there though, but thanks for sharing!
hey nice post, I have been for 4 months vegan, I was 2 years a vegetarian, and now I decided just to eat fish and chicken, I do not like pork and cow and other animals to eat
Great post! My answers are yes as well. I've been a vegetarian for about 7 years now. The thought of animals suffering causes me emotional pain, although I realize I am perhaps more sensitive than most.
Thank you! I think 7 years is an accomplishment. I think people are waking up to the suffering of animals and many are becoming sensitive to that and don't want to participate (or at least participate as little as possible).
Thanks! When I was younger I never really thought about the suffering of farm animals. Perhaps empathy increases with age?
Not necessarily. Children are capable of a lot of empathy as long as they notice the suffering. I think the problem is that we are generally thought to turn the blind eye.
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