honestly, i am not doing anything special, mostly because i've been a vegetarian for about 20 years. of the many types of vegetarianism, i adhere to a lacto-ovo vegetarian diet. i haven't knowingly eaten a meat product since freshman year of high school. while i do consciously prepare vegan meals, i have never tried to completely convert to this type of diet.
as the years have passed and i've become a little less teenage angsty, being vegetarian has morphed into a normal part of my life. i rarely point out this personal, ethical choice to others and am not on a mission to preach the vegetarian way of life. the only times it is brought to my attention as out-of-the-ordinary is by non-vegetarians, which are most of the people in my daily life.
my non-scientific observations suggest that the general public is a bit more educated about vegetarianism than it was two decades ago, but often people have a visceral reaction to meeting vegetarians. i still get comments about how i can't possibly be getting enough protein. (what am i, some kind of body builder? this is one of my trigger statements as it shows people's lack of understanding of nutrition...or it suggests that they subscribe to that whole adkins phenomena.)
i can always tell when someone doesn't know many vegetarians (or perhaps they only know vigilant preachy ones?). we can be eating together and they will ask, "does it offend you that i eat this [insert non-vegetarian food item here] in front of you?". it does not offend me when other people eat meat, because it is only fair for me to assume that they made an educated decision to do so. while i feel that eating a vegetarian diet is ethically and environmentally responsible, other people can (and do) disagree.
ultimately, it's important that people are aware of the impact of their choices. my knowledge of the meat industry practices and it's inhumanity are too much for me to overlook. i will not personally support those activities when i can eat satisfying, healthy and delicious meals without meat.
anyone else out there vegetarian? do you ever get quizzed or lectured and if so, how do you deal with it?
I am not a vegetarian...but I wanted to give you credit for educating me through your blog about the mistreatment of animals. Because of you, I make a conscious effort to eat far less meat in order to "combat" some of the injustice. Most of my days are meatless, which feels really good!!!
ReplyDeletethanks for the credit corin!
ReplyDeleteknowing the type of person you are, i am certain you would have found your way to that information and made a conscious, compassionate decision even without me ;)
Like Corin, I eat a lot less meat because of the way the animals are treated like a product instead a living breathing entity (average once a week or so). I eat organic free range eggs and try to buy organic meat. I don't buy leather any more except maybe in sneakers. I gave up my mink coats-haha. The disposable society we live in makes me so upset that I have a hard time throwing anything away. I don't buy paper plates, disposable silverware, napkins etc. I buy recyled paper, toilet paper, tissues etc I could go on about how nuts I get over the amount of THINGS we throw away without thinking twice!
ReplyDeleteOk...off the soapbox.