As a child, my mom fondly referred to me as her little meatatarian. It’s not that I was a picky eater or that I hated vegetables. In fact, my favorite food was anchovies so I clearly ate nearly anything. Nevertheless, most meals I ate consisted of a piece of meat with a side of vegetables and maybe some sort of carb. It seemed well-balanced and that was the standard type of meal my family was used to. In the minds of my parents, protein meant meat so nearly every meal centered around this one particular category of food. This is all to say that although I am a vegetarian now, it is only a recent change in my life and I have been a meat eater for significantly longer than I have been a vegetarian.
Since becoming a vegetarian at the beginning of this year, I am constantly asked why I made the change. My honest answer is because it is better for the environment, I don’t want to contribute to the killing of animals, and there are potential health benefits. This response can make some meat eaters unhappy, so I tend to mutter that I am really into sustainability and move on. This is usually sufficient because lots of people are immediately disinterested in anything else I need to say about being a vegetarian, but sometimes I find people who are actually really interested in learning more about a plant-based diet.
When I do decide to dive into the longer, more truthful answer, I often get a follow-up question about how reducing meat consumption can actually help the environment. Basically, animals are bred by people specifically for consumption and therefore are far more populated than what would naturally be occurring on the earth. Animals, especially cows, produce unwanted greenhouse gasses, like methane. The overabundance of cows means there are also excessive amounts of methane being released into the atmosphere. There are other issues regarding the land that animals use and how it would be able to feed more people growing plants rather than animals. This is due to the number of resources that are needed to raise animals. Livestock create over 14% of greenhouse gas emissions across the world. Greenhouse gases impact the infrared radiation levels which warm the earth’s surface. This causes a variety of issues that are some of the most talked about problems in terms of the environment. If you want to learn more, just look up the impacts of greenhouse gases.
Sometimes it feels like simply being a vegetarian can cause controversy. I attribute this partially to cognitive dissonance, one of the most interesting concepts I am learning in Health Psychology this semester. Basically, cognitive dissonance is the discomfort felt when you hold two conflicting beliefs or when your beliefs don’t match your actions. In this instance, most people care about animals and don’t want them to die, but they still eat meat.
Judgemental vegetarians contribute to the problem by scaring people away from a plant-based diet rather than encouraging a partial change which would still make a positive impact. I will never pressure anyone into becoming a vegetarian because I totally understand that it isn’t for everyone. It wasn’t right for me for years and has only fit into my lifestyle recently. I won’t rant on and on about the ways I am trying to be more sustainable, but I also won’t be silent about my efforts. Maybe talking about my experience will encourage someone else to reduce their meat consumption or even become a vegetarian.
The hope that my actions will inspire others is the main reason I try to be sustainable. In reality, my individual changes aren’t enough to make a difference, but I can be the start of a ripple effect that does have meaningful impacts.
If you get one thing out of this article, I want you to know that even adapting a partially plant-based diet can make a huge impact. However, everyone has different things that work for them and you can still make sustainable changes without becoming a vegetarian.
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