So, after many contemplations regarding my first blog post, I settled on this: Why I became a vegetarian.
It all began in my high school foods class. As we approached the vegetarian unit, I had already been thinking about doing "Meatless Mondays" in honor of National Vegetarian Month. So, I was exciting to explore vegetarian foods in class. We made a vegetarian stir fry, and it was fabulous. I was excited to cook it on the following Monday. For the end of the unit, we had to watch Food Inc. For those who don't know what it is, it is a documentary exploring factory farms and, essentially, where your food comes from. I will admit that it brought me to tears. It was disgusted with everything about factory farms, from the cleanliness to the working conditions to, most importantly, the horrible lives that the animals live.
They are kept in dark, dirty factories where they don't even have enough room to turn around. They are fed unhealthy diets, which include drugs that cause them to grow at faster rates, so they can be killed faster. Ah, and now we come to the killing. I wish that I could say that they were put to sleep, but sadly, the answer is no. Ever think about where your chicken McNugget was killed? Well, they are first beaten, and then locked up in tiny cages where they are shipped (very roughly, resulting in countless injuries) to the slaughterhouse, where they are hung by their feet, beaten some more for the worker's entertainment, and then submerged in scalding water. Seriously, would you like to die that way? It sounds like a horror movie!
Now, if you aren't a vegetarian, then I want you to know I am not trying to influence you to eliminate meat from your diet. Just stating the facts here.
So, as the movie concluded, I vowed to never eat meat again. I never wanted to put another tortured animal in my mouth. I no longer saw a steak, a chicken wings, or a strip of bacon. I saw an innocent little animal, crying out for my help. Supporting the factory farms, which I now call the murderers, by consuming meat seemed inhuman and sadistic. So, I make one of the biggest (and best) decisions of my life. I became a vegetarian, and I am loving it 100%.
