Why Are You A Vegetarian? Our Stories

Today's picture isn't that closely related to today's post but I'm a big far side fan :). Why are you a vegetarian or why are you thinking about becoming a vegetarian? I've heard many reasons throughout my life:

• Religion
• Healthier lifestyle
• Animal rights
• I got food poisoning... NEVER AGAIN!
• Animals are just so cute
• I worked at a meat processing plant and I can’t eat meat anymore
• It’s disgusting
• Sustainability - meaning it takes more resources to produce meat than what we get from meat so people who are concerned with environmental issues go vegetarian for this reason

I'd like to share with you why I am vegetarian and I would love to see posts from everyone sharing their stories about vegetarianism. Many parts of my story I haven't shared before and I encourage you to comment if you have any comments to make :)

Before the age of 11 I used to eat meat every now and then. At a BBQ I would sneak in some grilled chicken, at school I would occasionally eat sausage pizza when they had it. I would eat meat but on sparse occasions and never ate it at home (my parents and brother were/are vegetarian)! Now we're a Hindu family and if you don't know Hindu's are typically some form of vegetarians. Most commonly they don't eat beef but will eat other meats but in our house NO meat was found.

At the age of 11 I remember being at the dinner table one night and during some silent mealtime I blurted out "I'M GOING TO STOP EATING MEAT!" Honestly I don't know why I said it but I decided since I said it I should try it. So basically I started becaue of religion.

The first 3 months were hard especially when I was around my favorite meat foods like sausage pizza or grilled chicken. My classmates didn't make it any easier on me either. One time they convinced me that tartar sauce had fish in it...to this day I don't eat tartar sauce.

After the first 3 months things got easier as the cravings went away but I'd be lying if I said I haven’t eaten any meat since I was 11. One time some friends and I got Taco Bell drive through at night and we ate in the car. Now it was dark so I couldn't see if they had put beef in my nachos. Honestly I knew there was beef in the nachos after taking a bite but I pretended as if nothing was wrong and finished my meal because I was hungry!

Relapse moment 2 was a little different. One time I was on an international flight, the flight attendant gave me my meal and I was hungry. I didn't really recognize the food but I had requested a vegetarian meal and so I thought this must be vegetarian. I ate about half of my meal and man let me tell you it was fantastic! I hadn't had food that good in an airplane before. There I was in food Nirvana and my friend was sitting next to me, peaked over, and said "Dude that's chicken".... I thought to myself well damn there goes my food Nirvana! I talked to the flight attendant and they did confirm it was the wrong meal. I had gotten a kosher chicken meal. I was upset not because they gave me the wrong meal but because I was actually enjoying it and I couldn't finish it :)

There have been other times where I've accidently gotten meat in a dish but I've been able to catch it quickly. It's not easy being vegetarian but you know it does get easier with time. I've thought many times to quit just from the fact that eating correctly is very difficult and I'm guessing others feel the same at times. I think the main reason why I am still a vegetarian is the support group that I have. I have several friends who are vegetarian, my parents/brother are vegetarian, and lots of people I associate with are vegetarian. For those of you who are not as lucky, this blog is for you.

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-I'd love to hear some of your stories in the comments section or the FaceBook Fan page (http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Vegetarians-Review/218392295513?ref=search)