Why are you Vegetarian/Vegan?

[prttynpnk]

I like this thread. I don't meet too many vegan/vegetarians and its nice to know why others choose to be.

When I was 12 I made the decision to start cutting out meat. I had recently seen the movie Babe and it got me thinking that I actually eat animals. I went to the library and looked at some books, I remember opening one up to the middle and I saw a whole pig cut in half with a diagram of where the different "cuts" came from. At that point I realized I was eating the muscles of an animal. I went home that day and said no more "pig products"! I had a thing for pigs at that time in my life. Next I cut out beef and then chicken. I remember the last time I ate chicken, my mom was very upset that I had left my piece of chicken on my plate she said I had to stay at the table until I finished it. I pushed it around the plate, took one slimey bite, and said I'm done forever. My mom was very upset, she said "what are you going to eat now, you've stopped eating all normal foods." My Dad reassured her that it was just a phase, that I'd be over it soon. (After that they were pretty supportive, this "phase" has lasted a looooooong time! ) That was the beginning for me. By the time I was 13 I had cut out all meat. I've continuously done research over the years. Initially I was all about animal rights. My reasons to stay veg have changed and evolved as I've grown older. I stay veg for many reasons including the animals (I've always had a soft spot in my heart for those who can't speak for themselves and agribusiness is appalling), environmental benefits, and health benefits. My diet has also evolved since I was 13, I started out vegetarian and slowly became vegan. I had cut out dairy and eggs slower than meat. Looking back I realized that I never really liked meat, the only meat I really would eat when I was younger were things that didn't really resemble anything, like corn dogs and fish sticks and bologna. When I was 21 I was living with my (vegetarian) boyfriend. One day we were in the kitchen, he looked over and said "We might as well be 100% vegan b/c we never buy eggs, we drink soymilk and buy soy cheese. Really the only un-vegan things we have are stuff like bread and baked goods." I said "OK." (this was the little realization/shove that we needed.)  And that was that, we've been vegan together ever since. I never see myself eating meat ever again, and I don't particularly care for the thought of drinking another species (breast) milk. I feel great and I love that I am the way I am. I've been vegetarian since 1997 and completely vegan since 2005.

It was nice to share my story, thank you for reading.

[morglanc]

random, but the talk of milk makes me want to share.  i was watching will work for food on the food network. he went to a place where they live the life of people in the in the 19th century.  turns out that drinking milk is a fairly new thing. they would skim off the cream and use it for butter and cheese, then they would give the skimmed milk to the pigs.  i already dont drink milk, but i have to resist the urge to make pig noises when i see my father in law drinking it.  

[happy*chickens]

YAY!!! great topic! i've just discovered this section of the community and THATS MAKES CRAFTSTER THE BEST PLACE OVER THE NET!!!!!!

well i becam a vegan 6 month ago actually. no so frash allready cause my body got used to the new diat and she (my body) is feelling better then ever! + my soul
my skin looks good  (no zits<-this is how you call it right?) my throat is clean and the whole digestive circle is working better. i'm pretty shoked how the food i used to eat just messed my body..

offcourse the moral and animal loving are a great resone
& another thing- the DIY and GIY (<-Grow It Yourself). growing youre own food for extreme fun making

[goktrose]

I have been vegetarian for about 6 months. I hate the taste of meat, and just have a firm belief that people were meant to eat veggies and fruit.
I have wanted to be a vegetarian for years, but my mom would never allow it and I couldn't cook every meal for myself. However, for Lent I had the idea to give up meat, and she couldn't say no. Then, over the 40 days, she saw that I could easily get all the nutrition I needed, and I made sure to pay attention to protein and vitamin intake. So now she allows me to eat my meals without meat, and I am doing great with it! My only worry is that all my friends and my siblings say I do it only cause "it's a fad" but my reasons are deeper than that. I'm not just jumping on the bandwagon.

[dinosaurator]

I became a vegetarian for the first time when I was nine - on a road trip, we passed a truck just filled with feather-less chickens, and I thought they were cute. Then my dad told me they were going to be slaughtered to make chicken nuggets. I decided that night I wouldn't eat chicken again, and the next day I came to the conclusion that other meat was probably out as well.
I was already a sensitive child, I cried when I washed a spider down the shower drain, so it seemed logical.
This lasted on and off for ten more years, and I decided about a year ago to return to vegetarianism - I was having these huge guilt feelings every time I ate meat. Once I became vegetarian, I realized I didn't miss meat at all, not even a little bit. I also realized that I had never liked meat anyways, and I wasn't sure why I even ate it. Since then I've become way more conscious of what I'm putting in my body, and now I am almost completely vegan.
I do eat eggs still, and I will drink milk or eat cheese on occasion. But I am VERY aware of where the items come from - I would never ever order eggs or dairy at a restaurant. The way I see it, it's okay to eat eggs from 'happy chickens'. Free-roaming chickens that are vegetarian fed and well taken care of produce eggs too, and I don't have an ethical problem with eating them. That's what chickens were born to do. They were not born to have their feet cut off and be stuffed in wire cages, but they were still born to lay eggs. Same general situation with the dairy, except I find that it's easier to just avoid it in general.
I also eat honey still. Because I find it hard to see bees being abused the same way cows/pigs/chickens are. But, if I'm wrong about that, let me know I guess...

[xoelle]

like so many of you I chose to go vegetarian because I have never like the taste- and I don't see the difference between a dog or a cow- and really- neither of those is too far away from human.

[xVx]

I've been vegan since Jan '08 due to complete stubbornness. No other reason why, I was vegetarian for a few months prior and have always thought about it.

[Butterfliesflutterby]

I had no idea we had a cooking board - this is exciting!

Anywho, I'm a vegetarian purely for environmental reasons. I don't like the idea of using natural resources I don't have to, and contributing to our carbon emissions. I guess I'm technically a "flexitarian" since I do eat the occasional marshmallow.

I'm very lucky to go to a campus that believes in sustainable and ethical food - the eggs come from a free-range farm on the Island, and the milk also comes from the Island.

[Graciechan]

I posted a while ago on here, but I'm posting again now! I am kind of heading towards veganism now - I don't really know why, it just seems inspiring at the moment. My only concern is getting the vitamins etc that I need as a female teenager (I'm 15) , but I've done lots of research and eat marmite every day for the b12 . I love to cook, especially baking, and therefore vegan baking and nutrition is a challenge to me. I think the hardest things for me to resist may be cheese and squid (a strange choice I know!) I recently had a long lapse in my vegetarianism too, so I'm just enjoying getting back to that too

[*~!kenzallan!~*]

ive been a veg since 5th grade.....the only meat i ever would eat anyway was a little bit of chicken and some sushi (i usually got veggie sushi anyway). since i still live in my parents household im forced to eat chicken about 1 or 2 times a month. even though i feel horrible afterwards, and have been known to get sick. (they know it makes me sick and they still make me eat it! its horrible!!) i do eat organic, grass fed, free range, no hormone/antibiotics eggs, and drink some milk, especially if its local. in illinois we would get oberweis milk. they had a local dairy and they treated their cows well.
and i knit with wool. not everybody treats sheep the way peta describes it....
and when people find out im a veg and ask what i eat, my typical answer is "food". because apparently vegitarians eat sticks and leaves....??