I have decided to go vegetarian. This is not a whim; I have actually been thinking about vegetarianism for over 10 years. Back in high school it was mostly because of my obsession with dieting and weight loss. But as an adult I have a couple other reasons:
First and foremost, I find it unnecessary to slaughter animals for meat when there are other sources of protein and iron easily available. I don't think it's morally wrong to eat meat--carnivores are everywhere in nature and it does suit our nutritional needs--I just don't think it's needed. I have no problem with hunters. I think if all of us had to hunt and skin our own food, instead of finding it neatly packaged and seasoned in the grocery store, that we would be eating a lot less meat, and appreciating it more.
Secondly, I'm just not all that wild about the taste of meat. Anything can taste good with enough garlic on it. But the flavor of plain beef, plain chicken, plain pork, etc., is actually kind of nasty to me. So if I'm going to flavor something, I might as well make it plant based.
I'm not going vegan. I am open to the possibility someday, but it seems unlikely. I also will still eat meat in meals prepared by other people. Throwing food away doesn't make the animal any less dead. But any meals that I prepare will be meatless. This is a little tricky for me, since I'm a single mom living with my parents. I don't expect my parents to become vegetarians. I also don't expect my son to eat vegetarian when he is eating a meal fixed by other people. But, again, any meals that I fix for him will be vegetarian.
I will still be taking fish oil capsules because I have like a million of them leftover from when I worked for a vitamin company. (I will also take a daily multi-vitamin to make sure I am getting enough iron and other nutrients.) I'm not going to scour ingredients on prepared foods to see if there is some trace of some animal-related byproduct. It has also occurred to me that I will probably be eating less fast food because I can't think of very many vegetarian fast food options. But that's okay, right?
So that's why I don't want dead animals in my food anymore.
