I'm a Vegetarian. I've been so for about 16 years. So what type of vegetarian am I? The kind that eats dairy and egg products. No animals, tho. No fish. No birds. Why?
Well it all started when I was thinking about some things. I was thinking about what meat really is. I know that it's the muscle of whatever animal. But, I thought about how much death and pain goes into creating meat. I figured that if I were to continue eating meat, that I would have to be able to get it myself. This means that I would have to be able to kill the animal, take its lifeless body, and chop it into pieces, after removing the skin and yucky parts. There would be lots of blood. And, maybe even some crying and screaming on the part of the animal.
I can't do this. I mean I even have a problem killing fish. I had fished when I was little. I never touched the fish, tho. The last time I was around a lake where people were fishing, I would take the fish off the hook for them and throw it back in the lake. The fish weren't very large.
I can also mention the safety factor of meat. Uncooked meat can cause death and disease. I remember hearing of a story of a mother who undercooked burgers for her family. One of her little boys wound up dying. It happened pretty locally to where I live. It was an actual even. There are also diseases which pass from animal to human due to close contact.
So, for the above reasons, I decided to become a vegetarian. Along with this - there are enough sources of protein which don't require killing animals. So, from a nutrition stand point, we don't need to eat meat. We don't need to raise animals just to kill them to eat them.
Now a vegetarian who consumes dairy products can get a bit sketchy. The reason is this: dairy cows are destined to end their lives at the slaughter house. And, if you eat cheese - it may be made with animal rennet which requires dead animal parts. I have a dog and feed him dog food which has some animal in it. I don't think much about this, because I say it's a by product of the meat industry. Some times I purchase foot wear that has leather in it.
I guess I just see it all as a matter of degree. How far are you willing to go with your beliefs, how obsessive are you willing to become, how much impact on your life are you willing to bear before you start loosening your mind set. I say that I'm a Vegetarian. But, if you start ripping apart my life, you'll see that while I don't personally eat meat, I do participate in some of the benefits of the meat industry.
