I’ve never been able to watch live action animal movies. As a kid I loved Madagascar and Ice Age but cried my way through Babe and The Adventures of Milo and Otis. My mom told me that I once threw a tantrum in the theater because we were watching a documentary about penguins and it was “too sad” for me. I’ve always loved animals and that was one of the major reasons for why I became a vegetarian.
I stopped eating meat when I was in fifth grade. I did it because I adored animals and never really loved eating meat to begin with. I thought that it would be easy to do and indeed it was fairly simple. Sure I missed salami and bacon, but I felt better thinking that I was helping out animals. The first year of going meatless was somewhat of a rocky transition. I wasn’t completely on top of it; but through the years, I’ve gotten completely used to it.
I’m glad I stopped eating meat at a young age. In 2019 there are tons of environmentalists and vegans promoting the meatless lifestyle to the world. There aren’t just ethical and health concerns to eating meat, there are also so many environmental considerations to think about too. The livestock industry specifically releases a ridiculous amount of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere and contributes to land degradation.
This past decade there’s been almost a feud between meat eaters and vegetarians/vegans. Meat eaters feel attacked when discussing their diet and vegetarians/vegans feel annoyed when people say “I could never give up meat”. To be completely honest, I can understand both sides of this argument. I think there are some people who act hostile about the topic of eating meat and I think it’s ignorant for people to turn up their nose to sustainable eating habits.
Am I glad that my sensitive fifth grade self went vegetarian? Absolutely. Do I think that everybody should become vegetarian? Absolutely not. Veganism and vegetarianism are two lifestyle options that aren’t available to everybody in the world. I think that if a person has the option to they should try eating less meat, such as meatless Mondays. But at the end of the day it’s a personal choice that shouldn’t be swayed by peer pressure.