Why I Became a Vegetarian

Like many people I grew up eating meat. Chicken, catfish, barbecue, hotdogs, and the occasional burger. Being from Memphis, I especially loved catfish and barbecue, but I never gave a second thought about what I was truly eating. A couple of months ago I began watching "what I eat in a day" videos on YouTube. I stumbled across some vegan ones and became interested. All the food was obviously healthy and looked really good. I figured I could lose some weight and get healthier, but I didn't know the environmental and animal benefits that would come from this diet/lifestyle change. Before leaving for a spring-break trip, my mom and I watched Food Inc., which was good but didn't show a whole lot about the meat and dairy industry and its impact on the environment and animals. I ate my fair share of meat and dairy while on this trip, but I planned to go vegan when I got back.

Upon returning from my trip, my mom and I sat down to watch Vegucated which was definitely an eye-opening film for me and my mom. Before having watched this particular documentary I was mostly looking at going vegan because I figured I could lose a lot of weight, and get healthier. However, after watching this film my mindset began to change. I started to feel compassion, sadness, and anger. After watching only that one vegan centered film I felt so much more knowledgeable, and I wanted to watch more films like it! My mindset changed from being focused on just losing weight to wanting to help these animals, and the earth.

Since then I have watched Cowspiracy and Forks Over Knives  , both extremely good documentaries showing the health benefits of a plant-based diet and the environmental impacts the meat and dairy industries have on the world. I have been meat-free and vegetarian since April 4th and I have no desire or intentions on going back to being a meat eater. I have been consuming some dairy and egg products, but after watching Cowspiracy I would really like to try to eliminate those from my diet. One thing that I have experienced since going vegetarian is happiness. That's really the best way to describe it. I feel so happy knowing that I'm doing better for the earth and especially the animals. I have also become more aware of animal testing and I plan from now on to only buy cruelty-free and "no animal testing" products.

I hope that people see this blog and watch some of these documentaries in an effort to become healthier, happier, and live a better life. So many people are vegetarians and vegans now and there are so many different resources out there. Today, in fact, I purchased my first plant-based book! I would also like to add I am no expert in nutrition or really anything else. I'm learning just like everyone else reading this! But now that I know some things I intend to change my actions and put in effort to learn more and help spread the word about a more plant-based diet and its impact on animals and the world. Hope y'all enjoy!