I Will Never be Vegetarian

I assume everyone reading this blog knows about the impact eating meat has on the environment. If you don't, and you want to educate yourself here is one link out of hundreds of resources available to you:  https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/meat-and-environment/ I am not a scientist and the point of this blog is not to bombard you with statistics, so please look elsewhere for those icy numbers.

For years I have been toying with becoming Vegetarian because I know it is the Right Thing to do. For a few years I wasn't doing it because I was in a relationship with someone who was very outspoken against vegetarianism and veganism (he genuinely believed if my friend would eat meat she could be magically cured of a chronic illness). Then for a couple years my excuse became that I didn't want to inconvenience my family.

Two months ago I learned that I suffer from co-dependency issues. I am afraid that by standing up for my beliefs and my ethics people will not like me, so I let myself disappear into the background. Having vocabulary for behavioural patterns is instrumental in being able to alter them. This is impacting several aspects of my life, including my diet. I wasn't becoming vegetarian, something I have always believed in, simply because I was afraid of setting a boundary.

I will never be Vegetarian. The label "vegetarian" is associated with hippies who love animals and think with their emotions first. I have worked on farms that produce animals for meat, and I have plucked the heart from the bodies of many dead turkeys in my line of work. I do not want to be a Vegetarian.

I do practice vegetarianism and I do eat a plant-based diet because I am an Environmentalist. I no longer eat meat. I want my intake of animal products (products like eggs and cheese) to be a very occasional treat. Eating fish of any kind has been off the table for me for awhile since I educated myself on the effects of fishing on our oceans (which will be dead by 2050 if we continue as we are). 

If you are an environmentalist I strongly suggest you practice vegetarianism. If you aren't sure how that would help, there is a lot of information out there that will convince you without a doubt that it is a necessity. If you suffer from a fear of judgement the way I do, start small. Setting boundaries for people with co-dependency issues is very difficult, but you need to. None of us should be afraid of being ostracized for doing the right thing. Practice vegetarianism for meals when you are alone at the very least. 

This is the simple biggest thing you can do to reduce your impact on the environment. It is time to start.