Most people, upon discovering I’m a vegetarian, ask me why I’m a vegetarian, and then ask whether it’s hard to be a vegetarian and what I can eat. To answer everything at once, I’ve decided to put my reasons into writing, along with some general definitions of vegetarianism, and include some of the vegetarian meals I’ve been creating. I currently live in Seoul, Korea, so my ingredient selection is a bit limited, but with a bit of searching I’ve found most of the essentials!
I’m not trying to offend anyone; I’m simply honestly stating my views. If you are interested in vegetarian recipes but are uncomfortable reading my reasons behind vegetarianism, jump to the recipes here.
Why are you vegetarian?
I’m a vegetarian because I think eating a vegetarian diet is perfectly healthy (if not, more healthy than an omnivorous diet) for the average person, and therefore to eat meat is simply for the pleasure of eating meat, which is absolutely not a justifiable reason for having to kill an animal. My rights end when they infringe on the rights of others, whether those others be humans or non-human animals.
I became a vegetarian when I was 11 years old for these ethical reasons, and as I learned more about vegetarianism, I began to identify with the environmental and health reasons behind vegetarianism as well.
Ethical reasoning
Everyone draws a line between creatures they eat and don’t eat. Most people draw the line after humans, primates, and dolphins (although some eat all of those categories). Then there are a few further stages of meat restriction that are familiar to most people:
- restricting red meat: generally not eating mammals
- pescatarian: not eating mammals or poultry, but eating fish and invertebrates like crabs and octopuses
- vegetarian: not eating anything that requires killing a member of the animal kingdom, but still eating animal products, such as milk and eggs
- vegan: not eating any animal or animal product, such as honey
These are fairly broad categories, and most people probably cross a few lines here and there. For example, some of my friends are pescatarian, but do not eat fish or intelligent invertebrates like octopuses.
I became vegetarian thanks to years of interactions with animals as a child. When I was a few years old, my parents bought dozens of beautiful tropical fish that I stared at for hours. I gave them all names and observed them grow, be social, be grumpy, fight, and have families. When I was 5 years old my family moved to a bigger property so we could have a dozen egg-laying chickens. We bought them as day-old chicks, and, in the now-empty fish tank, I watched their transformation from fluff balls, then “ugly ducklings”, into awkward teens, and finally into beautiful, bossy, clucking hens.
Soon after, my parents let me buy my first rabbit, “Blackie”, a tiny black dwarf bunny baby I bought for $5 on a street in Vancouver. Our huge property in Terrace didn’t have a fence, but it seemed cruel to keep Blackie in a cage or in the house. Blackie roamed free, and scratched on the patio door to be let in or out of the house depending on whether he wanted food, snuggles, or freedom. After Blackie came Snow, a white dwarf rabbit, and then Lavatapatta, a lop-eared bunny (who, incidentally, won 2nd prize at the town fair. My two favorite hens didn’t place). Although I didn’t yet have a dog, I also spent time at a local shelter on my way home from school, falling in love with all of the sad, lonely dogs, and unsuccessfully trying to convince my parents to adopt one.
When I was 10 years old my family moved to Victoria, BC, and our neighbours were the first vegetarians I’d ever met or heard of. The next summer, on a road trip to Edmonton, I convinced my parents to stop on the side of the road to look at some pot-bellied pigs. I thought about how cute they were. How happy they looked. What they were destined for.
Something clicked. Why would I eat a pig, but not a dog? Why would I eat a chicken, but never one of my beloved pet hens? Why would I eat a cow, but not one of my rabbits? I loved my animals, and caring for them had taught me so much about their ability to love and play and be deceitful and be happy. That night, at a relative’s house for spaghetti and meat ball dinner that I was forced to eat, I knew it would be the last time I ever ate red meat.
For the next year, although I didn’t learn the term until later, I was a pescatarian, because my parents were worried I wouldn’t get a balanced diet from being vegetarian. A year later, at a McDonald’s drive-through, I asked my parents to get me the usual cheeseburger-with-no-burger, when my mom noticed the fillet-burger and tried to get me to order it instead. I’d had enough, and this time, my parents, who had been incredibly accommodating by adjusting family meals to be vegetarian-friendly for me, accepted that I would not longer be eating any meat, and I haven’t had any since.
I’ve been a vegetarian for 14 years now, and have learned a lot more about animal welfare and ethics. I’ve also had a lot of conversations with meat-eaters. One things that really baffles me is that while most people agree that modern practice of factory farming animals is not ideal, most of the livestock raised in Canada continues to be from factory farms. So, really, if you are indiscriminate about your meat sources in Canada (let alone other, less strict countries), your support through purchasing power is helping keep factory farms alive and well. There is an overwhelming amount of evidence of the systemic cruelties that happen within factory farms, here are some articles (click to be linked to the article): some sad facts about factory farms, PETA’s take on factory farms, Wikipedia’s take on factory farms. Just this week, Mercy for Animals Canada released a new undercover video that shows some horrific treatment of pigs on their way to slaughter.
What about “humane” animal farms and hunting? Before I talk about my personal views, if you are someone who “has” to eat meat, but feel ethically conflicted about factory farmed meat, then please, by all means, switch to sourcing your meat from humane farms. The entire reason I’m a vegetarian is to try and reduce the needless suffering of animals, and if everyone cared and advocated for a more ethical treatment of farm animals before and during their slaughter, a lot will have been accomplished.
However, while I agree that while humane animals farming is preferable to factory farming, the animals live for just a fraction of their normal lifespan, and the entire point of their existence is still to become human food. There is still no physical need for me to eat animal meat, therefore I still cannot justify killing an animal prematurely simply to eat it.
Isn’t it hypocritical to eat eggs and dairy products?
In an ideal world, I think it would be ethical to consume eggs and dairy products, so long as the chickens and cows/goats lead long, happy, and healthy lives, where they can interact with others of their kind, are loved by their humans, and roam relatively free. Unfortunately, this scenario is likely quite rare. So, while I do consume free-range eggs straight from a farm in Victoria, BC, here in Korea, where there are lower than international standards for animal care, I feel accordingly less confident about the treatment of chickens. As for dairy, I stopped drinking milk when I was 15 after visiting a dairy farm, but I still consume dairy products like cheese and yogurt. However, the more I learn about egg-laying hens and dairy cattle, the more I feel that it’s impossible (especially for cows) to live in happy, ideal conditions, and therefore I’m feeling that it will be morally necessary for me to stop consuming these products sooner rather than later. Here is a link to an article, written this year, about a disturbing investigation of Canada’s largest dairy farm (click here).
So, although my line is still being adjusted the more I learn about animals and animal products, I personally try not to be the cause of an animal’s death or torture or pain. Therefore my line is currently drawn a little before the end of the animal kingdom. Why before the end? Sponges, for example, are plant-like in many ways, yet their DNA indicates a closer relationship to animals, and so they are grouped in with animals. But do sponges experience pain and love? If I were to cut a sponge (or a plant, or a fungus) in half, although it may have a reaction, the scientific consensus is that no actual painwas experienced.
Similarly, insects don’t have nociceptors (pain receptors), but scientists have yet to determine whether or not there are other types of nerves that could lead to pain or agitation, since social insects like bees and ants can have complex relationships with each other and become agitated when bothered. So, while I will certainly squish and kill mosquitoes, I still wouldn’t torture them with a slow death (say, by pulling their appendages off one at a time), but, I don’t think that chasing them around a room causes anywhere near the comparable emotional damage of killing a dog, a rabbit, a dolphin, a chicken, a tuna, an elephant, a cow, a pig, or an octopus, whether the “hunt” be a long, drawn-out outdoor hunt, or its factory-farm life leading up to a premature slaughterhouse death.
Many people argue that eating animals is simply “the circle of life”; other animals kill each other, why shouldn’t we? And what about eating “ethically” raised and slaughtered animals as opposed to factory farmed animals? Clearly the less suffering the better, but why inflict suffering in the first place?
As humans, we have evolved an incredible amount of intelligence. With this intelligence has come the capacity to understand the pain and suffering of other humans and animals, and especially now that ingredients for a healthy, plant-based diet are so readily accessible in most parts of the world, I still think the life of the animal ethically far outweighs the pleasure of eating meat.
I think all living and feeling creatures deserve dignity and respect. To a creature that has the capacity to love, play, feel pain, and experience dread, I believe a true extension of dignity and respect to them requires “allowing” them to live out their lives happily, and that there is no excuse that justifies prematurely killing animals simply for the pleasure of eating them.
Environmental reasons
Animals are higher up in the food chain than plants, and their growth, like human growth, requires more space, energy, and water per kg than plants do.
A 2008 study found that animal agriculture accounts for 18% of human-produced greenhouse gases, which is more than the entire transportation sector!
In two different, government-funded, water conservation jobs in Canada, I was pleasantly surprised when my colleagues and I were told to promote eating less meat as a way to help conserve water. The most common example is to show the water required to make beef versus the same amount of soy. This study found that one 150g soy burger required 158 litres of water, while one 150 beef patty required 2350 litres- almost 15 times more water. (Although still much higher than typical plant requirements, pig and chicken meat use much less water than cow meat- you can check out some more numbers here.
Health reasons
Finally, eating a vegetarian diet is completely healthy for most people, and this is supported by science. Here is one of many articles that found vegetarian diets to be perfectly healthy.
Vegetarians also show lower rates of cardiovascular disease mortality and cancer rates, as evidenced by this meta-study in 2012 (in this case, the researched compiled data from seven different studies).
I do take supplements of iron, but these are the same supplements my mother, who eats 1-2 servings of meat daily takes, because anemia runs in our family. I take vegetarian-friendly B12 vitamins too.
One of the best cooking tips I’ve learned is that having a lot of bright and varied colours in your meal helps make it nutritionally balanced and tasty. Not having a protein meat source has also forced me to experiment with food combinations that keep me full, which has helped me become a better cook.
Conclusion
Reducing my consumption of animals and animal products has been a long, gradual journey that is still on-going, and the more I learn about animal welfare the more I feel being a vegetarian fits my personal philosophies. If this post has inspired you to start eating more plant-based meals, but you don’t know where to start, check out some of my easy vegetarian recipes here. Another great source of vegetarian recipes is the Vegetarian Times.
Whether you agree or disagree with my opinions, I’d love to hear what you think about restricting our diets based on ethical, environmental, and health reasons. My views are always changing too!
Thanks for reading!
hungry mango travels 