What finally made you become a vegetarian?

Hi all...

I'm curious. I dabbled in the veg*n lifestyle for a tiny bit in my early teens but went back to meat. Now, I'm 32 and I've been thinking about it more and more. I think it's because of Thanksgiving. My fiances parents were talking about how they get their turkey from the farm....that made me feel sad for it. Then, I saw the usual turkeys get pardoned from the Prez. Darn it, now I can't stop thinking about these poor little birdies.

So, what put you over the edge? When did you finally say "I'm never eating meat again"?

Mind you, I'm not ready to go all the way and give up dairy or eggs just yet.

I became veggie about 2 years ago - I'd considered it for a while but eventually it was a 'Viva!' video that cinched it for me - chicken slaughter :-(

I have always been back and forth with vegetarianism since I was in middle school. I always knew in the back of my head that it's sad to eat animals, but the first time I stopped a vegetarian diet was because my parents said I needed to eat meat to grow... and I wasn't very well versed in the nutritional info at age 12. One of my sisters became vegan during this time, so I was just sort of following in her steps. She would show all the behind the scenes abuse videos, and it got to me... but not enough I guess?

This FINAL time I decided to become vegetarian again was actually because of my boyfriend. Exactly a year ago, no the way home from a Thanksgiving meal with my boyfriend's family, he suggested we go vegetarian for 1 month. I said why not, because I can easily give up meat, but I wasn't sure how long my boyfriend would last since he has always ate meat. But, 1 year later, it's going fine. :D

So although that didn't really put me over the edge, what really made me know for sure I could NEVER EVER eat meat again was just researching more into the humane aspect, environmental aspect, and health aspects of eschewing animal products. I cry when I watch those videos... You should watch Earthlings! It's pretty good..but I cried during the whole thing.

And you may not be ready to give up dairy/eggs, and you may never have to! But you may find eventually that you can. If nothing else, you could at least try to get the dairy and eggs from a local farm where you know for sure they don't harm the cows/chickens. Even if you only eat once or twice a week, that's better than nothing... though some vegetarians/vegans may disagree. I think every bit helps though!

Original Post by weiing:

 

So although that didn't really put me over the edge, what really made me know for sure I could NEVER EVER eat meat again was just researching more into the humane aspect, environmental aspect, and health aspects of eschewing animal products. I cry when I watch those videos... You should watch Earthlings! It's pretty good..but I cried during the whole thing.

 Yikes! I don't think I want or could watch those videos! I can't even watch that commercial out right now from the Humane Society or ASPCA, I forget. Ya' know, the one with that lady that sings "In the arms of the angels..." I change the channel cause it's too sad. I donate but I don't want to see the sad little faces of kitties and puppies. I don't think I could make it through any of those videos. Thanks for the suggestion though...I'm just too wimpy.

i went vegan almost two years ago after reading skinny bitch. i had been a vegetarian for a while in my early teens but at the time i went vegan i was an omnivore. i did it for health reasons, but as i learned more and more about the environmental impact of eating a meat-free diet my reasons for maintaining my veganism expanded. while issues of animal cruelty are of course part of my motivation as well, i'm not really a "meat is murder" kind of vegan. i think the most important thing is to be conscious of what you're eating and where it's coming from! eating locally, for instance, can have a big impact on the environment, too. also i think that something that helped me when i first went vegan was the fact that i've never been a "forever" vegan. it's not a lifelong commitment for me. it may be, but for me it's just a lot less pressure if i keep thinking i can always go back to being an omnivore if i choose to do so at some point.

good luck! ;)

Ah, if you'd ever met a turkey, you wouldn't feel sorry for them.    My neighbor has one and it's always getting out and climbing all over my car, scratching it all up, eating my horse feed, and attacking anyone who comes by.  You have to carry a stick to defend yourself if it's around or it will peck the crap out of your legs.  But her dogs are not much better, so maybe it's just her... 

I want to eat that turkey so bad though... ;)

I, quite honestly, don't give a **** about the ethical considerations of eating meat in general. Feed lots and comercial poltery operations are repugnant and unhealthy and to be avoided. Farm raised product, however, does not offend me. 

I've not gone all the way vegeterian; I'm not sure I will either. I've more or less stopped eating meat because I've just lost the taste for it, and I don't like the way it stinks up the house. It's like bacon: I like a piece of bacon on a BLT but not if I have to smell pig fat for thee days every time I walk through my kitchen. Its just ot worth the grossness.

I've been a vegetarian for about 15 years or so.  I'd been slowly working my way toward going totally veg, and when I started dating my husband who is also vegetarian, that just gave me added incentive.  Anyway, the moment that changed it for me was at a Thai restaurant and I'd ordered fish in a chili sauce, which I thought would come nicely sliced up for me.  But no, it was the whole fish, eye and all.  That was the end right there, I felt really bad for the fish having been wasted on me, but I could not eat it.  No flesh since that moment.

But still not vegan, so to whatever extent that make me hypocritical...

Thanks everyone for your stories. I mentioned this to my fiance last night. Great timing considering today is Turkey day, right? Well, we're off to his parents house soon but I won't mention anything just yet cause really, I don't feel up to explaining anything to anyone....especially on such a 'sacred' day for some turkey people. I'm sure I'll get all kinds of grief.

It's interesting why people choose to go veg*n though. I certainly wouldn't be able to have a whole fish or animal in front of me either and I get the thing about bacon smells in the house forever. Yeesh! Ok, well....happy thanksgiving everyone!

P.S. Smileandnod, I thought turkeys minded their own business....dang!I got that figured out wrong. I had a neighbor who had a rooster and it was so cool. I figured they were in the same family so they would be cool too. Oh well....funny story though.

there wasn't like, a dramatic event that converted me to veganism, but i was living in california, and just growing up, and i felt like it was my responsibility to know what was going on around me (for example~where my food was coming from) AFTER a ton of research i found it made sense to be a vegan. despite what i was used to, how i grew up, and what i thought i liked to eat. it is better for life, the environment, other people, yourself, and your health. another thing is that i've heard vegans and vegetarians talking about the change you knotice in your body, and it's true, you're more sensitive to your body if it needs bread, or b 12, and you feel more in tune wth the energies around you.

there wasn't like, a dramatic event that converted me to veganism, but i was living in california, and just growing up, and i felt like it was my responsibility to know what was going on around me (for example~where my food was coming from) AFTER a ton of research i found it made sense to be a vegan. despite what i was used to, how i grew up, and what i thought i liked to eat. it is better for life, the environment, other people, yourself, and your health. another thing is that i've heard vegans and vegetarians talking about the change you knotice in your body, and it's true, you're more sensitive to your body if it needs bread, or b 12, and you feel more in tune wth the energies around you.

I'm not a complete vegetarian yet, but I am thinking about it. I used to be and I started when I was about 10. I was brought up on a farm. I wasn't your typical girl; I didn't much care for the horses or anything like that. The bull, now he was my buddy. I spent a lot of time from when he was little going out and feeding him and rubbing his head, etc. He became a pet to me. Then one day I came home from school and my bull was missing. That did it for me. I stayed a vegetarian up until I got pregnant with my first son when I was 20. I was craving meat so bad that I gave in. Then I stayed an omnivore for a long time. This year I started going back to vegetarianism slowly. I still do fish, but I won't touch anything else.

I think eating a whole fish, eye and all, is more honest than opening a can of tuna.

In China, the guest of honor gets to eat the eye.  In Japan it is easy to be a vegetarian or even a vegan EXCEPT that many dishes are made with a light fish broth.

The world of humans and their motivations are strange indeed.

I've never been a hard-core vegetarian, though in practice I do avoid eating meat. I don't know, it just never really made sense to me. I don't love animals that much. But I don't love a lot of humans either and I still don't eat them. :P haha.

I think there was probably some convoluted thought process behind my decision to stop eating meat that now I've just simplified to "it doesn't make sense." Something to do with not wanting dehumanization to be a reason to treat people badly...

I am a eggitarian, I don't eat any meat or fish just vegetables. I became a vegetarian in my teens and never turned back. I just cant  imagine myself eating meat even though my husband loves nonveg. 

I decided to become a vegetarian after watching Menaka Gandhi, India's most eminent animal right activist. She is a true vegan but I can't give up diary and eggs. So I jus gave up meat. 

I used to watch my mom and grandma clean fish and prep meat, I never liked it. And I even saw few goats being slaughtered after all that, those never images my mind. 

I recently used mushrooms to subsitute lamb meat in a lamb curry and after that now I can't even eat mushrooms... 

I've been a Vegetarian for about 3 months, it all started in July when I saw video of Chicken Slaughter. D:

I was Vegetarian than too but in September I had Lobster at Red Lobster. (Which made me want to cry because it still had a face)

But i'm a vegetarian again and i'm never turning back. : )

I started eating vegetarian just before my birthday about 4 1/2 months ago. I did it partly because I had been feeling unwell on he diet I was eating and partly becasue 2 friends who knew I had considered eating vegetarian bought me Skinny Bitch. The book gets a lot of flack, and it is certainly not the most brilliant outline of why and how to eat vegetarian, but reading about the animal abuse that occurs in factory farms opened my eyes. It helped that I have always had a natural aversion to many meat products. I just finished reading The Ethics of What We Eat and will be transitioning to a fully vegan diet. If you are looking for info, the book outlines many good reasons to look more closely at our food choices and even how people can be more consciencious meat eaters.

Oh, by the way, I feel better physically than I have in many years eating healthy vegetarian food!  

I've always felt guilty about eating meat but felt like I didn't have a choice up until recently because my whole family eat meat, now i'm old enough to cook my own vegetarian meals and buy food for myself :)

My dad made me a vegetarian... he knew that I didn't like the thought of killing animals for food.. but one day he came in with the leg joint of the lamb that my mum was cooking for dinner and said "look Laura I used to be a little lamb running around on the field and now I'm going to be on your plate" he was moving the bones around as if the lamb was running, it was so horrible I cried for hours and didn't even touch the meal. He's horrible, I hate him.

I'm glad I stopped eating meat and feel so much better about myself for it.

When I was 15 (17 years ago, eek!), my older brother told me "If you're going to eat meat, you have to accept that an animal had to die FOR YOU".

He wasn't a vegetarian - he was just messing with his little sister's head. But it worked, and I've been a vegetarian since then.

Incidentally, I'm very pro-hunting. My rule is that I can eat anything I kill. One of these days, I'll finally go out and kill something. We raised chickens when I was a kid, so I have no qualms about eating eggs from small farms. I feel guilty about dairy, but I try to buy it from the smallest/kindest sources possible.

I LOVE animals...that's it!

I've always loved animals and when i was 10 I tried to quit eating meat but it didn't work out and my parents weren't that cooperative.  Then when i was 12 I saw a video of the animals being slaughtered, then I REALLY knew what went on and I became a lacto-ovo vegetarian then and then 2 years ago when I was 24 I found out about rennet (i don't know why it took me 12 years to find out about rennet!) and I became vegan the very minute i found out about that insanity.