Motivation to be vegetarian

Awhile ago I posted asking why you are a vegetarian.  I have been since I was a teenager, about 20 years and I do so because I work with animals and can't imagine eating what I am trying to save.  Along those lines, I thought I would share with those of you of like mind a story about a cute little piglet who is right now sleeping downstairs in a kitty crate awaiting his next bottle feeding.  This little pig was left along the side of the road, newborn, umbilicus still attached, and starving.  A kind person brought him to an animal rescue organization which is why he is in my home right now.  He is adorable (for now 'til he wakes me every 2 hours all night, he will still be adorable, I will just be too tired to see it).  This cutie has just reminded me that all living breathing things deserve respect and dignity.  Thank goodness for rescues, vegetarians, etc. who try to preserve the dignity of all living things!!!!!!!!!

Thank you so much for sharing this delightful adventure.  What blessed souls you are!!!

My reason for choosing a vegetarian way of living is also to preserve life.  The anguish, fear, despair, anger, etc. that these humble beings must experience is not something that I wish to ingest.  However, I do not begrudge others the right to make personal choices. 

My family still eats meat.  Except for my youngest.  2 years ago she came to me and asked why I became a vegetarian.   I shared some of my views.  She has not consumed any animal flesh since.  She was in the fifth grade at the time.  I thought that it was just temporary but she is headed to Grade 7 and still going strong.      &n bsp;    

Peace  -  Anola Gail 

Aww, I'm jealous! Not just of the little piggie, but of you being a vegetarian.

I still haven't pushed myself to be a vegetarian, yet, but I don't eat mammal meat (just poultry and seafood), nor do I eat meat more often than 5 times a week (normally about 3 days).

So here is my congrats to you (and Anola Gail!) for being a veggie.

Hi alifranroy.  Jump on in, the water is just fine.  It is not easy.  Just take it slow.  Treat yourself as you would your best friend.

PEACE

Anola Gail 

I am trying to figure out my camera so I can upload pics of this cutie.  He is a 10 day old 3lb Duroc pig (yes, the kind used for pork), the cutest little playful thing, thought my dog was his mommy.  Kept me from 2 nights of sleep but how many people get to sleep on their couch with a baby pig?

Here's some motivation to be vegetarian:

I was about to get off the interstate for work yesterday and there was a trailer full of cows going to slaughter in front of me. There was a dead cow laying in the back amongst the other cows. I'd be $1000 that the dead cow got slaughtered too and someone will be eating it.

They call those cows "downers" sometimes they fall off the druck, sometimes they are not dead, just suffering and they get trampled while being loaded and unloaded, pretty awful suffering for those animals.

awww I want a little piglet to take care of. So sweet.

'if you can kill it you can eat it' I can kill and cut a fish, thefore im allowed to eat it. I DONT eat meat - not for that reason. But how they are killed. Sure they can be rasied organicly. But they all get murdered in the end so to me, its still sick.

Anolagail--that is so amazing and great.  Give your daughter a big hug for me and tell her she is terrific!

I have been a vegetarian since 1987 when I lost a loved one and realized how fragile the flame of life really is.  I decided I didn't want to cause any death that I could avoid.

It was really tough in those days to be vegetarian, there weren't very many prepared foods easily found, restaurants (in the midwest) were focused on meats for every entree, so you had to prepare everything yourself and if you went out to eat, sometimes the only thing you could get would be a side salad and/or a baked potato (sometimes not even the potato if it was a fast food place.)  It's so much easier now. 

If it's not too late to post a response on why people become vegetarians here's my story. Use to do all the cooking for my family as my parents both worked and I was Cinderella! I had gone to the supermarket to do some shopping and for the first time in my life I saw half a cow on a meat hook. Never thinking that those nice neat rectangular packages that lay in the refrigerator case contained a portion of the cow that was on the hook, I just never thought about where meat came from. As it turned out, one night I was making Southern Fried Chicken for the family when I noticed the ooze (blood) coming from the marrow of the chicken. It got me so sick that I didn't eat dinner. The next day I went to the library and took out several books on vegetarianism and never looked back. Found out lots of interesting things about how meat is slaughtered, how chickens are raised and how much mercury is in fish. Have been a vegetarian since 1968 and love my life as one.

I'm really want to be vegetarian, and when I'm buying my own food its 100% fine, but it's like when I go to sunday luches at my grandma's and we have a sunday dinner - she has to cook for everyone and I wouldn't want her to have to make the effort to cook something else for me just because I've decided to stop eating meat. And if my dad/mum/friends cooked me something without me knowing i'd feel really rude refusing seeing as I've pretty much eaten meat all my life apart from this year. I just don't know what to do.....

That is such a great story about the piglet!  I'm glad he has a good home with you now :)

I've been vegan for 4-5 years now... I've always been grossed out by meats and dairy products (and all animal by-products), and decided that if I don't want to consume that stuff, I just won't, and stopped completely.  I always felt incredibly guilty everytime I would eat/wear/use something that involved animal suffering, so my conscience was my motivator.  Since then, I've been experiencing amazing health benefits and have felt like a million bucks.  I don't think I could ever ever ever go back.

Skinnieminnie, if you start moving towards vegetarianism, I'm sure your family and friends would be supportive since they love you.  Just explain to them that it has nothing to do with you not liking their cooking, but that it's just for health and belief reasons, and I'm sure they will understand.  Try learning some new veg. recipies and making things for them, and maybe they will feel more included.