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When I was 13 years old I decided to become a lacto-ovo vegetarian, which means that I don't eat meat but I do eat dairy and egg products. It didn't happen over night. It was gradual because I found out more and more things about the meat industry that disgusted me to the point that I simply couldn't eat meat anymore. At first I stopped eating things like steak (never was a huge fan of it), meat balls and sausage. The hardest thing to give up was chicken because I would always want my favorite chicken pie on my birthday. The last thing I stopped eating was fish when I was about 15 years old. I miss salmon so much! It never seizes to amaze me though how much of an alien you become when people find out that you don't eat meat. Most of the time they are respectful about it and actually quite encouraging "I could never stop eating meat myself, but I admire that you are doing this because you care about animals!". I used to have to defend myself so much and it was exhausting. For some reason vegetarians and vegans are more accepted these days so I no longer need to explain myself.

 

What really annoys me though is when people stuff meat in my face and goes "Gosh, you should taste this, it's SO good!! You poor thing. You are really missing out". The "poor you" thing is what really bugs me. I get their point. But what they always seem to forget is that I ate meat for 13 years! I know perfectly well what it tastes like and what I am missing out on. I have eyes to see how juicy it looks and I have a nose to smell the flavors. It is no secret to me that my fiancée is an amazing chef and that he can cook a crazy good chicken for example. He has been respectful of me being a vegetarian since day one even though he has of course had questions and tried to understand my reasoning behind it. He teases me about it sometimes but it's all good fun and he never takes it too far.

 

I want everyone to understand that I do understand reality. I'm fully aware that meat substitutes aren't that tasty. There are some things that I love but in general meat substitutes are boring and it makes me miss meat. But what needs to be recognized is that to me it is morally wrong to eat it. I never say a word about other people eating it. So why do they need to act like I am an alien for eating veggie food? It doesn't make any sense. If I could I would totally eat everything Nick cooks. But instead of acting like I am weird he shows a lot of interest in vegetarian food and wants to buy tofu, soy products, garden burgers and whatever else I can think of because he wants to know how to cook it for me and make it taste good! He is VERY patient with little Miss Picky over here ;)

 

Sometimes I think "What the hell, maybe I can have just one tiny piece of chicken". But I came up with a good analogy. For me, eating meat would be like cheating on someone. You might enjoy it in the moment, but because it is morally wrong you'll end up feeling horrible and sick to your stomach. I know too much about what is going on in the meat industry to be able to support it. And no matter how much good meat I am missing out on it'll always be worth it to me. So don't feel sorry for me. I'm very happy and content with my decision to be a vegetarian but I don't judge anyone elses decision to eat meat. Remember that the only thing I'm not eating is meat. I can eat EVERYTHING else. So for those of you who think vegetarians sit out in the garden and only chews on carrots, think again ;)