Charlotte Wood, a junior from the East Bay of San Francisco, has been a vegetarian for most of her college career for different reasons than the average vegetarian.
Q. What made you want to become a vegetarian?
A. Environmental reasons( less carbon emissions to produce vegetables than meat)
Q. How was the transition from eating meat to not eating meat? Was it a rough transition? How did your body handle it?
A. Not rough at all, sometimes I would forget and order a chicken noodle soup, but I would just eat around the chicken. I wasn’t very strict about it in the first couple weeks. My body felt pretty good!
Q. Do you ever regret becoming vegetarian?
A. Not at all!
Q. Do you frequent vegetarian hot spots in Fort Collins?
A. I suppose, but I love trying ethnic cuisine like Thai food and Pho. There are vegetarian options everywhere you look!
Q. Do you recommend becoming a vegetarian while in college? Is it difficult to be a vegetarian in college?
A. I would definitely recommend it. I think starting at home was a really good way start because my parents were very supportive. But it’s not difficult in college.
Q. Are you happy with your choice of vegetarianism in college?
A. Yes, even though I made the choice before college, it suits me well.
Q. Have you had any rough patches in your experience?
A. During my experience, I have had some rough patches, especially in the beginning. My mom’s family is half Greek, so I got a lot of teasing and questioning about my decision, always with a response of “You crazy Californians” or “This is just a phase.” At the time, I thought it might be, so I just let it slide. I think something that is unique is my reasoning behind it. Sure, I’m all for animal rights and the health benefits of it and whatnot, but my main reason was the environmental impact, and people seem to respect this reasoning. In San Francisco it is very common to be a Veghead, and there are so many options for it! One asterisk on my vegetarian label is when I do go into the city(SF), I will occasionally eat Sushi, because it is very fresh and sustainable there, plus its delicious! So I suppose I’m partly pescatarian. I would say I have sushi 2–3 times a year(when I go home). But again, it is very feasible here in FoCo; most restaurants are willing to take meat out of any dish, but I am usually able to find something without meat to begin with.
