Change your diet — Change the world
People have been eating meat since the beginning of time, so most think, “Why stop now?”
Most meat-eaters probably have never been to a slaughterhouse before or, at the very least, even realized how animals are treated there. The word in itself describes a place that no one wants to imagine, somewhere far away where animals are being murdered for our eating habits.
When I was very young I ate lots of meat — partly because it was part of my culture and partly because I enjoyed it. Then, when I was around six years old, my mom decided to become pescatarian. I didn’t really know what that meant at the time but I knew she would stop eating all those different kinds of meat dishes I knew she loved. So I decided to quit meat with her. I stopped eating beef and pork, and eventually stopped eating chicken nuggets, which was a challenging but worthwhile decision. Currently, I am on a no red meat diet and have been for around eight years. When I think about it now, I realize that as a little kid, I didn’t really debate the decision or why — I simply did it. But I don’t regret it, especially now that I have learned all the dangers of red meat towards not only my health but to the environment.
Beef consumption especially increases the risk of diseases and premature death, in addition to it being harmful to the environment, and more obviously, harmful to cows. Around 29 million cows suffer and die in the U.S. yearly, according to an article by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). They are dehorned, branded and overall abused. Most meat-eaters don’t know how their meat gets on their plate and don’t realize the effects of their diet. To add to this, the already weakening environment is in worse condition thanks to the methane gases released by cows. These gases are an important contributing factor to global warming as they are more potent than carbon dioxide and some other greenhouse gases.
This doesn’t mean that every human worldwide must quit meat completely and immediately. In fact, some people struggle with their health on a completely vegetarian diet. Scientists are suggesting to decrease levels of meat in most people’s diets, not only out of concern for their safety, but because it could drastically slow down climate change. Increasing the amount of vegetables in your daily diet can improve your health and overall be incredibly beneficial. But at the most basic level, it is your choice to reduce or eliminate meat from your meals, although more limited amounts of meat are recommended.
All of this knowledge led me to choose to stop eating meat all together, at least for a little while. When we were presented the choice at school for a project, I quickly chose to be vegetarian. The project that I am a part of is called the Do One Thing (DOT) Project, and it centers around the idea of changing some habit in your daily life to decrease your ecological footprint. I will be quitting meat for four weeks, and reporting my progress on this account. Follow my journey these next few weeks. Hopefully you will realize that animals are not ours to eat and you will make every bite count.
