If You Are What You Eat, Does That Make You Dead Meat ?

Coming from a Latino culture where most family gatherings contain meat, you could imagine the faces of my family members when they realized that I was going vegetarian. They were mainly confused and worried, worried that I wasn't going to get enough proteins or I was going to start being bony. Here is my reasoning to them and to you.

These lovely animals (cows) are a handful — believe me. With cows, you have to care for them and watch over them as if they were a natural human being. During my trip to El Salvador, I saw a bunch of cows strolling around with their owners on a lovely sunny day. During the time I was there I started to notice how many of my aunts and uncles owned cows.

I decided to ask my aunt if I was able to walk the cows (not realizing what a struggle it was). In El Salvador cows and dogs do not get along. I was told by my cousin to get a stick from the ground so that I could lead the cows to the river which was the place they were able to have something like a play time. Once we went to the river it reminded me how much support these cows need on a daily basis. The cows couldn’t even find their way to the river alone — they needed a guide. When we left the river we dropped the cows off at a ranch to then be picked up by my uncle. Although it was a hard day to maintain these cows it was all in all a fun experience and increased my compassion for cows.

Cows create this gas named methane. According to the EPA, “ Domestic livestock such as cattle, buffalo, sheep, and goats produce large amounts of CH4 as part of their normal digestive process.” This is a horrible addition to our atmosphere and could most likely decrease our years here on this very planet due to climate change.