You are what you eat. I think that the food that you consume is a huge part of your identity. The types of food and the quantity of food you eat directly corresponds to what you look like physically, but also answers some questions about what kind of person you are on the inside. I’m a vegetarian. A vegetarian vegetarian. I’m not “I’m a vegetarian but I sometimes eat chicken or fish.” I’m not “I’m a vegetarian but on Thanksgiving I have turkey.” I don’t make exceptions for bacon or tuna fish. If you do like these foods, that’s fine. You’re entitled to. But I hear many people misuse the term. (For reference, if you are a vegetarian but eat fish still, you are a pescatarian)

Now, I’m not a vegan. I have eggs a few times a week (organic cage free eggs) and I do love some good cheese. I almost never have milk because it gives me stomach aches, but dairy is in so many things that it’s really difficult to avoid. I’ve gone on vegan diets for several weeks but choose to include most dairy in my diet. Also, ice cream. Veganism one day, perhaps.

I’m a somewhat peculiar case. I’ve had chicken and fish in my life, but I’ve never once tasted red meat. Bacon? No. Steak? No? The quintessential American cheeseburger? Nope! Not once, not ever. It’s not because my parents fed me a vegetarian diet. My brother was not a pescatarian until very recently. I just always rejected it. Before I even knew what meat was, it disgusted me. Now that I do know what meat is, it definitely disgusts. I’m a vegetarian for five big reasons. I’ll outline them below. Keep in mind these are in no particular order. Also, I may use “you” in these points to refer to people in general (I don’t mean you, the reader).

1) Animal cruelty. There’s no two ways around it. If you are eating meat that didn’t come from a local family farm, it came from a factory farm, and the conditions in factory farms are detestable. Most animals in factory farms never get to take a step in their life. They are caged, never see daylight, and never develop properly. To make these animals as big as possible, most are treated with artificial growth hormones. They are overfed and their unused limbs cannot support their unnaturally high weight, so they collapse upon themselves. Due to the severely inhumane lifestyle they lead, they almost all get sick and are treated with antibiotics. That you one day consume. Heard of bioaccumulation? Look it up. Then, they are eventually put out of their misery to end up on your plate.

2) Environmentalism. Eating meat is not sustainable. If the entire world ate meat, there would never be enough food to go around. On top of that, it takes a huge amount of energy, water, feed, space, and fossil fuels for the meat industry to work. If you cut your meat consumption by just one quarter, it would be the difference between driving a Prius over a Hummer. Not to mention the environmental impact the byproducts of meat production that get dumped into our lifestyle and make us sick.

It takes about 15 kilograms of grain to produce 1 kilogram of meat for consumption. Roughly meaning, we could feed fifteen vegetarians or one omnivore. It take twenty-two thousand liters of water to produce one kilogram of beef. This compares to one thousand liters of water to produce one kilogram of wheat. Heard of virtual water? Look it up.

I think I could write several posts just about this environmental bullet point, but for the interest of… interest, let’s move on.

3) Taste. Honestly, even if the meat was made from a cow who had a long and happy life, was raised without antibiotics or artificial growth hormones and on organically grown feed, and grew up down the road from me, I still wouldn’t eat it. I have no interest. I’d like to say this is because I don’t like the taste of meat, however, as I’ve never tasted it, I’m sure this is my least valid point. The most I can say is that the senses of smell and taste are very closely linked and the smell of any kind of meat makes me want to run, not sit down and prepare to eat.

4) Cost. Just in terms of a consumer, meat is expensive. The price tag has to reflect all of the water, feed, and transportation put into growing the meat and that’s before the market takes their cut. It’s simply less expensive to buy a vegetarian meal than any meal with meat at the supermarket. So, as a semi-jobless college graduate, this is a more important point for me than kids supported by their parents or families with established wealth.

5) Health. This is probably the point that most omnivores will challenge me on. But i’ve done my research. Eating meat is simply not healthy. There, I said it. Now, keep in mind that I’m referring specifically to red meat here. Leaner meats and fish are absolutely good for you. I still chose not to eat them for many of the reasons I’ve listed above. I’m an extremely healthy 22 year old male with absolutely no health problems and I have never had red meat. Ever. Sure, you get some good things from meat. Protein and iron to name two big ones. Fortunately, meat is not the only way to get these beneficial nutritional components. Everything good you get from meat you can get elsewhere, and in a much more healthy package. Research shows that vegetarians are less prone to disease and live several years longer than their meat eating counterpart. (My brother will note that this is likely skewed data because vegetarians are more interested in health overall and are more likely to exercise and eat more moderate portions than others. And be more wary of the food they consume in general.)

So. I’m not telling you to go vegetarian. That’s not my job. I’m just telling you why I’m a vegetarian. And while I have a particularly strong stance on vegetarianism, I don’t and will not judge you for eating meat. The majority of my friends eat meat and I never (well, almost never) comment on it. And I don’t flaunt my vegetarianism or throw it in people’s faces. I just ask to be respected.

The end.

Broccoli. It’s the new meat.