Abandoning Vegetarianism?
September 24, 2012 by Carolina
A few weeks ago I posted about the pescetarian debate & now I’m going to talk about another somewhat controversial issue in the meatless world: when vegetarians start eating meat. Before we get into this topic it must be said: I am not here to condemn anyone’s dietary decisions. The decision to eat meat or not is a very personal one everyone makes based on what works for them. Meat eaters or not, no one is right or wrong. At the end of the day, as long as you feel good about the choices you’re making then you’re golden! Here at Peas in a Blog we don’t judge anyone’s dietary choices, we simply try to encourage people to enjoy more vegetables & promote a healthy lifestyle.
This past weekend a friend asked me the following question: “Do you think you’ll ever eat meat again?” I was asked this question because a friend of ours who was a vegetarian for many years recently began to eat meat again. My response to the question was the following: I don’t think I’ll ever eat meat again, not because its the wrong or right thing to do, but because of my reasons in being a vegetarian.
Some people turn to the vegetarian lifestyle to lose weight, others to save money on groceries. Some decide to abandon meat to seek the health benefits of vegetarianism, others do it for ethical reasons — I fall into the latter. I became a vegetarian for one main reason: to do my part in impacting the environment & the treatment of animals. I believe it’s a lot harder to abandon vegetarianism when your convictions are tied to ethical standards, as opposed to health benefits. Hence the reason I don’t think I’ll ever eat meat again. Notice I didn’t say “never” because who knows where life will take me. I don’t plan on ever eating meat again but if for whatever reason one day I come to that decision one thing will be for certain: I will have to feel like it’s the right thing for me.
My friend who used to be a vegetarian agreed with my points, she said she was never a vegetarian due to animal cruelty, she was a vegetarian because of the health benefits. Do I judge her for making the switch to eating meat? Absolutely not, she has her reasons & her dietary choices are just that: hers. That’s the beauty of having choices, we get to make the ones we want.
If you’re a vegetarian, do you think you’ll ever eat meat again? Are you a former vegetarian who now eats meat? We’d love to hear from you!
September 26, 2012 at 9:07 am
I was a vegetarian for 6 years when I was a kid. I was about 6-12 and it was totally my parents decision. This was before Whole Foods and all the resources that are available today. My mother was well ahead of her time as far as organic eating, juicing (carrot juice every morning) and eating well. While I do eat meat now I know that my love of veggies, tofu and not really caring if I have meat to be a direct result of all that. But to this day I still cannot drink Carrot Juice…