Being Vegetarian

It's been a very very very long time since I turned vegetarian, so long in fact that I don't actually remember when I made the "change", truthfully I don't actually think that I ever experienced any sort of "change" at all, for me it was much more of a natural transition, a part of my personal life journey, definitely not something I ever had to 'sit and think about'.

 I was and still am the only vegetarian in my family, all of my family are what I would call 'big meat eaters'. Don't get me wrong, they are massive animal lovers, they always have been and always will be, but lets just say I can't see them 'going veggie' any time soon in fact I can't really ever picture it. I'm pretty sure in my thinking that whilst they like to pretend to mock me for my views and choices, actually they very much understand and really quite respect me for being vegetarian, and for me {combined with their kindness towards animals} this is enough. 

Whilst I was younger and lived in my family home I have to say that I found it hard to eat, in truth I found it hard to want to eat. You see I just didn't want to be around meat, it made me sick to the stomach and it's fair to say I struggled with my eating for a little while because of this. I was what is known as a complete 'fusspot'. I wouldn't eat meat, I wouldn't eat vegetables, I wouldn't eat tofu or Quorn. In fact the only thing I would eat was pizza and pasta. Why? Because this is all I knew how to cook and it was all I was willing to try. My Mum gave up cooking for me after I refused and refused to try anything that she would make. I knew no other vegetarians and there I was feeling very angry at the world about people eating meat. I didn't know where to find support and there definitely wasn't as much choice around in regards to meat alternatives as there is now. For me, being a strict and very passionate vegetarian living with a house full of meat-eaters just didn't work.  

My now Husband Adam who I met at the young age of 14 ate meat too and even though I wasn't exactly thrilled about it, I loved him deeply {as I still do} and I accepted it. I don't agree with and I never have that people should become Vegetarian just because their partners are; it is a decision/transition that should come from within. If you go vegetarian for someone else, chances are you won't stick at it. It's a very personal choice.

Every single person has their own individual reason as to why they are or aren't vegetarian, of course that doesn't stop me wanting to raise awareness of the very cruel and harsh realities of the meat industry. Lets be honest, the majority of the time the meat industry is very well covered up. Kids growing up on the whole have no idea about where their McDonalds Hamburger comes from or what is contained in their packets of sweets. Personally, I dislike this and I think that people should be made more aware of the facts surrounding meat and then left to make their own personal choice on the matter. Quite honestly, I'd be extremely rich if I had a pound for everytime I've heard the words, "Oh my God, I had no idea that that went on!" from people of all ages. Well it does go on I'm afraid and it happens every single day.. 

After quite a number of years together, my then boyfriend and now Husband Adam got curious and intrigued by my passion I guess and one day he decided to sit me down and he asked me why exactly it was that I was vegetarian, and so I explained to him. I could tell that he quickly realised that he wasn't as aware of the cruel processes of the meat industry as he had thought he was, and shortly after talking to me about it he made the decision himself to also become vegetarian. People in the beginning liked to assume that he was vegetarian purely because I was, and that just wasn't true in the slightest. Whilst I'm not here to justify his reasons, what I will say is that Adam made the "change" for his own reasons and some of his reasons actually differ to my own. He is now through his own desire to have researched well informed about the process of meat and because of this is passionate and committed to vegetarianism. 

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Adam and I moved out into our own home at age 19 and honestly this made life as vegetarians a thousand times easier for us both. We buy our food so we choose what's in our fridge and life for us is so much happier having a meatless fridge! The only meat we do buy is for our cats. Because Adam had eaten meat for a much longer period of time than I had he was a lot more open minded to trying meat alternatives like Quorn and tofu and by that time there was a whole lot more of a wide variety of meat alternatives available. At first I was reluctant, but now I feel so stupid for not giving brands like Quorn and Linda McCartney a go, because well honestly - their products are in fact amazing! I even have meat eating friends that 1. Can not tell the difference between real meat and brands like Quorn and 2. Eat it regularly because it's so tasty and so much more healthier than real meat. I now eat so much better than I ever have and this is down to a number of things, first of all - the wide variety of meat alternatives available, secondly the fact that I now have my own home and buy my own food and thirdly because there's so much support available out there for vegetarians now especially through the Internet through websites like The Vegetarian Society.

I know that this blog post won't have appealed to everyone and I hope that people don't feel that I'm trying to rant or push my views on to anyone else. I thought that it was important to explain why I'm vegetarian as it's a massive part of my life and so really it just wouldn't feel right not to talk about it on my blog which focuses on my life. In regards to our baby, as his parents Adam and I do intend to raise him as a vegetarian or as much of a vegetarian as is possible until he is old enough to make is own decisions. Obviously his health and happiness will always be our number one priority at all times and we would never ever deprive him of anything that he will need to become a healthy and strong little man. We will follow medical advice and do mountains of research to ensure he gets everything he needs. Please don't be quick to assume that just because someone doesn't eat meat that they are unhealthy, this is a complete myth and I would urge you to research this before jumping to this conclusion.