The vegetarian post

I have been a vegetarian for almost a year and a half now.

I feel that it would lend credibility to my argument if I explained what I was like in the past. Basically, I was a huge carnivore. Double bacon cheeseburgers were my main vice; I could eat a two-pound burger in half an hour, easily, when I was in eighth grade. Yeah, take a moment to think about how disgusting that is. It goes without saying that I ate pulled pork sandwiches like there was no tomorrow, and that I firmly believed the best seasoning for food was bacon bits. That's why I get irritated when people suggest I don't know what I'm missing-trust me, I do.

Why, then, did I become a vegetarian? Well, there were a lot of small factors that added up. For one thing, it dawned on me that if I'm so squeamish of my own muscles and veins, why would I eat others' muscles and veins? From that point on, meat became kind of creepy. After all, it's no fun when you can't think about what you're eating because you're afraid you'll be grossed out by it. Another factor is that I love animals, and it seemed hypocritical to say I was for animal rights and then go eat an animal. The icing on the cake was the documentary "Food, Inc.", which we watched in health class. It documented the way we get meat in America. To be honest, the way meat is produced is disgusting. The animals are kept in squalid conditions, the workers are exploited, it's often unsanitary, it wreaks havoc on the environment, etc.

All in all, I'm happy being a vegetarian. No one in my family took me seriously when I said I wanted to stop eating meat, so I'm proud of myself for sticking with it as long as I have. I feel better about my eating habits. And I don't resent people who eat meat-in fact, I don't really even miss it anymore.

In short, big changes are not as hard to make as you would think.