Before this class, the only meat I would eat is chicken. Now after learning about what goes into meat and the abuse of animals and even workers, I have decided altogether not to eat any type of meat. My family overall are not big meat eaters, but now when I see the sight of bacon I get very frustrated with my family. In the back of my mind I think if only they knew what really went into getting that slice of bacon. Purchasing these meats supports more and more this horrible system of abuse.

I came to the decision to be vegetarian due to the abuse of animals. Consequently, my diet is quite different from most people completely since I have cut out any type of meat product. For breakfast, I will have either a bagel with cream cheese, toast with butter, or powdered french toast. If I am still hungry, between breakfast and lunch I will have some type of fruit either bananas with peanut butter, strawberries, or oranges. At lunch, I will either have a sandwich that contains lettuce, tomato, cheese, and mayonnaise or a Caesar salad with romaine lettuce, parmesan cheese, cut up strawberries, olives, and Caesar dressing. If I want a snack before dinner I will most likely have a protein bar, specifically white chocolate macadamia nut, which is my favorite! For dinner, I like to start with either buttered bread or I will have naan bread with hummus. The main course for dinner will usually be protein pasta, which is regular pasta that is plant-based or I will have an Impossible burger. My family is very big on getting takeout or food from fast food restaurants. I believe that most people who are like my family struggle to avoid meat when getting meals from these places. Although, I have recently learned of great alternatives at many fast food restaurants. At Burger King there is the Impossible burger which is a plant based burger that, in my opinion, tastes even better than a regular burger, without giving you the feeling of being responsible for the deaths of innocent animals. At In-n-Out there is an option called a grilled cheese which isn’t even a grilled cheese! It is a regular cheeseburger with lettuce, tomato, cheese, onions, and sauce--all without the meat, and it tastes the same as a regular cheeseburger.

This class truly changed my lifestyle of eating for the absolute best. The movie “Food, Inc.” was definitely the most influential on my decision. First off, cattle are being forced to eat corn instead of grass in order to get bigger faster. The bigger the cow, the more meat it contains. This diet has created the condition of e. coli in their stomachs which comes out as manure. Most cows become so obese they can barely stand up. The cows are already trapped in a large barn with no light, and shoved together, and since they are all close together the disease spreads to one another, especially with manure which people working the farm have no decency to clean it up. Seeing where the cows lived--packed together in a gated up barn, flies everywhere, manure spreading across the floor, and no room to even walk--was absolutely atrocious. In addition, the way cows are treated is horrific. Cows are dragged outside and are stunned with bolt guns until they are left on the ground unconscious and then are murdered vigorously.

What also changed my perspective on eating meat was the treatment of the workers who are taken advantage of. Listening to Leydy Rangel from the podcast, Homecomers, I was able to receive a true understanding of how farmers were treated. First off, farmers and workers are seen to not be hard workers by society therefore this stereotype has truly affected how they are viewed in society and the amount they are paid for their labor. People working on the land do not receive any benefits from the harvest and are usually stuck in poverty for most of their lives. In the podcast, Homecomers, Veronica Womack describes how farmers work on land that does not belong to them, instead that belong to large companies. These landowners do not allow farmers to take any of the produce home with them and are paid based on the amount they bring in, not by the actual hours they stand in the sun providing for others. People assume right off the bat that farmers have plenty of food because of the plants and livestock, yet this is actually all taken to companies and local grocery stores. The workers wake up at the latest 4:30 am and come home black with dirt, with cut up hands, and clothes that have faded from the harsh sun, covered in mud and pesticide. In addition, if the workers feel like they are becoming ill from spending hours and hours on end working, the people in charge say they can take a break in the shade and never give them the proper medical care they need. It is interesting to see that these people who work for hours day in and day out and that end up getting serious medical conditions because of their dedication are considered lazy and are not paid above minimum wage or given any health benefits whatsoever.

After learning what truly happens behind the scenes with animals and workers, I intend to keep my decision of not eating meat. I refuse to support companies who take advantage of their workers and abuse their animals. This class has truly changed my eating habits and I have found a new kind of awareness about our agriculture companies. I have learned that there are better alternatives that one can have without feeling the guilt of harming an innocent animal. Next time, I will think twice before ordering a hamburger.

The first time I watched "Food, Inc." was in 6th grade and I went vegetarian for 2 weeks. I know it was two weeks because my family made bets on how long it would last and my dad won. A few weeks ago when I watched “Food, Inc.” again I had the same reaction. I have been vegetarian since Thursday, January 15th at 11:10am. The reason I know this is because my brother texted our family group chat for proof of when I started--again for betting purposes. Logically, I know eating animals is bad, yet I understand it is complex and my vegetarian reaction is an emotional one.

In the fall/winter of 2020 I started eating a lot less meat, but was still eating meat for 5-6 meals per week. I did a good bit of research and figured out that Americans over-consume proteins because we have been told that we need tons of animal protein when we really don’t. The first few days after "Food, Inc." turned me vegetarian were a little hard because I hadn't thought too much about alternatives for protein so I relied on beans. Having beans 2 meals a day for a few days didn’t make me feel great so I started to diversify where I get my protein. For the last year or so I have had 2 eggs for breakfast every day so I continued with that and then made sure to track my protein a little for the first week to make sure I was getting enough. I started eating plenty of tofu, yogurt, eggs, nuts, and vegetables.

I love to cook and be creative when I am cooking so switching to no meat hasn’t been that bad. The bigger issue has been dinners because for 3-4 meals a week I have to make my own meal. I have been able to get some pre-done stuff, like pre-cut vegetables and sauces, from Good Eggs to aid in the cooking process on busier days. Being in California and having the privilege of being able to have access to tons of fresh vegetables and alternatives has made it actually very easy to take meat out of my diet. With this being said, I am not sure I feel so strongly about not eating meat that it will last in scenarios where I don’t have alternatives. For now, it is easy to do and I think any impact is a positive one. But, when I go to stay with a family friend for ski week or go to Georgia in the summer I suspect that maintaining a vegetarian diet will be much harder.

I have thought a lot about why I decided to not eat meat currently and my feelings don’t seem as strong as other vegetarians or vegans I know. They seem to have 3 specific reasons that they don’t choose to eat meat or animal products; bad for the environment, harmful to animals, and a healthier lifestyle, but I am not sure I do. I know the environmental impacts are bad and the way they are treated is also bad. I’m not sure I could stomach watching a cow be killed, but I will likely eat meat again and forget about all the things I have learned that have made me vegetarian. Intellectually I am able to reason my way through the logic that I should be vegetarian but in my heart I don’t feel so strongly about it. While it is easy to not eat meat I will continue with that and I hope when it gets harder I can maintain it.

I have eaten meat for my whole life and have tried to cut down, especially on red meat over the last few years. I think my biggest issue with eating meat is the industrial system that is inhumane and bad for our planet. The killing of animals isn’t great but that is not my reason for not eating them. I have considered only getting chicken from local sources that I have recently researched, but at the current moment I think I will stay away from meat. In the future, this could be a good alternative to be able to put money behind my disapproval of the system while voting for a more humane and caring way to consume meat.

I eat meat with almost every lunch and dinner, and most breakfasts. It has become an integral part of most meals for me, and a taste I greatly enjoy. As long as I can remember tasting food, I have been a fan of meat lovers pizza, ribs, and fried chicken. When my family decided that my sibling and I should cook some of the meals during the week, I always made the meat the core element in the meal. Giving up meat for me would almost ruin my meals.

While I initially came to the decision to eat meat because of its taste, I have since gained the awareness to better understand the philosophical questions surrounding eating meat. I have been hunting quite a few times in my life, an experience which I think is core to my decision. I have never felt troubled when killing an animal, which I attribute to the fact that I can not relate to the animal. I can not have an interesting and nuanced conversation with a dove, deer, or hog like I can with other people. One might obviously point out that animals can not talk, but I would counter by saying I do not understand people speaking other languages. Even though I can not directly communicate with everyone, I know that there is the potential to do so, but I do not believe this is true for animals.

The first notable time I found my thoughts conflicting was when I was given the choice to eat horse in Iceland. I had a mental barrier in my head that something about eating this meat felt strange. I did not know if it was the cause of ethics, societal norms--or simply the fact that I generally do not enjoy trying new foods. In the moment, I decided that I probably would not get the chance to eat horse meat for a very long time, so I took a bite. I then realized that I quite enjoyed the taste and my prior hesitation disappeared. While some people can develop a close relationship with horses, my prior rationale for eating meat still applies in this context. I do not see horses differently from other animals when it comes to killing and eating them.

Through this course, I have now become aware of the environmental impact of the meat industry. With this, I believe that the artificial meat industry, both plant and culture based, has a huge opportunity to grow. However, my previous mindset still holds, and imagine that even if artificial meat became popular and affordable, I would still eat regular meat on some occasions where it is almost impossible to recreate the meat such as ribs. If the food has close to the same experience as real meat, then I will not mind transitioning, especially if it also helps the environment.

I eat meat. I enjoy eating meat. I like the taste of meat. I love pouring A1 sauce over meat or biting into a bbq sauced rib. It gives me joy to eat the flavors that are associated with meat. Not only does it taste good, it also lets me get protein into my diet. I can’t eat nuts or drink milk. Those two foods are major sources of protein for vegetarians. Yes, there are other ways to get protein as a vegetarian, but they are beans and eggs. But, I don’t really like eggs, so that would leave beans. Now that wouldn’t be bad, it would just be boring. Plus, meat tastes good.

Well, there are so many negative impacts that eating meat has on the environment. Cows produce green house gas and contribute actively to monoculture. The food that is grown for cows is corn, which they are not supposed to eat, and it is produced in a monoculture. I hate monoculture. I know that it erodes the soil and harms the environment. Additionally, the way that meat is produced is not good for the animals. Animals are treated inhumanely. Cows are fed corn, which is not what they normally eat, in order to fatten them up. Chickens get so fat that they can’t walk and topple under their own weight. Salmons are overfished, which makes their population is shrink, and hurts the whole ecosystem. Bees are moved around the country, because they aren’t bees located near farms because of monoculture. All of these things are terrible, and I know that.

Still I want to eat meat. It is a vital component of my diet.

I don’t feel that bad for killing animals in general. In other words, I don’t have a problem morally with slaughtering animals. When we slaughtered a chicken at the farm at my school, I was the only person in my class that stayed while the chicken was slaughtered in front of our eyes. Death is ultimately a part of life, and while these animals should not be treated like they are in the current food systems, I also think that killing animals is not, in general, morally wrong.

While I know the ramifications of eating meat, there are ways that I try to reduce the amount of meat that I eat. There are three main ways that I can do this. The first is that I have the privilege to choose meat that is organic and produced by animals that are treated well until their death. The second is that I have the privilege to not eat fast food. I have not been to McDonald's in 8 years. In ‘n Out makes me sick to my stomach. Lastly, I limit my meat consumption to three times a week. Instead, I will have a baked potato with sour cream, a quesadilla, a salad, or switch out my protein for beans. Little things like these can make a difference.

Lastly, I also try to limit my involvement in the food systems that are currently in place. The main way that I do this is by having a greenhouse. I grow my own food in my greenhouse. I grow cucumbers, tomatoes, potatoes, brussels sprouts, kale, spinach, mint, dill, and many many types of lettuce.. Instead of buying food from the grocery store, I can go outside and get some lettuce or brussels sprouts from my greenhouse. That way, no car is driving across the world in order to give me my food. Instead I can go outside and get food for myself. All of these methods that I have described allow me to not participate as much in the food systems that hurt the environment. I will continue to eat meat.

Last year I was approached by my Nanna, a devoted vegetarian. She came to me with the same speech she prepares every year. She shrilly asked, “Are you still eating meat?" “Yes,” I responded. She then proceeded to lecture me about my life choices. “You wouldn't eat meat if you had to kill it yourself,” Nanna stated. I paused, puzzled by what she had said. What an odd argument to pose. Does that mean that the only thing standing between me and a burger is a cow? Nanna always tries to make me emotional about the meat I eat. She tries giving it life so I will feel bad about its death.

Her attempt at pathos is appreciated, but her arguments never convince me. I am very aware that what I eat was once alive. I appreciate the life that was, but I also appreciate the nutrients the meat gives me. Why do I eat meat? I believe that in order to obtain the proper amount of energy and nutrients, humans need to consume both plant and animal matter. I believe that humans are natural omnivores, similar to bears and chimpanzees. And like our fellow omnivores, we need to digest carbohydrates, proteins, and fat in order for nutrients to be absorbed.

However, unlike bears and chimpanzees, I do try to live up to a certain standard I have created for myself. I always strive to understand where my meat is coming from and to ensure that it is both grass fed and treated kindly. It is important to research where your meat comes from and what economical impact buying it will have. Because of my efforts I feel that, in good conscience, I can eat meat.

In order to source my food, I question everything. Does the farm have published livestock standards or codes that allow you to trace the meat's journey? It is important to know who you are buying meat from. You want to show support for cruelty-free farming and not for a commercialized franchise. When purchasing meat, shop with both your head and your heart. Think about the impact your purchase will have on the wider community.

Encouraging friends and family to do more research about where their food comes from is a great way to get more involved with your relationship to food. Did you know that consuming pastured cattle that are grass-fed is actually better for that paleo diet? Sourcing your meat from an open pasture will prove better for your health in the long run. Pastured cattle are rich with antioxidants and iron. The extra effort may seem troublesome, but in the long run, your food will taste better and you feel better about eating it.

To those with nagging Nannas or other shrewish family members, remember that there is no need to get irritated with them. Just explain yourself and your view on eating meat. There is no need to feel guilty for eating something that you have taken the time to learn about.

Brands one should consider when buying meat:

Whole Foods: 365 Everyday Value

Simply Nature Free Range Organic Chicken

Ayrshire Farm

Farmer Focus

Since I was young eating meat has been normalized in my family and in society. I eat meat frequently, but I'm picky about the kind of meat I eat. I also try to only eat meat that is from local farms, where I know the animals had a good life. I grew up with an older brother and when he was starting to grow all he ever wanted was steak. Growing up I would eat steak 3-4 times a week, which is a lot of steak. However, as I got older, I actually got really tired of eating steak that often and began mostly to eat fish. I would consider myself a half pescatarian, but I still sometimes indulge in cheeseburgers or the occasional steak that my dad will cook. I will eat all shellfish, regular fish, and all types of sushi. I also will consume all types of dairy products. I don’t think I could function without cheese.

I came to my decision partially for health reasons. Growing up I had really bad stomach issues and tried everything to fix it. I followed my doctors orders and would cut out certain foods for a period of time to figure out what was causing my discomfort. I never considered that steak could be the problem. I figured this out when I was around 15 and my brother finally left for college so my parents stopped making steak for a period of time. I had an “aha!” moment. Now, I still eat some meat every now and again, but I figured out that eating steak as often as I did really hurt my stomach.

Then, when I was 16 my dad and I decided it would be interesting to see what would happen if we tried to go vegan. I knew veganism was good for the environment and relatively healthy. We bought a vegan cookbook and researched how to get the nutrients we need to stay healthy before we just decided to give up all animal products. But then, over the course of 4 weeks I lost 15 pounds. During this period of my vegan journey I followed recipes, pre-planned meals, and ate a lot of almonds. I was actually quite surprised when I lost that much weight so quickly. I was a little bit terrified and my parents were extremely concerned. I had a physical for school during this time and even my doctor was worried about my sudden and extreme weight loss. We all decided that vegan eating was not for me. I was helping the environment and going against large food corporations, but clearly this type of eating pattern failed for me.

Currently I try to eat responsibly. I only buy grass fed meats, lots of fresh produce, and I refrain from eating packaged meat. I do still eat dairy products, but the cheese my family buys is usually from local farms in the Bay area. It is easy to give in and buy cheap dairy products or go to McDonald's for a cheeseburger. I still struggle with giving up fast food and buying large brand food.

It is important to me and my family that when we do eat animal products, that the animal has had a good and happy life. Also, large food corporations make me upset and angry because they over produce food, but yet there are still people going hungry in America every day. After watching the documentary "Food, Inc." I realized how manipulative our food system truly is. The goal of these major companies is to create addictive food that people will continue to buy and buy again. Companies like Coca Cola or McDonald’s hire food scientists to genetically engineer their food so it has the exact combination of sugar, fat, and salt needed to have someone reach what they call a “bliss point.” Foods that satisfy this formula are ultimately addictive and contain high amounts of processed corn. Bliss point foods are usually cheap food that people with lower incomes can afford, keeping these companies in business.

Not only are these large farming companies creating generations of people addicted to a variety of cheap processed foods they are farming animals in inhumane ways as well as mistreating their workers. In food inc they documented the way chicken coups are formed. Farming sites for chickens consist of dark rooms, forcing chickens to eat corn so they become bigger faster, and thousands of chickens live extremely close together. Farm workers have to work in fields for hours with no water, little pay, and often get sick easily. I would prefer to not support large companies like these that are only in it for the money. These large farming companies have manipulated laws and agreements to take over smaller farmers. This limits the competition in grocery stores. I do not want to support large companies that actively try to get rid of local farmers who farm humanely. Through this course I have learned that the American food system is broken and affects more problems than I could have ever imagined. There is racial injustice, class injustice, as well as major health problems associated with the food industry.

I have eaten, and enjoyed eating meat my entire life, but was only recently informed of the consequences and the large industrialization of meat. I grew up in the countryside of England, where we bought a lot of our food and meat from local farm shops or butchers. Our dogs also ate raw meat, and we were able to buy from and support sustainable local farmers. Of course, there are big supermarkets in England, just like the United States, but it was easier to find other sources of meat that were healthier and organic. My family also had the means to pay more for the meat that we ate, whereas many people do not have that privilege. Once I moved to America when I was six years old and lived in a city for the first time, I was astonished at the number of fast-food places there were. You could buy a burger on every corner. England has the same problem, but since I lived in the countryside, I had not experienced it completely. Driving through the narrow country roads, acres upon acres of fields surrounded us. Sheep, cows, even a few pet alpacas roamed freely within their grassy field. We continued to enjoy buying from the local farm shop, which supplied fresh farm-to-table food and meat.

I used to dislike and think it was weird when people were vegetarian or vegan for purposes other than culture, but now I can understand why. I do not think that eating meat is bad or wrong and that people should feel a moral obligation to stop eating meat. It is natural for animals to consume meat and eat other animals. Predator versus prey is present all throughout the natural world. But it is hard to push away the guilt I feel when I eat meat and decide to continue to eat meat. My family has always made a conscious effort to buy organic meat from free-range animals, even though it has proved to be more difficult to find local and ethical meat distributors since we moved to California.

The way that meat has been industrialized and how the market has been manipulated created the issue at hand. It is not the consumer’s fault if they cannot find a sustainable and ethical meat source. The mass production of meat has taken over American supermarkets and restaurants. Both animals and workers suffer, and the meat is produced to be as cheap as possible–both in quality and price. The industry has to change, not the consumers. For some, cheap fast food is the only food they can afford, and for others, like my family, it’s nearly impossible to locate and buy from ethical farms, like we did in rural England.

In fourth grade, I removed red meat from my diet. I was never the girl who was scared of eating animals because eating one would be harming one. I just hated blood. It makes me squeamish. I removed pork out of my diet as well, except for bacon. When bacon is cooked, it doesn’t look bloody, right?

Growing up, my grandpa had a race horse ranch in the middle of Idaho. When we would go watch his races, we would sometimes stop by nearby farms. The farms had pigs and cows and chickens. We were playing with the pigs one day, when I was in 4th grade, and as we were leaving, I spotted a dead baby pig lying sideways in a wheelbarrow. Since then, pigs and cows have been so unappealing to me. I think that when you think about the animal you are eating, you start to realize how gross it is because it was a living cute animal once.

Let me explain this more fully: I eat eggs and sometimes while I am eating them, I realize that it could have been a chick and I get very grossed out and lose my appetite. I eat chicken, fish, and turkey. I don’t really get grossed out by these animals unless there is a vein or the meat is a little more pink than normal. That sparks an “ick” in me; I get disgusted with the fact the meat came from an animal. As it is kind of obvious, I am pretty selective with the meat I eat and my mind could change at any moment while I am eating.

It was not until a few years ago that I learned that with my pickiness, I am single handedly saving the environment! By not eating red meat, I am lowering greenhouse gas emissions, saving more forests and water. And then I watched “Food, Inc.” and I realized how badly the animals we eat are treated. Cows are held in such tight proximities that they are forced to stand knee-deep in their own feces. Same with chickens. They both can develop e. coli which can get into the meat we eat at fast food restaurants (and sometimes into the groundwater, and our produce supply). The farm owners of these animals have no other choice because they are being oppressed by big companies that want to mass produce meat. The chickens are being overfed with corn and it causes them to grow too big too fast, limiting their ability to walk and even move. Cows are being fed genetically modified corn which people then eat. The animals are slaughtered in the most inhumane ways--simply in order to provide cheap meat for us humans.

There is no dignity in the way our farmed animals are treated and it makes me sick to think about. Yes, meat is gross, but it's gross in ways I never imagined back in 4th grade. I have learned that if I or anyone else is to eat meat, we should find local farms that are treating their animals right, and producing food for our community for a purpose. At the end of the day, everyone has a right to eat whatever they want, but we should all be aware of what we are eating and how the animals have been treated in order to feed us, and maybe then a change will be made to what has become of the massive meat producing industry in our country.

Whether or not we should eat animals is such an interesting intellectual debate that considers the morality of the treatment of animals alongside the pleasure of the food. If we never ate animals, our world would be extremely overpopulated with animals and there would be an excess of emissions. But at the rate the world is currently going, the animal population will continue to get closer to extinction. I continue to have an inner-dialogue with myself around my priorities and my part in the world. As a food eater, I am extremely inclined to continue eating meat. But on a human level, I don't feel like constantly eating meat is the right thing to. I enjoy eating red meat as a delicacy when going out to restaurants, but it's not my first preference when deciding what to eat.There is an element of eating meat that is natural. Humans should be eating meat but our consumption of it has gotten extreme. I don't believe I should be fully eliminating meat completely from my diet, but being conscious about what I am eating is important.

Normally, my diet consists of a lot of chicken and fish. I thoroughly enjoy all fish from crab to scallops. I usually will have chicken in my salads or as a main course sometimes. I will have red meat occasionally, usually during a bigger family dinner or at a restaurant. I just don't enjoy the flavor of red meat as much as I do fish. I like the freshness and tenderness of fish rather than the redness of the meat. I am also very specific with how I like my meat cooked, medium well, which also contributes to why I don't eat meat as much.

I don’t have any serious concerns about eating fish because that is a very natural process and that is a much better industry. I feel like I am also helping a lot of local fishermen in their fishing expeditions, since in the way a majority of fishermen don't work for large companies, which differs from the meat industry.

On the other hand, I am disgusted by how the beef and poultry industry continues to disrespect their workers and treat the animals horribly. I don't want to be supporting that industry, but on a personal level, am not ready to completely change my choices to eliminate meat. I think meat as a whole is a natural process, but the industry itself has become an unnatural process. But after knowing the meat industry choices, I will continue my fish eating habits and try to stay away from meat if possible. I definitely think compared to a lot of my peers, I don't eat as much meat but that doesn't necessarily mean that I am playing my complete role during this time.

I’ve eaten dairy products all of my life. My mom would always give me a big glass of milk and tell me I needed calcium for my bones or that I needed to eat meat in at least one of my meals throughout the day. I continued throughout the years to eat meat and dairy without really thinking about the cow’s living conditions, the chicken’s lifestyle, or the impact on the environment. I knew my mom always bought grassfed beef and pastured eggs, but besides that I never questioned what I was eating. It wasn’t until over the summer, when I began looking into the environmental repercussions of what I was eating that I realized the strain animal products put on our environmental resources. When I began researching the animal’s living conditions, that solidified my choice to go vegan.

It’s not always easy not to eat animal products, and sometimes I do have meat or dairy. When I’m out at dinner with my friends and there aren’t any vegan options, then I just try to eat meatless for that meal. I don’t want my friends to have to change where we’re going for dinner just because I choose to not eat meat or dairy. Usually around here, there are always places that serve vegan options, but when I went on a trip to Texas with my friend there were almost no vegan options at any of the restaurants. I decided for that specific weekend I wouldn’t be vegan. I’ll admit, it was a delicious weekend of cream pasta, scallops, barbeque, and eggs benedict that I had missed since I went vegan. But whenever I stray and eat animal products, I usually feel guilty. I have researched the conditions the animals live in and the fact that I disregard those while I’m eating for my own personal pleasure does make me feel bad. But, I figure I eat far less than most people so I shouldn’t feel too bad. I made this decision to help the environment as well as the animals.

I had done previous research about eating animals before Food Writing, and had even watched “Food, Inc.”, but in class I also learned new information from the different articles we read. I learned more about the Impossible burger meat supplements I ate when I went vegan and how they are made in a lab, of which I was not aware. I had strayed away from eating Impossible burgers after a couple of months going vegan, but after I read that article I realized that I don’t want to eat something created in a lab either. I went vegan to help the environment and create a more natural and sustainable lifestyle. The article about lobsters also made me wonder why people so widely eat lobsters and don’t think about how they are prepared. A few years ago, when I realized how lobsters were killed, I stopped eating crustaceans. Even though people make the argument about lobsters not being able to feel pain, they don’t know definitively. If there is doubt that they could feel pain, why would they take the chance and boil a creature alive? Why would the lobsters be trying to escape from the pots if they felt nothing? My feelings about lobsters are the same as my feelings towards all animals. While animal products are delicious, I don’t want them suffering.

Completely changing the way that I have eaten hasn’t been easy. I had to figure out how to eat out without eating meat or dairy, which is something I hadn't even tried before. I discovered that some of my favorite snacks contain dairy or gelatin, so I couldn’t eat them. I had to give up (real) cheese, which is one of my favorite foods. Giving up all of that wasn’t easy, but I learned how to shop differently and actually began feeling a lot better. I felt healthier (possibly a placebo effect), but I also felt far less guilty. I’m no longer hurting the environment or animals when I eat vegan. While I’m not the perfect vegan and do succumb to guilty pleasures at times, I feel that I’m mostly helping both the animals and the environment.