Growing up, I mostly ate a vegetarian diet, since my family was mostly vegetarian. But I still ate meat and dairy products on occasion. Then I saw a documentary on Netflix called “Food, Inc.” (It is not on Netflix anymore, but you can watch it on YouTube for free - linked below.)
In the documentary, they talk about and show you where our meat is really coming from. It is called “factory farming.” In my opinion, the meat industry doesn’t want you to know where your meat is coming from, and how they are treating farm animals. The truth is that the meat industry has the farmers feed their cows corn, which is unnatural for them; they should be eating grass. They make them eat corn all day to gain a lot of weight, and they can only take one or two steps in really small pens. That’s because the more weight those animals have, the more money the meat industry will be able to put in their bank accounts.
There’s also a reason why the meat industry doesn’t show you how they are raising farm animals. They don’t want you to know where your meat is really coming from. If you find out, it can definitely change your perspective on eating meat, like it did for me. I stopped eating meat after watching “Food, Inc.” because it didn’t make me feel good to be eating meat.
Now having said that, some farmers raise their farm animals the right way by feeding them grass and treating them how they should be treated. That’s more natural, healthier and better for the environment.
After seeing that documentary when I was a teenager, I felt like I couldn’t eat meat again. So I became a vegetarian for a few years, but I still ate dairy. Then some members of my family started becoming vegan, which means cutting out dairy as well, and I got into it. I started looking into the health benefits of it and found out that being vegan and eating mostly plant-based can help you live longer. You mostly eat natural foods like fruit and vegetables and legumes, such as beans and brown rice.
I should clarify that you can be vegan and still eat junk food! For example, french fries, Oreos and vegan desserts are technically vegan. But of course, I don’t normally eat them because it’s unhealthy … but maybe once in a while!
Going vegan is definitely a transition at first. It can be hard for anyone to go through any type of major change at first. But just like with anything, you can get adjusted to it. And over time, if you stay committed to mostly eating plant based, you won’t be craving meat and dairy, or for that matter junk food. One thing that you can try is to start small, such as giving up meat, dairy or both just once a week. Then slowly over time you can add more days. That way, you are slowly getting more adjusted to eating more plant based and less meat, dairy and junk food. To help you alone, most restaurants have vegan/vegetarian options on their menus.
There are also good alternatives you can use while you’re transitioning, like “impossible meat” or “beyond meat,” as a replacement for meat. I wouldn’t have it all the time, because even though it tastes really good, it doesn’t have the healthiest things in it. But it is something that I would have once in a while. Tofu is also a great substitute for meat. And soy milk is a great substitute for milk. There are also plenty of different vegan cheeses out there that you can find. There’s even vegan ice cream and vegan cake; it’s still sweet, but it doesn’t have any dairy in it. That’s something I might have on someone’s birthday, for example.
To sum up, there are plenty of options for anyone who wants to start eating less meat or dairy and wants to eat more vegetarian/vegan. That said, I have plenty of friends and family that aren’t vegan or vegetarian. I don’t push it on anyone, because it is a personal choice.
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