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This was a long time coming.
This year I've been trying to incorporate more mindfulness in all aspects of my life. Along with paying more attention to my environment, feelings, and intuition, I also became more mindful of how I ate. And I could no longer disconnect from what was on my plate.
Going through my twenties so far, I have been learning a lot about myself. When I realized that I have been cutting back on meat for the past few years (for several reasons- it's often cheaper to not buy meat and I have never liked cooking it), I started to remember a lot of things from when I was a kid.
Both of my siblings and I were all very picky eaters when we were younger. I still hate steamed vegetables with a passion (raw or roasted, please!). I was one of those kids who lived off of PB&Js and bananas (and I guess I still do sometimes). As I looked more into vegetarianism, even veganism, some distinct memories popped up in regards to eating meat. I remember sitting at the dinner table, long after everyone finished, trying to choke down a piece of chicken. I didn't like the texture of meat a lot of the time, as it was sometimes dry and fibrous-y and harder to chew than other foods. I also remembered that I didn't start eating hamburgers until I was at least 9 or 10, because I saw ground beef as being "gross." There's only a couple of times in my life that I truly enjoyed eating steak or a roast of some kind.
Though I have cut back on meat intake throughout college, since I didn't have to eat anything I didn't want to, I never cut it out completely. Let's be honest, when you go out to eat, it's a lot easier to just order something that has meat in it! And I ate plenty of lean meats here and there, especially in salads and sandwiches. So what caused me to make the jump to vegetarianism?
Two words: animal welfare.
I have always LOVED animals. If you know what "The Wild Thornberrys" show is, you should know that I wanted to be Eliza so bad because she could talk to animals. I wrote a persuasive essay in 5th grade for my parents to get me a cat (it worked). When I was younger, I was shocked when my dad and brother went fishing. How could they do such a thing?! I'll admit I got over that a bit because years later we went fishing as a family on vacation, but we are terrible fishers (is that also why I had such small teaching pools on my mission????) and never caught anything so I've never hooked a fish and killed it myself.
Over Christmas break this past year, I was at home with nothing to do and got on Netflix, wanting to watch a good documentary. I found "Vegucated," and being intrigued by the description of people trying out veganism for a number of weeks, I decided to watch it.
This may sound cliche, but that documentary changed my life. I saw things that I had never seen before. Think you're still getting your meat from the kind of farms depicted in children's books? Unless you have connections with a small family-owned farm- think again.
At the end of this documentary, I was left deeply disturbed and on the verge of tears. This led me to more and more research- articles, other documentaries, undercover investigations, and additional footage of factory farms. Even if you're buying "organic," "cage-free," etc, those animals are still being treated cruelly. If you think animal rights is a "liberal issue"- I just want to mention that tons of government money gets poured into "saving" animal agriculture businesses and blinding consumers from the truth. We have been taught to believe that cow's milk is somehow good for us- after World War II, ad campaigns about drinking milk were coming out the wazoo to sustain an industry that had grown rapidly during the war.
For whatever reason, it still took me a few months to actually go vegetarian. Though I've been hooked on almond milk for a while and have largely cut back on eggs and other dairy products (except ice cream!), I wasn't quite ready to give up meat completely. When I finally made the switch this past month, I figured I would be pescatarian (meaning that I would still eat fish). But I probably won't even eat fish that often- even when I ate salmon last week, something I usually love, I just wasn't as excited by it.
Part of easing into vegetarianism was including my spirituality. When reading what other LDS vegetarians have said and written, I noticed something that I hadn't noticed much before. In Doctrine and Covenants section 89, which contains the Word of Wisdom that is so greatly discussed, there's a part that was almost never discussed in Sunday School. After it mentions, "flesh also of beasts and of fowls of the air, I the Lord, have ordained for the use of man with thanksgiving; nevertheless they are to be used sparingly;" it then reads:
"And it is pleasing unto me that THEY SHOULD NOT BE USED, ONLY IN TIMES OF WINTER, OR OF COLD, OR OF FAMINE.... And these hath God made for the use of man ONLY IN TIMES OF FAMINE AND EXCESS OF HUNGER" (verses 12-15, emphasis added).
Why the heck does no one talk about this part? I know we don't ban people from eating meat, but that is a section that needs to be considered more often. In the Millennium (and thus everything that comes afterward), it is said multiple times in the scriptures that the lion will lay down with the lamb. Elder McConkie has said, "man and all forms of life will be vegetarians in the coming day; the eating of meat will cease, because, for one thing, death as we know it ceases." Doesn't that make vegetarianism a higher law? I totally understand that in history, there have been a lot of times where people needed to rely on animal meat to survive. The Lord clearly says that when its necessary, we can eat animals. But in today's world, at least in developed societies like the ones we live in, it is unnecessary. It's actually never been easier to go without.
To be honest, as I have gone without meat and subsequently limited other animal products, I have felt more at peace with myself and with God, and have fostered a deeper connection with His creations. Thinking of the billions of animals that are tortured and slaughtered each year, just in America alone, I couldn't even imagine how our Heavenly Father feels about it. Just as it makes Him sad to see His children hurting and killing each other, I'm sure it also breaks His heart to see the daily occurrences of animal agriculture such as mutilating, striking, beating, gassing, and horrifically slaughtering these beautiful and intelligent animals.
Because I immediately realized I was in a minority, I connected with the BYU Vegetarian Club. Today I went to an animal sanctuary in Herriman with a couple girls from the club to volunteer. The animals at this farm sanctuary have diverse backgrounds, from being abandoned to being saved from slaughter. A couple of the horses here have deformed backs from entertainment use, like being overworked pulling carriage rides. I could feel the sweet, innocent spirits of these animals, as sheep randomly showed up next to me to be petted, as pigs ran up to me making all their funny noises, and cows leaned their heads against me. One cow in particular, Sven, was the cutest thing. He was in a program for troubled youth, where teens raise a calf (to take care of something) and then "learn sacrifice" by sending it to slaughter (what kind of society are we living in where we feel the need to sacrifice cows? Are you kidding me??). The teens that raised Sven didn't want him killed, so they brought him to the sanctuary.
If you have made it this far on my post, I strongly urge you to watch the video below. It's a pretty good summary of where your food comes from. I am not going to be one of those "militant vegetarians," because that's obnoxious and it's a personal choice for everyone. Whether you are interested in vegetarianism or not, EVERYONE should watch this and be informed. THIS IS REAL, RAW FOOTAGE. If you have small children looking over your shoulder right now, think about if they are able to handle watching this.
Hopefully that didn't traumatize you to the point of nightmares, but I do hope it struck a chord. If you are looking to cut back on animal products, let me tell you now that it's really not that hard! You can get protein from beans, lentils (my fave), edamame, nuts/seeds, and even grains like quinoa. It's okay if you crave meat- we were raised in this society to think we need it. Recently I kind of wanted grilled chicken on a salad, so I have started to experiment with "mock meats"- brands like Beyond Chicken and Tofurkey. Yes, I tried Tofurkey in a sandwich this week and I liked it just as much, if not more, as deli-sliced turkey (my parents are probably reading this right now thinking that their daughter has officially gone off the deep end- women's studies and now this?!). On a work lunch, I shamelessly ordered a veggie burger- and later when everyone else felt sick and weighed down from all the meat they ate, I felt amazing! And as long as you make sure to get the right nutrients into your system, you're good to go. I do recommend gradually working your way into it- it's proven that people who do that are much more likely to stick with it. Note that this is NOT a diet, but a lifestyle choice (trust me, you can still eat plenty of junk, even if you went all the way and became vegan). But really, it's awesome! Vegetarians live longer, are healthier overall, and their risk for major diseases drop. Considering the occurrences of cancer in my family and knowing vegetarianism can greatly decrease that risk, that alone is a huge motivator for me.
Again, this is a personal choice that takes a lot of thought. And it's not about being "perfect." But I will say that it's been worthwhile for me. Not only do you feel good physically, but by going vegetarian you can save about 100 animals per year. The more plant-based we make our society, the more the demand for meat goes down. If you would like to try vegetarianism too, ask me anything! It's always great to have more veg support!