A lot of people are surprised when they find out that I am a vegetarian. And most of the time they ask me, “How do you eat?” or “Why did you decide to stop eating meat?” I get these questions a lot, as I am sure any vegetarian would. I stopped eating meat for a couple of reasons.

In 9th grade, I was in Honors Biology, and one day in March, I came to class and there was Wilbur in a tin pan on the desk in front of me. Seeing a dead fetal pig, well rather…smelling… the fetal pig disgusted me and lead me to thinking about what I am really eating.  We had to dissect poor old Wilbur. So I pretty much stopped eating pork. A week after I stopped eating pork, meat just stopped appealing to me. Every time I would see raw meat, or any meat for that matter, I just felt sick to my stomach. In March of 2001, I stopped eating beef, pork, steak, basically all meat but chicken and turkey. I continued to eat both of these because in my mind, there was less blood involved and poultry had a less of a ‘meat’ taste.

However, soon after, all meat just stopped looking good to me. A slab of raw chicken in the pan about to go onto the grill just grossed me out. I decided then and there, while lounging on the deck chair in my backyard, that I was going to stop eating meat.

So no I am not a crazy PETA supporter. I do believe in animal rights, but I also really don’t care if my mom or dad eats a hamburger or steak. People can make their own decisions. I stopped eating meat simply because I lost my appetite for it and any time I tried to eat it, I became sick to my stomach. I just thought of poor old Babe and Wilbur dead on that pan in Honors Bio, and the smell of formaldehyde just filled my nose and my memory.

And for those who wonder what I do eat, I have a lot of choices. There are many good meat substitutes out there. I love vegetables and tofu. Tofu is very versatile and I  can do a lot with it. So in the future, you will see a lot of recipes on there that use tofu. And for all those meat eaters out there reading, just replace tofu with your choice of meat.

So, have a great day!

Toodles!