“So, have you always been vegetarian?” Is a question that I am often asked. The answer is no. No, my parents were not vegetarian, no I wasn’t spoon fed Quorn from age 1, with ‘Meat Is Murder’ spinning on the record player. In short, people are often confounded when I explain that my Vegetarianism is a choice. This is tied in with a strongly held belief that meat-eaters and Vegetarians are entirely different breeds, set in early childhood and only diverted from in the case of an occasional fad or that one bacon sandwich (we’ve all been there).
So I have a few questions to go through here. Why do meat eaters take offence to my decision to stop eating meat as an adult? Why is meat eating so ingrained in our national psyche? And why do people believe that they just couldn’t give up meat.
When you reject meat eating, you reject the accepted ‘Alpha’ or mainstream choice. In the least hipster way possible of being ‘not mainstream’, of course. So, why do humans conform? As Breckler, Olson, & Wiggins wrote- “Conformity is the most general concept and refers to any change in behaviour caused by another person or group; the individual acted in some way because of influence from others.” However, this only applies to the social behaviour of eating meat, and not the personal beliefs which some people hold regarding meat- ”Note that conformity is limited to changes in behaviour caused by other people; it does not refer to effects of other people on internal concepts like attitudes or beliefs.” (Breckler, Olson, & Wiggins, Social Psychology Alive, 2006). So for this to work, Meat Eating has to be the Alpha behaviour (which, if you’ve ever seen men order competitively large steaks at a restaurant, you might agree it is).
“Is it ’cause of moral reasons, or do you just not like meat?” Is the typical follow up question. For me, it is for ‘moral’ reasons, whatever that means, at least I know I stopped eating meat around the time my conscience started speaking up. This is when the conversation teeters dangerously on the precipice of becoming a sermon, at least in the ears of the questioner. People seem incapable of listening to one persons ‘moral’ choice without hearing it as judgement on their own actions. This is despite the fact that they have asked 2 minutes previously “What about eating meat do you disagree with?” Or some variant of that. *Sigh*.
So, my sensitivity to animal slaughter aside, are there any logical reasons to be a Veggie? Well, there’s health. The American Dietetic Association reported that – “appropriately planned vegetarian diets, including total vegetarian or vegan diets, are healthful, nutritionally adequate, and may provide health benefits in the prevention and treatment of certain diseases” (Journal of the American Dietetic Association, July 2009). Meat eaters love to talk about the missing protein and other nutrients in a Vegetarian diet, as if all Vegetarians are pale waifs existing on a lettuce leaf a day. While meat is indeed packed with protein, this can be easily substituted for things such as Lentils, which are protein rich, and contain more iron, magnesium, and potassium than the same quantity of beef.
Other reasons might be the environment- it takes 78 calories of fossil fuel to make one calorie of beef protein- compared to just 1 calorie for each calorie of soy beans. Or, more selfishly, your pocket- being a Vegetarian is a whole load cheaper. Whenever I eat out with friends, their steaks or whatever meat dish will typically cost a tenner or more- something a restaurant wouldn’t dare charge for the butter nut squash burger or whatever it may be, which usually comes in around £7.50. Win Win!
So that’s the argument anyway, and without me mentioning any of the reasons I am actually Vegetarian (that would be my ‘airy-fairy’, moral reasons). Hopefully this will do something to shift the perceptions of those obstinate people who counter my arguments with simply- “I just couldn’t give up meat. I love it too much!” Well, bacon sandwiches used to be my precursor to a great day, Roast Chicken used to be my Sunday special, and bangers and mash was a delicious dinner. And I can confirm that it is entirely possible, if you have the inclination, to give up something in spite of your taste buds. So next time someone asks me “Why on earth would you give up meat?!”-Rather than repeating my tried and tested arguments, I might just tell them to read this article.
Dream.Think.Speak 