Picture this: it’s 2018, I’m almost done with eighth grade, not even 13 yet, and I’m still in my Harry Potter phase. I was assigned to do an argumentative paper where we selected one topic from a few options. My topic of choice was whether animal testing is ethical or not. Going into the paper, I only selected it because it was the most interesting of the choices, but I really had no knowledge on the subject. As I got into my research, I found that the topic of animal rights and cruelty was incredibly interesting and saddening to me. I still remember the first time I watched Save Ralph, a video which I’m sure any animal activist is familiar with (and if you aren’t, it’s worth the four minutes of your time to watch).
Although the paper was only about animal testing, it invoked a passion for animal rights in me that became very shaping to who I am. I went into full-blown research mode, exploring articles about carcinogens, animal cruelty, the abuse in the meat industry, vegetarianism, veganism, and pretty much everything in between. By the end, I decided I wanted to go vegan.
Veganism didn’t last long for me. Being 12, it was difficult to be able to make it work in my lifestyle. My parents were supportive but because they were just as unfamiliar as I was with it, they didn’t really know how to make it work with the rest of our family. It just didn’t make sense at the time (which, for the record, is a very important consideration for big dietary changes like this). We settled at vegetarianism being a good middle-ground for my newfound animal activism and our family’s needs.
I don’t think my parents expected it to become a serious, long-term change for me. In fact, no one seemed to. I remember one of my mom’s good friends saying she was a vegetarian for a month as a teenager and it wouldn’t last long. A Publix worker said he tried for a few months and eventually gave up. Little moments like this where I felt that people doubted me just made me want to pursue it even more. I also think that my reasoning for doing it made a huge impact on my dedication to it. Since I wasn’t doing it for my health or any self-seeking reason, the cause felt almost like my tiny commitment to animals that I wanted to stop them from hurting. Though after four years, I had to give it up because of going to college and other factors that made it unreasonable for my new adult lifestyle, I’m still very passionate about it. Of course, like any lifestyle change, there were bad parts, too.
I think one of the biggest challenges for me was definitely figuring out what to eat. A few Google searches make it seem easy. Beans, nuts, all things plant-protein. But I’ve been a picky eater for as long as I can remember, so this proved to be a big challenge for me. I tried tofu (gross), cottage cheese (texture sensitivity nightmare), quinoa (not bad, but not good), nuts (good, but how can I consume 100g of protein in just nuts?). Basically, everything I was told to eat was either wildly expensive protein supplements or meat alternatives that usually didn’t taste that good or just disgusting to me. A lot of the vegetarian-specific meals at restaurants had ingredients I didn’t like or wouldn’t even try. Adventurous eaters could take this on with no issue; for me, though, I ended up living on protein pasta and French fries.
Another challenge was also my hyperawareness of label reading and nutrition information at such a young age. Growing up in the tumblr ‘thinspo’ Internet age, heavy influence from pop culture, and generally a little too much awareness of my body as a kid combined with the vegetarianism was a bit of a problem combination. This is not to say I had an eating disorder, but I think all of this did contribute somewhat to some disordered eating behaviors. It becomes really easy to avoid certain foods when you have the vegetarian card in your back pocket, and it’s a good excuse to eat less than what a growing preteen should be. Much like with my picky eating habits, this might not be a problem for some people; I was just predisposed to this thinking and it didn’t help.
Some of the culture surrounding veganism and vegetarianism can be harmful, as well. The media put out was very pressuring to little 12-year-old me. PETA was telling me I was evil for not being fully vegan, others were telling me I was stupid for being vegetarian and they would eat extra steaks to offset my effort. From both sides, there was a lot of turmoil and unnecessary anger. At the end of the day, I always felt my choice was my choice. I never got mad at people for eating meat around me, I didn’t mind if others didn’t want to be vegetarian, but I also respected those who went fully vegan and understood their reasons. Finding mutual respect about it can be difficult. A lot of people aren’t very respectful about it, frankly. But luckily, I found that for the most part, if you respect someone else’s choice, they’ll respect yours, and might even be willing to listen to why you do it. These conversations aren’t meant to be view-changing and to persuade people into going vegetarian. I was just excited to talk about what I was passionate about and most people were actually a lot more understanding after hearing the reasoning (and once they found out I wasn’t trying to force them to go vegan or vegetarian).
I know a lot of people talk about their major health changes when they’re vegetarian, too. For me, I never really felt or saw a change between when I was vegetarian and after I stopped. That might have been a result of my own eating habits, but I didn’t feel wildly different. To a certain degree, I think most healthy adults are probably better off continuing to eat meat anyway. It’s a lot easier to get nutrients in without constantly worrying all the time that you have enough protein or iron or any other vital nutrient.
Overall, I felt that my quality of life wasn’t significantly better or worse as a vegetarian. I loved my passion for it and that I felt like I was making a small, positive change in the world. It was also a good experience for me as a teenager to get used to being interested in charities and volunteering, and it led me to have the awesome experience as a volunteer at my local animal shelter. I still have the same huge love for God’s little creatures, and while it doesn’t make sense for me to be vegetarian anymore, I try to give back as much as I can. I volunteer, I collect donations for the animal shelter, and I do my best to only eat meat from better sources. One day when I’m out of school and have the money and time to plan it more effectively, I’d love to do it again. I wouldn’t trade those four years for anything, though. So if you’re thinking about going vegetarian, do it.