I became a vegetarian a little over two years ago. It was Cinco de Mayo of 2009. I had plans to go out with friends and I was waiting on them to pick me up. To kill a little time, I decided to watch some TV. When I turned it on, the channel happened to be on a program with a firefighter who was promoting a vegetarian lifestyle. The friends in route to my home were vegetarians, so I instinctively tuned into what the heroic figure on the screen was saying.
He was authoring a new cookbook, but above of all the plugs to buy his recipes I heard him talk about the health benefits of becoming vegetarian after a lifetime of meat-eating. It can lower the risks of heart disease and is one of the few ways that carnivorous folks can dramatically change their diets. Being constantly surrounded by veggie friends, they had never used this "tactic" to convert me before. Two in particular were raised in vegetarian homes based on religious and spiritual beliefs, so their discussions with me mainly focused on that aspect of the argument for vegetarianism.
The two veggie friends arrived to pick me up and we decided to go check out the Bodies exhibit. As we ventured to the Atlantic Station exhibition, I had no idea how this day would effect my overall lifestyle. If you haven't seen it, I highly suggest you check out the Bodies show (http://www.bodiestheexhibition.com/). It displays actual human form that have been preserved in polymer. The process halts decay and allows us to see the human muscular and skeletal form. Imagine a "peeled" person on display. Super cool and visually dynamic!
Back to the veggie-ness. I was looking at the exhibit and saw a human leg in a display case. Suddenly, it was as if I am at the supermarket. The bright red thigh was a plastic wrapped roast in my mind. One would think that common sense would allow me to connect that humans are physically composed in the same way animals are, but it took this literally gross display in order for me to put 2 and 2 together. I had been eating LEGS! How dare I have the audacity to do such an unjust thing? That image juxtaposed with the prior fireman's message of health flipped a switch in me that I wasn't aware of in the least.
I had been friends with these two veggies for years without even a hint of going over to the "green" side, so they were shocked (but pleased) with my revelation. Since then, I have become a smart advocate for vegetarianism. Having been raised in a Southern, meat and potatoes kinda family, I feel that I have a unique perspective on how to breach the gap between the hunter and gatherers (so to speak) of our society. This blog is going to be dedicated to exploring all aspects of vegetarianism: environmental, health, political, social, cultural, etc. Thanks for reading!
