Going paescetarian
In the beginning of February 2016, I made the decision to become paescetarian. As someone who grew up in a culture that's predominantly meat-centric, the change wasn't as dramatic as I thought it would be. I mean, sure, living in Los Angeles means access to hundreds, if not thousands, of pescatarian, vegetarian & vegan options - and they're all wonderfully delightful to the palate. But hanging out with people who eat meat was pretty much the hardest part of it all because I kind of felt like I was being fussy by making our restaurant choices more limited.
I've come to this decision fueled by a conglomeration of reasons, most of which I will gladly iterate below:
- Help the planet. If you live in LA, you might have seen one of those billboards where skipping a burger ends up saving as much water as skipping a thousand showers. And yes, these are backed by studies. Additionally, the meat & poultry industry are major contributors to en masse deforestation & toxic waste - not exactly good for Mother Nature.
- Help people. If you're thinking that quitting meat & poultry doesn't benefit other people as well (I mean, you know, aside from the blatantly obvious if-our-planet-dies-we-all-die-argument), you're wrong. Did you know that the amount of grains being fed to the cow you're chomping on in the United States alone could have easily fed 60 million people dying of starvation globally? I don't know about you but my conscience prohibits me from enjoying a meal preference that could benefit plenty more people around the world.
- Help animals. The cruelty that pigs, cows & chickens endure is honestly heartbreaking, and I can't close my eyes and pretend I didn't know about these horrific circumstances. I can no longer just prioritize my taste buds or dietary preference for millions of animals violently slaughtered in a year.
- Help yourself. Quitting meat & poultry bestows you with numerous health benefits including but are not limited to reducing your risk for osteoporosis, obesity, diabetes, arthritis, heart diseases, hypertension and some types of cancer.
I'm actually seriously thinking about going vegan, if not vegetarian, for the future or at least for the most part of the week until I can get accustomed to the lifestyle. I'm proud to tell people I'm an animal lover, and for it to actually ring true.
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