Almost every evening in my house, my parents try to coax me into eating some chicken or steak or a hamburger. Every evening I refuse. My parents don't understand my choice to live without eating meat and my siblings love to sneak it onto my plate in hopes that I will accidently eat some.
Though I do cut a part of the food pyramid out of my diet, I love food. My mom calls me a bottomless pit and my brother and sister complain that I eat all the ice cream before they get a chance to have a cone themselves. I can't help it. Between needing energy for soccer and just generally appreciating food I always seem to be eating. However, being a vegetarian which can often limit what I can eat. I don't really know why I choose to make the change at the age of twelve. Nobody in my family, except for one older cousin was a vegetarian. However there was always a part of me that hide some resentment for the meat based meals I grew up with, and the experience that pushed me to stop eating those meals altogether.
When I was eleven my family and I traveled to Germany to visit some family. I loved it there. The scenery was beautiful and the food was good for the most part. One night we went out to eat and obviously the menu was in German. I couldn't read the menu, so my cousin said that he would just ordered me a meal he thought I could like. I wanted pizza, but that wasn't what he ordered. I tried to identify what was on my plate with no luck, but ate it to be polite. I had chosen to try something new and I was determined to make the best of it. However, not far into the meal I started to feel sick and actually ended up throwing up. While at the bathroom, I learned from my mom that what I was eating was veal. A baby cow. I proceeded to promptly throw up again. I was a real animal-lover when I was little and had aspirations to begin my own farm one day. The thought of consuming a poor baby calf was horrifying to me- and it tasted awful too!
By the next year I had made the choice to be a vegetarian. My mom still occasionally makes me eat meat for the protein, but I usually experiment with meals containing non-meat protein. This has given me a greater appreciation for foods of other cultures, which I have had to turn to, in order to consume protein while still enjoying my meal. Meals like Mexican taco salad with beans, Japanese soup with tofu, falafel, as well as veggie burgers and other American meat-less fare are all enjoyed in my house now. I am much more conscious of knowing what I am eating after the incident in Germany. Being a vegetarian wasn't only because of my love for animals and disgust of eating them. I eat healthier and choose to make a variety of meals, particularly because I am the only one in my household who is a vegetarian and I have to make my own meals if I refuse to eat theirs. Therefore I am more independent in the kitchen and can take care of myself. I don't regret becoming a vegetarian and even though I am still horrified at the fact I ate a baby cow, it has led to a healthier lifestyle, appreciation for a wide selection of foods that I have had to try, and also more independence.
Of course, my experience with food greatly differs from others who made not have made the choice to live a vegetarian lifestyles, but the value of independence and other cultures carries through despite the path taken to appreciate these characteristics.
No comments:
Post a Comment