a born-again vegetarian

well, dear friends...today marks a special day for me. I've "officially" decided to do something that I've been thinking about for awhile.....and after a couple weeks of talking to friends, praying for wisdom, and then today after coducting some research, I've decided to become a vegetarian. Why, you ask?? Well, I now believe that a primarily plant-based diet is one of the the best ways to demonstrate my care for and stewardship of God's creation - including the animals, the earth, our starving global neighbours, and my body. Let me give a brief explanation of each (for more info visit www.goveg.com and/or www.jesusveg.com ) :

the animals - Due to the increased demand for meat and other animal products, many traditional farm settings where animals run free and healthy are quickly being replaced with factory-style farms where both "efficiency" and animal cruelty is high. In these mechanized indoor settings, the animals are heavily crowded and routinely treated in a inhumane manner. (For more info on this, go to www.thevegetariansite.com ) I believe that God wants me to care for His creatures and to defend them against all forms of unjust and cruel treatment. While I believe that God may allow people to eat meat where the animals have previously enjoyed a healthy and free life, I do not believe He would be pleased with the Western world's manner of inhumane treatment of His beloved creatures for the purpose efficiency and, ultimately, profit.

the earth - The earth's land, grain, and water resources are being depleted in order to raise animals quickly for the purpose of slaughtering them. The typcial meat-eater's diet consumes 14 X more water and 20 X more energy than a vegetarian's diet (see www.christianveg.com ). Also, 37% of the world's grain, and 66% of the USA's grain is used to feed animals that would otherwise eat other forms of food.

our starving global neighbours - It takes more grain to feed animals than people. The grain that is being used (see above) to feed the animals could be used to feed the world's poor. Also, because land, water, and other resources are limited, growing demands for meat increases the cost of all food, and the world's poor become increasingly unable to afford food of any kind.

my body - It's simply healthier! Evidence shows that those who follow a plant-based diet consisting of the right amount of whole grains, fruits, vegetables, and legumes (beans, lentil, soy-based tofu or textured vegetable product (TVP) have a dramatically lower incidence of heart disease, cancer, and stroke, among other diseases (see www.thevegetariansite.com ).

So that's why I've made this decision. The way I see it, the more people that make the decision to not eat meat (and we are blessed to live in a society where that option and mountains of delicious meat alternatives are available), the lower the demand will be for meat, which will result in the closing of factory-style farms, more natural resources and food available for people, especially the global poor, and we'd all be healthier! Plus, I've already found from cooking primarily vegetarian recipes over the last couple of months (3 girls that i lived with were vegetarians), I've realized that if being veggie does anything to me, it forces me to be creative in my cooking, which has been soooooo fun and yummy!

Anyways, while I haven't eaten red meat in a while, I have a feeling that this is going to be tougher than I thought - I already had to pick the pepperoni off a pizza today that my dad made, and that was a bit hard.... so wish me luck and feel free to hold me accountable!

and, as always, let me know your thoughts!!!

love,
-J