Why I Stopped Eating Meat
I stopped eating meat because of things I learned at an Earth Day event in 1995. The celebration was at a local junior college. I attended with my two children. They sat in the double stroller as we went booth to booth learning about the treatment of animals in the food and product industry.
I’ve always believed in being kind to humans, animals, trees, anything that is alive. This day, I was faced with how animals were treated in order for humans to have food or products. I remember asking one person, “If you don’t drink milk, then what do you drink? His response was, “sodas.” I knew that was not the answer, but I also knew the animals being mistreated was not the answer either.
At the event, I was interviewed by our local news who asked why I would bring my two small children to such an event. I don’t remember what my answer was, but it must’ve been intriguing because I received phone calls from family and friends saying they had seen me on the news.
The event wasn’t just the catalyst for me to stop eating meat. The event also opened my awareness that animals were being mistreated by companies through animal testing for products. That started my long process of learning what products I would purchase and what products or companies I would no longer support financially.
I believe “actions speak louder than words.” So, if you don’t like something, don’t support it.
After the event, I spent a lot of time on the computer at home researching animal testing. I started learning what companies still did animal testing, what companies were stopping animal testing, and what companies were producing items that had animal byproducts in them. Animal byproduct means some part of an animal was used in creating a product. I learned that a lot of what I saw in the big grocery stores were from companies who used animals in their products or tested on animals.
My choice to stop eating meat and to stop financially supporting companies or products was, possibly, the beginning of me creating a firm restrictive mind.
I remember the last time I went into a large grocery store to do my regular food shopping. I purchased one item. I told the cashiers that this would be the last time to see them because the store was no longer carrying items I would buy. The animal friendly products had slowly disappeared from the shelves. I started doing all my food shopping at the smaller specialty stores. I felt I was supporting companies that cared more for living things.
Stopping and restricting myself from buying products that had animal parts in them or from companies that did animal testing is a choice I made. Restriction is not bad. I chose to stop supporting companies because I did not believe in what they were doing. But restricting nourishing food is detrimental.
As the years and decades continued, my restrictive mind became more ingrained with limiting. Food became something to consume for taste rather than nourishment. Because the mind had become so restrictive, I would not allow a variety of food. My initial restriction because of the mistreatment of animals had become a mistreatment of myself through the restriction of nourishing food.
I still don’t buy from certain companies today and that’s okay. I don’t have to do everything and eat everything to be alright. What’s more important is that I’m aware when I do restrict and why. As for food, I eat nourishing food multiple times a day.
You are welcome to learn about your food and make choices for yourself.
Stacy 🌺
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I share my experiences and my perspective. Eating and healing look different for everyone. If you are struggling with food or your relationship with your body, please find support. You don’t have to do this alone.