Milk and Eggs

            Some people need to learn what the difference between being a vegetarian and being a vegan is; Vegans are not allowed to eat or drink eggs or milk(well, and meat of course) and basically, vegans do not put anything that came from an animal in any way into their body for whatever reason. The only similarity between that and being a vegetarian is the fact that they both do not eat meat. Vegetarians can eat and drink anything dairy or anything with dairy in it.
            I have had people come up to me looking very confused as I am eating something like cake and then ask in a very disappointed tone why I gave up being a vegetarian after sticking to it for so long. That always cracks me up because I thought like nearly everyone knows that just because something has eggs in it, does not mean I can’t eat it. Oh, I can and I surely do. If I didn’t, then why would I not call myself a vegan instead of a vegetarian? Some people ask me something about how I think it is alright for me to drink milk and eat eggs. Okay, I am going to start with my opinion on milk. First of all, the process of getting the milk out of the cow does not harm the cow at all so why would that matter? I mean, I really actually have no idea because I have never had that done to me but I have seen it done to a cow before and it sure does not look like they are in any pain.
          When I first got asked the question about how I can be okay with eating eggs and not meat, I did get a little scared because all eggs have the potential to mature and eventually hatch into a baby chick, right? That is what I thought from for the longest time watching all of those cartoons on TV where a chicken lays an egg, it starts to crack moments later, and a cute little chick emerges from the leftover shell, smiling and happy to meet its mother. So, how could I be okay with eating eggs? First of all, as a vegetarian that does not eat peanut butter, that is one of my main sources of protein. But, that would still be morally wrong, right? Not necessarily. The eggs that are sold in groups of six or twelve at the grocery store were eggs that were never going to hatch because they were never fertilized(I could go into more detail, but I don’t think that’s what you came here to read). Now, I am not entirely sure if this is true to be honest but, that’s just what I tell myself because someone told me that.

Gotta believe in yourself

If you aren't a vegetarian and have never even thought of being one, just try it; Imagine all of the family meals you would be left out at, while you are sitting there eating a salad and everyone else around you is enjoying normal meals together, as a normal family. It sounds pretty awful, right? What you just imagined is exactly how I imagined the life of a vegetarian would be before I became one myself, missing out on everything you once looked forward to doing with your family. Going out to eat is what the majority of what families, and even friends do when they get together to spend time with one another, so how could you ever be limited to just a salad out of hundreds of things on a menu?

                In reality, it is not even like that at all; you do not always feel left out at restaurant when you go out to eat with people. Well some vegetarians might, but I do not think of it like that because I have an entirely different attitude about it. The way I see it, all of the people around you would never even try being a vegetarian because they ‘could never do it no matter how hard they tried’, or they ‘like the taste of meat too much to kiss it goodbye.’ While you are sitting there, years strong of being a vegetarian, sitting among people that do not believe in themselves enough to even try it. I am not saying vegetarians are stronger or more self-motivated than people who are not vegetarians, but  I am just saying that in my experience, people always tell me that they ‘could never do’ what I am doing. Interpret it how you wish, but I think they either truly do not believe in themselves or just do not see the point in being a vegetarian.

                Honestly, I actually could not care less whether you are or are not a vegetarian, like it does not change how I think of you as a person. I mean, that would be really crazy if that were true because out of all the people I know, I only know like seven vegetarians so that would be a lot of people that I would not think the same about, which is definitely not true. What I am trying to get at is that if the reason you are not a vegetarian is because you don’t think you could ever do it, you are wrong. That is exactly what I thought before I tried it and I guess that was definitely not true, was it? I guess you just gotta believe in yourself.

Price of being a vegetarian

           The process of converting from a regular diet to a vegetarian diet takes time and unfortunately, costs money as well. Well, of course it would cost money. What doesn’t? But, if you would regularly get a pack of six hotdogs but instead get a pack of six vegetarian hotdogs, it will cost more. I am not sure why but the reasoning behind it will most likely have something to do with the fact that the different versions of food (gluten free, vegan, whole grain, etc.) are now more expensive than the original versions.
           Also, have you ever noticed that fast food is a lot cheaper than healthier foods? I think that is ridiculous because that is just going to worsen the obesity rate in America even more. I’m not saying I never eat fast food; I do every once in a while but I try to not get the foods that look really unhealthy from the menu. But, being a vegetarian that gets hard and that is one of the reasons I don’t eat fast food like ever. Even if I did go to a fast food place, what is there to get? French fries? Ice cream? That’s not food to me. I would rather just eat at home or go out to a restaurant if that was the case. At Burger King, they have added a veggie burger to their menu and I have tried it before, yeah it was good but, I could just make the same thing at my house.
          Going into a vegetarian can be a little expensive at times, but there are also times when I will go out to eat with my family and they get something like a steak for like nine to eleven dollars and I will get a salad for only like four or five dollars, so I guess the only expensive part about being a vegetarian is when you go out and buy a pack of fake hamburgers, hotdogs, chicken strips or whatever. Those are like four of five dollars a pack, which adds up pretty fast if you buy a few packs of them at a time like I do. There are different brands of vegetarian products that are more affordable than the kind I always get, but they taste a lot different, in a bad way than the more expensive brands that I get. That is why I stick to only three specific brands of vegetarian meat. Like the saying goes, I guess you get what you pay for.