Recently I started a quest or sorts to try and cut down my meat and fish intake and attempt to (eventually) live without them. Strangely this all started not from a visit to a slaughter house (already seen one in action...rather messy) but from a conversation with a vegetarian on FB. She wasn't a crazy veggy just someone that had stopped eating meat and had done for many years.
Suddenly out of nowhere she asked me a question
"did the animal in question give you permission to eat it?"
At first I laughed it off thinking it a really weird thing to say, but the more I thought about it the more it began to eat away at me. All animals are living beings with feelings likes and dislikes, in fact some are rather intelligent even showing off to appease people and other animals. She challenged me to go without meat or fish products for as long as I could and up to now it's been two weeks.
However I have to say that I've not missed the taste of meat once, sure the other night a friend of mine ordered a Chinese takeaway with chicken balls (google them) and as lovely as they looked and smelled I didn't want one. Sunday lunch consists of everything but the meat and I now only eat cheese pizza.
I thought it would be really hard to go without the meat but I'm finding it rather easy up to now. The really great thing about all of this is that it's forced me to eat foods I wouldn't normally. Just the other day I made myself a lovely cheese omelette, and I hardly ever touch cheese or egg. Whether or not there will be any health benefits to all of this I'm unsure but right now I'm not finding it tough.
Anyone have any thoughts on this? Are you a vegetarian did you find it hard to adjust etc?