Why I Became A Vegetarian
Elizabeth Ferrari
January 25, 2007
Growing up in VA, my family was in the business of selling meat. Yes, my father owned a 'meat packing plant' and most people would be glad to have so much food. Being very young, you eat what is put in front of you. And if your family was like mine, you ate everything that was put on your plate. I brought my children up the very same way. What is that old saying, "There are children starving..." So it was normal to eat whatever was put on your plate.
There was always something that bothered me when I would eat meat. Not to say I didn't like it. But as I grew older and came into my 20's, things began to change for me. Always having 'pets' in my life, I began to wonder how I could eat animals and then choose to live with others. What made the ones I lived with more special than the ones I was eating? As I went through life, I continued to have more creatures live in my home. I think the idea that when you live with them, you see a completely different creature than the ones that are killed for food. This is not because there is a difference, but because they are living in close quarters with you and you come to see that they have the same sentient feelings as we humans. They have their own language, and they are intelligent enough that they can understand what we say. They understand our feelings and when we are happy or sad. They love unconditionally.
As with farm animals, we don't get to see that these creatures are the very same. They feel pain and suffering for themselves and for their young. They are social and form families. They mourn the loss of their loved ones. They are just as afraid of the torture that man causes them as we humans when someone does evil to us.
It took me years later to where I was asking for help, and the only place I knew to go was to the One being that created all living, breathing things...God. He helped me see that these creatures do not belong to us. They belong to Him, and He alone. We are stewards of His creation. It was at this time that I started to see what I had inadvertently become part of. It wasn't entirely easy to just stop eating meat. The reason for this I think is because it 'tastes so good' and this is where it made the biggest difference to me.
But if I could eat something that was once living and breathing, what did that say about me? This put me in the same position as the person who runs these 'factory farms' where living, breathing creatures no longer have rights or respect. Where they are no longer looked at as living or breathing, and this was just wrong. I gave up meat without ever thinking about it. For a while I continued to eat fish, but it was within a few months that I gave this up too. I have never looked back. I don't miss the taste of meat because when I think about what they have gone through, I begin to feel their pain.
I think everyone has to come to that place where they begin to feel these creatures' pain...to make the connection. Without this, I can't imagine that people will give up eating meat. We all have to see that everything that is put on this earth has a reason and a plan. We are just part of that bigger plan and without each species living on this earth, it throws everything off balance. This earth just didn't happen. There is a major reason for everything and without these creatures being given the right to live and breath on this earth, we are facing the repercussions. We need to DO THE RIGHT THING! You have to be the change...to see the change someone said, and I truly believe this.
There was always something that bothered me when I would eat meat. Not to say I didn't like it. But as I grew older and came into my 20's, things began to change for me. Always having 'pets' in my life, I began to wonder how I could eat animals and then choose to live with others. What made the ones I lived with more special than the ones I was eating? As I went through life, I continued to have more creatures live in my home. I think the idea that when you live with them, you see a completely different creature than the ones that are killed for food. This is not because there is a difference, but because they are living in close quarters with you and you come to see that they have the same sentient feelings as we humans. They have their own language, and they are intelligent enough that they can understand what we say. They understand our feelings and when we are happy or sad. They love unconditionally.
As with farm animals, we don't get to see that these creatures are the very same. They feel pain and suffering for themselves and for their young. They are social and form families. They mourn the loss of their loved ones. They are just as afraid of the torture that man causes them as we humans when someone does evil to us.
It took me years later to where I was asking for help, and the only place I knew to go was to the One being that created all living, breathing things...God. He helped me see that these creatures do not belong to us. They belong to Him, and He alone. We are stewards of His creation. It was at this time that I started to see what I had inadvertently become part of. It wasn't entirely easy to just stop eating meat. The reason for this I think is because it 'tastes so good' and this is where it made the biggest difference to me.
But if I could eat something that was once living and breathing, what did that say about me? This put me in the same position as the person who runs these 'factory farms' where living, breathing creatures no longer have rights or respect. Where they are no longer looked at as living or breathing, and this was just wrong. I gave up meat without ever thinking about it. For a while I continued to eat fish, but it was within a few months that I gave this up too. I have never looked back. I don't miss the taste of meat because when I think about what they have gone through, I begin to feel their pain.
I think everyone has to come to that place where they begin to feel these creatures' pain...to make the connection. Without this, I can't imagine that people will give up eating meat. We all have to see that everything that is put on this earth has a reason and a plan. We are just part of that bigger plan and without each species living on this earth, it throws everything off balance. This earth just didn't happen. There is a major reason for everything and without these creatures being given the right to live and breath on this earth, we are facing the repercussions. We need to DO THE RIGHT THING! You have to be the change...to see the change someone said, and I truly believe this.