Vegetarian and Pescetarianism

Disclaimer- The views expressed in this post are not intended to offend or upset anyone and in no way am i trying to force my views on people, they are simply my opinion and how i feel personally.

I recently had a vibrant conversation about how I feel about eating meat. I cannot deny that i used to love meat, i am one of four siblings and as a big family we would eat plenty of meat between us in one sitting but i didn't understand how it could affect me. 

Being an animal lover for as long as i can remember did help me make the decision to switch to meat free but watching the video 'If slaughter houses had glass walls', which is narrated by Sir Paul McCartney, really influenced my decision to stop eating meat. I never thought that i could live without meat in my diet but after 6 years i cant imagine eating meat again simply because i would struggle to come to terms with how my food came to being on my plate. 6 years has really changed my life, and even the thought that what i am eating is meat makes me feel unwell.

I do feel that people sometimes don't understand the real meaning behind living meat free, they can be rude and occasionally unpleasant about it just because its different to how they live. It is never fair to mock someone for their beliefs, much like a religion eating meat is a choice and no mindful person would provoke a person with meat if their religion did not allow it therefore what gives a person the right to do the same with, for example, atheist vegetarians or pescatarians?  

I know that we as humans are designed to eat plants and meat and that we would not have many of the animals that can be spotted in fields and barns across the world without specific breeding for consumption but doing so in an inhumane way is unjust and unethical. The torture some animals go though to end up on a plate, wrapped around someones neck, attached to a hat or be carried around as simply an accessory is unbelievable. I received a beautiful cream pompom hat and scarf set for Christmas from my grandparents, but after touching the pom i instantly realised they were made from real fur. I checked the label and sure enough it was the fur of a raccoon unhesitatingly i put it back almost in tears and told my parents the items would have to be returned. 

Now of course my grandparents were not to know that i wouldn't want the items, but that would not affect my choice to return them. All in all i don't think i will ever eat meat and i feel it is important for people to know where their food, clothing and other animal by products come from before buying or consuming them. 

For more information on the unethical side of animal trade visit http://www.peta.org.uk/ 

Thanks for reading,

Rachel x