That One Essay about Food
A plant-based diet is what I have been living on for nine months now, some people call me a vegetarian, and others call me crazy. Being raised in the country meant eating more meat than the usual girl, and I began to notice how sluggish beef, pork, even chicken made me feel after eating it. So, one day I made a bet with my friend to be a “veg-head” for two weeks, I won the challenge and haven’t stopped being an organic vegetarian since. It helped me become more disciplined in planning and calculating my essential nutrition; I ate plenty of veggies, fruit, legumes, nuts, and grains. My metabolism rose, I lost 10% body fat, just from eliminating meat from my diet I felt, and was healthier. Becoming an organic vegetarian will not only improve your health but this lifestyle will make you happier overall. Many people argue that going on a plant-based diet, especially organic will be too costly and not worth any benefits. Some thought I would become malnourished and die, actually a lot of people told me “turn back now before it’s too late”, they thought I would either lose the bet, get sick and die from not getting enough protein, or lose my taste for meat and be permanently craving vegetables. At one point a stranger approached me in the store and told me I was harming the environment from buying organic because organic products have to be transported more and leave a larger carbon footprint upon the Earth.
I almost lost it when I kept hearing that buying organic was a terrible idea, and all the other nonsense people threw my way. Basically the majority of people thought I was financially rich to eat this way, to become deathly ill, plus lose my thirst for animal flesh in the process, and hurting the human existence by ruining the planet from not wanting to eat pesticides. Money was my biggest concern for becoming a vegetarian; especially since I wasn’t the one bringing home the bacon (ironically) or doing all the grocery shopping. The cost of organic is definitely more expensive than just regular pesticide poisoned food. My mom had been the one to convince me of eating organic; we both had researched and experimented with organics and discovered that pesticides contain cancer causing agents. Not all people think that pesticides will reside within their vegetables or other produce even after washing the produce.
Yet it does and it affects peoples’ health for the long term and the day to day living. Knowing this I thought I would give organic a serious try. Turns out it was costly; however, I decided to compromise, there are different levels of toxins in certain foods that aren’t organic. There is a very useful list of produce and other foods that have the lowest and highest amount of pesticides in them; it’s called the “dirty dozen” and the “less dirty dozen”. This knowledge furthered my organic vegetarianism and my family’s’ wallet. I would love to see people try and eat vegan for two weeks, a vegan diet excludes all animal products; no meat, dairy, and some even go as far as banishing honey (an animal by-product) ha! Ridiculously enough, vegetarianism wasn’t that big of a leap for me since I had wanted to try it for a while and had researched every aspect of this lifestyle change for about a year. Having my family being so centered around physical and mental health, I had many perspectives to learn from. Being a vegetarian isn’t for everyone, it is true that some people can become malnourished due to laziness or other health issues that cannot be meddled with. Cutting out meat from my diet didn’t make me sick, kill me or stop my occasional meat cravings; which means I can go back to a carnivorous diet anytime I want, but I won’t, at least for now since it has made me entirely happier. Then there was one issue that stumped me; that I was hurting the planet by not digesting toxins, I couldn’t fathom why. The answer was that not many people demand organic, because it does cost more and not all people understand or realize the benefit of eating organic.
Many people question whether the market will change and organics will be a priority for shoppers, and noticing all the health seminars that discuss organics, the group of organic lovers is rising. Someday by popular demand the tables will turn and organics won’t have to be transported farther to purchase, because people are interested in their health and the environment. Take farmers’ markets for example, they are popping up everywhere, a local resource that produces healthy and usually organic foods. Furthermore, living an organic lifestyle has been proven to extend peoples’ lifetime, vegetarian or not, the health benefits are enormous.
Organic vegetarian is ideal and significantly adds years to our lives, yet people ignore and question the facts. Expanding one’s life is important and their daily living is equally important, because a happy life is a better one. Eating an organic plant-based diet will improve someone’s digestive system, energy levels, and life overall. Not only does it help people’s lives but their impact on the planet; when people eat less meat then the less production of cattle, pigs, and poultry there is. Using fewer resources, especially killing less animals has a positive impact and can rid the livestock factories all together. If people want a longer and happier lifestyle, this is the choice to make. In conclusion, physically, and mentally this lifestyle will improve many peoples’ lives and begin to spread and increase healthy living. Overall, the more organic vegetarians, the better for society.
