Vegetarianism: My Unexpected Journey to a Greener Lifestyle - Essay Sample

Introduction

For a long time, I have looked down upon vegetarians, a path that I have never thought of taking. To be honest, I have never envisaged myself to becoming a vegetarian. I thought that they were holier people as I could not contemplate how one could live without consuming animal products. For me, food items such as pork, yogurt, fish, cheese, eggs, and milk have been integral in my weekly diet. However, this has changed drastically in recent days, thanks to the influence of this environmental class and the concern of ecological sustainability. As such, I have consciously purposed to change my lifestyle and become a vegan. Although there are myriads of arguments fronted in support of espousing a vegetarian lifestyle, including better health outcomes and religious beliefs, the overarching reason that has driven me to quit eating animal products is due to environmental concerns. Markedly, the year that I joined campus, I decided to commence living a life of zero plastic as a way of conserving the environment; hence, I consider this move as an additional step towards my endeavors of protecting the environment. Thus, what has prompted me to become a vegan is neither concern for my health nor animal welfare, but rather something that I have not had thought much about before, the overwhelming environmental impacts of rearing farm animals for human consumption.

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How I Became a Vegan

This week I have made an announcement that has caught my parents, family members, colleagues, and many of my friends by surprise. I have decided that I am turning to become a vegan. Up until then, I loved eating animal products. Growing up in a Christian family and having no health problems, I have had no conditions that would exempt me from eating from consuming animal products. To put it simply, I have been following an average omnivorous diet. The list of my favorites food products comprised mainly of items that have animal products, including cheese, yogurt, milk, fish, pork, beef, sausages, chicken meat, and eggs. Specifically, in my weekly diet plan, I had included at least five meals that had animal products. I believed that they offered protein nutrients in my body without considering other factors, such as ecological sustainability. Thus, I did not have any emotional attachment or concern in any type of animal product. Akin to the majority of the people, I have seen those distressing images of conditions subjected to cattle, pigs, and poultry in factory farms. However, somehow, I have been managing to put those pictures behind my mind when ordering, purchasing, and eating these products.

What I Thought I Would Learn From Myself, Other People, And the Environment Concerning Being A Vegetarian

There are many things that I thought I would learn about our surroundings when I purposed to become a vegan. From my biology class, I knew that everything on this planet plays a critical role in maintaining the ecosystem. As such, I thought by being a vegan would learn how animals contribute towards sustaining the ecology-they role that they play in maintaining this balance. Besides, I also believed that I would get to learn about the impact that animal products have on the environment. Also, my attention was drawn to understanding the scale of the damage imposed on the planet by the production of farm animal food. Thus, overall, by changing my lifestyle and becoming a vegan, I thought that I could understand the environmental impacts of animal farming.

On my part, I thought that I would learn about the benefits of being a vegetarian. Whilst throughout my life I have considered food items such as meat, milk, and eggs being crucial for body development, the latest developments of changing my lifestyle and becoming a vegan makes me cogitate about alternative non-animal products that can provide equivalent nutrients in my body. Therefore, besides learning about the health benefits of being a vegetarian, I am keen on understanding other non-animal food products that I can be consuming to provide the much-needed protein in my body.

Concerning other people that have previously adopted a similar change (becoming vegetarians), I think it is of paramount to learn from them about the practices that they espoused to ensure that they adhered to their original goal of avoiding eating meat products. Also, it is imperative to understand some of the reasons that influenced them to become vegans.

Tracking My Environmental Practice of Becoming a Vegan

I adopted a qualitative approach to track my weekly nutrient uptake. This technique has myriads of benefits when used to track the progress of any endeavor. For instance, it helped to capture any changes in attitudes as well as to measure the success of my environmental practice (Kumar, 2019). This helped me to understand any areas that needed improvements. The first step was to consult a nutritionist who helped me come up with a well -balanced vegan diet to meet my nutritional requirements. I then used the Cronometer mobile app to track every meal that I ate whilst ensuring that I followed the nutritionist's recommended diet plan. The app is user friendly and provides a simple checklist that enabled me to assess my nutritional intake as well as the progress graph (Hindy, 2020). Moreover, it offers personalized tips that helped me to identify areas that I needed to improve. Figure 1 below presents the weekly vegan meal plan that I follow.

Table 1. Weekly Vegan Meal Plan. (Source: Author).

The figure above shows the weekly meal plan that I purposed to follow after becoming a vegan. As noted, the diet comprises mostly of fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, legumes, fortified foods, and complex carbohydrates.

Luckily, I have been successful in following the recommended weekly meal plan. Many changes have occurred in my body. For instance, I have considerably lost excess weight. The changes correlate with findings of many previous observational studies that indicate that vegans have a lower body mass index (BMI) than non-vegans (Bronk & Su, 2016). From the time when I became a vegan, I have lost 1.2 kgs. Although I have lost weight, I feel that I am more active and energetic than before.

Impacts of Being a Vegan on the World

Water Conservation

It is an undoubted truth that millions of people around the world do not have access to clean water. Moreover, many more people face the challenge of water scarcity due to droughts and sometimes mismanagement of water bodies (Bronk & Su, 2016). Animal wastes are one of the leading polluters of freshwater. Thus, avoiding rearing farm animals would mean more access to clean water. Moreover, the findings of a study done by the UNESCO show that it takes around 15,000 litres of water to produce a pound of beef (Li, 2019). The research also found out that animals consume nearly a third of the freshwater in the world. The study also found out that it requires 100to 200 times more water to produce a kilogram of beef than it does to produce plant foods (Li, 2019). John Robbins, a vegetarian author, notes that it takes 229, 168, 108, and 60 pounds of water to produce rice, maize, wheat, and potatoes, respectively. However, one pound of beef requires 9,000 liters (Bronk & Su, 2016). Indeed, these revelations underscore how becoming a vegan would significantly help in conserving water masses. Figure 2 below shows the liters of water used to produce 1 kg of food.

Figure 1. Liters of water used to produce 1kg of food. (Source: Vegan Australia, 2020)

From figure 1 above, it can be observed that it requires a lot of water to produce animal products such as beef and pork require than plant foods such as tomatoes, broccoli, and potatoes.

Minimizes Production of Greenhouse Gas Emissions in the Atmosphere

Carbon dioxide (CO2) is one of the leading gases that cause global warming. Studies have shown that producing 2 kilograms of beef results in more Carbon dioxide emissions than driving a vehicle for 3 hours (Li, 2019). According to the Environmental Protection Agency, nearly 80 % of ammonia gas emissions in the United States emanate from animal waste (Miller, 2017). Lamb and beef have by far the most adverse environmental impact than any other animal product. It is estimated that one gram of beef protein releases around 221g of CO2 while pork produces 36g of CO2 for the same quantity (Li, 2019). Markedly, meat production also releases other greenhouse gases, including nitrous oxide and methane.

Figure 2. Greenhouse Gas Emissions from vegetables and common proteins (Source: Environmental Working Group. 2020).

From figure 2 above, it is notable that animal products produce more carbon dioxide gas than vegetables. Lamb's meat ranks the highest, followed by beef, cheese, and pork. Tomatoes and lentils are some of the products that produce the least amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Moreover, it is also apparent that animals produce more CO2 when they are being reared than when they leave the farm, presumably for slaughtering and cooking. Thus, animal products have an outsized impact on the emission of greenhouse gas on the planet, which leads to climatic changes.

Purification of Air

Plants purify the air through the process of photosynthesis. Animals breathe in oxygen and release out carbon dioxide while plants do the vice versa (Sandford, 2017). Thus, they release oxygen in the atmosphere that is used by humans. Moreover, plants add aesthetic value to the environment.

Downsides of Being a Vegan

The lack of crucial nutrients such as vitamin B-12, folate, and omega-3 fatty acids in a vegan diet can lead to a host of problems, including loss of muscle and bone mass (Langley, 2015). Markedly, only animal products naturally have vitamin B-12 (Langley, 2015). Very few plants provide these nutrient-cereals, fortified food, and nutritional yeast. All adults are recommended to consume at least 2.4 mg of vitamin B-12 every day (Langley, 2015). Besides, the iron in animals (heme iron) is different from the one in plants (non-heme iron). Humans are recommended to take at least 8 milligrams of iron every day (Langley, 2015). Iron is used in the manufacture of hemoglobin that helps in the transfer of oxygen in the human body.

Challenges of Becoming a Vegan

One of the major challenges that I have encountered after deciding to become a vegan is eating out, especially in restaurants. Most of the hotels offer limited vegan options. In particular, most of them have a plain salad and fries. Secondly, as a remarkably new vegan, I have often found myself craving for old flavors such as cheese, yogurt, eggs, and grilled meat. Besides, I have also faced social pressure, especially from family members, in explaining why I decided to be a vegan. Also, there is a stereotype that vegans are weak and nutrients deficient.

How Being a Vegan Relates to the Course Work

Most of the lectures in this course relate to the idea of conserving the environment. As such, this new practice serves as a practical example of one way through which humans can ensure ecological sustainability. By becoming a vegan, it means that I will conserve water sources, reduce the emission of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, as well as contribute towards purifying the air that we breathe.

Lessons Drawn From the Practice of Becoming a Vegetarian

One of the lessons that I have learned from this endeavor is that every being has the duty of contributing towards conserving the environment if we aspire to maintain ecological balance. There are many different ways of achieving this goal, and being a vegan is one of them. Besides, I have also learned that humans must be ready to face myriads of challenges in the pursuit to conserve our surroundings.

How becoming a Vegan m...