For vegetarians, every day is Earth Day

It's not easy being green. Going vegetarian is probably one of the most misunderstood decisions I've made in my life. More than 10 years since I stopped eating meat, there are still times when my own family asks me, "But you can eat chicken, right?"

 

If you're wondering what vegetarians can or can't eat, the rule is, you can't eat anything with a face. Vegans, on the other hand, won't eat anything that contains animal products, so even honey is off the list.

Somewhere along the way, I began eating seafood again, so I'm no longer considered vegetarian. Why I eat seafood now is a long story that involves an ex-boyfriend, so I'll spare you the gory details and go back to why I became vegetarian in the first place.

 

Some people go vegetarian for the animals, while others go vegetarian for their own health. In my case, I was never fond of eating meat. As a kid, I loved my vegetables, especially ampalaya.

 

I suspect it had to do with trying to impress my lola. All the other kids in our generation were overachievers — artists, musicians, valedictorians. I figured my only chance was to establish myself as a champion vegetable eater.

 

In high school, I decided to go vegetarian. I'd been reading a lot about vegetarianism, and what convinced me was one of the campaign materials of the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). It wasn't one of those posters of naked vegetarians, although those can be quite convincing. It was a flyer that said: "Think you can be a meat-eating environmentalist? Think again! If you care about the planet, go vegetarian."

 

Of course, it wasn't just the flyer. The flyer led to plenty of information about how a meat-based diet affects the environment. As many environmentalists and vegetarians have pointed out, the production of meat uses up natural resources.

 

As The Guardian's environment editor John Vidal wrote, animal protein-rich food consumes five to ten times more water than a vegetarian diet. 

 

In fact, a 2012 report by Malik Falkenmark and colleagues at the Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI) said that if people continue to eat the way they do (with heavily animal-based diets), there will not be enough water to produce food for the expected 9 billion population in 2050.

 

Also, PETA notes that animals being raised for food produce a huge amount of waste — 87,000 pounds of manure per second in the US — which contaminates streams and rivers. 

 

It isn't just water. "Rearing cattle generates more global warming greenhouse gases, as measured in CO2 equivalent, than transportation," a United Nations report said in 2006. Yes, cow flatulence threatens the planet.

 

Consuming less animal products is necessary to save the world from the worst impacts of climate change, the United Nations said in 2010. 

 

As PETA puts it, the more meat you eat, the fewer people you feed. Cattle worldwide consume enough calories to feed 8.7 billion people, while around 840 million people go hungry every day.

 

By the time I was done reading, I was positive that I would no longer eat meat. For the first five years, I was pretty successful at not eating anything with a face. The exception was one meal of what was listed as spinach dumplings, which turned out to be meat dumplings with spinach. Finding surprise meat in apparently vegetarian dishes is just one of the challenges of being vegetarian.

 

After this, I learned to ask about food, even when dishes were marked as vegetarian. But even when you ask, repeatedly, if a dish contains meat, there's no guarantee. "Wala po," a waiter will say about a dish that contains chicken, because for some people, meat only means pork or beef.

 

My first Christmas as a vegetarian, the only thing I could eat for Noche Buena was bread. I sat in a corner and used mustard to draw smiley faces on my bread. I knew it was my fault for not having enough foresight to contribute something I could eat, so I couldn't really complain.

 

Whether you eat out or at a party, it's best to be prepared. The simple solution is to make your own food, but I know a lot of people who think this is too much trouble. Never mind that you can eat most vegetables raw, so by "make your own food," what I really mean is "wash your veggies."

 

I suppose one reason why people think being vegetarian is difficult is the idea that eating nothing but vegetables is boring. But that just means you have to be more creative and adventurous. There's a lot more beyond the familiar Bahay Kubo vegetables, and there's always tofu, or even mock meat, if that's your thing.

 

In my case, I can eat the same thing for a month and be happy. These days, I snack on oranges, apples, grapes, and pretzels during the day. Every night I have a huge salad. I realize it sounds terribly annoying, but I assure you, I'm not Little Miss Healthy.

 

First, I'm not little. You might think vegetarians are skinny, but keep in mind that we can still eat junk food. I'm not exactly healthy, either. As my mother likes to point out, a vegetarian who smokes is an oxymoron.

 

I don't claim to be an environmentalist, but if Captain Planet had to give me a grade, I think I'd pass. I think caring about the environment doesn't have to be a grand project. It's about the little things. For instance, not smoking at all is ideal. But if you're going to smoke, stay away from people who don't smoke. Also, don't leave your butts lying around!

 

When it comes to being vegetarian, it would be difficult to come up with a statistic on how much it helps the environment. But surely it makes a difference. —KG/HS, GMA News