After three years of being a vegetarian I made the controversial decision to start eating fish again – here’s why.
As reported by GreatGreenWall, there are currently about 1.5 billion vegetarians on the planet. Though reasons differ from person to person, there is an undeniable population of meat-free eaters.
Why I became a vegetarian
Sadly, my tale was not one of sudden moral realization about the state of the meat industry. It also had nothing to do with the environment, sorry planet Earth.
Though I do not dispute the meat industry’s effect on the planet, nor the fact that we humans do not need to kill to survive, I axed meat from my diet to assist my sister.
After struggling with an eating disorder for years, she found herself drawn to vegetarianism for similar reasons to the rest of the population. Much like my sister, 65% of vegetarians made the switch because of animal welfare concerns and 70% because of the environment.
She had already decided to make the switch, and yet, she was becoming progressively worried about how limiting her food intake could trigger dangerous old habits. As I had dabbled in both veganism and vegetarianism in the past, I joined her veggie pilgrimage for moral support.
A vegetarian no more
After four years of tofu, Quorn, and lots of veggies, my sister was happier than ever with her vegetarian lifestyle. Sadly, I was not. Though I still had no interest in meat, in fact, I was sometimes actively put off by it, fish remained my biggest temptation over the four years. I decided to jump back into the carnivore foray in November 2023.
At first, the change left me with an overwhelming sense of failure. I was abandoning vegetarianism because of personal wants, not because my health demanded it. But in truth, It boiled down to three distinct reasons.
TikTok made me do it
Ironically, eating fish again was spurred by going vegetarian in the first place. Bored of frozen veggie squares from the grocery store, I further explore the world of cooking to diversify my weekly meals.
It worked, but perhaps a little too well as I suddenly found myself absorbing much more food content, ranging from Stanley Tucci’s Taste: My Life Through Food to TikToks and viral videos.
Sure, there was nothing stopping me from cooking with fish but I also wanted to reap the rewards. How can you know you’re a good cook if you’re not trying the food?
The science doesn’t lie
It would be naive to not attribute at least some of the change to a desire to grow healthier. Though you can live a completely health lifestyle on a vegetarian diet, the benefits of eating fish are just too hard to ignore.
As reported by Healthline, the benefits of eating fish include a higher quantity of nutrients, reduced heart attacks and strokes, boosted brain health, treating depression, reduced risk of autoimmune disease, and protected vision.
Be a better person
It’s easy to buy a piece of fruit or some vegetables and assume that the best practices are in place because that piece of food was never alive and mooing. Unfortunately, that’s just not the case and you’re not automatically a better person because you don’t eat meat.
Eating fish again meant I had to make a conscious choice to purchase as sustainably as possible.
