I’m a vegetarian, but last night I ate a perfectly seasoned and prepared piece of chicken. Now, you are probably thinking that clearly, I cannot call myself a vegetarian. I’ll clarify: I am a bad vegetarian.
About six years ago, I decided to stop eating meat. I had been studying climate change in school and knew that reducing my meat consumption was one of the most effective ways to lower my personal emissions. I felt compelled to act on this knowledge, because I knew that as a North American, my lifestyle already used far more resources than those in many other parts of the world, including the people who were faced with the worst impacts of climate change. However, I was reluctant to fully commit to a meat-free diet. The thought of never again tasting family favourites like salmon pasta or my dad’s deliciously juicy homemade burgers, grilled with love on his backyard barbecue, held me back. The only models I had of a meat-free life were Instagram-perfect vegan influencers who spent hours preparing cashew cheese and tofu scrambles. It seemed like a lot of work, but more than that, it seemed like it had to be an all-or-nothing lifestyle change.
But I decided, why not start small? I didn't have to give up meat forever to honour my conviction. Eating less meat may not be quite as good as eating no meat, but it was better than doing nothing at all! So, I started by simply committing to not buying meat for myself at home. I would eat meat if it was served to me by someone else, on my yearly Chick-fil-A run, or at an occasional sushi with friends, but the meals I cooked for myself at home every day, would be meat-free.
Six years later, my decision has stuck. The way I make my choices around what to eat and when has varied over the years, but I am still happily eating a vegetarian diet 90-99% of the time.
Cutting out meat fully works for some people, and for some it is more of a challenge. But significant research shows that if we all reduce our meat consumption by even a little bit, it would make a big impact on our planet! This research is what compelled me to stop eating meat, but it is not what enabled me to keep eating this way years later. Data alone is not what drives most of us, and I am no exception. So science aside, here are three reasons why I became, and remain, a bad vegetarian:
- It gives me a sense of empowerment and connection
I am under no delusions that my single choice to eat less meat will save our beautiful planet from the increasingly devastating impacts of climate change. But as I work and research and write about climate dangers and climate action, taking small individual actions in my own life gives me a sense of agency and connection to these realities. Fears about the devastating impacts of climate change used to cripple me; I felt a deep overwhelming despair for the future, and disillusionment and anger at the systems, corporations and governments doing little to face this growing crisis. I still feel this way some days, but aligning the things that I do have power over with my convictions removed some of my sense of hopelessness and powerlessness. Fear and anger don’t drive us towards action, they shut us down. Rather, action and connection to solutions give us hope! - It's sustainable for me
We often talk about sustainability in terms of the environment and resources, fishing or logging for example, where our practices must lie within the ecosystem’s ability to replenish its stock of fish or trees. But our habits must be sustainable for ourselves too! We should each make choices that can be sustained within the constraints of our lives. For me, the freedom to know I can choose instead of having to commit to never eating a burger again, is what makes my (mostly) vegetarian diet sustainable. I also know that my grocery store will be stocked with a variety of non-meat protein options – a privilege that contributes to the sustainability of my diet. - It’s a good conversation starter about climate change
Being a bad vegetarian means I am forced to explain my diet choices perhaps more often than I’d like, to both those convinced I should fully commit to a plant-based diet, and to those trying to convince me to eat meat more often, since I’m clearly not a real vegetarian anyways (I’m looking at you, dad). But these conversations are a good entry point into why I choose to eat this way, why individual climate actions do matter, and how we can remove barriers that prevent us from taking action. I love having these conversations, and through them I’ve convinced more than a few of my friends and family that tofu is worth a shot! Plus, talking about climate change is one of my favourite climate actions, because it’s so powerful! Like I said, I know I won’t save the planet by removing demand for a few more burgers, but encouraging my community to share their hopes and fears about how climate change is impacting the things we care about, that is powerful stuff!
These three reasons are a big part of why I continue to eat vegetarian meals, as well as why I ride my bike, thrift my clothes, reach out to my MP, and reduce my food waste. Being a vegetarian (even a bad one!) is an excellent way to reduce environmental impact, but so are many other things!