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Don’t You Miss Eating Meat and Other Silly Questions People Ask A Vegetarian

“Nothing will benefit human health and increase chances of survival for life on earth as much as the evolution to a vegetarian diet.” – Albert Einstein, Nobel Prize in Physics, 1921

I’ve been a vegetarian for six years now, and every year, I get asked the same questions by people I’ve just met, people I’ve known for a long time but just found out I’m a vegetarian, family and relatives who can’t believe/can’t quite comprehend that I am a vegetarian, and friends who can’t believe I’m still a vegetarian after all the years.

Every year, the questions these well-meaning people ask sort of give me multiple déjà vus. Questions range from the rhetorical to the utterly senseless—overtime, I have somehow developed mild indifference and slight annoyance, with a tinge of amusement toward the why-are-you-vegetarian questions people throw at me.

But of course, part of being a vegetarian is dealing with all the bewildered looks and the ensuing hows and whys. Perhaps what has kept me amused over the varied reactions and questions I continuously get is the comedic quality of it all. And for your amusement, my dear friends, I have listed them down.

Question number 1: Do you eat fish and seafood? How about [insert enumeration of all types of animal-derived products, right down to eggs, milk, cheese, and butter]?

I get asked this a lot of times, even after I have explained what a vegetarian diet is. [Insert sigh of exhaustion here].

Well, to answer the question (in the hopes of warding off future chances of being asked this again): no. No meat whatsoever. I do not eat animal meat and meat by-products, however way you classify them. But I am a lacto-ovo vegetarian, so I eat eggs and (some) dairy products. I used to be a vegan for two years, but I terribly missed the saltiness of cheese. In this part of the world where I live, finding soy cheese is next to impossible, so I shifted to a lacto-vegetarian diet. Gradually, I started including eggs in my diet again. I’ve been eating eggs and dairy products for about three years now.

Question number 2: Aren’t humankind’s physical make-up specifically configured to eat meat?

Ah, the rhetorical question, ever so eloquently delivered. I don’t know why some people ask me this. It’s  either they want to appear smart(er), or they just want to annoy me, that’s all.

Honestly? I don’t know about your physical make-up, but mine has been configured to not eat meat anymore. I may have eaten meat in the past, but my body has adapted very well to not eating any meat and meat by-products, thank you.

Question number 3: Aren’t those animals raised/bred to be eaten by humans?

Sigh. I feel just the slightest bit of sadness when some people ask me this. The poor animals are doomed to be cut up, broiled (or fried, steamed, whatever), seasoned and spiced, and served up on the dining table. In the past, humans were hunters/gatherers, but as technology progressed and human thinking evolved, same poor animals were commercially bred and raised in massive numbers just to feed the entire meat-consuming market.

Imagine if commercial meat production was never invented: it would have been really time-consuming, not to mention hard, to put meat on the table.  Come to think of it, maybe more people would have decided to become herbivores if that was the case. Well, I don’t know about your  evolutionary path, but I feel mine does not have the need for raising, breeding, even hunting, animals for food.

Question number 4: Don’t you miss eating meat?

This one really frustrates me. I’d usually answer the question by asking them what they think. I’d usually get an ‘I don’t know, that’s why I’m asking you’ for an answer back. If I am in a good mood, I’d tell them that on the first few weeks of shifting to a vegetarian  diet, I missed eating fish. But if I’m in a not-so-good mood, I’d usually snap back and say, “I wouldn’t still be a vegetarian if I miss eating meat, because I’d be a hypocrite if I say I am vegetarian but I continue to miss eating meat. And I’m not a hypocrite, you know.”

To answer the question, once and for all, I absolutely do not miss eating meat. I am too happy eating tofu cooked in every way possible, crispy fresh veggies, tasty vegetarian dishes, and delicious nuts and legumes, to even think about missing eating meat.

Question number 5: Why are you vegetarian?

Perhaps the most frustrating question ever asked me in my six years of being vegetarian. During the first few years, I would usually answer the question by enumerating my reasons one by one, each properly explained. But as years passed by, I kind of grew tired of having to explain myself over again. I feel bad for people who’d asked me this and got less than proper answers. Hmm, maybe I can refer people who’ll ask me the same question in the future to this post and this other post so everybody’s happy.

Anyway, to answer this final question, I turned vegetarian for a whole lot of reasons, all beneficial, to say the least. And oh, I am a vegetarian because I made the choice.