Being vegetarian in the non-Obie world

When I became a vegetarian 4 years ago, I was in the middle of my first year of college. Life was great, I was learning, meeting new people from all over the place and I went to the most awesome school ever, Oberlin. Though I have thought about being vegetarian for most of my life because my sibling has been vegetarian/vegan for a long time, I never thought I could actually do it. And then, amongst many friends that were vegetarian, and a dining hall with a wide option of tasty non-meat dishes, I officially became vegetarian.

Being vegetarian at Oberlin was so easy. Not only were there vegetarian options at every mean, there were even vegan ones as well. I also learned quickly, at a conference in Notre Dame, that this was not common practice. For a week at Notre Dame, I tried desperately to eat well and stay vegetarian when my options most days were pasta and salad. But for the most part, things haven't been that difficult. When I went home, my sibling and I would just eat the same food and at school there were many options. Once I started eating in a food co-op, most of our food was non-meaty and my days were so simple. Sometimes when I went to a friend's house for one of our breaks things got a little complicated, but never too bad. I was always with another Oberlin student who completely understood why I was vegetarian and I was among very accommodating hosts. From Italy to New York and Chicago and all the way down in New Mexico, life was great.

Things got complicated as soon as I stepped foot in the Philippines. Attending Filipino parties here in the States wasn't bad, my sister had been vegan and now I was vegetarian, and most of our relatives were pretty good about either getting something we could eat or letting us know to bring our own. The Philippines was a whole other world. Being vegetarian there will get you a very confused look as most people are big on meat and when I've tried to explain the reasons for me being vegetarian, people are still confused.

It's not that difficult to understand, well, I don't seem to think it is. I don't eat animals, anything that walked, swam, or flew, for various reasons. As a cognitive thinking person, I've learned that I can get all of the nutrients I need from plants, and thus do not feel like we as humans have the right to kill other animals for food. As someone who cares about the environment, and this planet, I recognize that the amount of energy that goes in to raising animals is far greater than that of plants. And as someone who cares about animals, I recognize that the American food system is terrible because we feed animals things they aren't supposed to eat, raise them in cramped conditions, and slaughter them inhumanely.

Now I'm not sure what exactly about these arguments bothers people so much, but I have definitely had some very frustrating arguments with people about being vegetarian. The worst of which came while sitting at the kitchen table of my best cousin ever, talking with another relative. Though I don't remember details, I remember that this person did not understand any of the points I made, spoke with an "I'm right, you're wrong" attitude, and ultimately, I didn't feel like they respected my decision.

Though most of my family isn't particularly thrilled by the fact that I'm vegetarian because I am harder to feed, I feel like they respect my decision and love me regardless, and do their best to feed me and for that I am seriously grateful. And at a time when I have to constantly reaffirm the fact that I'm Filipino, it doesn't exactly help my cause that I don't eat meat, but thankfully, as my cousin has stated, I'm loved for who I am and not what I eat. I can't imagine that being vegetarian is going to get easier, unless of course, I move back to a hippy, college town, since a majority of the US still eats meat, but I feel like it's important for me to explain to people, especially my family, about my decision to help shed light on vegetarianism and veganism. And until things get better, I'll just have to deal with people not understanding and learn how to navigate the non-Obie world.