My dawning vegetarianism as a metaphor for social change

I can’t really claim to be a vegetarian but I guess you could call me a “social meat-eater”. In the same way that some people are “social drinkers” or “social smokers” I only eat meat when I’m out eating with (meat-eating) friends. And usually only if we’re eating Chinese style or pizza - something we’re sharing.

Vegetarianism is something that dawned on me slowly - like losing contact with a friend, but realizing that maybe it’s for the best. There was a major contributing factor to this new found eating habit. I became friends with a vegetarian couple, even living with them for one month while I was homeless. The guy of the couple was extremely hectoring about vegetarianism. He’d rattle off statistics and facts about the health benefits of vegetarianism, or more often, lecture me on the health dangers of eating meats.

He’d frequently say things like, “One day we’re going to think of meat the same way we think of cigarettes. There’s going to be sold in the 18+ section with warning labels all over them.”

At the time I though little of it, and would humor him by nodding with eyes glazed over. Little did I know his words were squirreling their way into my mind. His nagging motherly ways finally got to me.

Other small factors: many of my workmates and other friends are vegetarian and in eating with them I was introduced to a lot of yummy vegetarian dishes. I’m cooking for myself a lot these days, and can’t be bothered to use meat - plus it’s more expensive. Working at Greenpeace has heightened my awareness of all things environmental, which includes the impacts of our animal devouring habits.

After an initial withdraw period (of perhaps a month or less) where I would find my body craved meat, I now find that I never even feel like eating it. Meat seems, to me, to be so heavy and bloody or fleshy in flavor that I’d only ever want to eat it on occasion. And would probably be fine if I never ate it at all.

In activism, it’s not uncommon to face the question, “but don’t you think this is all a waste of time? People won’t listen. Or they’ll listen, but they won’t actually change.” I like to remind people of several things:

1. You don’t know what impact your words or actions might have. Just as I, at the time, seemed pretty unresponsive to my vegetarian friend’s lecturing, with much persistence he eventually wore me down.

2. You are one drop, of a large tidal wave. My friend alone probably wouldn’t have converted me into vegetarianism, but the together the multitudes of influences did.

Another point often made at leftie events or protests, “well aren’t you just preaching to the converted?” To this I also say: If today’s protest/ film/ blog post/ music event caused one casual attendant to become semi-hardcore to the cause, or one semi-hardcore person become hardcore, or prevent one hardcore person from slipping backwards into semi-hardcore, then I’m happy.

Change is something that happens over a long period. Want proof of that? Black people in the US vote. A woman is prime minister of Australia. All you can do is  your bit, and hope that in the long run there’s enough wins on battlefields to take out the war.