The Meat of the Matter (100%)

Jan 1, 2006 marked the one year anniversary of my switch to vegetarianism, or as many of my friends and family insist, the “dark side”. Throughout the year, as I dined with people for the first time since the big switch, I found myself consistently asked, “Wait, you’re a vegetarian?!” Their expression of shock and amazement stemmed from two sources:

• They knew me when I was younger: the Ryan that hated vegetables and only ate meat and dairy products.
• They just met me, and assumed that my rough exterior and overpowering masculinity meant I was your typical steak eater.

In either case, the inevitable follow-up question was, “Why?” However, there is no one reason why I gave up my carnivorous ways. Rather, there are several reasons that have persuaded me to walk the meatless road this past year. I have decided to list them here, not in any attempts to convert anyone who may happen upon this blog entry, but as a way to avoid having to repeat my reasoning over and over. Now, when someone asks me why I don’t eat meat, I can say, “Check my blog” and they will smile politely and say, “Ok” even though they don’t really care and have no intention of searching for this entry. Then, we can switch the dinner conversation to less controversial topics, like religion, abortion, the death penalty etc.

To make this post easier to digest, I have broken it up into several pieces:

• The Merits of Meat Munching
• The Virtues of Vegetarianism
• The Concentric Circles of Ryan
• But Killing Animals Ain’t All Bad

Now you know, and knowledge is power! And don't you look hot when you're powerful. I could just eat you up, (if only you weren't made of meat).