Going Vegetarian
In 2020, I turned a strict vegetarian primarily for better health as well as ethical concerns. But after a year, I realised that I must consume non-vegetarian food in the absence of a healthy vegetarian meal, and also in the event where non-vegetarian food is wasted.
The first circumstance is due to the non-vegetarian food culture in the society I currently live in — I would be lucky to get two vegetarian dishes in a meal. At home, I can cook vegetarian meals. When I travel, I can pack my food. But on certain occasions such as when I can't cook at home, or when I visit my relatives, or when I travel in short notice, I have to rely on the social system for food. And that system is largely non-vegetarian where I live. Therefore, since 2021, I end up following strict vegetarianism only on occasions where I have access to a balanced vegetarian meal.
Had it been a matter of one or two meals, I could resort to keeping it vegetarian with whatever dish is available — curd, pickle, etc. But when if I do this for more meals, it becomes unhealthy due to the unwholesomeness of the diet, thus beating the very purpose of becoming a vegetarian. So, in such situations when a wholesome vegetarian food is inaccessible, I make a compromise and eat a wholesome meal with whatever is available.
The second circumstance comes when friends or relatives cannot finish the prepared or ordered food. If I can still eat, I eat them trying to prevent a waste. At least the ecological and ethical footprints of non-vegetarianism are not on me since I didn't contibute to the demand of food. Nor was I accounted for in its preparation. As for the nutritional footprint, it won't matter much since this isn't an everyday thing.
My decision on what to eat is like an algorithm. At times, my peers get confused about why I do what I do — that I eat non - vegetarian food at times, but not on other times. If the food culture of my society and my extended family change, going vegetarian is a lot easier.