Why I'm not vegan or vegetarian.

I just ate the biggest bowl of chilli con carne ever. The juicy beef concoction filled me up with joy, and I savoured every mouthful. Never have I given any thought to abstaining from meat or animal products, despite many conversations had with vegan/vegetarian friends over the years. Hardly a day goes by where I don't see an article or post on Facebook from the vegans, trying to explain to us savages why we shouldn't be killing our animal friends and destroying our planet. And that's totally cool with me, I'm a-okay with people expressing something that they're passionate about. Heck, even if they hate me for not making the choice they'd like, I don't really hold it against them. I think it's great that they can choose something in their life that helps them to make a difference in the world. But I truly have no interest in giving up succulent fried chicken, lush mayonnaise, tender lamb cutlets or mouth watering crème brûlée. Or drinking custard straight out of the bottle.

Here's why.

I don't care. It sounds awful, but when a vegan asks me if I mind torturing animals to get the meat I eat - I actually don't. Because I'm a horrible monster. Sure, I'm not going to be killing any animals myself any time soon. I cried once when I had to kill a fish after catching it whilst out fishing. I'm a huge sissy. But I'm so far removed from the process of killing animals and turning them into food, that I really have no issues with eating them at all. I imagine that a lot of people will not be happy with this, but I'm just trying to be honest.

And as for the impact on the environment - it sounds pretty crap. It doesn't make me happy that the meat industry is such a shit bag for the planet. But it's not like I'm the guy making the factory producing the meat. Shouldn't it be their responsibility to make it less harmful on our beloved Earth? Probably sounds like a huge cop-out if you're a crusader for environment and animals. And I'm sorry that I'm not as great as you, apparently I just don't care enough to do anything about it.

But I mean, I buy clothes that were probably made in a sweat shop by people on 2 cents a day. You probably do too. And whilst I do feel bad when I think about it, I'm not going to not buy clothes. Just like I'm not going to not eat meat. And not not drive my car.

Maybe I'm just a bad person.

There are things that I'm passionate about that I do things about. I promise. Don't hate me just yet. I feel strongly about human rights, and equality regardless of gender, age, sexual orientation etc. I do stuff about that. I volunteered teaching art to refugee kids, which let's face it, they were the ones doing me a favour by brightening my day with their smiles and appreciation. And I never ever waste any food, I always eat what's on my plate. I've actually spent a fair deal of time volunteering with less privileged people. And I donate to charities when I can. All the bottles and cans go in the recycle bin. Oh god, except the tuna cans. They go in the general waste bin because I cant be bothered washing the oil off. MAYBE I AM A MONSTER?

All I'm saying is, nobody is perfect. We all do our own things to improve the planet, even if it's not in the way others might like. Some people compost, some people only shop at Savers, some people have a veggie patch in their backyard, some people volunteer to feed the homeless, some people adopt rescue dogs, some people march for equal rights, some people go to church and pray. Whatever your jam is - it's totally cool to be making the world a better place in whichever way you choose. Even if it's just smiling at people you walk past, or being polite to the checkout guy at Coles.