How it Started

Ok, I'm not really sure why I chose to dive into this, and I keep telling myself it won't last, but I've made commitments before, so this can't be that hard. It's just a few months. Just a few months and I'll be able to do whatever. It's not like a jail cell- well, not completely. And I'm doing it for a good cause. I'm saving lives. It's just meat, right? So, this growling in my stomach and this ache for something juicy, savory and meaty is a good thing. I'm beginning a semester's trek through vegetarianism. For my final project in Honors Intro to Political Science, we are required to either read a political memoir (on top of the 7 already required in the class), or endure (did i say endure, I mean undertake) a lifestyle change that has Political meaning. Personally, I am not a political person. I can barely tell the difference between Communism, Socialism, Totalitarianism, Cannibalism...wait, I know that one. But really, I have no political preference, and I based my vote in last year's groundbreaking election on things I heard from Saturday Night Live. I knew for this final project that I really didn't want to read another book, but what could I possibly do that would have political ramifications? I have no political thoughts in my head! However, upon talking with the professor about my options, he gave me an idea: that Vegetarianism (another ism?) could be a political choice. I hadn't thought of food in that context before. His idea did come with requirements (don't they all): that I would have to keep a diary-like record of my account of meat-less days, and that I would write up my final report with consideration to why I chose to do this project. Personally, I have always loved animals, and this made a very easy transition to this idea- That I would research the maltreatment and horrible conditions of animals in the food industry, and would complete a semester of Vegetarianism in protest of these conditions. Sounds political to me!