When one imagines their best birthday present ever, few might recall the gift of vegetarianism, but for junior Madi Bowen, that was all she wanted. Her family was not originally excited about
Madi becoming a vegetarian, so to get her parents to let her, Madi decided to give herself the gift of vegetarianism as a birthday present. Since changing to a meat-free diet, Madi has faced many obstacles, but continues to live a vegetarian lifestyle three years later.

“My brother has taken bacon, and literally rubbed it on my face,” Madi said. “It was horrific because bacon is fantastic.”

At first Madi wanted to be a vegetarian because she does not agree with the way animals are treated during the meat manufacturing process. Over time, she has formed her own reasons for being meat-free. Madi does not think that eating meat is wrong, or that it is bad to kill an animal and eat it, but it is her personal preference not to.

“There is nothing wrong with eating an animal,“ Madi said. “That’s fine. I just don’t like the systematic way that it’s gone about. It’s like this massive disgusting murder of a bunch of animals, shoved with a bunch of antibiotics. I wasn’t a big fan of that part of it, so why not cut that out of my diet.”

At the beginning of her new diet, it was harder to stay away from meat because she had to consciously think about it, or she would forget. On her first day as a vegetarian, her dad made sausage, and she was about to take a bite when she realized she couldn’t eat meat anymore. Since then, Madi says that it has become easier, and she doesn’t really think about it anymore.

“I eat a lot of salad, and I’m okay with that,” Madi said. “It has gotten me really good at picking meat out of things.”

Although vegetarians have to find ways to supplement the missing protein in their diet, according to school nurse Brooke Magilligan there are multiple protein-packed options that are available to vegetarians and vegans.

“The best way would be to eat different nuts and bean products,” Magilligan said. “I would say they can definitely do peanut butter.”

Contrary to what some may think, there are a lot of foods that contain protein besides meat. Nuts, eggs and beans are just a few sources of protein for vegetarians. Meat restrictions do, however, make it hard for vegetarians to eat at some restaurants and fast food places. Madi usually orders  a salad or some fries, but some places like Taco Bell have vegetarian options, and will replace beef with beans or other substitutes.

“I’m okay with eating other forms of protein,” fellow vegetarian junior Kaitlyn Crocker said. “It has impacted my daily life because I have to watch what I eat, and where I eat.”

According to Kaitlyn, being vegetarian requires commitment, and people who make the commitment do it for a reason, even if they don’t know what that is right off the bat. Madi has turned this birthday present into a lifestyle that she is passionate about, and has been able to connect her views on animals lives to how she keeps her life going.

“I don’t exactly remember why I started, probably for some stupid reason like ‘oh the animals have feelings too!’, and because I watched this big long thing with this guy talking about it and I was like ‘eh okay,’” Madi said. “I eventually formed my own views that weren’t what everyone else was saying.”