Not be ashamed of my vegetarianism!

However this might be because one of my uncles became a vegetarian when I was in my 20’s, so I had already experienced what it was like for an omnivore to see someone go vegetarian. I think it also helped that I became a vegetarian in my 30’s and therefore the social pressure was considerably less than it would have been if I’d been in high school or college.

Different people make their dietary choices for different reasons. You don’t need to justify yours to anyone else. It is nice to have some short answers to standard questions. If someone is truely interested in learning more, then the more you know the better you’ll be able to explain your decision. However if you’re fairly sure they’re just trying to rile you just say you’re not interested in discussing it.

I’m not longer a vegetarian even though I eat mainly vegetarian meals. I became vegetarian for my health and the environment. I have started to eat fish recently once in a while. I’m still helping the environment by not eating beef, pork, poultry and only eating a little fish and seafood. I’m also sure the amount of fish and seafood I eat isn’t going to have a negative affect on my health.

It seems the people who disagree with vegeterianism (and some times even those that aren’t phased by it) will use any opportunity to have a rant and interrogate me.
The suspects are usually found in groups at parties and other social gatherings, where, in the safety of their numbers they will instigate, what seems to be but isn’t proposed to be, a “friendly discussion” on meat-eating.

“WHY are you vegetarian?!”
“We were meant to eat meat.”
“Avoiding animal products is unhealthy.”
Etc.

I want to be able to form a legitimate argument against such people who throw all these accusitions and opinions at me and not have to mumble excuses and feel bad about actually doing something beneficial to the world.