I am a vegetarian and when I tell people that, they often seem surprised. Some may feel as if they have to defend their eating habits; my most favorite used phrase is "well, I really love Chick-fil-a." I am here to say that I'm not here to judge anyone else's eating habits – I choose to not eat meat as you choose to eat meat and that is completely okay (and me being a vegetarian surely doesn't stop me from ordering a large fry from Chick-fil-a).

The first and foremost reason that I am a vegetarian is because of the maltreatment of animals being raised for food. The majority of factory farms use any means to increase production while decreasing cost, as any savvy business would. However, ultimately the suffering of animals in my mind outweighs the price of the meat they are producing. Don't get me wrong, ethical farms exist. I respect these businesses and wish that they could be the major food producers. However, it is more expensive to ethically raise livestock and poultry so the prices of their products are more expensive. It is not ideal to expect everyone to be able to afford or want to pay the extra money for their items.

Another issue that I am against when it comes to factory farming is the excessive pollution caused by it. So much of our resources are used for factory farming- water, oil, grain, land, the list goes on. According to the Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources, a cow can drink from 3 to 30 gallons of water a day, depending on factors such as body size. That's a lot of water! Also you have to take into account the gas being used to transport grain and the meat produced from these factory farms. Large masses of land are used not only to farm animals, but also to farm the grain that these animals eat.

I want to say that, no matter whether you choose to be vegetarian or not – I respect your choice and your lifestyle. I have my reasons for eating the way I do just as you have yours.