Vegetarian: a person who does not eat meat, and sometimes other animal products, especially for moral, religious, or health reasons. Being a vegetarian is hard. Whether you are vegetarian because you love animals, your religion demands it, or your doctor told you that it would be good for you, it takes a lot of willpower. All around you, companies and stores advertise meat. Juicy 100% beef burgers and fried chicken and gummy bears and worms (which no, are not usually vegetarian. Gelatin? That is, in fact, an animal product. Won’t detail it here, but look it up.) But what the people who buy these things don’t normally consider is that someone died for them to have their delicious bacon, their greasy meat lovers’ pizza, their quarter pound burger.

Of course, being vegetarian is a privilege that not everyone has. In many places, to go vegetarian or vegan would mean an unhealthy diet (or in some places, starvation). Some people don’t have access to cheese, tofu, veggie burgers and beans. In most European countries, ‘vegetarian’ means ‘no red meat.’ Something as simple as vegetable soup may have chicken broth. In Japan, one would think they’d be fine. Veggie sushi, miso soup, and ramen noodles are vegetarian, right? So, so wrong. Every single traditional Japanese broth or soup has some sort of fish in it.

However, here in the good ole’ United States of America, we have the ability to save a few pigs. Tofu is delicious, y’all! Look around. The second most produced crop in Iowa is soybeans. Plus, meat is super expensive. According to US News, a few prices are: steak, $6.86 per pound; boneless pork, $3.90 per pound; boneless chicken breasts and ground beef, $3.27 per pound; tofu $2 to $2.50 per pound; and dried beans, $1.39 per pound.

Oh, and the health benefits. Vegetarians usually have lower blood pressure, lower risk of death from clogged arteries, lower risk of cancer, diabetes and heart disease, and are less likely to be overweight. Vegetarians eat more fruits and veggies, and we all know how good those are for you.

And we haven’t even talked about the fact that the meat on pepperoni pizza, in the paper boxes at fast food restaurants, and in between burger buns was once a living, breathing animal with thoughts and feelings that was killed so that you could eat.

Take my chickens, for example. They act just like toddlers. They just want to know what you’re doing, when you’ll feed them next, and when they’ll be let out of their pen. They may not be as smart as a dog or a cat, but that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be shown the same respect that those animals are.

Do you really need that third hot dog? Would a veggie burger be that awful, especially when you cover it in ketchup anyway? Vegetarianism, if it is an option, is the best one. Even if just one animal is saved, it’s worth it.

“Fish are friends, not food.” -Bruce the shark, Finding Nemo.