7-day vegetarianism helped

For a few years I have wanted to try to eat only organic food for a week.

Realizing this would be more difficult and expensive than I originally thought, I changed my course of action.

Vegetarianism.

I decided that it might be easier to be a vegetarian for a week. I thought I would struggle and get a craving for a hamburger or chicken sandwich. I also thought it could be possible for me to fail because I simply forgot.

However, I was successful in my weeklong journey, but it took effort.

Not only was Taco Bell tempting me with their commercials about the delicious Beefy 5-Layer Burrito, but I think I wanted to eat meat simply because I knew I couldn't.

The first few days were the hardest, however, it helped that my roommate has been a vegetarian for two and a half years. Half way through the challenge, I really didn't think about eating meat. And in the end, I think I could have gone longer without eating meat.

I came close to caving towards the end, but I was reminded of the point I was trying to make; that it wasn't as difficult as I thought it might have been.

Even though I wasn't eating meat, that didn't mean I was eating fruits and vegetables every meal. I did, however, notice that I'd eaten more Mac n' Cheese, instant mashed potatoes and cheese pizza because they became easy dinner options.

Though I didn't become a short-term vegetarian for moral reasons, I completely understand why people take that approach.

After watching the documentary "Food, Inc." in my environmental debate class, it made me consider a longer stint of vegetarianism and really made me realize why some people are vegetarians.

The telling film highlights the cruel, unusual and horrifying truths of the food industry. Mostly dealing with the breeding and processing of cows, pigs and chickens, the film made me think twice about what I am consuming.

My mission was accomplished, however, I think I would like to try again and take it a step farther.

Next time I think I will try to eat at least one fruit and vegetable at every meal and incorporate new foods. I would also like to eat mostly organic fruits and vegetables, some are more expensive than others. But in most cases, organic is only a few cents more than non-organic.

I think this experience has opened my eyes to see the reasons why people choose the exclude meat from their diet and has made me more interested in vegetarianism.