In three days we can all celebrate National Vegetarian Day and also the kick-off of Vegetarian Awareness Month. A whole month just to make sure you all are aware of me and people like me!

Although I questioned, even mocked, vegetarians in my past thinking they were only doing it to lose weight or to follow wacky, unfounded health fads, I’ve been vegetarian for three and 1/2 years now. The thing is, it’s easy. And it makes me feel like less of a hypocrite when I go to my animal rescue every week to help socialize rescued cats. I no longer have to think in my head “Yes, you guys are cute but I eat animals that aren’t like cute like you.”

And being a vegetarian has plenty of other benefits. You can download a World Vegetarian Day poster that will detail many of them, but here are my favorites:

  • Reduce the risk of major killers such as heart disease, strokes and cancers while cutting exposure to foodborne pathogens
  • Save animals from suffering in factory-farm conditions and from the pain and terror of slaughter
  • Preserve irreplaceable ecosystems such as rainforests and other wildlife habitats
  • Decrease greenhouse gases that are accelerating global warming

All this by not eating meat!

Thanks to Songbird for alerting me to the holiday!

This post originally appeared on Kate’s Point of View. © Kate. All rights reserved.