vegan cheese-substitutes also are made with a lot of palm oil, the production of which is a major cause of destruction to indonesian rainforest and the loss of habitat for the orangutan and countless unknown species. I'm attracted to vegetarianism chiefly for ecological/sustainability reasons, considering where a lot of our beef and pork in the USA comes from and how it's kept artificially cheap, but there are always exceptions where the animal choice is better, and cheese is one of those.
I'm not a vegetarian but I cut down on my meat pretty drastically when I returned from abroad (where I had been eating a lot of boiled fatty meat and got sick to death of it). I don't prepare my own meat because it's expensive and I don't like keeping or cooking it, so I just eat meat in restaurants one or two times a month.
I did a 3 month vegetarian challenge where for 3 months you could only eat beef once a month, some other kind of meat once a week, and fish once a week. I'd recommend something limited like that to people who are curious about vegetarianism -- you can lower your carbon footprint substantially and get a feel for a more sustainable diet without having to commit 100%. You'll probably find that after the 3 months are up you don't even feel like eating meat as much as you did before.
an otter wrote:also i find the idea of vegetarianism easier as i get older. im no longer some child who demands boxed carbs or hot dogs. a good salad can be a fuckin nice deal sometimes and i already love cheese pizzas.
yeah, this is the trend for me too. spinach is my favorite pizza topping and mushrooms probably second. you ever have a pizza with pinto beans on it? incredible.