“A better question is, why eat meat? I can’t think of one single reason.”
—Brittany Bly, Texas

When we asked PETA.org visitors to tell us why they went vegetarian in our recent “Why Did You Go Vegetarian?” contest, we were overwhelmed by the response! Nearly 1,000 people entered the online contest—and it turns out that there are nearly as many reasons to go vegetarian as there are vegetarians. Some told stories of rock stars who changed their lives or of family members who suffered from meat-related diseases; others looked animals in the eye one day and realized there was a “who,” not a “what,” looking back. Some pitched out animal products to ditch unwanted pounds, or they cited concerns about the tremendous amount of resources required to produce meat.

The overwhelming majority of entrants—more than 800—said that they stopped eating meat to spare animals from suffering. Fifty-six people told us that they could no longer eat flesh after making the connection between their beloved companion animals and the unloved animals who are raised for food. Others cited the Golden Rule, the cruelty of modern-day farms and slaughterhouses, or the desire to stop violence—starting with what they put on their plates.

Health was also a concern. More than 100 entrants said that they went vegetarian to fight obesity, heart disease, cancer, diabetes, or other deadly diseases. Some were worried about tainted meat, the use of antibiotics and hormones on dairy farms, and even mad cow disease.

Still others—nearly 60—cited environmental concerns (according to the Union of Concerned Scientists, meat-eating is one of the most environmentally damaging things you can do; only driving cars is worse) and world hunger. When one in every six people worldwide goes hungry every day, it’s hard to justify feeding 40 percent of the world’s grain to animals on factory farms.

We want to thank everyone who entered our contest—as well as Benihana Veggie Delights and Pangea Vegan Products, which provided the prizes. Winners were treated to a vegan dinner for two at Benihana or must-have vegan merchandise from Pangea. Here are excerpts from just a few of our favorite entries. (Click on the links below to read the entire essays.) Even if we didn’t pick your essay, remember: You’ve still won because you’ve chosen a healthy and humane lifestyle that is good for the animals, good for you, and good for the Earth!

“I was caught in a … traffic tie-up directly behind a tractor-trailer hauling live chickens to slaughter. For nearly an hour, I sat in my truck, a mere 7 feet away from hundreds of the saddest living creatures I had ever encountered. Their tiny feet were stuck in the wire mesh and feces, their beaks and faces were bloody, their wings broken and bent, their feathers missing in large patches all over their bloated bodies, and worst of all, their eyes were focused directly on mine and seemed to be pleading for mercy.”
—Lori Robbins, Tennessee

“I read an interview with Harley Flannagan, the lead singer for a band called the Cro-Mags. … He said one thing that I have remembered ever since: ‘You cannot talk about peace while eating a steak. You have to remember that that animal died in agonizing pain.’”
—Mike Mahler, California

“That night, my mother made hamburgers for dinner. For some reason, I asked my parents what I was eating and where it came from. … [T]hey told me that I was eating a cow. … I can remember sitting there in our teal dining room chairs, feeling stunned. Feeling shocked. Feeling this incredible sick feeling in my stomach, in my whole body.”
—Jennifer Cohen, Florida

“I’m a Christian and in the Bible one of the Ten Commandments says, ‘Thou [Shalt] Not Kill.’ It doesn’t say, ‘Thou [Shalt] Not Kill People’; it just says, ‘Thou [Shalt] Not Kill.’”
—Mary Sleboda, Pennsylvania

“I went along on a hunting trip with my stepdad when I was 10 years old. … [M]y mom thought it would be a good bonding experience. I waited in the back of a rusty old Jeep as … my stepdad [shot] a doe. [She] didn’t die with the one shot …, so he got the knife out. All I remember is the sound of the knife going in and out …. [She] just didn’t want to die. He … threw [her] into the back with me …. ‘Well, Mama’s not comin’ home to Bambi tonight,’ he said.”
—Rachel Mertz, Minnesota

“I am a truck driver and run coast to coast. … [One night,] I pulled over on an exit ramp off the interstate to sleep. … There was a truck already there in front of me. … I pulled my tractor-trailer up close behind his. As I got ready for bed, I looked into his truck; it was a stock hauler, specifically, [of] turkeys. I sat there looking at those pitiful birds, crammed into wire cages with no room to move or turn around, bare to the elements, no water. … As I sat looking at those birds, I had an epiphany.”
—Billy Dillingham, North Carolina

“I have never liked meat and have always had a soft spot for animals. … [I]t sickens me to think of eating an innocent animal. I believe we are all meant to live peacefully on this great Earth together …. I’ve always felt that animals have a soul and feelings, as we do.”
—Carrie Ann Liebrock, Michigan

“I had two beautiful dogs [whom] I lost … to dreadful diseases. … It left me lost and angry that they were taken from me, and I found it difficult to accept. I decided [that] for all the years of loyalty and love they gave to me, I would pay them back the only way I could. … [I]t wasn’t enough just to preach against animal cruelty—[I] had to live it.”
—Kelli Parker, Ontario, Canada

“When I was about three, I decided that my goal in life was to be a veterinarian, and now that I am in high school, I still haven’t changed my mind. One day I thought, ‘I want to spend my life helping keep animals alive and healthy, so why do I eat them?’ It didn’t make any sense. Would a doctor go home at night and eat his patients?”
—Kate Coppola, New Jersey

“I realized … [that the] animals used and abused for food … were no different from the cats I loved at home, except that they weren’t being loved, to say the least.”
—Cynthia Zipfel, Pennsylvania

“My father owned … cows as a hobby …. Then one day, my father told me that five of the cows were pregnant and that I could choose any one I wanted as a pet … except for the male because we were going to sell him. To help [this] sink … in, he called him ‘Hamburger.’ … I tried … hard to … not become attached, but that damn cow acted just like a dog. … He would come when I called him [and] let me rub his stomach … and hand-feed him every day. [T]he day that they took [Hamburger] to the market …, I asked my mother what was for dinner and she replied, ‘[H]amburgers.’ I knew it was not my ‘Hamburger,’ but for the first time, I really made the connection.”
—Courtney Chitty, Florida