[Student Column] Being a vegetarian in Korea

With people consuming more meat and doing less physical and outdoor activities, obesity has become a serious problem in Korea.

Government studies show the country’s annual per capita beef consumption was less than 3 kilograms in the early 1980s, but it has jumped to over 10 kilograms in 2013. According to the Seoul Metropolitan Government, almost 1 in 4 Seoul citizens is obese.

As a result, people have become more mindful of their health. This has led them to start eating less meat, and some have even become vegetarians.

Robert Kenner’s documentary film “Food Inc.” shocked me and opened my eyes to the cruelty of meat production. Pigs, chickens and cows are kept in small dark rooms with no space to move and no exposure to sunlight.

I was also appalled that antibiotics are being fed to animals to help them grow faster. Animals eventually build up resistance to the antibiotics, and the owners are forced to up the dosage.

Consumers eat meat without recognizing that these antibiotics are building up in our bodies. This can result in antibiotics being ineffective when we have an infection.

Environmental pollution is another problem the movie focuses on. The carbon footprint left by raising animals is clearly detrimental to the environment.

The biggest problem is that people have no way of knowing how the meat they purchase has been processed. For example, large fast-food corporations require farmers to give their livestock antibiotics regularly to prevent diseases.

I could not continue eating meat after realizing how many animals have suffered so that I could enjoy burgers.

Unfortunately it is not easy being a vegetarian in Korea. By an unofficial count, the number of vegetarians in Korea is around 1 percent of the population. It has become hard to go out to eat at normal restaurants since I have switched to vegetarianism. Every time I ask servers to take the meat of a dish, they give me a weird look.

It shouldn’t be this difficult to simply ask for a meat-free dish. It is a lot easier to be a vegetarian in Western countries, since the percentage of vegetarians is a lot higher and vegetarianism is better understood.

At first I had a hard time because Korean food has meat in almost every dish. For example, I don’t eat kimchi anymore because it is made using many kinds of fish.

Switching to vegetarianism changed my lifestyle. I pay more attention to my health, drink a lot of water and work out every day.

The biggest difficulty was eating out with friends. At first my friends didn’t like the idea of eating vegetarian, but now some of them have found vegetarian dishes they like.

When I go to school, I always take a homemade lunch.

Although it wasn’t easy switching to a vegetarian diet, I feel a lot healthier and lighter, and I don’t have to worry about the environment or about cruelty to animals.

Although I am the only Korean vegetarian I know, I am happy with myself.

By Baek Han-na, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies