I became a pescatarian (a form of vegetarian that eats fish) approximately four years ago: the summer before my 8th grade year. My decision to become a pescatarian was not spur of the moment. I’d been considering it for a while and finally decided to do some research on it.

When I decided that I knew enough about the nutrition habits that I needed to acquire while being a pescatarian, I confronted my parents about it.

At first, my Dad was a little bit skeptical, but my Mom finally convinced him that I was old enough to make my own dietary decisions.

My decision to become a pescatarian was based on several things, but to me, the most important reason was that I felt that it was a way that I could make a difference. Factory farming is, to me, a serious problem in the United States. I find it horrifying, and when I learned that I was promoting it, it really upset me. At first, I shrugged it off and just told myself not to think about it, but I found that I just couldn’t. I decided to do some research and ask my parents. I originally wanted to become entirely vegetarian, but then realized how difficult it would be for me to give up fish.

My entire family is from Southern Maryland, and almost all of our family outings include crabs. I found that eating fish was a part of my upbringing that I didn’t want to sacrifice. Additionally, by keeping fish in my diet (even though I only eat it about once a week or so), I was able to convince my parents that I would get enough protein.

I didn’t become a pescatarian overnight. For the first week after my new decision,I allowed myself 3 days of meat. For the second and third weeks, I allowed myself two days of meat. The plan was that for the fourth week, I would allow myself one day, but I decided to just skip that week and go straight into pescatarianism.

My family has been extremely accepting of my decision to stop eating meat. At first, my Mom bought me frozen dinners from a vegetarian brand called Amy’s that I would eat whenever they had meat for dinner. Gradually, my family and I have adapted so that I can eat the same thing as them: they’ll make pasta and I’ll have marinara while they have meat sauce; they’ll make stir-fry and I just won’t add the chicken; they’ll have steaks on the grill and my dad will grill me a mushroom.

For Lent, both my mom and my sister went completely vegetarian. Both said that it was easy, but they’re glad to eat meat again.

Becoming a pescatarian was one of the best decisions that I ever made. It’s a way for me to make a difference, and I like the food. It’s not the right decision for everyone, but I’m glad that I made it.