With horrified faces, juniors Amanda Johnson and Aly Hoffman stared at the computer screen as they watched a movie about animal cruelty. After watching this incredibly gruesome movie, Hoffman and Johnson decided to become vegetarians.

Mindlessly surfing the web for their social justice project about animal testing, Johnson and Hoffman came across this video that showed animal cruelty. In the video, they saw animals being sent to the slaughterhouse. “It was truly the grossest story I have ever seen, and it has changed me,” said Hoffman.

After watching this sickening video, Hoffman and Johnson decided they wanted to be vegetarians. The decision was one that neither of them had thought of before, but they figured it was a good time to try. “With the new year coming in play, some people decide to eat healthier, so this is our way of eating healthier,” said junior Amanda Johnson.

With so many different options to save animals from their cruelty, Johnson and Hoffman choose to be lacto-ovo vegetarians. As lacto-ovo vegetarians, they agreed to not eat meat, but instead turn to dairy, eggs, and fish. “We were not going to go to the extreme of being a vegan, but becoming a vegetarian was the least we could do,” said Johnson.

The change in eating habits effects their families as well. “My family eats meat almost every night for dinner, so when I told them I had become a vegetarian they were pretty mad. They were just worried I wouldn’t get enough protein,” said Johnson. Hoffman had a different experience when she told her parents. “My parents just laughed at me. They didn’t think that I was going to be able to do it,” said Hoffman.

With their New Year’s resolution in play, Hoffman and Johnson will try to incorporate more protein options in order to stay in a healthy state. “It was a great way to start the new year with a new plan to eat healthier. I just hope I am able to find enough other protein options to stay healthy,” said Hoffman.