A tough question to answer, definitely. Here are some of my thoughts about it...

While some people choose to become vegetarians or vegans because they don't like the taste or feel of animal products, most people following these diets might tell you that their motivation is a mixture of personal and political reasons.

If you decide to have some tofu instead of the cheeseburgers the rest of your family is chowing down on for dinner, your choice creates a ripple of effects. If your mom knows she'll need to make one less burger, she'll buy less ground beef next time she goes grocery shopping. One burger equals, what, a quarter pound of ground beef?

That might not sound like a lot, but if you add up all the quarter pounds being left at the supermarket by all the people who decided to leave the moo out of dinner, that's a lot! So what now? Well, if the grocery store has more meat than it can sell, they'll order less meat for the store next time. And if slaughterhouses don't need to produce as much to meet the grocery store's demand, then that's a few more cows that can go on grazin'.

Sounds pretty good, right? Sure, but does that mean you actually want to watch your family savoring their juicy burgers, but not have one yourself? Sometimes if you believe in a cause, it's still hard to give up something you enjoy. That's why there are so many different kinds of vegetarians and vegans. Every group gives up only what they are comfortable with.

Even though vegans are far stricter than pescatarians, they usually believe in the same goal. Think of it this way: No one should ever be asked to give up more than they want. Some people are cool with restricting themselves more than others are, but no one's efforts are more or less valuable than anyone else's. So, whether you become a full-fledged vegan or just choose to give up red meat for poultry, it's all making a difference.