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Vegetarianism
Apr. 28th, 2008 01:04 pmFor about a month now, maybe longer, I've been eschewing meat--red meat, poultry and pork (though not fish). Basically anything that's raised in this country and is also attached to some sort of major industry. It's not an ethical thing--I do believe God intended us to eat meat, because of our teeth. I know I have health problems if I don't elevate my blood pressure, and doctors have *told* me to eat meat. It's a political/ideological statement.
I've gone through vegetarian phases (well, pescatarian phases--I could never give up fish) several times before, especially in high school and college. My first venture into not eating meat was in high school when one of my friends had gone hunting and brought some deer meat, including a frozen brain, into the cafeteria. Immediately I stopped eating meat for about a year. Did it again in college and the last time was about ten years ago, when I gave it up for two years. The trigger was reading an article about Mad Cow disease, and how some of the practices that led to that phenomenon in GB were also practiced here in the States. One day I could almost hear my body singing--it was throbbing with this "gotta have red meat" energy. I gave up and made myself a hamburger and I felt very good. But in general it's actually not that difficult for me to go without meat. I don't buy that much of it because it goes bad so quickly, and I must be the only American who doesn't like steak (so hard to chew, it's just not pleasurable). This is also why I don't care for ham. Chicken has a funny texture to me, sort of stringy, and absolutely no flavor at all. Generally I only like sausage or ground up meat or softer meats (like duck, mmm!)--this goes back to when I was a kid, I only liked soft foods (was crazy about pasta as a kid).
It always has to do with the animals--I LOVE animals and am very pro-animal rights. I've been hearing about some video that was surreptitiously shot recently inside a meat processing facility--from what I've heard, it's horrifying. I won't go into it, and I have no intention of watching the video. But just hearing about it solidified some ideas that have been in my head since reading Fast Food Nation, about how dreadfully unfair and unethical and just plain cruel the meat-processing industry is in this country. Some of the stories in that book would move you to tears--and I'm not just talking about how the animals are treated, I'm talking about the workers as well. I don't want to feed into that system anymore--I don't want to give those murderous anonymous corporations my money anymore.
Right now I'm floating along not eating any (non-fish) meat. However ideally I'd like to find some "cruelty-free" meat companies, mom-and-pop outfits, if available. I'd rather support some struggling company and help nurture an alternative industry.
Interestingly, last night I watched a Season 2 X Files episode called "Our Town" about a small town that practices cannibalism and also has a chicken processing factory. Food for thought indeed...
I've gone through vegetarian phases (well, pescatarian phases--I could never give up fish) several times before, especially in high school and college. My first venture into not eating meat was in high school when one of my friends had gone hunting and brought some deer meat, including a frozen brain, into the cafeteria. Immediately I stopped eating meat for about a year. Did it again in college and the last time was about ten years ago, when I gave it up for two years. The trigger was reading an article about Mad Cow disease, and how some of the practices that led to that phenomenon in GB were also practiced here in the States. One day I could almost hear my body singing--it was throbbing with this "gotta have red meat" energy. I gave up and made myself a hamburger and I felt very good. But in general it's actually not that difficult for me to go without meat. I don't buy that much of it because it goes bad so quickly, and I must be the only American who doesn't like steak (so hard to chew, it's just not pleasurable). This is also why I don't care for ham. Chicken has a funny texture to me, sort of stringy, and absolutely no flavor at all. Generally I only like sausage or ground up meat or softer meats (like duck, mmm!)--this goes back to when I was a kid, I only liked soft foods (was crazy about pasta as a kid).
It always has to do with the animals--I LOVE animals and am very pro-animal rights. I've been hearing about some video that was surreptitiously shot recently inside a meat processing facility--from what I've heard, it's horrifying. I won't go into it, and I have no intention of watching the video. But just hearing about it solidified some ideas that have been in my head since reading Fast Food Nation, about how dreadfully unfair and unethical and just plain cruel the meat-processing industry is in this country. Some of the stories in that book would move you to tears--and I'm not just talking about how the animals are treated, I'm talking about the workers as well. I don't want to feed into that system anymore--I don't want to give those murderous anonymous corporations my money anymore.
Right now I'm floating along not eating any (non-fish) meat. However ideally I'd like to find some "cruelty-free" meat companies, mom-and-pop outfits, if available. I'd rather support some struggling company and help nurture an alternative industry.
Interestingly, last night I watched a Season 2 X Files episode called "Our Town" about a small town that practices cannibalism and also has a chicken processing factory. Food for thought indeed...
