For those of you curious about my vegetarianism (I’m going to assume there are few if ANY) here is a little update:
- OFFICIAL start date: May 9th
- Progress: 3 months and going strong!
There have been a few weird obstacles as of late, however. As I’ve been doing more reading about the Veggie lifestyle I’ve been asking myself a lot of interesting questions. When I decided to stop eating meat, I kept fish in the equation (making me a pescetarian, technically) because I didn’t have enough faith in myself to stay healthy without it. Not only is fish an EXCELLENT source of protein but it also provides you with Omega-3 fats. It would appear that these Omega-3’s are really important for your body (and your brain, as are all fats) and it seemed really hard to get them without fish. I realized on Father’s day that I could no longer justify eating fish if I was excluding all other meats. I’m not catholic so the “fish isn’t meat” rule was only a benefit once a year on Good Friday, and even then I questioned what made fish flesh different from that from other animal flesh. While I was working through all of this in my head, however, my brother was pestering me about semantics and the term vegetarian vs. pescetarian. I didn’t want to admit to him at the time (I struggle with pride, what can I say?) but that night would be the last night I would eat fish.
I knew all along that this was the right decision for me; I don’t like to half-ass my commitments. Giving up chicken, pork, and beef wasn’t as difficult as giving up fish but I think I took a huge intellectual leap when I made that choice. Since then I’ve learned about how devastating fishing can really be. Apparently there is a lot of “By-catch” when fishermen reel in their nets. This can include thousands of seahorses and other species. Not only does this kill them and write them off as collateral damage, but it changes the balance of the environment. I’ve never been someone who was particularly moved by facts like this but as of late I find that they’ve become ever more important to me. I also learned about tuna fishing and how gruesome it could actually be. I won’t go into it but if you’re interested I would read “Eating Animals” by Jonathan Safran Foer (the book that has provoked all this thinking as of late).
I’ve also been thinking a lot about how I feel about Vegetarianism as an idea. I first decided to become a veggie because I felt that I was participating in a corrupt system that I wasn’t educated about. My choice to eat vegetables instead of meat is my vote against this system. I want to protect myself from unwittingly subjugating my fellow man (workers on factory farms, farmers in general, etc.) and this was the best way that I knew how to go about it. At first I thought I could just investigate the farms where my meat comes from and make sure they were family farms that were treating everyone fairly. Then I realized that I’m but a lowly Graduate Student who doesn’t have the time or money for that. Thus, I was “re-born.”
As I said before, I’ve been learning a lot more about both the environmental benefits of Vegetarianism (which a granola like me can TOTALLY get behind) and the animal cruelty side of it. Unfortunately I’ve seen “Meet your Meat” and 20 seconds of the trailer for “Earthlings” and I can’t go back. What does this mean? This means that I don’t think the problem is JUST eating meat, its eating dairy and eggs as well. Again, Foer’s “Eating Animals” is a great way to learn about what I’m referencing:
I knew all along that this was the right decision for me; I don’t like to half-ass my commitments. Giving up chicken, pork, and beef wasn’t as difficult as giving up fish but I think I took a huge intellectual leap when I made that choice. Since then I’ve learned about how devastating fishing can really be. Apparently there is a lot of “By-catch” when fishermen reel in their nets. This can include thousands of seahorses and other species. Not only does this kill them and write them off as collateral damage, but it changes the balance of the environment. I’ve never been someone who was particularly moved by facts like this but as of late I find that they’ve become ever more important to me. I also learned about tuna fishing and how gruesome it could actually be. I won’t go into it but if you’re interested I would read “Eating Animals” by Jonathan Safran Foer (the book that has provoked all this thinking as of late).
I’ve also been thinking a lot about how I feel about Vegetarianism as an idea. I first decided to become a veggie because I felt that I was participating in a corrupt system that I wasn’t educated about. My choice to eat vegetables instead of meat is my vote against this system. I want to protect myself from unwittingly subjugating my fellow man (workers on factory farms, farmers in general, etc.) and this was the best way that I knew how to go about it. At first I thought I could just investigate the farms where my meat comes from and make sure they were family farms that were treating everyone fairly. Then I realized that I’m but a lowly Graduate Student who doesn’t have the time or money for that. Thus, I was “re-born.”
As I said before, I’ve been learning a lot more about both the environmental benefits of Vegetarianism (which a granola like me can TOTALLY get behind) and the animal cruelty side of it. Unfortunately I’ve seen “Meet your Meat” and 20 seconds of the trailer for “Earthlings” and I can’t go back. What does this mean? This means that I don’t think the problem is JUST eating meat, its eating dairy and eggs as well. Again, Foer’s “Eating Animals” is a great way to learn about what I’m referencing:
- Broilers: Chickens genetically modified to have bigger breasts (for more yumminess at a lower cost). They are packed into walled-up houses that contain more chickens than you can imagine. It is not ventilated and many die because their body can’t support their rapid growth rate. Fun Fact: most broilers are slaughtered after only a few weeks of life.
- Layers: Chickens genetically modified to increase their egg-laying potential. Most are raised in cages with the floor size of an 8 1/2 X 11 piece of printer paper. These cages are stacked and the lights are strategically turned on and off to trick the chickens into laying more eggs. Lights are left on or off for days at a time (Lights on=Springtime=egg time). Fun Fact: Layers in their second year of life produce less eggs and are often disposed of during this time.
And these are only a few of the things I’ve learned. If “laying-chickens” (Layers) are treated just as badly as “eating-chickens” (Broilers), then why am I still eating eggs? I haven’t gotten to the cow portion of the book but I can’t imagine that it is much better for them. I’ve never been a big fan of straight dairy but I like ice cream and yogurt as much as the next person. So where does this leave me? Thinking about Veganism, thats where.
I find that I can no longer justify JUST vegetarianism but I’m not ready to take the step to becoming a vegan. I mean, I am only a 3 month-old veggie baby! I don’t want to make a commitment that I’m not sure I can keep and thats why I need to hold off on being a vegan. If its right for me, I’ll just have to wait and see how I feel in a few months or so. I’m not at ALL thinking about going back to eating meat again, but I’m in a state of intellectual flux. Simply put, I feel like Vegetarianism is NOT enough. That said, these are my feelings about MY struggle and reflect only on me and MY life choices.
I do have a confession, however. I don’t feel bad about it because Its only natural for my body, but I’ve been wanting meat lately. It has been around me a lot and my food has become boring, so I’m missing old familiar flavors. Like I said, I’m not thinking about going back to meat but its curious how this sort of thing pops up every once in awhile. Will it be like this forever? Maybe, maybe not. Either way I’m proud of the decisions I’ve made!
No comments:
Post a Comment