I became a vegetarian when I was eleven. I didn't really have a good reason. We had to watch Supersize Me in health class, and yeah, that grossed me out..... but I was eleven. My thought processes around food involved more of, "OMG is there food in my braces?"and less of, "what was the quality of life of the animal carcass I am now putting in my mouth?" It wasn't until I saw a PETA video of a man beating a pig with a lead pipe in a slaughterhouse that began to seriously think about those things. It appalled me, disgusted me, and I began to toy with the idea of becoming a vegetarian.
I mentioned the idea at the dinner table and my dad responded, "You? Be a vegetarian?? Ha! Yeah right, miss I-can-put-away-a-half-rack."
There's nothing that gets me motivated more than a good challenge. So, yeah... nine-ish years later. I'm back to eating meat. Why?
I developed a little more, er, sophisticated philosophy of eating in the nine years between my stubborn voyage into the meat-free world. I read-- a lot. Eating Animals, The Compassionate Carnivore, The Omnivore's Dilemma, In Defense of Food, Food, Inc., and many other books and resources convinced me that I did not want to be a part of a group of mega-cooperations that keeps animals destined for slaughter in deplorable conditions and feed them food that their bodies cannot, for evolutionary reasons, digest without making them ill necessitating the use of drugs to keep the animals healthy until the growth hormones make them large enough for slaughter.
I still don't want to be a part of that.
In June, I was diagnosed with anemia. I had been consistently donating blood every three months (something that I think everybody who is able-bodied should do) and found that while my body easily made up for all the blood I lost while donating, I could not regain hemoglobin as easily. For me, it came down to: what do I care about more? My personal health and my ability to save other people's lives by donating blood and platelets or my personal objections to the food industry. I decided I could compromise: eating meat from local sources like the Farmer's Market, choosing wild caught fish over factory farmed, buying from the hunter or farmer directly, even, and raise my hemoglobin levels again to an acceptable level that allows me to donate blood. Both are important to me.
I developed a little more, er, sophisticated philosophy of eating in the nine years between my stubborn voyage into the meat-free world. I read-- a lot. Eating Animals, The Compassionate Carnivore, The Omnivore's Dilemma, In Defense of Food, Food, Inc., and many other books and resources convinced me that I did not want to be a part of a group of mega-cooperations that keeps animals destined for slaughter in deplorable conditions and feed them food that their bodies cannot, for evolutionary reasons, digest without making them ill necessitating the use of drugs to keep the animals healthy until the growth hormones make them large enough for slaughter.
I still don't want to be a part of that.
In June, I was diagnosed with anemia. I had been consistently donating blood every three months (something that I think everybody who is able-bodied should do) and found that while my body easily made up for all the blood I lost while donating, I could not regain hemoglobin as easily. For me, it came down to: what do I care about more? My personal health and my ability to save other people's lives by donating blood and platelets or my personal objections to the food industry. I decided I could compromise: eating meat from local sources like the Farmer's Market, choosing wild caught fish over factory farmed, buying from the hunter or farmer directly, even, and raise my hemoglobin levels again to an acceptable level that allows me to donate blood. Both are important to me.
So what's the big deal? An existential crisis about my diet? To eat or not to eat? What a first world problem, right? It is.
There are individuals all over the country and the world that do not have the luxury of buying local, organic, fresh and healthier food options because, yes, they are more expensive. I am fortunate enough that I can afford to vote, with my dollar, for companies and products whose practices and quality agree with my ethics. I recognize that this is a privilege of a middle class citizen of a developed nation, but I also believe it is a duty, in a way, if I can afford to consider this topic--where my food comes from-- than I should.
So, yeah. Now I get to enjoy some recipes like this:
There are individuals all over the country and the world that do not have the luxury of buying local, organic, fresh and healthier food options because, yes, they are more expensive. I am fortunate enough that I can afford to vote, with my dollar, for companies and products whose practices and quality agree with my ethics. I recognize that this is a privilege of a middle class citizen of a developed nation, but I also believe it is a duty, in a way, if I can afford to consider this topic--where my food comes from-- than I should.
So, yeah. Now I get to enjoy some recipes like this:
Wild-Caught Salmon:
-1/2 Lemon
-Salmon Filet
-Butter
-Garlic
-Dill Weed
Preheat oven to 400F.
Melt tbsp of butter in microwave. Zest lemon. Mince garlic. Slice lemon (set slices aside).
Mix melted butter, garlic, and lemon zest in a bowl and set aside.
Pour butter mixture on piece of aluminum foil, place salmon filet on aluminum foil, place three slices of lemon on filet, sprinkle with Dill Weed. Fold aluminum foil up into a packet. Bake in oven for 15-18 minutes.
Erica's Pasta (This dish and recipe was courtesy of my lovely roommate. She is amazing at cooking and baking. Basically anything to with stuff in the kitchen. Or with music. Visit her here):
-Spaghetti Noodles
-Cherry Tomatoes
-Garlic
-Kalamata Olives
-Frozen Chopped Spinach
-Feta
Cook the noodles. In a pan on low heat, sauté garlic in a little bit of olive oil, add tomatoes, chopped spinach, then olives and feta. Strain pasta and mix together.
x M
Nice! We became vegetarians for similar reasons, but also the carbon footprint a local vegetarian diet has vs a non-vegetarian one. Eating local is probably more important to me than veg, so it's great to hear that's your priority as well! If we did eat meat, it would be from the same resources you described. But we actually found it easier to just stay meat-free and are happy with our decision. Educating yourself and making thoughtful food choices...meat or not, that's what it's all about.
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