I’m totally ignoring the prompt for today, since it is something about New Year traditions. I don’t have any besides taking the Christmas décor down. So the topic for today is:
Meat is murder. Sweet delicious murder.
I’ve had a lot of conversations lately about eating meat. Or not eating meat. It is has come up so often and with so many different people that its gotten kind of weird. Its seems to be a hot topic lately. Which is good, I suppose. It is something people should take about more. Americans are far too ready to put food (or “food”) in their bodies without really thinking about it.
I’m a proud omnivore. Humans are animals and part of the food chain. Animals in the food chain kill and eat each other. It happens. We may not have the claws and teeth of full blown carnivores, but we do share several characteristics with other omnivores in the animal kingdom. I don’t care to delve into the details of our teeth or gut functions—but I’ve done a fair amount of reading on it and feel satisfied that it biologically makes sense that we would occasionally eat meat.
The key word, for me, is
occasionally. Most people just eat way to much, in my
humble opinion. And I used to be one of those people. A few years ago my husband and I watched
Food Inc. and it totally changed our eating habits. It didn’t make me go vegetarian, but I haven’t eaten fast food meat since watching that documentary. And now, we only buy beef that is organic and grass fed and chicken that is organic and cage free. These labels are tricky, because you have to
divine discern who is being sneaky about it (if a chicken is “cage free” for 10 minutes a day, that counts, right?) and who is really treating their animals well. From what I’ve researched, the key is finding meat that is antibiotic free. The reason animals are given antibiotics is the disgusting conditions they are farmed in. If they are antibiotic free, then they have to have been humanely raised, or they would be totally diseased.
Buying meats this way is, of course, more expensive. That is initially what led us to eating way less meat than we used to. If we can’t afford to buy the grass fed beef, then we just go without the beef. But the more we lived this way, the more it grew on me. The more I’ve read about meat, its nutrients, and what we need from it, the more I’ve started to think that we really just don’t need it all that often. Many, of course, would argue that we don’t need it at all. I believe you certainly can get by without it, but it is a remarkably efficient source of protein along with a variety of other nutrients. But when I think about that fact that I used to eat meat everyday, I’m totally weirded out. I don’t know how I ever felt good about that.
I eat meat now *maybe* once a week. There are a lot of weeks that it just doesn’t make the menu. And I almost never eat meat when I’m eating out anymore, unless I know where the restaurant gets their meat. Almost never. Over Christmas I ate a
Crave joint in Castle Rock, CO and while I was initially going to get a meatless sandwich I buckled and got the special at the last minute (how can you turn down tempura fried cream cheese?). And as I was biting into the juicy, flavorful, succulent beef with unknown origins I felt pretty guilty about it. I was so disgusted with myself I couldn’t even finish the burger. Okay, that’s not true. I didn’t finish it because it was huge and I was
so full (I’d also gotten some loaded fries). It was freaking delicious though. And I would totally recommend Crave to all meat lovers, if only I knew where they get their meat.
I digress. The point is that I defend humans as omnivores. I support and respect people who choose a vegetarian or vegan lifestyle, but for me that’s too far down the spectrum. There are a lot of products that I prefer vegetarian or vegan, because I think there is a gross over use of animal byproducts in our lives today. But, I think you can be a meat eater and have respect for animals and of our place within the animal kingdom. A little knowledge and awareness are required.
