Almost a year and a half ago, I stopped eating cows, pigs and chickens. There I said it. It is not socially correct to use those terms instead of beef, pork and, well, chicken, but that is what I spent the entire previous part of my life eating. I can’t be self-righteous about my new change because I ate a hefty amount of those animals in my past. Probably several hundreds of animals if one were counting.
Many of you will not read further as this gets kind of uncomfortable, but I sincerely hope that you do.
I had been thinking about stopping for many years, not for the many environmental and health reasons, but for animal cruelty reasons. I had seen too many images, videos and documentaries of these animals with intense fear in their eyes as they headed to the slaughterhouse. I saw the same look as they were transported, sold at market and the like. It would later be those eyes in my memory that would stop me from sneaking some meat this last year and a half when no one was looking.
It was also when I saw some of the packed, filthy conditions they were raised in that I became disgusted with factory farming. It is clear to most somewhat-intelligent humans that these animals have emotions as well. I no longer wanted to pretend that they didn’t. This was not the way for any animal to “live.” It is squalor.
I used to admire cows in the pasture as I went up skiing and then ate a burger later on the way off the mountain. That was making me feel guilty too. Something didn’t sit right at all.
I am still not where I want to be. Dairy has serious animal cruelty elements to it as well and yet I can’t seem to give up my habit of using half/half in my precious morning coffee. Clearly, it is not important when I think of what dairy cows have to go through to give us that milk. (And, no, it is not simply hooking female cows up to squeeze out their milk, there is more to the story.) I am working on it though and have used almond milk on my morning granola for years. Oat milk seems to work well for recipes such as crepes, which are my Sunday ritual. And I have been trying cashew-, almond- and oat-milk-based yogurts, all of which are quite good.
And how about seafood? Well, I worked in ocean conservation almost full-time for two years and know all about the issues of overfishing, and all the by-catch with prawns, and the problems created by trawlers, massive nets, farmed fish, etc. As a scuba diver, I also know that fish have personalities and emotions too.
Yet, I have been leaning some on seafood. Call it my crutch for now, but I hope to move away from it soon as well. Yeah, so technically I am a “pescatarian” rather than a vegetarian for now. But fish and prawns definitely make me feel guilty, too. And I still eat eggs for now, but they are starting to give me the creeps as well. It is that tiny white embryo that stares at me every time I crack an egg. I have been plucking them out with tongs.
“So, are you felling healthier?” Several people have asked me that and I laugh. There is a big difference between not eating meat and eating healthy. As always, I still need to up my intake of leafy greens. I guess that, generally, I am a little healthier, but there is still some work to do there.
One can write pages on the extremely important environmental and health benefits of not eating meat, fish, dairy and eggs. I so admire vegans, especially the ones in their twenties who I would consider highly evolved humans. They have thought about all of this at a young age and acted on it. They have inspired me tremendously, as have some of my friends in my peer age group who are vegetarian. (The fact is, I stopped eating lamb and other baby animals long ago, in my mid-twenties already. Not sure why adult animals felt any better for so many years.)
All I am saying is, consider giving up meat. And fish. And dairy. And eggs. It is what I call guilt-free eating. Again, I am not nearly where I want to be, but I am continuing to learn about my food sources and am making decisions that make me feel I am honoring some of my core values.
If you have read this far, send me a brief email with the subject line “read your vegetarian blog” to gaby@ourplanet365.com or gaby@bytheseacommunications.com and you will be entered to win a $25 Amazon gift card. Offer ends May 31, 2021. I am interested who cares about this topic enough to take time to learn about it.
This blog first appeared on my OurPlanet365 website on May 10, 2021.
