The most common question I hear asked of my vegetarian friends who reveal their gastronomic choices in mixed company is: "why?!"
It always amuses me to see how utterly baffled people can be that someone could possibly be satisfied by a diet excluding meat. The typical assumption is that the vegetarian is a nutritionally vacant PETA zealot (or some other equally judgmental assessment). The thought of factory farms and their widespread devastation to farmers, to the environment, to the animals, and to our own health is rarely the first topic that comes up.
A more appropriate question to ask of vegetarianism is why not? It's pretty clear that you do not need meat to satisfy protein and other nutritional needs; eating a thoughtful and balanced vegetarian diet is more than adequate in that regard. Beyond that, there are so many more benefits that come with choosing that lifestyle.
This article by Felix A. Lopez does a pretty great job of summing it all up: vegetarianism is good for the animals, but it is also good for YOU, and for the environment you inhabit.
I am not personally a vegetarian (although I've come close), but have endless respect for my friends who are mindful both of what they put into their bodies, as well as the trace they leave on the earth.
If going completely veggie seems like a daunting or even impossible task, why not try to simply cut back? Just cutting back on your meat intake can make a great impact all of the pieces of the food system puzzle. Cities and countries all around the world are promoting one meat-free day per week for their citizens, and the concept of Meatless Monday has really taken off in the U.S. So do the research, think it over... and then ask yourself, why not?
For my nutrition class, I just read a study done by Swedish researchers on the carbon footprint of several commonly bought food items. They had the interesting result that locavore is the way to go. Tofu made from imported soy beans and packaged in plastic, tomatoes grown in another country in a greenhouse, are NOT superior to locally raised, 100% pastured meat, not even beef. This is strictly in terms of carbon footprint, though, not animal rights. I personally have a reduced-meat diet. I got realistic and don't buy meat very often, and when I do, I usually buy grass-fed or pastured meat. The non-local meat I get is buffalo. Anyway, I thought it was really a good point that many people might equate "vegetarian diet" with "automatically better for the environment", when really we need to be aware of where our food comes from even if it is veggies.
ReplyDeleteAlso, for the "Meat Eating in a Violent Culture" unit of my class, Joan Gussow guest taught for two lectures!! She is amazing -- a mentor for Michael Pollan and thousands of Teachers College students like me! http://activistcash.com/biography.cfm/b/680-joan-gussow
ReplyDelete