Re-becomeing a (Lazy) Vegetarian

I’ve recently re-become vegetarian.  Let me explain.

When I was about 13, I decided to give up meat for Lent one year.  It could have been seen as a cop out- I mean, Catholics give up meat on Fridays during Lent anyway, but I thought it would be much more difficult than giving up chocolate or soda.  I was wrong.

See, I never really loved the taste of meat.  I can’t stand pork unless it’s hidden in schnitzel form and only then covered with some kind of sauce.  I find chicken tasteless and am extremely particular about how well done beef should be before I ingest it (if there is a sign of pink, I’m not touching it).  As you can see, meat was just another thing I ate because I ate everything.  Thus, after Lent ended and the easter bunny came, I decided to stick with the no-meat lifestyle.

My mom hated this.  Although she was a vegetarian for some time, including all throughout her pregnancy with me, she now ate meat, as did the rest of the family, making meal planning a pain.  I regularly ate just the side dishes, which isn’t bad, because I LOVE vegetables.

In any case, time went on and I got lazy.  I started to crave meat about once a month, probably due to some iron deficiencies, and thus started eating it more.  I didn’t really care, since I wasn’t a herbivore for moral or ethical reasons.  I just didn’t care for it much.  I had many friends who tried to persuade me to cut it out altogether, including fish (I never stopped eating fish- one of the weirdest things in Catholicism is the idea that fish is not meat.  What the deuce is it supposed to be, then?  Yet I bought into that thought and still separate fish from other meat when categorizing them). It never sank in, though, and I would have my monthly steak fajitas or cheese steak or whatever.

A few months ago, my mom gave me a series of lectures on the problems with a vegetarian diet and persuaded me to eat meat three times a week.  According to her, the reason I was so tired was the lack of protein and/or amino acids in my diet.  So, turkey sandwiches joined the menu.

Well, I finished reading Jane Goodall’s “Harvest for Hope” last month (she’s my hero), and though I already knew a lot of what she was saying, her words sank in better than any PETA protester’s ever did.  The environmental damage caused by the amount of meat we eat is astonishing.  The antibiotics we ingest through our food is atrocious (I don’t even take antibiotics!)  The fact that some 70% or so of the corn we (and the livestock we eat) consume is genetically modified freaks me out.  The lack of connection to our food is horrifying and, while I still may not start crying when I see a huge cattle ranch (I probably will), the disregard for the souls and the dignity of the animals we eat is unacceptable.

Thus, I am back to being a vegetarian.  I admit to having eaten fish this month, but have kept it to the “good” list of fish to consume.  I acknowledge that I’ve eaten cheese, (only organic), but I can’t even think of eating a turkey sandwich.

I know I’ll get lazy again.  Thanksgiving will come around and I’ll say, “let’s get some bison steaks” (I’ve never liked the turkey at Thanksgiving- I’ll take the potatoes and green bean casserole.)  I know I won’t try to convince others to give up meat.  It didn’t work on me when my protesting friends did it, and I have less credibility.  I will offer information when asked, but not if we’ve got meals in front of us.  I think that, with time, everyone will see that humans were not meant to consume the amount of meat that Americans eat.  Until then, I’ll be ordering a lot more salads.  Sorry Mom.