Memoirs of an omnivore: a crossroads in my journey (part 1)
This is the first in a two part series - and its one of those posts where I would be so grateful if you would read and weight in on...
First, you must know that I'm a meat and potatoes girl through and through. I grew up in rural Midwest farm land; I didn't personally live on a farm but most of my best friends did. We got our milk and meat literally still warm from the farm, not from the store. These farmers gave every ounce of their lives' energy to the care and nurture of their land, crops, and animals; in return, they ate and lived modestly, a full part of nature and not in any way disconnected from it. I loved this lifestyle, and I miss it. In the actual circle of life every living creature labors and toils to survive; every living thing both consumes and is consumed; even we at the top of the food chain have the honor of bringing the circle around to its starting point when our lives end.
All this is to say, I do not personally believe it is wrong to eat meat. However, in a move that is shocking even myself I am recently and strongly considering becoming a vegetarian. Hear me out and tell me what you think.
The meat that we Americans consume comes increasingly from "factory farms" rather than the mom-and-pop farms I described above. According to the president of the US National Farmers' Union, "in the U.S., four companies produce 81 percent of cows, 73 percent of sheep, 57 percent of pigs and 50 percent of chickens." According to the Worldwatch Institute, 74 percent of the world's poultry, 43 percent of beef, and 68 percent of eggs are produced this way. That's pretty intense if you think about it.
There are huge implications to this method of raising animals which I'm not even going to touch here - health implications for humans consuming food raised this way, environmental and health issues stemming from the vast production of waste these factory farms produce, and so many more. But it does provide us with cheap, meaty, efficient, and convenient meat in our grocery store, and that's what we're all about - me included. We could not live as we do any other way.
Many of these things have bothered me since I first became aware of them years ago, and I've taken small steps to raise my awareness. But one aspect stands out to me - the way these animals live their lives. Again, my purpose here is to raise awareness while sharing a personal journey, so I'm not going into the details. Entire books could (and probably have) been written on the topic, but the bottom line is that they live their lives indoors, many never seeing the sun, in very cramped conditions, with life functions such as mating, reproducing, nursing young, walking, running, enjoying the sun, eating, drinking, and other normal life activities co-oped for efficiency and food production.
This has always bothered me. But recently - just in the past several days - the level of bother I experience has gone from black-and-white, two dimensional, theoretical to vivid color, 3D, and staring me in the face.
I've realized during the past year that virtually all the world's faiths and religions take the treatment of animals very seriously. Jews and Muslims must eat only meat which is Kosher and Halal, respectively; included in these standards are very clear instructions about the ethical treatment of animals intended for food. Buddhists and Hindus largely don't eat meat at all, and have an ethic of doing no harm to any living creature. Many ancient/tribal religions have careful rituals that cultivate gratitude and compassion towards the slain animal - nothing is wasted and great honor is given to the sacrifice; the one killing to eat is aware that another's life has been given so his can continue - it is a place of humility rather than consumption.
This last sentence reflect much of the "spirit" behind the laws that I have found: The One who created us has created all things; life in every form must be respected and celebrated, honored and cared for. It is true that the cycle of life and death is how we all survive as well as how we all end - in this we are one, for we sacrifice ourselves for each other. And since the Creator and Sustainer of life values Creation and Life - we must do the same. Protecting when it is the time to do so; honoring and accepting when it is time to do so; giving and receiving in sacrifice when it is time to do so.
Christians, it seemed to me, were the only large religious group who held these values in theory but had no formal ethics applying them to what or how we ate.
And then I realized I was wrong, and this is why everything is changing for me.
Please come back tomorrow for part 2!!
First, you must know that I'm a meat and potatoes girl through and through. I grew up in rural Midwest farm land; I didn't personally live on a farm but most of my best friends did. We got our milk and meat literally still warm from the farm, not from the store. These farmers gave every ounce of their lives' energy to the care and nurture of their land, crops, and animals; in return, they ate and lived modestly, a full part of nature and not in any way disconnected from it. I loved this lifestyle, and I miss it. In the actual circle of life every living creature labors and toils to survive; every living thing both consumes and is consumed; even we at the top of the food chain have the honor of bringing the circle around to its starting point when our lives end.
All this is to say, I do not personally believe it is wrong to eat meat. However, in a move that is shocking even myself I am recently and strongly considering becoming a vegetarian. Hear me out and tell me what you think.
The meat that we Americans consume comes increasingly from "factory farms" rather than the mom-and-pop farms I described above. According to the president of the US National Farmers' Union, "in the U.S., four companies produce 81 percent of cows, 73 percent of sheep, 57 percent of pigs and 50 percent of chickens." According to the Worldwatch Institute, 74 percent of the world's poultry, 43 percent of beef, and 68 percent of eggs are produced this way. That's pretty intense if you think about it.
There are huge implications to this method of raising animals which I'm not even going to touch here - health implications for humans consuming food raised this way, environmental and health issues stemming from the vast production of waste these factory farms produce, and so many more. But it does provide us with cheap, meaty, efficient, and convenient meat in our grocery store, and that's what we're all about - me included. We could not live as we do any other way.
Many of these things have bothered me since I first became aware of them years ago, and I've taken small steps to raise my awareness. But one aspect stands out to me - the way these animals live their lives. Again, my purpose here is to raise awareness while sharing a personal journey, so I'm not going into the details. Entire books could (and probably have) been written on the topic, but the bottom line is that they live their lives indoors, many never seeing the sun, in very cramped conditions, with life functions such as mating, reproducing, nursing young, walking, running, enjoying the sun, eating, drinking, and other normal life activities co-oped for efficiency and food production.
This has always bothered me. But recently - just in the past several days - the level of bother I experience has gone from black-and-white, two dimensional, theoretical to vivid color, 3D, and staring me in the face.
I've realized during the past year that virtually all the world's faiths and religions take the treatment of animals very seriously. Jews and Muslims must eat only meat which is Kosher and Halal, respectively; included in these standards are very clear instructions about the ethical treatment of animals intended for food. Buddhists and Hindus largely don't eat meat at all, and have an ethic of doing no harm to any living creature. Many ancient/tribal religions have careful rituals that cultivate gratitude and compassion towards the slain animal - nothing is wasted and great honor is given to the sacrifice; the one killing to eat is aware that another's life has been given so his can continue - it is a place of humility rather than consumption.
This last sentence reflect much of the "spirit" behind the laws that I have found: The One who created us has created all things; life in every form must be respected and celebrated, honored and cared for. It is true that the cycle of life and death is how we all survive as well as how we all end - in this we are one, for we sacrifice ourselves for each other. And since the Creator and Sustainer of life values Creation and Life - we must do the same. Protecting when it is the time to do so; honoring and accepting when it is time to do so; giving and receiving in sacrifice when it is time to do so.
Christians, it seemed to me, were the only large religious group who held these values in theory but had no formal ethics applying them to what or how we ate.
And then I realized I was wrong, and this is why everything is changing for me.
12 comments:
Very interesting to read of the mental process you are going through. I look forward to part 2! Recently on the news they have been talking about how meat consumption has risen dramatically in countries like China and Nigeria, and their food habits have changed to become more 'western' (e.g. eating more bread). Meat and bread both take much more energy and resources to produce than the traditional food they were eating. The issue of natural resources has made me try to eat less meat...although I'm not yet at the point of going vegetarian. :)
I agree ... interesting post. Although I am not a vegetarian, I've eaten less and less meat over the last few years, increasing my intake of vegetables and beans. I have especially scaled back after hearing about the commercial use of products from cloned animals. I even emailed all the places I purchase meat and dairy products from to hear their stance on the issue. (By the way ... I have yet to here back with a final position from Dominick's ... hmmmm.) Having said that ... my family is from the southern part of Brazil and Argentina, so I could never give up red meat completely. I am just more selective of where I get our meat and I try to purchase products from places such as Trader Joe's and the Amish (they have a poultry store near my parents) - places that are more ethical in their product selection.
You might explore organic or free range choices. I don't know if that is much different, but supposedly the intent might be. I'm not sure. My own personal thought when I get into these situations is..oh, oh, there I go, eating from the tree of knowledge again..it all gets very confusing.
I was a vegetarian for many years on the principle that I was unsure we as humans were meant to be carnivores and so I wanted to go with the kinder option. However, I found I could not sustain my energy without meat once I was out of school and could no longer nap each day.
That said, we don't eat a lot of it (more when I am pregnant!!) I tell you this so you know my background before I comment.
It is very possible to live a healthy life without eating meat and it is certainly the kinder choice. It is also the healthier choice. If you do decide to keep eating meat, can you get free-range or kosher meat where you live? I cannot get Kosher meat here in London, but I suspect we will be using it again when we get home. I am not Kosher by any stretch of the imagination, but I prefer to think the animals have not been mistreated.
Does this all make sense?
Hi Catherine. Found your blog a couple of days ago. Good stuff. Greg Boyd posted some thoughts on why he is a vegetarian a few weeks ago that, I believe, connects with where you're going with this topic.
Part One: http://gregboyd.blogspot.com/2008/02/why-im-vegetarian.html
Part Two: http://gregboyd.blogspot.com/2008/02/first-fruit-of-coming-non-violent.html
Part Three: http://gregboyd.blogspot.com/2008/02/com.html
Hmm... not sure the links posted. You can find Greg's posts on his blog (http://gregboyd.blogspot.com/) under these dates: 2/10, 13, and 16.
I read that book some time back but wasn't open at that time to everything it had to offer. It actually fits in nicely with "The Yoga of EAting" in retrospect.
The funny thing is that I've been getting away from meat consumption rather naturally - partially the Rice Diet - but other factors as well. This past weekend I ate a Sloppy Joe.. lots of cheese and hamburger.. and oh, ugh!, I felt sick for two days! It was just too much somehow. So.. another spirit slap about meat. :)
As for the Joseph Campbell DVD set, I absolutely recommend it for you. I think you'd really like it and get a lot from it.
Hey Catherine - I think you and I are moving in very similar directions on this front. I've been intentionally reducing my meat consumption for some of the reasons you bring up. If you have not read Michael Pollan's "omnivores dilemma" I'd be happy to lend it to you. He addresses some of your concerns, though with more of an animal-rights bent (he provides a nice summary of Singer) and less of your world-religions perspective.
On a that note, I made a "chicken" biryani on Saturday and substituted tofu for chicken... I thought it turned out really well (but perhaps you should ask Rachel for a second opinion!). I can send you the recipe.
We made a decision to buy only locally and ethically raised meat back in the Fall. Partly because we have been reading Christian ethicists on the issue, partly because I read Barbara Kinsolver's book "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle."
We are blessed to live in a state that really supports local and sustainable farming practices and to have access to an amazing farmer's market and CSA's. You should check into CSA's that sell meat. It is more expensive, but we just eat less meat and realize that more of our money goes to a farmer who respects his animals.
I don't think being a vegetarian is a bad idea, but I am not ready to go there. I think it is very hard for women in their childbearing years to do it. I think there isn't a theological reason for eating meat or not. I do think that we can't, in good conscience, eat the meat that is on our grocery shelves.
They for all the weighing in - I'm feeling very supported! In fact, most of your suggestions are the very things I'm exploring in part two, so I may just go ahead and put it up...then I'll expect you to weight in again! :)
I definitely need to read this post! Just this week I was thinking about animals for food and simply how much they cost the environment-in being raised, slaughtered, processed and shipped. I thought that maybe I should start eating a vegetarian meal once a week. Your blog/post has come at the perfect time and when I have some serious time to dedicate to reading it, I am going to. Thank you for posting your thoughts here. I'm excited to see what you have to say.
Hi--I have you listed on my Links at my blog:
www.lisananetteallender.blogspot.com/
www.practicewhatyoupeace.blogspot.com/
I tried to be strict vegetarian, and have found "modified" works best for me...but I COMPLETELY agree that the way animals are "raised"--make that "grown" in the States is horrifying, and definitely NOT healthy--for them OR us!
Thank you for your interesting posts!
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