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My thoughts on meat...
The post below is one I have featured at my online journal, and I thought I would share it with the Mamas. The support I have recieved here has been so helpful and everyone is so open...thank you!
Last night, I sacrificed two hours of vital sleep. I stayed up to watch a program on the FX network. It’s titled “30 Days” and is hosted by the guy who did the McDonald’s thing in “Super-Size Me”. I loved that movie! The television show “30 Days” was very good as well.
This particular episode featured two mega-consumers spending thirty days on a self-sustaining eco-village. I enjoyed watching the inside workings of the eco-village more than anything else. The intentional community concept has always been one I have found fascinating. The featured village, The Dancing Rabbit, is in Missouri. The land was beautiful and the community small and friendly.
The mega-consumers, a male and a female were actually pretty average. He was a single man with no children, living in NYC. He drives a large SUV and works as an entertainment promoter. She was a DJ, living in NYC as well. Her car was a small sedan and she admitted to being a product junkie. The culture shock was a bit exaggerated but overall, I found the program interesting.
By the end of the show, she had actually made a small amount of progress; trying different vegan foods and working enthusiastically in the community gardens. He, on the other hand, ended up shooting rabbits (at the Dancing Rabbit Village!) and eating rare beef at the table with the vegan community. He did, however, agree to buy low wattage light bulbs upon his return to the city.
I would rather have watched a detailed documentary featuring The Dancing Rabbit and other intentional communities. The time “30 Days” spent featuring the alternative energy sources, waste management and food production was much more interesting than watching a big tattooed guy shoot rabbits because he “just couldn't live without some meat.”
I once read of a theory stating sometime, in the not-so-distant future, most humans will be forced to embrace some type of vegetarianism. I am not sure where I read this; probably in a Frances Lappe book. She wrote the classic “A Diet for a Small Planet” and it’s sequel, “New Hope: The Next Diet for a Small Planet.” Her theories were not based on the belief that eating animals is inherently wrong. She based her opinions on the economic and environmental factors involved with raising and processing meat.
This was based on several elements, ranging from outrageous prices and limited availability. Meat prices are already outrageous. I am sure prices are more than a mere reflection of inflation. Fuel. Fuel to raise crops that feed the livestock. Fuel that transports the animals to the processing plant. Fuel that transports the meat to retailers. We have so much to consider as we sit down to the table and pass the pork chops.
Fuel is just one of the non-moral factors. I use the term “non-moral” to refer to facts that are indeed; just facts. Not right, not wrong, they just are. Such as the price of the fuel, the chemicals involved in the grain and dairy industry as well as the growth hormones and antibiotics found in nearly all livestock animals.
I chose the vegan path for spiritual, health and environmental reasons. I fully anticipate my family consuming less meat in the future for economic reasons. The cost of good food rises weekly. I don't want to feed my kids crap. The only meat that is even marginally reasonable seems to be hot dogs, slimy chicken quarters and hamburger. My children deserve to eat better than this. All children deserve to be eat better than this.
So, here I am. I just want to feed my kids at the table and talk about our day. I need to do this in a healthy, responsible, and preferably enjoyable manner. The way to do this, and be a gentle member of this planet, is still a bit of a challenge for me. I plan on rising to that challenge deliciously.
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Becca, mama to 
Nate 12yo, 
Mary 7yo.
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