I've long resisted the arguments of the various vegetarians I know. Vegetarianism seemed to go hand-in-hand with a style of elitist, latte liberalism that I don't like. Ellie and I were talking the other day, though, and we've decided to substantially cut down on our meat consumption. The number of reasons became too long to ignore. Here are the reasons:
(1) Economic: Meat is expensive. We could save money cutting down.
(2) Health: Meat isn't very good for you; vegetables are.
(3) Ethical: Factor farms, where most meat comes from, are still fairly cruel places. I am not convinced that animals have a "right to life," but I do think they have a right not to suffer.
(4) Religious: The LDS Word of Wisdom suggests that meat should be used "sparingly," while the Bible clearly contains a vegetarian ideal (pdf). It is time to take this seriously.
(5) Environmental: The meat industry is a leading contributor to global warming, water use, and deforestation. (Not that I am convinced that we will make any difference in this regard -- large scale reforms are needed for that, not personal virtue.)
(6) Taste: We like vegetarian cooking quite a bit.
So, there you have it. We won't cut meat out of our diet. It plays an important role in moments of family celebration (Sunday dinner, holiday meals, etc.). From now on, though, we want to eat meat with more conscious "thanksgiving" than as an unthinking habit.
4 comments:
Spencer and I are actually doing a little bit of the same thing. We've been trying more vegetarian recipes. Mostly for economic reasons. You'll have to forward us your favorite low-cost vegetarian dishes. :0)
Good for you! Those are all very good reasons...I'll have to convince David not to be such a carnivore. But, he has actually cut back lately too.
Josh and I did a "vegetarian week" two weeks ago and it felt great. The hardest part about it was that we pretty much ended up making our own meals all the time since meat was usually the centerpiece of meals made by others.
We both did it successfully except for one school lunch where Josh learned after the fact that hot dogs were meat and I ended up with some bacon bits on a salad.
We eat lots of vegetarian dishes than even the kids like. Not that you asked, but here's what we've found helpful.
I think that making sure the meals have enough protein (especially for the kiddos), tends to be the the challenge. If they don't respond well to a dish the first time- don't give up! Freeze half (if it's a soup or something that freezes well), and try again another time.
We'll soon be adding a a dinner recipe section to Nathan's gf cooking blog, so we'll send a link when we've got some things up.
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