Monday, January 11, 2010

Pissing Off Vegetarians

Boyfriend's de facto sister-in-law is newly vegetarian, and I have to confess to trying to convert her back to omnivoriousness. I know this is like the root of all food justice evils, but hear me out.

Being anti-vegetarian is practically blasephemous, especially in the whole/local/organic foods community. But I kind of am. When I hear someone is vegetarian, my first question is, "why?" Some common answers are:

1. "I'm making a religious choice. My religious beliefs mandate it." I pretty much leave that alone. First, because I don't want to be in the habit of arguing beliefs and practices that are integral to a person's identity, and second, because a culture containing a religious mandate against meat-eating usually also contains a food culture (cuisine) that is healthy and full without meat.

2. "I'm making an ethical choice. Killing and eating animals violates my personal values. Animals have rights similar to human rights." I tend to leave this alone too, since I generally think it would be offensive to argue against it. However, I don't really think it is a particularly logical argument. Humans have clearly evolved as omnivores, and meat is part of our natural diet. This argument for vegetarianism seems to put humans and animals on the same level in terms rights, because humans, of course, are animals. It then demands that humans not act like animals by choosing to modify their natural diet.


And then the flimsiest two reasons:

3. "I'm making a healthy choice. Meat isn't good for me." This is just false. Meat is part of our natural diet; we've evolved to eat it for millions of years. It's true that most Americans eat more meat than necessary (it needn't be present at every meal and should certainly not be what meals are centered on). It's also true that meat that's raised in factory farms--with antibiotics, growth hormone, and animals ankle-deep in fecal matter--is not healthy. But the meat I eat comes from farmers I know personally who raise animals ethically, organically, and outside. And (considering its higher price) I only eat it a few times a week.

4. "I'm making an environmental choice. Meat-eating isn't sustainable, and it's harmful to the environment." That's certainly true of factory farming. And vegetarians who can't get meat anywhere but the supermarket are vegetarians I support. But there is a way to raise meat with consideration for the animals' wellbeing, their natural diet and habitat, and the effect of animal treatment on human consumers. If you can find local farmers raising animals like this, I urge you to support them.


There is no escaping the truth that all life subsists on other life. Frankly, it's not a truth I'd care to escape. It is a sacred cycle that should be treated with honor and gratitude. As such, I make an effort to know that my meat comes from someplace honorable, natural, and sustainable. Do you know where your tofu comes from?

3 comments:

  1. Someone brought up the fact a few months ago as well that conditions for workers who plant, tend, and harvest crops commonly found in grocery stores (read: plants and fruits) also work under slave-like conditions in many cases. So being a vegetarian may not be as humane as it sounds. Personally, I get pissed when people try to tell me that eating meat is wrong; how many years did I kill turkeys and chickens with my grandfather, and it was the farthest thing from inhumane as possible?

    I agree wholeheartedly with your post, and I think it's important for someone like you, who does eat a lot of organic and local meats and produce, to voice this opinion, because it DOES seem to be the dissenting one, and there's no good reason for that. Humans, on the whole, eat meat because we were meant to. Nothing more, nothing less.

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  2. Nice piece... unfortunately, I have to respectfully disagree regarding several points but I will focus on curtain #3. One primary one is that we have 'evolved' to eat meat. If that's the case, why is heart disease almost non-existent in cultures that do not eat meat? (E.G. China)

    Personally, I am a 'fishitarian' and have been for over 10 years. Why? For my health... Justification: I was lucky enough to inherit high cholesterol from my parental units. I tried the fancy pills that western medicine told me would 'fix' me but guess what, after a year, my cholesterol and tri-glycerides were higher. No one 27 years old should have a 260 cholesterol and 600+ triglycerides. I really didn't want to have a heart attack before I turned 30 so I did some research and discovered that we have actually all evolved a little differently. While not 100%, a lot of research has been done to show that a person's blood type can actually impact how they metabolize food.

    My blood type is AB-. This is a very rare blood type and has only existed for about 1000 years.

    Here's a little snipit about that blood type:

    "People who are AB blood type have a different set of characteristics than people who are Type O - they are susceptible to different diseases, they should eat different foods and exercise in a completely different manner.
    Type AB has Type A’s low stomach acid, however, they also have Type B’s adaptation to meats. Therefore, you lack enough stomach acid to metabolize them efficiently and the meat you eat tends to get stored as fat. Your Type B propensities cause the same insulin reaction as Type B when you eat lima beans, corn, buckwheat, or sesame seeds.” Inhibited insulin production results in hypoglycemia, a lowering of blood sugar after meals and leads to less efficient metabolism of foods.

    Type AB should avoid caffeine and alcohol, especially when you’re in stressful situations. Dr. D’Adamo recommends that Type AB focus on foods such as tofu, seafood, dairy and green vegetables if you are trying to lose weight. “Avoid all smoked or cured meats. These foods can cause stomach cancer in people with low levels of stomach acid,” recommends Dr. D’Adamo. There is a wide variety of seafood for Type AB, and it is an excellent source of protein for Type AB. A few highly beneficial fish are mahi-mahi, red snapper, salmon, sardines, and tuna.. Some dairy is also beneficial for Type AB – especially cultured dairy such as Yogurt and kefir.

    Dr. D’Adamo also recommends smaller, more frequent meals, as they will counteract digestive problems caused by inadequate stomach acid and peptic enzymes. “Your stomach initiates the digestive process with a combination of digestive secretions, and the muscular contractions that mix food with them. When you have low levels of digestive secretions, food tends to stay in the stomach longer.” Explains D’Adamo. He also suggests that Type AB pay attention to combining certain foods. For example, you’ll digest and metabolize foods more efficiently if you avoid eating starches and proteins in the same meal."

    (source: http://www.dadamo.com/bloodtype_AB.htm)

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  3. Congratulations, you have two huge comments. I'm not even going to try and compare to them so: The only reason I would ever become a real vegetarian is because meat tends to gross me out. You left that one out and that's probably because I'm the only weirdo out there who thinks that. Am I right? Or have you heard that one before? Other than from me!!! :)

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