Before I write I just want to write a discliaimer. In no way, am I bashing or mocking the vegetarian or vegan lifestyle. I for one respect people for their lifestyles that they hold and would never mean to force my view on any one. I am just justifying and trying to bring to light why I choose toeat meat and my understanding of the vegetarian/vegan lifestyle.--------
I for one love veggie burgers, vegetarian beans, and any natural whole grain food. I know that I myself couldn't be a vegetarian because I also LOVE chicken, turkey( yummm) and fish. You notice I didn't mention beef or pork because I am not a fan of the former and my religion prevents me from eating the latter. I do eat goat occasionally , but all in all I am not a fan of red meat. I do believe a piece of meat is good for you now and then and a persons diet is all about balance. Everything I believe in extremes is bad for you. Too much meat makes you obese and gives you heart disease, not enough makes you lack essential nutrients like heme-iron that is only found in animals (non-heme is found in veggies but aren't absorbed as well as heme vegetables.) I think there are two things people need to do in order to have a better life. The first thing is learn moderation, we have adapted this all or nothing attitude, and it is killing us. We have to realize that too much of one thing can have a negative side effect, for instance too much water gives us water poisoning. After realizing that, next we need to make a choice to really reform the food industry, or in the future there will be no meat eaters or vegetarians, there will only be pill poppers due to genetically modified food in pill form (ever seen the jetsons?) If we take a step to help local farmers and kill industries that serves mystery food on a genetically modified bun, then I feel people would feel more safe about food. We can make the food industry become transparent, so they have no choice but to treat our meat with care and the food that we so heavily avoid now , would be OK to eat. I mean would people change their minds about eating meat if the food industry treated the animals better and took more care of them? Like I stated before, I am all about health and nutrition and that is why I do pay the extra dollar for a chicken leg at a farmers market.My religion promotes vegetarianism, but doesn't require it and that isn't a choice I think I can make. I do have a challenge for myself though. For 1 week I will try to be a vegetarian, just to see if I can do it, just so I know that I am not being stubborn or close-minded to the idea of it. I don't know, I feel like a lot of people stay away from meat because of the brutal conditions that the animals are subjected to. I mean is that the case?
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Ethics, ecology, economics, nutrition, and health all conspire to warn us against a meat-centered diet. Moderate amounts of meat (maybe once or twice/week), as you suggest, are no threat to human health, but that simply ignores the other, equally compelling, considerations. There is no nutritional requirement to eat meat, ever. Meat-eating and production (as we currently practice them) are among the top threats to the environment and human health. Hundreds of millions of social, sentient animals suffer and die at our hands (in the US alone) each year. I wish you luck with your experiment!
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