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raybearBelieve it or not, I was once a vegetarian. For approximately 9 months. If memory serves me accurately, it was my sophmore year in high school. Right after spending part of the summer with my youngest aunt who I adored, and who had lost almost 100 pounds by eliminating meat and most sugar from her diet. It was medically necessary for her to lose that much, because she was diagnosed with diabetes and hypertension and being very overweight. She eventually gained much of it back and is still a large woman, but she's a healthy large woman. Yes, it's possible and common and sexy and great and for more information read Hanne Blank's Big Big Love, but I'm not here to talk about books.
She first taught me about vegetarianism as a health option. I was interested in losing weight as well, because who wasn't in this compulsory society? So I decided to be vegetarian. Unfortunately, I didn't like many vegetables. I liked plenty of protein sources, like legumes, which I used to consider vegetables next to regular meat, but learned that things not leafy and green didn't count as much. I tried eating more fruit, with only minor success. I then added chicken and fish to my diet and avoided red meat, though not religiously, and probably had the occasionaly Fourth of July picnic hamburger. This lasted through high school, even with one of my friends, Karen (one of many many Karen's, though not one I was in love with) who was rigidly vegetarian and horribly anorexic.
In college, my roommate was vegetarian. And had an eating disorder. My friends and next-door neighbors were quasi-vegetarian, loosely on health, loosely on politics. One of them eventually stopped claiming to be one, and just didn't eat much meat. I started to eat meat on their behalf.
I never pondered about my dietary habits again, until I started dating my last gf, K, halfway through my senior year of college. She was vegetarian. And was also prone to bad-tasting lowfat and nonfat alternatives to food. She also had a best friend who was in love with a book linking feminism to vegetarianism and how eating meat was mysogynist. I don't know either. I told her that I agreed that meat is bad for the environment and not cost-effective and not as healthy etc. etc. but that I would be more likely to devise a plan to sterilize every cow in the world rather than not buy the steak in the grocery store, seeing as it's already dead and all, and I enjoyed preparing and consuming it. I felt like, if meat-eating stopped, what would we do with the milllions of domesticated animals we've bred to have no instincts? They'd die in the wild anyway, so might as well enjoy one last steak before we bid a fond farewell to the era of eating meat. I also used to frame arguments against K and the BF about the class and cultural implications of vegetarianism. They were always perplexed by my ability to agree that I thought everything they said was correct, but that I was still not "on their side". I tried to explain it's because I had additional information which enabled me to make a choice, and I'm not even saying my choice is correct, I'm just saying it's the one I'm making right now.
Today for lunch I have a sandwich on potato bread with vienna roast beef from the grocery store deli. I was attracted to the large portion of meat because of it's redness. It's so rare and tender it barely survived the meat shaving process. I'm anticipating it melting in my mouth and blending wonderfully with the spicy brown mustard.
It's a luxury. I understand and appreciate it. I also understand the process it undergoes to meet my mouth. I usually know WHAT part of a cow or pig is being consumed based on the name on the package. And I usually prefer getting hormone-free, antibiotic-free, free range animals, because I'm a hypochondriac and I don't like chemicals (also part of my aversion to lowfat, nonfat foods) but also because it tastes better. I won't lie. Slaughterhouses are pretty disgusting, but then again so are most factories and those involve human sacrifices. Anything in bulk, as a general rule, is gross.
Before I hated the Frugal Gourment because he got arrested for child molestation (though I suppose that could be an urban legend that pops up around a cancelled PBS chef), I liked that he talked about thanking the animal for giving itself for our enjoyment.
When I die, people can eat me. I find the idea rather romantic.
She first taught me about vegetarianism as a health option. I was interested in losing weight as well, because who wasn't in this compulsory society? So I decided to be vegetarian. Unfortunately, I didn't like many vegetables. I liked plenty of protein sources, like legumes, which I used to consider vegetables next to regular meat, but learned that things not leafy and green didn't count as much. I tried eating more fruit, with only minor success. I then added chicken and fish to my diet and avoided red meat, though not religiously, and probably had the occasionaly Fourth of July picnic hamburger. This lasted through high school, even with one of my friends, Karen (one of many many Karen's, though not one I was in love with) who was rigidly vegetarian and horribly anorexic.
In college, my roommate was vegetarian. And had an eating disorder. My friends and next-door neighbors were quasi-vegetarian, loosely on health, loosely on politics. One of them eventually stopped claiming to be one, and just didn't eat much meat. I started to eat meat on their behalf.
I never pondered about my dietary habits again, until I started dating my last gf, K, halfway through my senior year of college. She was vegetarian. And was also prone to bad-tasting lowfat and nonfat alternatives to food. She also had a best friend who was in love with a book linking feminism to vegetarianism and how eating meat was mysogynist. I don't know either. I told her that I agreed that meat is bad for the environment and not cost-effective and not as healthy etc. etc. but that I would be more likely to devise a plan to sterilize every cow in the world rather than not buy the steak in the grocery store, seeing as it's already dead and all, and I enjoyed preparing and consuming it. I felt like, if meat-eating stopped, what would we do with the milllions of domesticated animals we've bred to have no instincts? They'd die in the wild anyway, so might as well enjoy one last steak before we bid a fond farewell to the era of eating meat. I also used to frame arguments against K and the BF about the class and cultural implications of vegetarianism. They were always perplexed by my ability to agree that I thought everything they said was correct, but that I was still not "on their side". I tried to explain it's because I had additional information which enabled me to make a choice, and I'm not even saying my choice is correct, I'm just saying it's the one I'm making right now.
Today for lunch I have a sandwich on potato bread with vienna roast beef from the grocery store deli. I was attracted to the large portion of meat because of it's redness. It's so rare and tender it barely survived the meat shaving process. I'm anticipating it melting in my mouth and blending wonderfully with the spicy brown mustard.
It's a luxury. I understand and appreciate it. I also understand the process it undergoes to meet my mouth. I usually know WHAT part of a cow or pig is being consumed based on the name on the package. And I usually prefer getting hormone-free, antibiotic-free, free range animals, because I'm a hypochondriac and I don't like chemicals (also part of my aversion to lowfat, nonfat foods) but also because it tastes better. I won't lie. Slaughterhouses are pretty disgusting, but then again so are most factories and those involve human sacrifices. Anything in bulk, as a general rule, is gross.
Before I hated the Frugal Gourment because he got arrested for child molestation (though I suppose that could be an urban legend that pops up around a cancelled PBS chef), I liked that he talked about thanking the animal for giving itself for our enjoyment.
When I die, people can eat me. I find the idea rather romantic.
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Nothing but net
Date: 2002-01-10 10:40 am (UTC)i love that you have multiple karens. i'm up to my neck in sarahs, jasons, kerri/kerry/carrie/keris and jen/jenny/jennifers.
so great
Date: 2002-01-10 10:42 am (UTC)ps. i have a friend who was a very strict veggie. she recently broke up with her veggie gf, left for break, got back with her boyfriend from home, and now can't stop consuming beef and bacon. my, my. boys=meat ???
steak 4 life
Date: 2002-01-10 11:16 am (UTC)1. one of my first words was "sausage"...
2. a healthy...lowfat...or nonfat...healthy........blizzard.
3. i heart meat. my friends and i are going to make shirts that say "post-veggie" on the front (since we do all go through one of those phases at some point :P ), and "'bians (and bois, possibly) for meat" on the back. heh heh.
Re: Nothing but net
Date: 2002-01-10 12:03 pm (UTC)My streak of Karen's ran out after I dated one (and later broke up with one). Now there's pretty much no one in my life on a consistent basis with that name. Strange.
Re: so great
Date: 2002-01-10 12:04 pm (UTC)Re: steak 4 life
Date: 2002-01-10 12:09 pm (UTC)2. congrats on getting that -- I think of that line every time I tell the story of Karen and the lowfat healthy alternatives! there's another joke hidden in my entry involving a pun.
3. sometimes I think i'm pre-veggie. like I'll go vegetarian when I'm 55. i have nothing but love and respect for my veggie and vegan friends since they all respect my choices too. and i'm actually an excellent cook of veggie and vegan things. hell, last night i made some excellent fried polenta with homemade marinara sauce and broccolli, which was well-received by all the typical meat-eaters who dined on it. it would have even been vegan if i left out the bit of parmesan cheese i added. i'm also very accomodating when it comes to kosher foor preparation and wheat allerigies. i guess from all my various friend and roommate experiences.
Re: steak 4 life
Date: 2002-01-10 02:16 pm (UTC)2. anna's mother was a little disturbed by how much we rely on movie quotes in our everyday conversation :P hee hee. as for the pun, i am stupid and lack an attention span, so i cant find it. sad :(
3. i definitely eat a lot of veggie/vegan-type foods, and i didnt mean to sound anti-veggie/vegan in any way. i just really like meat. like, a lot. mmm. but i can also totally see myself raising veggie children b/c i dont like cooking meat all that much. i think it's the bones. i like big slabs of raw steak, but cant deal with a whole chicken. ick. anyway, i hear ya. and i *will* hear you soon, since i will be calling you :)
Re: steak 4 life
Date: 2002-01-10 02:33 pm (UTC)"anything in bulk...is gross"
'Gross' as in disgusting, but also 'gross' as in dense or large quantities. i.e. 'bulk'.
I'm such a dork.
Also related to number 2, I haven't said anything original since 1987. Everything is a quote. I'm a walking postmodern wonder!!
Re: Nothing but net
Date: 2002-01-10 03:15 pm (UTC)Re: steak (& Ribs) 4 life
Date: 2002-01-10 04:00 pm (UTC)BTW-everything's been said already...i go nihilist every once in a while
re: red meat/testosterone in previous post
Date: 2002-01-10 04:16 pm (UTC)i've read that ancient cultures used to consider a bull's heart and/or blood to be the most masculine of all foods. they were eaten raw or nearly so as fertility rituals and in battle situations. and now you know.
no subject
Date: 2002-01-10 05:18 pm (UTC)I was a veggie for about a day after reading "The Jungle" in high school. A pretty high proportion of my friends are veggies, though not the super-militant self-righteous kind, because I usually can't stand to be around such people. My partner used to be an animal-rights veggie, and now he's outgrown it and is just a veggie because he no longer likes the taste of meat (and it upsets his stomach). He does, however, eat seafood.
I have this very argument a lot with people. I'm a socialist, and a lot of people seem to think that means being veggie (which it doesn't at all). The thing I argue is that, yes, slaughterhouses are horrible, the hormone techniques, etc. are bad, the environmental destruction is awful, it's all true. I also point out that slaughterhouse jobs are the most dangerous in the US (they've even surpassed mining). They have the highest injury and death rates, and not coincidentally, the lowest unionization rates. (Check out Eric Schlosser's "Fast Food Nation".) Not eating meat won't change this; supporting the unionization of slaughterhouse workers will. Sustainable farming and ranching methods will help. And demanding a society in which the majority of working people are not kept poor and working long hours would make a huge difference. After all, a huge proportion of meat consumption, esp. in Western countries, is at fast-food restaurants-- which people go to because they're cheap and fast. If people can afford to buy healthy, fresh food, and have the time to cook it (because they don't have to work crazy hours just to get by), they're more likely to eat better, and I'm willing to bet that meat consumption would decrease. Basically, vegetarians would do better to become socialists! :-D
Mmm. Steak. I always crave red meat when I'm bleeding- must be the iron!
s
Re: steak 4 life
Date: 2002-01-10 09:08 pm (UTC)Re: steak 4 life
Date: 2002-01-10 11:41 pm (UTC)raaaaaymond, come out *to* plaaaaaaay!
i had a lovely time with you this evening - gave damon a ride home, he is such a nice fellow :) and your special friend melro topped me in the coloring book dept. quite well! tee hee. hope you liked the suspenders.
keep in touch, yo.