Confessions of a Casual Vegetarian

It was three and a half years ago that my nine year old told me she wanted to be a vegetarian. Ever the supportive mom, I said I would be too. It would last a week, I figured.

As the months passed, and it lasted, we found ourselves discussing nutrition, how we treat food animals, and the various pros and cons of different veggie burgers. I learned to make veggie versions of chili, chicken pot pie, casseroles, burgers, hot dogs, pasta dishes. I made two of everything, one for the omnivores in the house, and one for us. I discovered all sorts of meat substitutes, had a love-hate relationship with tofu, and grumbled about the fact that most restaurant salads are contaminated with meat. I mean, come on; it’s a salad!

My latest checkup, however, revealed slight anemia , although my cholesterol levels were greatly improved. I decided to reintroduce chicken and turkey, things I'd missed the most. The entire experience left me with many lessons, though. I was already of the opinion that if you’re going to eat meat, you should have, at least once in your life, a nodding acquaintance with the source of your nuggets. I have done that: raised them, fed them, cleaned up after them, then slaughtered and ate them, with no moral repugnance at all. I’ve visited a slaughterhouse as a vet student, once to observe and once to collect pig noses to check for atrophic rhinitis. (Yes, that’s just what it sounds like. It involved pig heads and a hack saw.) I am not sentimental about farm animals, but I do want them to have the highest quality life they can have in their brief time here, and a quick transport and death when the time comes.

Now I buy cage-free eggs and I look for organic meat. It’s not a perfect solution, but it’s a step in the right direction. There are some things, like hamburgers and hot dogs and most red meat, that are permanently off the menu for me. I’ll still have many meat-free meals. And I’m more aware of the whole process of food production and how it affects all of us.

Green smoothie, anyone?