Animal vs. Food

After reading my last blog, I realized that my third paragraph may have seemed a little rambly (is that a word?)…what the hell was I talking about?  I rarely re-read my posts…possibly some mild editing; however, I get a wild hair and then post!

So, here was my thought process.  I was basically talking about the fact that I am a more “aware” consumer.  I was thinking that there was some correlation between this and the compassion towards animals.  My sidebar into the work I did for the animal shelter was actually a bridge in my head between these two distinctions.

It makes sense though, right?  I am a Republican.  I support gay rights.  I eat meat.  I own five cats.  My parents have always considered me a VERY liberal Republican…I even married an Oregon boy!!   The joke we’ve always had was that a redneck (I’m from Georgia) married a tree hugger; however, just the other day, as he was standing there in camo shorts and I stated that it would be fun, after our girls were in college, to live in a tree house in Washington for a few months (just for fun).  He then looked at me and said, “ NOW who is the redneck and who is the tree hugger??”  LOL ~ I get your point.

For me, it only makes sense that my trek is gravitating towards vegetarianism.  I am sickened by the kill floors.  It’s been months since I’ve eaten a fast-food burger prepared from several cows riddled with feces and e-coli.  I can't get these images out of my head when making food choices.

I made my girls watch Food, Inc. with me.  As we watched, my 7 –year old said, “Mom, the ‘good farms’ also kill the chickens.”  “Yes,” I said, “We have to kill animals to eat them; however, the nice farms feed their animals what they were meant to be fed and the animals have a quality of life before execution”.  Wow, that still sounds sucky, but that was my answer.

I don’t know the right answer.  In the meantime, I just want my girls to be educated about what they put in their bodies.  I want them to be aware of crappy marketing by large corporations and I hope that they make good decisions…hell; I hope I make good decisions!!

Flexing My Tarian!

So, I put a poll on my blog a week ago about types of vegetarianism.  I’ve, of course, read Vegetarian for Dummies…isn’t the “Dummies” series where all personal journeys begin?   My second step was with “clean eating”…pretty much eating things without a bar code.  I started to feel better.  I started consuming nuts and real cheese and veggies and fruit…lean meat and great organic dairy.  Not only have I been feeling better, but weight is dropping off.

Then, I started watching movies like Food, Inc. and Fast Food Nation…ugh!  I haven’t had a burger in about four months now!!  (By the way, did you know that Burger King offers a Veggie Burger?).  It may not be the best on the list of things to eat, but it’s a fantastic alternative if you are in a hurry.

I’ve always been a sucker for animals.  Once stationed in Alabama, I sold ad space for a local newspaper.  I soon wanted to start a space in the paper for the local no-kill animal shelter.  Initially, my boss would not support a section for the “animal of the week” because it was not cost-effective.  With this bad news, I took it on my own to determine the cost as it applied to an ad space and divided the logo space on the perimeter of the promotion to compensate the cost.  I drove around town and “sold” my idea amongst many retailers for a small logo ad space required to support the “Pet of the Week”.  Very quickly, I was able to find sponsors for my idea and went from there.  By the time we left Alabama, the shelter gave me a plaque, a card and a wonderful good-bye.  As a matter of fact, I didn’t even realize I had made such an impact.  They were able to adopt out many animals due to my work.  At the time, it just seemed to be the right thing to do.  In the end, I not only had a cute little black shelter cat named Chloe, but a great sense of accomplishment.  So, to make a long story longer...I am now eating organic and natural foods.  I would not classify myself as a vegan, although I have much respect for those much-disciplined individuals.  I eat free-range eggs, drink organic milk and will only eat either grass-fed beef or other humanely-raised animals.  I am now conscious of fish and how they are raised or caught or their rarity in the world.  I am a “Whole Foods” junkie and get kind of grossed out now when I go to a “normal” grocery store.  I also seek out restaurants that support and use locally-grown items.  The experience is completely different than a franchise-type establishment.

Anyway, after my poll, I realized that I am possibly a flexitarian now.  I don’t eat meat everyday.  I am trying to cut down on my carbon footprint.  I am aware of my food and where it comes from.  So, I finally have a label ~ FLEXITARIAN!!  What a much better way to describe myself than a WHATEVERTARIAN.  I am now making better choices for me and my family.  I am really curious to see where my family and I progress to in the next few years.