Day Four of No Meat

For the last several years, I couldn't bring myself to buy meat in the grocery store because I'd have to look at it and be reminded that I object to the way most commercially prepared meat is processed.  But I didn't want to stop eating meat, so I'd get meat in the form of carryout or delivery food, or someone else, like M., would be the one getting the meat most of the time.  I like the way meat tastes.  I love bacon, and really good green chili cheeseburgers, and meatballs, and pepperoni.  But when I confront the knowledge that I have about the way we treat the animals whose meat we sell at the grocery store, I cannot in good conscience eat meat.

Since we moved here to New Mexico at the end of July last year, we had decided we would eat primarily free-range animals or ground buffalo (under the assumption that it would not be mass produced and factory farmed), and eat more vegetarian meals.  But we still had some regular meat every week, including chicken and ground beef, since free-range meat and buffalo weren't always available at our closest grocery store.  I haven't been comfortable with this, and I've been suspicious about the meaning of "free-range" meat and how the buffalo are treated.  But I mostly ignored this discomfort and suspicion for my own convenience and pleasure.  Again, I like the way meat tastes, it's convenient to prepare since I already know lots of different ways to cook it, and eating it doesn't require that M. or my mom make any cooking accommodations for me. 

But I don't want to go on ignoring the fact that on a daily basis,  I'm doing something that I think is both ethically wrong and that's not good for my health.  Generally speaking, I don't think there's anything wrong with eating meat if that's what's available to you, and if the animals, while they live, have decent living conditions, and when they are killed, are killed in ways that minimize their fear and pain. 

But eating meat is not the only option available to many of us.  Without hardship, only inconvenience, I can purchase and prepare vegetarian foods.   I have easy access to non-meat foods in my grocery store, and easy access to simple meat-free recipes.  It's not significantly more expensive to eat vegetarian; actually, unless I buy all my vegetables at a place like Whole Foods, it's actually cheaper.  And I know, though I've tried to ignore it, that the animals I've been eating do not have decent living conditions and some of them die afraid and in pain. 

I also know that eating a meat-free diet is healthier for me.  My so-called bad cholesterol is high the last two times I've had it read, and I've intermittently had high blood pressure.  I also weigh more than I should for optimum health.  A plant-based diet would be healthier for me. 

 But, again, because I like the taste of meat, and because buying and eating meat is convenient and a habit, I've been ignoring all this.  But even the argument of convenience is not a strong one for me now, since I do have the time to invest in shopping for healthier foods, finding alternative recipes, and cooking without meat. 

If it's not clear here, I'm not making an argument that eating meat is absolutely morally and ethically wrong.  Humans have eaten meat throughout our history, when meat has been available.  But when we don't need to do so, and when eating meat requires that we cause animals pain and suffering, then I think it's morally and ethically wrong.  

I believe that all animals have an interest in maintaining life and avoiding pain and suffering.  Not all animals have a choice of what kinds of food to eat or, as far as I can tell, not all are capable of realizing that other kinds of animals have an interest in living and avoiding pain and suffering.  But we humans (many of us) do have a choice, and we (many of us) are capable of realizing this. 

Given that we do have a choice and are capable of realizing the interests of other animals, I believe that it's okay to eat other animals when it's necessary for our own self-preservation or health, and that when we do so, we have an obligation to minimize their pain and suffering. 

I don't believe that humans are some superior kind of life form that is superior to other animals such it's okay for us to use them for our own ends, regardless of their own interests in maintaining life and lack of pain/suffering. 

It's taken me awhile to clarify my own thinking about eating meat and I'm still in the process of thinking about it.  But I'm now to the point where I've decided that I need to stop eating most meat.  I'm not yet to the point where I am willing to give it all up, but I think I need to get there, given what my beliefs are.

Today is day four of not eating meat, with the exception of shrimp last night.  So far, I'm not missing it at all.  There are other changes I want to make in my diet, things that I've similarly believed are the best things for me to do but which I've ignored because I'm attached to my habits and they aren't terribly convenient:  I want to reduce my consumption of prepared and store-packaged foods such as bread,  chips, salad dressings, and cookies. I want to increase my consumption of whole foods that I use to prepare my own products, and minimize the use of store-packaging.  That means more buying in bulk and fewer processed foods. 

 We've also been doing much of our grocery shopping at Walmart, because it's the closest grocery store to our house and it has cheap prices, which matters given our limited funds.   While I love the birds that live in their parking lot, and I don't think that it's a clear cut case that Walmart is bad,  I'd rather not be shopping there, if there are alternatives.  I won't go into the Walmart arguments here--this is long enough for today. 

To that end, I'm looking into bulk-food buying cooperatives.  There's one, Unified Natural Foods (https://www.unfi.com) that operates through my local food coop in Dixon, NM, and it delivers once per week.  That one doesn't provide access to an on-line catalog or ordering; you have to actually sit in the store and look through the catalog and fill out a paper order form.  There's another, Azure Standard: Bulk and Natural Foods (http://www.azurestandard.com/) that does have an online catalog and order form, and it delivers once per month to Santa Fe, which is about an hour from my house and where my rheumatologist is located.  My next step is to look at the specific items in their catalogs, and their prices, and then think about compiling a small group of new-to-me recipes of things that we can regularly eat.