I have long been a happy carnivore. For as long as I can remember, I have loved meat, with a few notable exceptions...
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| German delicacy - Rohes Hackfleisch on bread |
The only way my sister and I could choke down the blood sausage was to plug our noses as we chewed, thereby muting the olfactory sensations. I still shiver with revulsion when I see pictures of blood sausage.
Which may seem kind of odd when you learn that I also have a long-standing love affair with rohes Hackfleisch - raw ground meat (pork/beef) mixed with an egg, diced onions and spices. Mix well and spread liberally on a piece of rye bread - like, a half inch thick at least. I am drooling even as I write this. Obviously, I also like my steak rare - even blue rare. No pieces of over-cooked shoe leather for me. When I was a kid, I would even sneak cubes of raw beef as my Mom was preparing a stew... oh yum! Times are different now... sigh... mad cow disease, E. coli, Salmonella... raw meat and/or eggs are not for the faint of heart. The last time I had rohes Hackfleisch was in 2010 at a hotel in Vechta, Germany. They had a breakfast buffet and miracle of miracles... they had it! For breakfast, no less! I think I may have pigged out a bit...
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| Tippi and 5-year old me |
The other thing you need to know about me is that I love animals. When I was a kid, I wanted to be variously: a rancher/farmer, a Fish & Wildlife officer or a veterinarian. I wanted to be around animals. I wanted to help animals.
We always had one pet or another when I was growing up - cats, dogs, gerbils, even a few rabbits. I loved them all, including our current cat, Minnie.
I had never questioned the odd juxtaposition of loving animals and eating animals. Until I went to Southeast Asia in 2013.
Road to Damascus/Hanoi
There's a story in the Bible about a Jew named Saul who was persecuting the early Christians. He heard there was a group of them in Damascus, jumped on his horse (there is some debate as to whether he rode or simply walked... but the horse is more dramatic) and set off to Damascus with a few of his buddies. Along the way, Saul was blinded by a bright light and knocked off his high horse. A voice spoke, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?" Saul asked, "Who are you Lord?" The voice said, "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting." Saul was left blind after this little encounter and was led to Damascus by his friends. After a few days, he met with one of the Damascus Christians who prayed over Saul and... "something like scales fell from Saul's eyes" and he could see again.
That little vignette is Saul's moment of conversion. After that, he changes his name to Paul and becomes one of the biggest Christians ever.
I'd like to say my epiphany was so clean, but it wasn't. In April 2013, my partner and I traveled to southeast Asia for four months. We visited Hong Kong, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and then spent two months traveling from the south of Vietnam to the north. It was an amazing trip and the food in Thailand, Cambodia and southern Vietnam was to die for. But somewhere in Thailand or Cambodia... I started noticing flat bed trucks load with cages of dogs. All sorts of dogs... poodles, retrievers, mutts of all kinds. We heard rumours of dog thieves... sneaking into backyards and stealing family pets. For what purpose? Rumour had it that they were being shipped to the dog meat markets in China and northern Vietnam.
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| Sign advertising Dog and Cat meat (Hanoi - from Lazy Travel Blog) |
It started to sink in on the road to Hanoi in northern Vietnam. I started noticing sandwich board signs along the roads advertising Chó and Mèo. These were signs for restaurants offering meals containing dog and cat meat. My stomach churned. Don't look. Don't see. Don't think. Don't feel. But something once seen can't be unseen.
I learned that it's not as simple as killing a dog humanely and using the meat. No. Fine connoisseurs of dog meat believe that the meat has a better flavour/efficacy when the animal is in a high state of anxiety when it is killed. The killings, and what goes before, are therefore... not humane. If you want to see pictures - google "dog meat markets" or "cat meat markets".
You are forewarned.
Oh, the Hypocrisy
And then it hit me. Here I was condemning the barbaric, inhumane practices associated with gathering, marketing, killing and eating dogs and cats. How was that any different from the barbaric, inhumane practices associated with gathering, marketing, killing and eating cows, pigs or chickens? Why did it revile me to think of someone eating dog or cat, or even horse. But a cow was OK?
I had come face to face with my own hypocrisy. As a lover of animals, how could I also be a consumer of animals? I struggled. I cried. I tried to justify that North America's animal rearing practices are "better". But I'd had read enough news from PETA and Mercy for Animals to know... our meat supply is not a humane system. My ostrich head was being yanked out of the sand. I had been knocked off of my high horse and the scales had fallen from my eyes.
Failed Vegetarian
We came back from southeast Asia and after much debate... went vegetarian. I tried to campaign for some meat in our diet... the scales grow back so fast, don't they... Maybe we could skip the beef and pork... and stick with chicken. Somehow it's better when the meat isn't a mammal? Or maybe we could have salmon. At least they're not air-breathing. Or something. Or maybe we just eat "happy chickens". You know, ethically sourced organic chickens from a high-end butcher.
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| My chicken friends - see little Boeckem in front? |
I made friends with one little black and white cutie. She was smaller than the rest of the flock and I started going into the yard, turning over rocks and boards and showing her the feast of worms and bugs underneath. She very quickly came running when I called her name - "Boeckem!". Even when I was chopping wood, I'd find big centipedes and beetles and grab them up (with gloves) and call her to the fence. She'd come running and I'd quickly feed her my treasures. I say, quickly, because the rest of the flock soon figured out that she was getting preferential treatment and would also come running!
My argument for limiting our meat consumption to "happy chickens" therefore ran into the question... would I eat my little friend Boeckem. Maybe not... but what about her flock mates? I'm not a complete naive fading violet. I've gone fishing and caught/killed/eaten my own catch. Could I also raise chickens/rabbits and then say goodbye to them and have them nourish me? Good question. At this point, most of us are so disconnected from our food sources, particularly meat, that we don't have to ask these questions. Perhaps if we did... thinks might be different.
Like I said... after much discussion... we decided to go vegetarian. My partner had started a new, high-pressure job and I was left to fend for myself in terms of meal planning. My partner loved rice and beans and curry... we we basically subsisted on that, and veggies, for twelve months. It got really old... really fast. My energy went down... I developed an iron deficiency. My memories of that Road to Hanoi moment faded... A year later... we went back to eating chicken. And then some pork slipped back in. And fish... and even the occasional steak and burger. Did I mention that the scales grow back really fast?
Over the last seven years... we have talked repeatedly about reducing our meat consumption. Not just for the animals... but for ourselves as well. A diet high in meat is not the healthiest diet. Think high cholesterol, increased risk of heart disease, etc. On top of that... I know that the amount of agricultural land devoted to animal production is huge. If some of that land were converted to growing plant-based food... it would be huge. I know that the Amazon rain forests are being cut down to create more land for animal production. I know that the Pacific salmon fishery is in danger of collapse. I know all this and yet... the inertia to keep doing what we are doing is huge. "Oh look, pork tenderloin is on sale - $5/package and you get two tenderloins in a package!! Smoking deal!!" In many ways, it is easier to maintain the status quo than to move in the direction of something else. Procrastination at its finest - fear of the unknown... uncertainty about how to do it - better to stay right here and not move an inch.
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| Meatless Monday saves energy (it takes 11 times as much energy to produce the same amount of animal-based protein as plant-based protein) |
- better for my health
- better for the animals
- better for the planet
I can see the writing on the wall... and I can taste my own hypocrisy. How can I claim to care about animals and the state of the planet when I still demand to be allowed the luxury of eating cheap factory-farmed meat? The production of which is completely at odds with what I profess to believe? A person can only live in that state for so long before it becomes untenable. We have reached that point... but that's another blog post or two.
How about you? Have you explored vegetarian options? Meatless Mondays? Gone full bore vegan? Tips, advice, thoughts, problems?
