Crystal Steckel's Blog
To Be or Not To Be....Vegetarian that is.... / Feb 22, 04:24 PM
If I were to tell everyone that I was considering being vegatarian, I think many of you would be shocked. As most of you know, I love me some food….especially a nice, fat, juicy and delicious steak…mmmmm…my mouth is watering just thinking about it! So why on earth would I even allow the thought of herbivory(is that even a word?) to cross my mind???
Well, many of you also know that I’m pretty passionate about social and environmental justice as well, and I think my love for people and nature out weighs the love I have for food. Don’t understand? Please, let me explain. Currently about 2 billion people on earth live on a meat-based diet, which means about 4 billion people are living on a plant based diet, and of those 4 billion about 3 billion are malnourished. Do you think it’s the choice of all 4 billion of those people to be vegetarian (and those 3 billion to be malnourished)? I think not. According to research done, it is required for that number of people to be vegetarian in order for the rest of us to be meat eaters. To me, that just doesn’t seem fair. It’s kind of like sitting in a restaurant and walking over to someone else’s table and stealing the meat off their plate. Not very nice now is it?
There’s also the issue of environmental sustainability and the fact that if we continue to consume the amount of meat that currently consume, the earth would be pretty destitute in a couple of decades or so. Just a quick statistic…about 50% of all American land is used for food production (not to mention all the land we use in other countries, just to feed ourselves). Unfortunately this land can’t continue to produce the way it’s been forced to. Land can be overused and driven to the point or non use. There’s already several cases of this in the US alone. Not to mention animal cruelty issues…..two more subjects I could write a whole other blogs about as well….
My roommate, Gaby and I have kind of had ongoing discussion about this issue. What are some ways that we can help? Well, if most Americans (and other people in highly developed nations) were to cut a couple or three pieces of meat out of their diet every week, there would be a little more to go around, and probably a few less malnourished people. Besides, at least in my case, I could use a few extra servings of fruits and veggies in my diet. Gaby is much braver than I. She has already made the leap into herbivory. Kudos to her! :) So, what’s holding me back you ask? Mostly selfishness….and my love for food…. :( I also am trying to do some research about ways of replacing the protein I’m not consuming in meat in my diet. I’m still training for half marathons and other races and don’t want to do anything that might cause harm to the bod, ya know? So, if any of you have any ideas, thoughts, research or info you’d like to share regarding that, protein from non meat sources please, do share…..
1 Comments
Leave a Comment...
Read more of Crystal Steckel's Blogs.
Hi Crystal-
You don’t know me, but I am going to be embarking on my Mission Year journey 08-09. Your blog caught my eye because I have also had some thoughts about becoming a vegetarian. I think there is a compromise here for those of us who love meat. I don’t think I could ever fully take the step in veggie land, so this is what I have been doing. I have limited myself to eating only all natural organic meat. First of all, it lessens your overall intake of meat because you can’t really eat meat out at restaurants…and it is more expensive to cook at home. So when you are having that craving or lacking protein, a little splurge is worth it. Also, eating organic meat assures us of three things. 1. that it is all natural and we are not adding harmful steroids or antibiotics to our bodies.
2. the animals are being treated fair and given proper nutrition
3. Farmers are getting the wages that they deserve.
If that option still doesn’t work for you- here are some good sources of protein. Eggs (unless you are going vegan), almonds, tofu, and I also think, very dark greens.
I hope that helps!!
By Courtney Fabrizio / Feb 22, 09:11 PM / #