Vegetarian

I've been a "vegetarian" for 4 years.  

In Utah, coming out as a vegetarian can be an interesting endeavor.

I think it's fun.

James doesn't think so.

It is especially interesting when telling people you know from church.

However, even when I'm with groups whom I think will be more accepting, I can still get strong judgmental vibes.

But, like I said, I think it's fun.

I've had people tell me it's not good for my health.  I had a health professional use vegetarians as an example of iron-deficient anemics in one of my classes...  WOW...  I promptly outlined all of the foods that have plenty of iron while not being meat (did you know cocoa powder is one of them?) plus the obvious dark leafy greens.  They test your iron level every time you donate blood (which is something I do often), and my iron levels have actually increased since I've been a vegetarian.  I've done a lot of research about the different health aspects, and I'm very open to answering questions if you have them.

I've also had a lot of scripture quoted at me.

But it seems like the biggest fear they have is that I'll stop being me, and instead will suddenly morph into an "animal rights activist" - which seems to be defined as someone who will attack them, pin them down, and carve their last meaty meal out of their intestines with a dull rusty knife, Dexter style.

Don't get me wrong.  I think cruelty to animals is not okay.  I also know there is way more of it in the food industry than the average person is willing to admit.  But I'm not a vegetarian because of a squeamish stomach and the cute little bunnies.  If necessary for survival I would have absolutely no problem catching a rabbit, breaking it's neck, skinning (and tanning), gutting, cleaning, roasting, and eating it.  I also have the necessary knowledge to do so (like knowing how to make and set a wire trap, tan a hide, etc.)

So why am I a vegetarian then?

It was an interesting process.  I didn't just wake up one day and decide to be a vegetarian.  

James and I did it together.  And it wasn't like, hey honey, I want to go on a diet, but I want you to be equally miserable, so we need to do it TOGETHER!!!  Each of us would have different ideas, introduce each other to new literature, etc. and then we would both ponder and talk about it, challenging ideas, and eventually reach a conclusion together.  

I'm going to start talking in "we" now (que the gagging noise)... I know James has a lot of his own interpretations and reasons that are different from mine, but we did it together.  He is welcome to come on here and interject his comments at any time.

First Adaption

We quit fast food.  That was a long time coming too.

We never intended to quit fast food either.  We educated ourselves about the health consequences accidentally, and we took an honest look at our budget.  We decided that eating out has a strongly negative impact on our health and our pocketbook, so we stopped.

Not cold turkey though.  First it was no McDonalds or Burger King, and slowly it became anything with a drive through.

We still ate out at restaurants sometimes though.  We still need date nights!!

Second Adaption

After quitting fast food our tastes seemed to change.  

Maybe... Six? months later we decided to stop eating pork and beef.  I think it was easier for us because we had never bought a lot of it in the first place.

The only pork we really liked was the bad stuff (bacon and sausage).  So once again health was a driving factor.  Cholesterol is the easiest explanation, and the beginning of the transition, but it's not all there was.

We had also come to the realization of how many chemicals are in our meat.  The hormones, antibiotics, preservatives, coloring, etc.  When you buy that 'healthy looking' slab of meat from Wal-mart's butcher, it has been injected with coloring to make it look fresher, preservatives to make it last longer on the shelf, and saline to make it weigh more, so you think you’re getting more value for your money.

We were also starting to actively research the effects of beef agriculture on the environment.  This is one area that we really feel strongly about.  I don't care how you feel about man-made global warming.  Man made pollution, inversions, and the resulting bad air quality is a fact.  Here are some interesting statistics:

-   If you eat one less burger a week, it’s like taking your car off the road for 320 miles or line-drying your clothes half the time.

-   If your four-person family skips meat and cheese one day a week, it’s like taking your car off the road for five weeks – or reducing everyone’s daily showers by 3 minutes.

-   If your four-person family skips steak once a week, it’s like taking your car off the road for nearly three months.

-   If everyone in the U.S. ate no meat or cheese just one day a week, it would be like not driving 91 billion miles – or taking 7.6 million cars off the road.

In addition, the bank account was also a driving force.  Meat is expensive!

Third Adaptation

We go full vegetarian.

After a year of explaining to people why we don't eat beef and pork, we found that our tastes were changing again.

Not just our tastes either.  We had continued our research, and poultry agriculture, like beef agriculture, was not a pleasant thing to know the truth about.  The environmental impacts (and the resulting impacts on humans) such as eutrophication of rivers and lakes was also astounding. 

We realized that the poultry we were eating had all of the same chemicals in it as the beef we had previously stopped eating.

The overfishing of the oceans has made tuna into an endangered species, but countries won't reclassify it because of the economic impact and popularity of tuna.  Plus, mercury.

We had gotten better at making a lot of meatless meals, and our pocketbook really enjoyed buying grains and beans instead of meat.

On a more personal note, the possibility of going full vegetarian was a little bit confusing for me at first.  I'd always been told that, scripturally speaking, man was meant to dominate over (and therefore eat) animal.  But I also felt like the scripture multiply and replenish the earth meant more than creating human life.  I feel like it is saying to create human life, but also replenish, not deplete and exploite, the earth's resources.  I took a spiritual journey that involved a lot of fervent praying, pondering, scripture reading, and more praying.

Two of the main scriptures which, as a Mormon, impacted me the most in my search were D&C 89:12–13 and D&C 49:18–19.

The first is the word of wisdom's guidance regarding meat:

"Yea, flesh also of beasts and of the fowls of the air, I, the Lord, have ordained for the use of man with thanksgiving; nevertheless they are to be used sparingly; And it is pleasing unto me that they should not be used, only in times of winter, or of cold, or famine.”

  

and the other, which forbids preaching vegetarianism as part of religion.

“And whoso forbiddeth to abstain from meats, that man should not eat the same, is not ordained of God; For, behold, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the air, and that which cometh of the earth, is ordained for the use of man for food and for raiment, and that he might have in abundance.”

Living in this time of plenty, where obesity, not starvation, is the epidemic. When I have the blessing of grocery stores and indoor heating, I felt like, for me, that even winter in Utah doesn't qualify me for the need to eat meat.  So I prayed about it, and was left with the inspiration, like with so many things, that it was my choice to make, but that my Heavenly Father was proud of me and he loves me.

Continue Adapting

I can hear you now... what's next? vegan?

We did make a few moves in that direction, but we will never go fully vegan.  

We only buy certified organic eggs (or eggs where we know how the chicken has been raised).  Despite us proudly NOT being animal rights activists, the processes involved in non-organic egg production brings cruelty to animals to a new low.  Plus, your eggs are going to have more nutrients when the chickens are free range and, once again, hormone/antibiotic free.  Still eating eggs provides us with the necessary B vitamins in our diet.  

We don't buy cow milk, once again, hormone/antibiotics (and there is a lot of research that points to it actually being unhealthy for adults humans to drink milk).  We really only use milk on cereal and baking, so we use almond 'milk' for that.  I'll wait for questions to answer the ever-present 'calcium' query.  However, we still do cheese, ice cream, sour cream, butter, etc... just we are mindful of the amounts and try to keep it a very low % of the food we eat.

These two changes above are more expensive, but this is really the only area our pocketbook hasn't loved us in this transition.

A year after going full vegetarian, after ever more research, we decided to add the occasional fatty fish back into our diet.  Because of omega-3 fatty acids.  There are 3 main kinds: EPA, DHA, and ALA.  You can get ALA from plants like flax.  You can get DHA from Algae.  However, the only good source of EPA is from fatty fish like Salmon and Trout.  EPA is also one of the more crucial omega 3s. So we occasionally eat fish now.  BUT still no tuna!

And less you judge us as being too strict: we've gone back to eating at Subway infrequently, and I have the occasional craving for Taco Bell's 7 layer burrito.  Also, we all know my true mistress is SUGAR!!!!