Lord, I’ve been neglecting my blog. I’ve been so busy both at home and at work these days, I’ve been using any spare time I have trying to sleep and catch up on my reading. Or perhaps it should be: read and catch up on my sleeping.
I know that I owe you at least two blog posts: one on my trip to Washington DC with Shannon back in November (!!!), and one from the Albany Wine and Dine that I attended with Chef Mark as his sous-chef. I will get to them – there’s just so much to write and I don’t have the energy right now…you’ll have to amuse yourselves for now by looking at my photos (there’s a link to my Flickr page over to the right).
But I do have one thing to mention today – I’ve begun the process of becoming a vegetarian. I know it’s going to be a long transition, but I’m making some positive steps in the direction in which I’d like to head. What, you ask, gave me the kick in the ass? This book I picked up at the library: “The Face on Your Plate: The Truth About Food,” by Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson. I was barely into the chapter about factory chicken farming and I had to go throw up. Blech. I was also startled by a statistic that Masson mentioned: going vegetarian saves the lives of nearly 2000 animals – not a trivial thing. Very eye-opening and motivating.
So, today’s trip to the supermarket was the first trip in which I consciously made vegetarian/vegan food choices. Now, hubs isn’t going quit being a carnivore, so I had to purchase some chicken to keep him happy. And, I’m not going to waste the meat that we have in the fridge. So, it’s going to be a transition from some meat to no meat.
In the interest of full disclosure, I had a ham sandwich for lunch today. I felt bad the whole time, though.
Life at Goal 
No chance of trying to turn you into an ethical omnivore?
I just hate to see people who enjoy food eliminate so many tasty treats from their life.
When one acknowledges that a living breathing thing gave its life for your nutrition and enjoyment, cooking with meat and eating meat isn’t something you do offhandedly. And when one does partake, one tries to make sure that the animal was raised and slaughtered with a certain level of respect.
That’s my pitch.
I go into this adventure knowing full well that I’m going to have to purchase and cook some meat products (my husband stopped hunting and gathering when we got married), so the chances are better than even that I won’t go COMPLETELY vegetarian – more likely a very occasional carnivore. And, even if only occasional, I would of course prefer to be an ethical one.
But I was holding the 5-pound carcass of last night’s chicken over the sink, and I said to myself – this used to be alive! A few days ago it had a head and feathers! It weighs what my nephew did when he was born 4 months ago!
I’m not sure how to get past that horrible feeling.
I thought it a little ironic that the cartoon you posted of the go vegan sign held by a Holstein would be the one you would choose to use. Afterall, dairy farming contributed to your upbringing as did your father’s hunting.
Would your angst over the 5 lb chicken carcass been eased if you had simple made chicken breasts?
Or if you held a rib roast? or a pork chop?