Holy Cow…and Why I Won’t Eat It Anymore

Today I made the announcement on Twitter that my family and I will slowly begin incorporating a meatless and more dairy free diet in our lives. Within seconds my Twitter stream lit up with encouragement, surprise, and questions. Questions such as “Why the sudden change?” “What happened?” “Why??”

I don’t blame anyone for being shocked. If you’ve followed my tweets and blog long enough you know that I LOVE meat. If ever there was someone who loved eating meat, it was me, second only to my Scottish-Irish Midwestern husband.

It may seem as well that this decision happened over night, as most things announced on Twitter seem to be, but truth is it has been under serious consideration and evaluation for months – mostly by me – and definitely not an easy, spontaneous choice.

Though I love animals, I have no moral conflict with their purpose to feed me. While I love our planet, I have no environmental stance I am trying to take with this.

While I consider myself to be spiritual at times, I am not embracing religion and fasting in respect to any deity.

I have never watched Food Inc. or Super Size Me, and not sure I will ever have the stomach to.

I have a family history of heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, and cancer. I have lost aunts, uncles and grandparents to one of these diseases. My own biological mother suffered from colon cancer.

But none of these things are the reason why today I write here telling you I am giving up a life’s way of eating food in a way that I have loved.

Yes, I have been working towards a more healthier lifestyle, but my reasons are not to loose weight or reduce my waist size.

My reasons are simple: I am a mother and a wife in love. I want to see my children grow, maybe have children of their own. I want to grow old with my husband. I know this life will one day come to an end and that nothing I can do will guarantee any certain outcome, but I want to give myself and my family a chance.

I want to give us the chance that I feel is being taken away from us in the way food is processed and manipulated in this country. It is taken away from us in the food fed to our children in schools. In the unhealthy promoted lifestyles. In the options given to us in stores.

I don’t feel strong enough to fight it. I don’t feel like my voice matters. I don’t feel like I can change how the politics and food corporations work. I don’t believe that I can fight against the decision-makers that provide my children with the choices that will affect their entire being later on. Despite my anger, I feel powerless against them.

But I can control and decide what I put in my mouth, and what my family puts in theirs. Through changing and improving everything I have ever known about food and how we consume it I feel I am giving us hope for a better life.

Though it has been something that I have pondered for months, announcing it publicly definitely makes it more real. I mourn the loss of my innocence. Knowing what I know about the things that go into my children’s food and the total disregard for our health and often safety has changed everything.

My blog has always been a celebration. A celebration of travel, family, and food. It will continue to be so. I will not impose my beliefs on anyone. It took a lot of little things for me to get to this point and it was an absolute personal decision. I understand everything there is to love about food, good food, and that there are so many other options different from what I have chosen that work for others.If I become aware of great food out there, I will let you know about it, as I always have.

I still love food. I think it is a way in which life and experiences can be enriched and solidified in our minds. Now, I must learn to incorporate the flavors and memories of my culinary culture with this new twist I am embracing for ourselves, and I hope to share my journey with you all.

As far as the transition, it will be slower for some more than others here at home. My husband and I decided that we will finish the meat supply in our freezer and not purchase any more from there. We are both heavy in research mode trying to educate ourselves with ways to replace and incorporate, and still provide ourselves and our children with the nutrients we need. I am still incredibly active in my fitness routines, thus must take care to not fall short in what my body requires for such an active lifestyle.

Tonight I made pasta with ground turkey meat and homemade tomato sauce. It was delicious, but I am a bit disgusted at the meat I just ingested. It may be that I will make the transition sooner than expected.

Either way, I am excited about this change. I am curious to see how and what lies ahead for us. For a family who develops all of their meals around the meat of choice, we are taking on a huge endeavor.

But I can’t think of any slice of beef or piece of cheese so delicious and so important that it is worth risking all I have and love before me. It may not work. I may suddenly be stricken or die of some illness or another. No one can ever tell. But one thing my family will always know is that I tried to give us a chance.

Your email:

 

Tags: food
Posted in Adventures, Good Eats, Latest Adventure | 18 Comments »