How A Meat-Eater Tries to Eat Right

I have never been one for jumping on a bandwagon, and I am not one to change my lifestyle based upon what I saw in a biased documentary.  I, like most of you, am a pragmatic and educated individual; who makes decisions based on fact, status quo, and what I would deem as being the most logical choice for living a life a true as possible.  So when we began to watch the documentary Food Inc., I knew deep down I wasn’t going to like what I saw, but I figured that I would shrug it off and continue on… Not the case.

After watching this documentary in class (in two stretches, both on empty stomachs and right before lunchtime), I began to think a little harder about the food that I ingest.  Walking through the meat department at every supermarket since then, I am reminded about how this industry skewed to fundamental concepts of food production; maybe out of necessity, but certainly out of greed.  It began to feel uneasy looking at all the meat that I would normally cook in second; and although I cannot say I am even close to giving up meat, the idea of eating most of what is offered to me by the food industry grosses me out.

With this, I think about the optimistic organic farmer who believes he is fulfilling his duty to the highest standard, and I think about the small price differences in his products.. It feels good to say now that I would seek his product before the mass-produced, standardized product, and I do my best each time to do that, but I will not stop eating meat.  What Food Inc. did for me was inform me that those around me who push for organic food are not pompous urbanites who try to find reasons to critique the lifestyles of others, but rather people who understand the established system which most of us have subscribed to, and what it would take to change that system.

 

Because of all of this information and the ideas that it has developed, I have now begun to filter my fresh-food (juices, meats, dairy, etc) to organic products only. the quote: “people freak out when organic eggs are $3 while they sip on a $1.75 coke” resonated with me.  Why wouldn’t I support organic farmers anyways? The food is almost as good as their character!

5 thoughts on “How A Meat-Eater Tries to Eat Right

  1. I felt the same way after watching Food Inc. I made the same choice you made to switch to organic. I know that some people do not like paying more for organic but I feel as if you are doing yourself a favor in the long run with your health. I tried giving up meat but it was very hard to do as well.

  2. I am also a huge meat eater. There is not much that you could tell me to convince me to stop eating meat, or even reduce my meat intake. Most of the meals that I prepare do not even include a side or anything like that. I will typically prepare a chicken breast or a steak for dinner and have a salad before hand. Sometimes I will steam some broccoli as well. But, after hearing about things like this it is hard to not become more mindful of what I am consuming. In recent months I have become more likely to look at if the meat I am buying is free range, grass fed or organic. It is scary to think about what is happening to the meat we are eating before we purchase it.

  3. I totally agree with you. It has been very hard for me to eat meats after watching that movie without thinking about how the animals were treated and the disgusting environments that they reside in.

  4. Excellent post! That quote resonates with me as well. Lots can be accomplished not just by changing your habits or preferences entirely, but by tweaking them a little bit.

  5. I totally agree! I have been vegetarian for a couple of years now, but my parents have always tried to get organic/ethically raised meat. Even in doing this and trying to eat locally it decreases ones carbon footprint more than one would think!

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