Omnivore

The belief I’m about to argue — that eating meat is ethical — has been, for me, 25 years in the making. For much of this time, paradoxically, I was a vegetarian because I thought eating animals was morally reprehensible.

What a self-righteous twit I was.

At my in-laws’ traditional Thanksgiving dinner, I recited graphic details about industrially raised turkey. (Do you know what debeaking is?) At the counter in a fast-food restaurant, I’d loudly order a cheeseburger with no meat. (I want a bun, cheese, pickles, lettuce and onions…but no meat!) At a neighborhood pig roast, I asked the host if he had ever read Charlotte’s Web. (You would never be able to eat pork if you had.)

Alright, I’ll admit that the title of this article is a shameless attempt to capture your attention. There really isn’t a reason, as far as I can tell, why animal lovers should eat meat – that is, no reason why eating meat is ethically superior or preferable to abstaining and going vegetarian.

Let’s just get one thing straight, I’m probably never going to turn the corner to veganism. I just love goat cheese way too much. I’m not much of a vegetarian either, nor do I proclaim to be. But having gone through vegan-like cleanses a few times, I also know the incredible benefit that this kind of diet brings to my body. So this Christmas, as I was getting ready to embark on my January detox, one of my dear friends gave me a beautiful vegan cookbook.

UPDATE: Tickets for the 6/3 showing of FRESH are now available at the Birchwood for $10 each. The movie FRESH, a food documentary by ana Sofia joanes, takes a look at the food industry through the eyes of some of our most celebrated farmers and thinkers. From the FRESH press release:

FRESH celebrates the farmers, thinkers and business people across America who are re-inventing our food system. Among several main characters, FRESH features urban farmer and activist, Will Allen, the recipient of MacArthur's 2008 Genius Award; sustainable farmer and entrepreneur, Joel Salatin, made famous by Michael Pollan's book, the Omnivore's Dilemma; and supermarket owner, David Ball, challenging our Wal-Mart dominated economy.