The Jacobs Go Veg! (kinda)

This post gets a little bit preachy, a little bit judgy, and a whole lot bitchy. Just warning ya!


I have decided to make a lifestyle change. Beginning this next Monday, I will no longer be consuming meat. From there on, I will begin slowly phasing out all dairy products.

Why?

It's simple. I cannot preach to be an advocate for abused animals while choosing to consume them. There is NO difference between eating a cow and eating a cat or dog. I don't see myself serving up our cat any time soon, so why should I be ok with serving up a steak or piece of chicken? I just can't deny the walking contradiction I've become as far as things like that go. For a long time, I have justified the use of animals for food because it's a cheap protein. Both chicken breasts and ground beef are $1.99/lb where I shop. But then it occurred to me, alternative sources of protein, especially in bulk, are far cheaper. So my financial reasoning didn't make sense.

Taste? Sure, ok. Not much beats a flame grilled burger, or homemade buffalo chicken bites.. Well, except my kickass black bean or chickpea burgers, and seitan buffalo bites. And the list goes and goes. Every dish I LOVE involving meat, can be done cheaper, healthier, and more economically than the meat based alternatives. Hell, I actually prefer my ground beef dishes to be done with at least 50% lentils!

Here's the thing. A lot of people in my life are up on their "free range" "organic" "humanely treated" meat pedestals. You do know that's complete bullshit, right? Your organic free range chickens have their bodies stuffed upside down into tubes and their throats slit. Does it really matter they they spent their days being 'free range' in a cramped barn yard? Just because you pay $8/lb for them doesn't make it ok. You're simply sending the message to the grocery store and farm that it's ok, and you'll pay more for that. For 28 years, I've been right there with you. Every excuse in the book. It's fast. They die quickly. They're not pets, they're food. Except.. in a lot of ways, chickens are mentally like dogs- only smarter! They can be awesome house pets, and I actually plan on having some chickens as pets when we purchase a home. They help keep the vermin down in the lawn.

Free range chickens prepared for slaughter

Your "cage free" eggs. Those chicken are packed into barns without room to move, and are MORE likely to be debeaked because the stress of the cramped quarters minus the cages means they are pecking the shit out of each other from the stress. I can't keep my eyes closed to this anymore. I simply can't. And until you've toured the farm you're getting your eggs and chicken from, perhaps you should rethink the 'cage free' and free range labels on your food.

Cage Free Egg Farm

Your milk- organic or not- is the same. The female cow is forcefully impregnated. When the calf is born, it is taken away from the mother immediately, so that you can drink her breast milk. MMMMmm. Bovine breast milk. And if the baby cow is female, she's raised to repeat the process. If the baby cow is male, he's either chained up and slaughtered for veal, or fed garbage for a year or so, then slaughtered. Isn't that lovely?

And here's the thing. We have NO nutritional need for milk. NONE. Everything you can get from a glass of another animal's breast milk can be found in other foods- without the rape and slaughter of animals. We're ingrained to think we need milk, and need flesh, to have a balanced diet. Nope. It's bullshit.

Here's some great information if you're interested in the myths surrounding humane farming: http://woodstocksanctuary.org/learn/the-humane-farming-myth/

Now, I don't expect everyone to make the same choice I have. Unlike my sister, who I do love, I won't ever be the type to condemn others for turning a blind eye to animal cruelty. Is it wrong? Yes. Unfortunately, we live in a society that condones it. And for more than half of my expected life span, so have I. So the only thing I can do is share information and make choices within my own family.

So, around here. Liam doesn't care about eating meat or not. So that's easy. He'll be weaned off bovine milk by using hemp, almond, and coconut milk. i refuse to use soy products in my home, so soy milk is not an option. Haven will never be introduced to those things. Seth can eat whatever he wants. I do most of the cooking, and he's never complained about meat-free meals when I've done them for financial reasons, so no big deal. If he specifically requests meat, I'll cook it for him, or he can cook it. This house is democratic. I would never try to force my spouse into doing something. And when the kids are offered meat by him, he has the right as their father to do that.

I do need to maintain a controlled carb diet. So my sister will be helping me adapt recipes and foods to fit my nutritional needs, while balancing that with the meals we love to eat. It's a big change, especially right now. But one I feel confident in.