Where's the Beef?

I just returned from my weekly family dinner, Wednesday Winers, with my grandmother, aunt, uncles, daughter and husband. We began this weekly tradition several years ago and it is one of the highlights of my week. However, having dinner with family or friends has taken on a new complexity since I decided to quit eating meat. I gave up meat for Lent this year and by the time Easter rolled around I decided I wasn’t ready to go back to being a carnivore just yet. My issue is with the industry, not the animal. If I think about how beef, pork, chicken and even seafood are farmed, and slaughtered for food production I lose my appetite. For years I’ve done my best NOT to think about it, but oddly, after my hiatus from eating animals I’ve given it more thought than ever. I am amazed at the cavalier attitude I’ve had toward my food. I am a fairly educated person, I garden in my backyard without chemicals, I support the “buy local” movement (when convenient), and I do realize the real cost of cheap food – except I never really followed through with what I knew to be the right thing for me to do.

I haven’t joined PETA (yet), but I do support the SPCA. I still wear leather shoes and carry a leather purse, but I prefer not to ingest an animal that was raised and slaughtered in inhumane and quite frankly, gross and yucky conditions.

Am I a vegetarian? Well, not exactly. Last week I had a hamburger. It was not made from ground beef purchased at my grocery store, and it was certainly not from a fast food restaurant. It was from a local beef producer who uses no chemicals or antibiotics. The animals are raised humanely and slaughtered (yes, I realize they are still k-i-l-l-e-d) by a small local processor. In my opinion, this is better. Was the burger good? It was okay. Will I have another burger anytime soon? Probably not. The truth is – I don’t really miss meat. I prefer my vegetarian menu. I love beans and pastas and soy and grains and eggs and cheese. I am still eating eggs and cheese and I am also eating some wild, not farm-raised, seafood.

Have I felt deprived? Not at all. And here we are with the summer’s garden bounty upon us. What a great time give up meat!