Beef: It's What's Rotting in Your Colon

This post is going to be a post about me trying to not eat meat. I am not trying to reject carnivorousness as bad or wrong, nor am I promoting vegetarianism as enlightened or moral. This is just something I've been doing.

Last January Sarah and I didn't eat meat for a month. It was a planned challenge to ourselves but I can't remember exactly what prompted it. We bought a vegetarian cookbook and really stuck to it. Well, I flinched once. I was working at a hotel at the time and after a particularly awful banquet night the only food I could get my hand on was some gumbo with sausage. Other than that, meat free for a whole month. After the month was up I promptly ate a hamburger, but I think Sarah tried to keep it up for awhile.

I suppose I should clarify what I mean when I say "no meat." What I mean is no walking or flying meat. So I guess I have a Catholic view of what it means to not eat meat.

When I moved back to Columbus (almost exactly a year ago) I took the opportunity to tweak some personal habits. I tried to work out more, manage my finances, and I also decided to stop eating beef. I kept to this when I could. I wasn't (and still am not) totally in control of what I ate, and I do enjoy the taste of beef. So it was not a total conversion, but it was a shift in my gastronomic outlook. Gradually, and without any clear decision on my part, I phased out of eating meat regularly as well.

There was never any moral impulse in any of this. I have no problem with killing animals. And I fully enjoy eating them. I am mainly concerned with my own health and also with the effects of meat production on the environment.

Lets start with health. Most commercially raised animals are chemically treated in one way or another, hormones, antibiotics, steroids, and who knows what else. That can't be good for anything but the bottom line. Meat also is high in cholesterol, which isn't so good in large quantities, especially for someone who has not yet been able to quit smoking. There are also links to colon cancer, and probably some others. Now, I don't think that any of these are really good reasons to cut out eat meat entirely, but I have eaten a lot of meat in my life. Probably more than anyone should eat in a lifetime, really. So I think it might be time to lay off a little bit.

Since I have been a "vegetarian" I have thought of lots of ways in which I am saving the planet. I don't think that cattle themselves are a major contribution to global warming (I'm talking about farts here) but it is something. Also, speaking anecdotally here, it takes a lot more energy to bring meat to market than it does grains, fruits, and vegetables. Meat has to kept cold and quickly transported. Consider this, also. Say a community has a quantity of corn, for example. Now, that community has the option of either eating the corn, or feeding it to animals and then eating the animals. The loss of nutrients (this is according to my geography professor in college) is about 90%. I would humbly suggest that reduced consumption of meat will be necessary to feed the perpetually exploding world population.

So today I don't call myself a vegetarian. Just yesterday I ate some sausage gravy (it was delicious). But I do try. I have taken to making my own hummus, which I love. I order vegetarian dishes at restaurants and it is a lot cheaper. I get my protein from eggs mostly, but also cheese and mushrooms. I now know the meaning of "regular" when it comes to my digestive tract. It has been a haphazard journey, but it has kept things interesting.

Wallace's Hummus (measure ingredients according to taste)
Chick Peas - two cans
Tahini - about two tablespoons
Garlic
Cumin
Oregano
Salt
Pepper
Lemon
Olive Oil

I think its important for the lemon and olive oil to balance each other out. Cayenne pepper is also a nice touch if you have a taste for that kind of thing.