Six Months Meat-Free

I love a good brat with all the condiments. I also love bacon and sausage. How could I ever give those things up? Why would I ever want to? Well, read more about why I chose to give up meat (excluding fish).

The formal term to describe my food diet is Pesco-vegetarianism. Or pescetarianism, but for some reason it is says both of these words are spelled incorrectly. Oh well! It basically means I do not eat any meat except for fish.

How It Happened

Why would anyone ever willingly decline a piece of bacon? What is tofu anyways?

I think the first time I heard about a a vegetarian/pesco-vegetarian diet was in middle school when the woman I babysat for described her diet. I did not think it was weird at the time, but it definitely was a foreign concept. It was not until my sister, Kathy, decided to become vegan at the end of her senior year of high school. For the most part, she did it for health reasons and she also likes a good challenge. She did that for almost three years. I felt bad for her. The things she ate consisted of beans, spinach and all of the crazy health foods I ever heard of...including vegan cheese and vegan graham crackers. Strange times.

I think being around her during that time raised some questions in my head, but it also made me more comfortable with the idea of not eating meat or any animal products. Sometimes the meals she cooked were more appetizing than what I was eating at the time. It did take me a while to warm up to things like almond, cashew or soy milk (which by the way, I substitute in my diet currently instead of cow's milk). However, this experience was not enough to convince me at the time. I continued to eat burgers without shame, scarf down breakfast meats in the cafeteria at school, and even time to time eat at McDonald's or Taco Bell.

Fast forward a few years, and I am in Italy with two vegetarians. I still ate meat during our three-month stay, but the amount of meat I consumed was dramatically less than what I ate before. We had a crazy amount of vegetarian dishes which were ALL DELICIOUS. So what changed?

Baby Steps

I already watched Food Inc. in high school, but the second time I watched it in one of our classes abroad I felt very conflicted. The thing about many Italian meats too, is the fact that the meat is more locally produced than what we consume in the U.S. Usually, after finishing a cheeseburger at home my stomach would feel sick and the greasy fat would give me a headache. I never thought about where the meat came from either. So upon my departure from Italy, I decided to make a pact with a young man I met who also wanted to become a vegetarian after watching the Netflix documentary What the Health. One of the reasons I finally decided to join the movement revolved around the fact that we agreed to try a month long of eating no meat. This decision worked very well for me. Many times I sense me resistance to change because the shift is too dramatic. So this was a happy medium.

In my case, I chose to be a pesco-vegetarian because 1) being vegan sounded too overwhelming of a change 2) being from Wisconsin dairy is such an integral part of our food culture 3) my family eats a lot of fish and I live with them while I am not at school 4) we live right by Lake Michigan and the fish are also a huge part of people's diets. So, this kind of change could look different for everyone. The two driving forces behind my decision were how I felt when I ate meat that was processed/I didn't know where it was coming from and the second being my concern for the treatment of animals. If you do not know much about the food industry in the US you should definitely check out both of those documentaries I mentioned above. An additional reason is the environmental impact meat production on a large-scale can have on emissions of CO2 into the atmosphere as well as the water usage to make, process and distribute meat products. Look into it and you might be surprised at what you find. Not to say that eating meat is wrong, but I think it is important you look into how it impacts your body, your environment and ultimately the world.

Feeling Better, Doing Better

Don't be afraid to try something new, even if it's more "green" than what you are used to

Eating meat is not necessarily bad. But also, even if it is labeled as organic does not necessarily mean it is good for you. Be skeptical about labels that read "grass-fed". The only time I feel comfortable eating meat is when I can vouch for the people who raise/sell the meat. What I learned while being in Italy and visiting all kinds of different livestock farms was that not all ethically raised animals are certified organic. Even so, the label does not guarantee the kind of quality I personally desire. One of my all time favorite farm families, who I would totally support their farm and meat products if I lived closer, is @fivemarysfarms. Not only do they have an expansive property where their animals roam freely, but she also documents on Instagram the daily chores on the farm and an inside look on their meat production/sales. For me, I still am hesitant to eat red meat because of my sensitive digestive system, and also because I did not eat a lot of it beforehand. A lot of the meat I did eat tended to be on the unhealthy, processed side of things. Whoops.

As mentioned above, the CO2 emissions connected to corporate meat productions is astounding. But either way, if you do not want to do it for the animals, the workers, or the environment. Do it for yourself. I cannot tell you how much better I feel now after not eating meat (okay, aside for one brat...I had a weak moment) for almost six months! If I can do it, you can do it! Even just eating less meat can do wonders. Encourage your family to have meatless Monday's.

Acknowledging Privilege

I do want to mention it is a privilege to be able to purchase things like arugula, locally produced products, and other ritzy items like non-GMO, organic, grass-fed, groomed daily, chicken named Fred. HOWEVER, if you have the money and still eat like garbage, why are you doing that? Food is what fuels are bodies, and the more junk food you consume (or greasy breakfast meats in my case) the worse you feel. If you do not have the money or the resources to eat the way you want to, especially young kids, there are other options. Think about trading a sweet treat with your friend's apple or bag of carrots. Or if you have a backyard, look up on Youtube how to plant some tomatoes or green beans during the summer. This might not work for everyone, but there are ways to get creative or to reach out to people who have the resources/knowledge to help you. So good luck!