Day 41: Omnivorous Again

Scrambled eggs with rye toast and cantaloupe

Black coffee

Hazelnuts

Iced coffee with soy milk

Black bean salad sample

Pasta salad sample

Sage lemonade

Organic grass fed burger with cheese and carrots

Some of you may be wondering why I decided to eat this burger when I have not eaten meat other than seafood for the past 8 years. Please do not assume that my decision to eat this meat can be generalized to a decision to eat all meat. Part of why I chose to eat this is because I want to be more careful about my food choices. When it comes to the world of meat eating, there are plenty of options I will always completely rule out. However, I do believe that there is an appropriate way to include meat into one's diet and that there is a respectful and productive way to raise animals and use them for food. This burger falls into the latter category.
The reasons I had chosen not to eat meat previously were largely because:
1. I am against the way "the meat industry" treats animals
2. The meat products I was used to eating were low quality and did not offer much enjoyment for me and
3. I want to make any impact I can to reduce waste and pollutants.
These concerns are not only mine. They are very common reasons that many people are abstaining from meat consumption. People have begun caring more and more about what they are eating and how it affects them and their planet. As a result, farmers are making an effort to raise animals respectfully and make meat products that are natural, on farms that are sustainable. I want to promote that effort, hence this decision to eat a burger from Trailer Park'd. If I don't buy it, will someone else? Will this movement grow? Or will it die out if I don't participate? For me, the question isn't "how many other people believe that meat production needs to change?" it's "how many people are willing to promote that change by validating the efforts of these farmers by purchasing their product?". I have decided to promote change. When it comes to this burger, I didn't support "the meat industry" that I am so against. Mass meat production is a far cry from the production that lead to this purchase. Meat isn't "manufactured" by the people who raised this cattle on local grasses and slaughtered it after it lived a normal life. It's a food, and like plant foods, it deserves to be created, from life to death, made with respect, and eaten that way. I want to learn how to eat meat healthily, from a good source, in moderation, mindfully. I believe that including meat into one's diet can be done this way and I mean to prove it to myself. This way of eating meat is better for my body, better for the environment and better for animals. If you disagree with me, that is okay. Just as when I wasn't eating meat, this is for me and I do not believe that anyone needs to feel or act the same way that I do unless they really want to.

Raw honey

Pinot Grigio

Pinot Grigio

Chocolate cake shot