CindyLu,
I appreciate that you are a meat-eater who is noncombative towards those who choose not to eat meat. Thank you.

I am a vegetarian/vegan who struggles to define what I’m okay with and what I’m not.

Your point about treating our animals with dignity and respect is exactly the statement I am trying to make with my own food choices. Many meat-eaters have chastized me for my choices but really all I want is for people to respect that an animal has given their life for us. If I could guarantee that an animal was treated with respect through their entire life, I could possibly eat meat again.

That emotional connection to the animal is important – being part of nature instead of controlling it.

Again, thank you for your mature and respectful contribution to the discussion 🙂

-Chandra at Daley’s Dog Years

Pamela,

Like I said, I think even by slowing down enough to reflect on this, you’re making a big difference. And it does take a lot of thought. I think living in a small community where you can get to know your local farmers and know that they are faithful to the environment, the animal welfare, and to fair employment practices, your decision is much more complex (or does that make it easier?)

If animals on big farms were treated now the way they were a few hundred years ago (raised with care, allowed to pasture freely and grow at their own pace, and slaughtered with respect and precision), I think this would be a very different conversation. I would love for us to get back to that world, but we also must remember that hundreds of years ago, meat was a rare treat, not a two or three times per day indulgence. We have such a large hunger for meat (as a culture), that it would be impossible to satisfy everybody’s demand for meat and low prices in a humane system. Treating animals with care and compassion takes much more land than concentrated feeding operations, and we quite simply don’t have enough space to continue our meat eating habits at their current level while abolishing cruelty. So we can’t have it all. I think this is the main crux of the difficulty.

Pamela, if you’re interested, I will send you an email with some specific recipes that I really like (if you care to try them). Just let me know.
Again, thanks for this thought-provoking post.

Talk to you soon,
Aleksandra
follow our foster: loveandaleash.wordpress.com

Thank you for taking the time to share your evolution of thought. I found it very interesting that your initial decision came out of a lenten practice but that the education moved you in a whole new direction.

I live in a rural area where many of the farms surrounding my city are either entirely vegetable producing or include sustainable livestock practices. But a few miles up the lake we see the “doghouses” in which veal cattle are kept for entire short lives. It’s a startling contrast. And that’s just what can be see driving by at 55 mph.

I appreciate what you’re saying about the difficulties of analyzing every source as opposed to drawing a hard line that you can live with consistently. I think I may spend too much time trying to make fine distinctions instead of taking a strong stand. I’ll definitely consider your words.

And thanks for the recipe website recommendations. The avocado/wasabi salad dressing on the page at Vegan Yum Yum got my mouth watering! (But avocado isn’t grown locally and blah, blah, blah…. I’m doing it again!).

Wow, Lauren, you have a lot going on at your blog. And you still manage to show up for class? 🙂

Luana is beautiful BTW.

Thanks for stopping by and for complimenting the name. I’m pretty proud of it but I find most people don’t get the Ray Bradbury reference.

I agree that we could start a whole new conversation about feeding ourselves and feeding our pets. I know that in several years of providing a hand-prepared diet for my dogs, they definitely ate better sometimes than I did.

And I’ve known some people who insisted their pets keep vegetarian diets. Apparently dogs can manage this somewhat but it can be a serious health problem for cats.

I think that strict dogmatism about anything isn’t usually the best way to go.