Fast Food Nation

I've been meaning to add a blog post about this for a week now, but I was finishing up my one-month stint as a full-time teacher. Between that and evening activities with the family, I haven't even had the chance to check my email for days, let alone post on the blog. But it is now Saturday and I'm finished teaching so...

A couple of weeks ago we started up a membership to Blockbuster Online which is their equivalent of Netflicks. Anyway, one of the first movies we watched was the movie Fast Food Nation, a fictional story based on the non-fiction book of the same name. I will just say it was very disturbing. Even if only part of what they say is true (and I think it is), the process of meat packaging and distribution in this country is disgusting and takes advantage of migrant workers from Mexico. Now, I could imagine people (especially those who stand to profit financially from the meat industry) would counter with this detail or that. But I have to admit that nothing anyone could say could erase from my mind the image of cow feces ground in with ground beef. Or of human workers losing a finger or an arm or a leg because the process was being rushed through to up profits. I know that in the last decade or two our country has become all about the mighty dollar. That is what companies care about and they will exploit whatever animals and/or cheap labor they can in order to increase their profits. And I just don't believe their claims to the contrary.

So after we saw the movie for a day or two, none of us could get it out of our heads. Little J came home from school and said he had to have a salad for lunch because he just couldn't stomach eating meat. Big J and I were talking and we felt the same way. We just *couldn't* bring ourselves to do it. So ever since then we haven't eaten meat. Each week I've had to scramble to find new vegetarian recipes. We've been trying out some new things. Some have been hits and some have been less than appealing. It is like starting to cook all over again. But it has been surprisingly easy, for me at least. Meat (including chicken) just doesn't have the lure it once did. I don't necessarily feel opposed to eating meat. If I could find meat locally that I felt was grown and processed in a sanitary and humane way and was within my very limited budget, I'd make it and eat it. We've been checking out the meat counter at the Whole Foods (which is an hour away from where we live, btw). But it is much more expensive and if we totally go that route, our grocery bill will definitely feel the shock.

Coincidentally (or not) last Sunday was Earth Day. Our church has adopted the Green Sanctuary philosophy and are currently candidates for that title. Anyway as part of a much larger Earth Day discussion about what we as a congregation and as individuals can do to make changes in the current climate risks, we were given checklists for our homes listing things we can do as families to reduce environmental impact. We sat down after getting home from church and discovered several things we're already doing as a family. We also identified several new things we can implement fairly easily. We are becoming more aware of what we spend our money on (products made of recycled materials, food grown locally and organically, cleaning materials that are safer for the environment, etc.). All this means that between not buying meat, adapting new vegetarian recipes, and selecting organic foods, my grocery habits are making major changes. I'm hoping I can make the changes without too much stress. Last week I bought a week of groceries that included no meat but lots of organic produce (and other things) for about the same amount as what I used to spend. So maybe it won't be such a big shock after all. And I feel so much better about it.

Speaking of feeling better, I also feel pretty good physically. I've lost 3 lbs. since going vegetarian. Obviously, losing weight wasn't a motivation for the diet change, but it is a pleasant by-product of it. Last night, Big J was going to a memorial lecture about Kurt Vonnegut and didn't have time for the roasted vegetable dinner I made so he backslid for the first time and got a double cheeseburger at McDonalds. He hadn't had any meat in almost 2 weeks. He was shocked at his body's reaction. It really messed up his stomach and he spent much of the evening (and even this morning) in the restroom. Seeing how much just one burger can disrupt your body renews my motivation to stick with the vegetarian diet. This is new territory for us, but it is kind of exciting.

I'm now collecting tasty veggie recipes (i.e. that kids will eat) that take around 30 minutes to make and don't involve expensive ingredients.