A few thoughts on food
Vegetarians and vegans are dumb. Then again, so are carnivores. People, please. We're omnivores. Look at our teeth — end of discussion.
Today, I ate a delicious black-and-blue burger, which is a hamburger patty that's been blackened on the grill with pepper and other spices then sprinkled with bleu cheese, plus garlic mashed potatoes and awesome spicy African peanut soup. (Pity nobody in fscking Austin knows how to cook a burger medium-rare.) Later in the day, I got a delicious vegetarian wrap: Brown rice, black beans, chili hummus, guacamole, roasted corn, roasted onions, and carrots. Both were tasty and hit the spot. Ah, but there's the rub- they both hit different spots. When I wanted meat and cheese, I had; when I wanted vegetables, I had.
Anyone who eats only vegetables or only meat is missing out. It's about balance and choice.
UPDATE: Please read my response to the comments on this article.
3 comments:
People who issue blanket statements about other people's dietary choices are meddlesome idiots. How does that label feel?
When I developed a severe allergy to the growth hormones the meat industry was putting in beef in the 80's, I stopped eating meat. Call me dumb, tell me to look at my teeth all you want, but I figured paying more attention to what I ate so that I could maintain a well balanced and healthy diet was better than becoming so depressed that I was near suicidal.
You could suggest that I eat only organic free range meat, which is great. The problem is that hormone free meat wasn't available, that I knew of, when I quit eating meat. And now, I've lost the taste for it and when my body does accidentally encounter meat (because something was cooked on the same grill as meat, etc), I become quite ill.
I have no problem with eating meat. Eat meat all you want. Eating as much meat as most Americans do? It's crazy, wasteful, and not healthy. I also have a problem with an industry that feeds our meat stock the flesh of animals deemed not fit for human consumption. I have a problem with an industry that raises livestock on corn, a grain their bodies aren't meant to digest. I have a problem with an industry that will process meat from an animal as long as it can stagger up a ramp, propelled by electric prods... even if the animal has weeping sores on its face.
Its not the eating of meat I object to, it's the industry which has institutionalized the processing of meat.
I have a rule. If I am ever in a situation where living as a vegetarian is not feasible (say... some sort of drastic economic or environmental upheaval which cuts off my food supply and makes it impossible to remain in a farmable location), then I will eat only what I kill.
Anyway, I'm all for reveling in good food. But to toss out a blanket statement like, "Vegetarians and vegans are dumb," is arrogant and short sighted.
Just my $.02.
There is more to the equation than the shape of our teeth, as you surely must know if you have done any reading and thinking at all about health, environmentalism, factory farming, etc.
In any case, if you really think it's about choice, don't call people dumb for exercising their choice not to eat meat.
WOW. Some people are so inflamed by comments without the author intending harm. Get on that Fast Food Nation kick. All meat is bad. Vegans are morons. Carnivores are sick. BlahBlahBlah. A mac is for a dummy and a pc is for true computer users. Yada Yada Yada.
Just because someone offends - don't hate. Don't write some red-faced diatribe about your situation.
The problem with this country is free speech. Everyone wants to have it and when someone exercises it, someone is offended and goes off on a rant. So what - you were offended. Get over it.
If you are overweight and someone calls you fat, is that cause for offense? To some, sure. But guess what - if you are grossly overweight, you are fat. Not plump, or big boned or valuptuous. Fat. F-A-T.
If more people would call it as it is seen without worrying about offending, this country would be much better off. This is also why the politcal landscape in this country is an absolute joke. Oh, say something about immigrants from Spanish speaking countries is ok, but saying something about illegal aliens or Mexicans is wrong? Go figure.
As John Stossel would say, "Give me a break."
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