is it worth it?
“I just think to myself, is this animal’s life worth a moment’s pleasure in my mouth?”
That there comment moved me from 26 years of eating meat to stopping. It’s kind of weird, because when I think about it, I was always mildly uncomfortable with the idea of chewing on the flesh of a previously live creature. The reason I couldn’t quite make the jump, before I heard that little pearl of wisdom, was that I was terrified to become a vegetarian. You know, one of those people who says that simple, yet somehow seriously cringy line, “I’m a vegetarian”, and who makes social eating awkward, and who just has some sort of irritating vibe you can’t quite put your finger on.
Now I am. Now I do. Yeah.
I really appreciate the distinction you make here. Having good reasons not to eat meat but feeling hesitation to be a vegetarian. In social situations I do whatever feels right. No need to get all dogmatic about it. And I don’t stand around the meat-counter in my local supermarket just to frown on people who buy the stuff….:-)
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Haha! I really like the idea of doing that, and tutting as well, maybe making little animal noises, like ‘mooo’ . 🙂
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I can relate to the idea of always feeling uncomfortable about eating meat. I just always put it aside because I didn’t want to think about it or change my actions, I guess. But I always knew I’d think about it one day. The day came and I read a book that completely made me confront it. I became vegetarian at 27 and it’s been the most unexpected journey. Who knew it could make so many people get angry at me for a personal decision that I never hold others to. Anyway, it’s still a journey.
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I was the same kind of age when I took the plunge. I go through phases of getting angry about it, but I’m kind of resigned to the fact that weaning ourselves off meat for the all the logical reasons we should is a long cultural change. I’m sure that future generations will be disgusted with us …
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It’s so ingrained, isn’t it. So much so that we’re blinded to a lot of things. I think it’s the same as our greed which blinds us to poverty and stops us from doing something. Our culture just doesn’t see it as greed and sees nothing wrong with the animals that suffer. I’m still learning too, though, and I guess we’re all at different stages of the journey.
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