Meat Week

Much to D's glee, I have decided to declare this week "Meat Week" -- just like Shark Week, except without the sharks. And hopefully a lot less gore. My own journey with eating meat has been a circuitous one -- from happy-go-lucky carnivore up until my college years, then a decade-long stint as a vegetarian, to just recently adding meat back into my diet. I'm not quite sure exactly how I'd label my role in the food chain these days. Perhaps as a conscientious omnivore?

These days about 80% of my diet remains meat-free. And when I do eat meat, I do so consciously. What does this mean? Basically, I prefer to know where my meat came from, how the animal was raised, and how the animal was killed. These questions are easy to answer for meat procured by my husband, a hunter. However, things get a little more difficult to ascertain when you're talking about farm-raised food. For the most part, when I procure meat I purchase it from Whole Foods, at our local farmers market, or at the local natural foods co-op. Though I am fairly assured that the meat I procure from these places comes from animals that were raised in a humane, sustainable, and sometimes organic manner, I still shudder to think about the last days of the animals' lives, given that most farm-raised animals must be slaughtered in a USDA-approved facility--the same place where factory-farm animals go. Because I am concerned about where my meat comes from and how the animals were raised, it should go without saying that I avoid eating meat at restaurants, particularly fast-food chains. I haven't had a McDonald's hamburger in at least 12 years, and I don't see myself ever going back to eating such things. I think I would consider eating meat at a restaurant if they detailed where the meat came from and how the animals were raised. It is encouraging to know that local food is "in" these days and many restaurants, especially those in the greater Denver area, tout sustainably and humanely raised farm products on their menus.

When I initially became a vegetarian (I was a lacto-ovo vegetarian, meaning I still ate dairy and eggs), it was mostly on a whim -- I gave up meat for Lent during my sophomore year of college. As it so happened, the Lenten period coincided with my taking a course in Environmental Ethics, and learning about factory farming definitely helped put a nail in the coffin of my meat-eating days. After Lent was over I decided to continue to not eat meat. One year turned to two, two turned to five, and I decided that I would continue on a vegetarian diet for 10 years, and then re-evaluate. During that 10-year period, I was a diligent vegetarian. I tried out a vegan diet for about a week, but decided I was too much of an ice-cream fan to ever make the switch. Being a vegetarian these days actually isn't all that hard -- there are so many options for things to eat, and I really never missed eating meat once I took it off my personal menu. I had slowly been phasing meat out of my diet as it was, having decreased the amount of red meat in my diet and not eating all that much chicken or pork either. However, I have to admit I was not the best vegetarian, and often joked that I was a "pasta-tarian." Due to my lackadaisical approach to my vegetarian diet, blood work in 2007 indicated that I was nearly-anemic. I diligently added an iron supplement to my diet, but my iron levels remained fairly low. It was at this point that I decided that maybe it would help to (slowly) add meat back into my diet.

An additional factor that helped in my decision-making was that I was at the time about a year into a relationship with a man (now my husband) who was an avid hunter. To get back to the idea of being a "conscious meat-eater," for me, I could get behind the idea of eating meat that D had procured himself. It took away the middle man and the unknown that to me describes the trays of faceless meat in the standard grocery store. I know a lot of people would prefer not to know where their meat comes from, and much prefer that plastic-wrapped tray of meat over having to think about the cow (or multiple cows when it comes to ground beef), chicken, or pig that the meat came from. I think this is the absolute wrong approach. When it comes to putting something into your body, I think it is key to know where it came from. Ethically speaking, I want to know how it was raised, whether it was able to feed normally, whether it had room to roam. I also want to know what it ate and if it received any antibiotics or hormones during its lifetime. I consider it my personal duty to choose the sustainably-hunted or ethically-raised animal over one that came from a factory farm. I am lucky in that I have that choice and can afford to make that choice. Not everyone has that luxury.

This week I plan to feature posts about meals that feature meat as the main ingredient. When I was purchasing items for this week's meals at Whole Foods today, I realized it was the first time that I've personally purchased meat from the butcher. So, this week will be quite the adventure for me, too, as I attempt to cook things that I haven't personally eaten in years. It should be an interesting (and hopefully tasty) ride!