Brian and Libby's Blog

Ovo-lacto-pesco-vegetarianism

This past summer, Brian and I decided to dabble in vegetarianism. It was kind of one of those crazy, not thoroughly thought out decisions...I will compare it to an impulse buy. You see it, you consider the advantages and what a positive impact it will have on your life, and you buy...before considering the cost.

Many of our dear friends have asked what brought this on, and I simply answer "Colleen." Yes, Colleen and I have been friends since that early-nineties era in which each of us were too awkward to make other friends (I had buckteeth and was Pakistani, she had red-hair...enough said). We were a match made in awkward pre-teen heaven. Ok not really, we had other friends, but let's just say Colleen and I had reeeeeally good personalities b/c we were flat out funny looking.

Anyways, in college, Colleen became a vegan. I think I made fun of her for it, but my much nicer friend Kelly (Colleen's bff since childhood) was much kinder and found a little eclectic vegan restaurant we could take Colleen to when she visited us in Ohio. They had brochures of inhumane animal practices (I'm putting it very nicely) on the tables; it was incredibly appetizing.

In addition to setting the mood, it also made for good conversation. Colleen would try to explain to us why she was vegan and I just couldn't stop thinking about how bad I wished there was cheese on my food, and how much I , in general, love chicken. End of discussion.

So a few months ago, my 3 best friends in all the world came to visit me in Albany. Colleen still has a lot of the same beliefs but for various reasons, including her health and her carnivorous husband, she is no longer vegan. She does practice her beliefs by rarely eating meat and choosing free range meat when she does. She brought up some excellent points we just couldn't ignore. I have always believed God put people "over" animals on earth, and that it was ok for them to die so we could eat (sidebar: I won't lie, I've always had a hard time understanding how people can kill other people but think it's "inhumane" to eat little chickens). Colleen agreed. It's not that she thinks eating meat is bad in and of itself. She did get the wheels in my head turning, however, when she brought up some other excellent points. Like how our culture grossly overconsumes meat, and how as a result it has become an industry in which productivity and gross margin are valued above all else.

Like I said, I don't think its wrong to kill animals, but as it turns out, the more Colleen told me, I have a huge problem with torture and blatant disregard for living things. I won't go into details, but you have probably seen the headlines. Ever read about puppy mills? You know, the places mall pet stores get their dogs from? Well they're breeding puppies that will actually LIVE when they're sold, and those practices would make you cringe. Imagine what they do with animals that will be dead when they're sold. Not to mention the issues of hormones and whatever else they do to tamper with them.

So anyways, I found myself extremely disturbed and strangely convicted, as did Brian. So we gave it a go. Much to our surprise, it was not nearly as much of an inconvenience as we'd anticipated, and it was a great boost to the healthy eating habits we always had trouble sticking to. Now it's been almost 3 months and, with the exception of the 100% angus beef burger I had at Ruby Tuesdays on day 41 (and became violently ill from), we have been happy without meat the entire time (R.I.P. Libby's monthly cheeseburger).

Since it has become a little bit more permanent we're trying to make sure that we're not depriving our bodies of anything vital in the process. It isn't hard to find things to eat without meat, but it is a challenge to make sure you still eat enough protein and all. So to allay all of your concerns, know that we're still eating fish and eggs and dairy. I'm a little bit anxious about what will happen on Thanksgiving, but as long as I don't find out that mashed potatoes and stuffing are being treated inhumanely, I think I'll get by.

posted by Libby @ 12:45 PM