Veggie Eater!

Brittney posted about becoming a vegan and there is a discussion of it over here. I completely support anyone's choice to do that. I am just going to post some of my thoughts and choices.

I have never been a vegetarian. Brad and I have thought of doing it, but it is hard to start something you have never been exposed to and wouldn't even know where to start.

If I were to become a vegan/vegetarian, I would do it specifically because of the mistreatment of animals. I did not know some of the things that Brittney mentioned in her original post and I hope to read that book soon.

Now that I know some of the options that are out there, I don't think I will become a vegan/vegetarian; I will buy local/organic/free range. I do not see a problem with eating meat; I like meat and I feel I even crave it sometimes. I think it is the natural order of things, the "circle of life" if you will. I know that I am the top of the food chain and that when I die, I will feed the earth and other animals. I do not want to contribute to a industry that I do not agree with. That is the same reason I don't like to shop at Wal-Mart.

But you know what, right now I am not eating organic and shopping at Wal-Mart; and the reason is because I am poor. Since Brad and I started going to school again full time we only work part time and the student aid is just not covering it all. I don't even have the two extra dollars to buy free range eggs.

I think this is the situation that a lot of America is in. Even if you show them the truth about farming practices, they cannot change the way they eat because there is not enough money. It is hard enough to eat healthy with no money. I do buy fresh fruits and veggies instead of canned but it is pushing my budget limits. The choice of whether or not to buy free range organic beef instead of normal ground beef does not even enter the equation. I don't have the luxury of choice right now. But I look forward to the day when I can stop feeling guilty every time I eat and stop living paycheck to paycheck.