Tuesday, August 24, 2010

veggies, meat and economics

i still haven't located and utilized a better way to dispose of my ceiling tiles. I have dropped another trash bag in the boiler room and the next is about full. It is time to take the kitty litter to the compost spot that is not my own again. and i still wish to continue avoiding these things.
on the up side... the bag of trash that is deniably full contains all the refuse from packing for burning man. fairly impressive, methinks. On that note... enough about trash! for today... why? because trash... well, it's less interesting over time than my initial excitement indicates...

I was driving home this afternoon and thinking not-so-subversive thoughts about my formerly vegan lifestyle. I would like to contribute some thoughts that I feel are often overlooked in the ongoing discussions regarding appropriate eating habits and the overall dietary lifestyle of Americans.

I hear over and over about how meat and dairy are bad for us, bad for the planet and obviously torturous to animals. I do not deny any of this. My body LOVES meat. Loves the stuff- can't get enough. I do believe it is bad for my health overall because of the use of steroids, antibiotics and God knows whatever other chemicals are showing up in there. Yes it is bad for the planet and it is clearly VERY BAD for all of the sweet little animals we chop up and chew down daily.

HOWEVER! All of these arguments are emotional and moral, ethical at best. (sidenote: moral- personal guidelines regarding right and wrong, ethical- guidelines for right and wrong generally accepted throughout an entire community). These are valid discussions and topics for argument and debate. But there is a whole nother world of conversation being virtually ignored in this verbal tennis match!

What about the economics of the whole thing. Whether or not you think it is right or wrong or healthy or not to eat animals- What do you think about PAYING your hardearned dollars to VERY wealthy people to torture animals to cut the cost and increase overall profits for distributing that meat to you?

Let's be clear, this is not a question about EATING the meat, it is a question that begs to know "to whom do you wish to pay your dollars?"

As far as I can tell, voting in politics doesn't do much more for us than take up an hour or two every few years in November. Well, what if we looked at our dollars as votes? If the corporations have essentially bought Congress, then we can instead look to exercise control over the corporations when it proves ineffective to attempt to sway our legislating bodies. We already know that all they care about is their profit margin. So when we spend our money we vote on the products AND PRODUCTION METHODS that we value.

So, I like to eat meat. I do not want to pay some faceless rich person my money so they can get richer by treating animals in the most inhumane ways and poisoning our environment and my body. This doesn't mean I can't eat meat, but it does mean I have to put in the extra effort required to locate a farmer in my area from whom I can buy meat. I may have to buy it in large quantities which means I have to have enough freezer space to store what I buy. I may have to buy a share of meat with other people in order to afford and have space for it.

I'm just saying though. It's not always about animal rights. Sometimes it's about the economy and who I want to pay to do what.

2 comments:

  1. goddamnit. i didn't say that. i think husband man is disguised as me here. and i was so excited to have a comment. :P

    ReplyDelete