I'm No Carnivangelist

I feel like I've still got a lot of 'splainin' to do about this meat thing.

I'm not interested in preaching the gospel of meat. In fact, I completely respect anyone's dietary restrictions, whether they are for ethical, religious, health or any other reason.

I admire vegans. I really do. Vegans are better than me. Some people think vegans are smug but I think they are entitled to lay claim to the moral high ground. And I really, truly believe that if everyone followed a vegan diet, the world would be a much better place. But, it's NEVER EVER going to happen. Not in my lifetime, anyway.

In the meantime, if I leave the 3 strips of bacon off the sandwich, does the pig get to live? No.

Okay, that's a simplistic argument. But really, I guess my idealism has taken a step toward realism. I hate the fact that humankind evolved as it did, raising and killing animals for food. I wish it weren't so.

Anyone who has spoken to me in the last year knows that I loved Michael Pollan's book "The Ominvore's Dilemma" (don't get me started about corn!). I read that book just as I was coming to terms with the fact that I was eating meat in broad daylight. And the one thing that struck me the most about the book was that Michael Pollan, the man who probably puts more thought into what he eats than just about anyone else on the planet, is not a vegetarian.

Maybe, instead of abstaining, we can eat meat in moderation. Choose meat from producers that treat animals well, give them space, and don't pump them full of hormones or antibiotics. (Yes, I know my last entry was about foie gras but really, I agonized over it.)

I think that people place dietary restrictions on themselves for peace of mind. It worked for me for 17 years. As I get older though, I realize that (and this is sad to admit) what I do doesn't really make much of a difference. I vote, and Bush wins - twice. I don't own a car, but does that really help anything in a country where the roads are clogged with SUV's? I turn off the tap while I'm brushing my teeth and at the same time, I know that somewhere in Las Vegas a golf course is getting watered. And so, after 17 years of abstaining from meat, what in the world has changed? Nothing. So what's a bacon sandwich now and then?