The Elephant in the Room

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I recently watched the latest DVD on my rental list: Blue Planet by the BBC.  It moved me to shivers many times over, but the whole time I watched, I was waiting for them to mention climate, destructive fishing practices and habitat loss.  The third disc contained a section called ‘Deep Trouble’ that covered fishing industry practices that pollute, destroy, and deplete large sections of the ocean and the life within it.  A British marine biologist and diver walked around the largest fish market in the world in Japan, where endangered blue fin tuna were fetching £12,000 – £100,000 per fish.  She also appeared in the mangrove forests of Indonesia that have been heavily destroyed for commercial prawn farms.  The section began with some footage of her swimming in tropical waters with a dolphin: a magnificent creature very dependent, obviously, on the health of the rest of the oceans.  She swam around gnarls of coral teeming with the most colourful fish and plants on earth, describing the practice of stunning fish with cyanide so they can be caught for food and aquariums, although the cyanide causes them to die within a few weeks and completely destroys the reef they came from.  The feature explored alternatives to supplying humans with fish food such as farmed fish, but pointed out that there were plenty of downsides to this alternative, making it seem as ridiculous as the destructive fishing itself.  All the while, I sat there waiting for them to say it: “eat less fish!”  Or, while we’re at it, “eat less meat!”  Being publicly funded, however, the BBC probably won’t risk such provocative statements on their programs.  And of course, the goal was probably not to tell viewers what to do, but merely to show the consequences of life as we (particularly westerners) know it.  But really, it makes me sad every time I’m reminded about how much resistance their is to reducing the amount of meat that we put in our mouths.

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I don’t think that we all should stop eating all animal products.  Some people are allergic to gluten, different fruits, nuts, dairy, etcetera and for them, meat might be necessary so that they have the option to participate in normal life which includes restaurants and grocery stores.  But for those of us who are robust and healthy, I think it’s a little selfish, or at best a little ignorant, to continue consuming animals the way we have been.

I care very much about animal rights: it’s one more way in which we separate ourselves from the rest of the world, denying the fact that the damage we do to the earth and other living creatures isn’t equally harmful to ourselves.  It’s another form of violence that I don’t want to be a part of.  But for me, the big motivator is health and sustainability.  What if we all decided to eat only ethically produced meat no more than 3 times per week?  The thinner of us, who need heavier foods like meat, could do 3 times, and the rest of us could do 0 – 2.  There are foods like eggs, cheese and nuts which contain plenty of protein, but don’t take nearly as many resources to produce or land to grow.  Cheese isn’t particularly easy to digest or low in cholesterol, but for someone who tends to be very thin with a fast metabolism, then fresh cheese is a nice source of protein.  For many people, beans, legumes, whole grains like quinoa and seeds offer plenty of protein.  A nutritionist once told me that an average adult only needs 4 ounces per day – the size of a deck of cards (not an entire Caribou, Sarah Palin).  What if we tried this for just three months?  That’s enough time for the body and taste buds to adjust; for people to realize that less meat doesn’t mean less energy (for me it meant far more energy), ill health or piles of boring salad.  The proof is here in this blog.

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I’m trying to avoid preechiness, so let me tell you some of the health reasons for eating less meat:

-the fat in meat is much harder for the body to process and higher in cholesterol, meaning that if you want to lose weight or reduce your risk of heart disease, then eat less meat
-there are studies indicating that a vegetarian diet low in gluten dramatically reduced rheumatoid arthritis (no big drug companies benefit from studies like this, so they aren’t very well publicized and tend to be conducted in places like Switzerland, not in the US).
-meat is hard to digest and tends to stay in the digestive tract longer – it can putrefy while still in the body or leave more undigested particles in the system (intestinal plaque or toxins) than fresh-cooked vegetables, grains, beans or fruits will.
-if you think about it, when you eat meat, that stuff is really dead.  If you go to the farmer’s market or green grocer and pick up some produce, it’s still alive; you put it in water and it will sprout, go roots, or drink.  From an Ayurvedic perspective, the amount of ‘life’ (prana) in your food is very important, and meat is at the bottom of that scale, as are microwaved/processed/old foods.
-There are few things in meat that you can’t get from the plant world.  Many people say B vitamins, but there’s plenty of that in marmite, a yeast extract that’s nice on toast or as a soup flavouring.  I take a B vit supplement to make sure I get B12.  If you’re eating loads of fish for the healthy fats, that’s great, but you can also eat flax seeds, avocadoes, olive oil, hemp seed oil, walnuts, almonds, pumpkin/sesame/sunflower seeds…
-There’s no need to go ‘cold turkey’ (ha) or be a fanatic.  Ayurveda says that fanatacism results from being trapped in the world of desire and doesn’t promote personal growth.  If you and your family have been eating meat for years and generations, take it slow.  You can stop eating meat, but make sure you eat a balanced diet of whole grains (not white flour), beans, legumes, fresh veg, fruit, nuts, seeds, spices and oils.  If you start to feel spacey or have strong cravings for meat after cutting it from your diet, your system might be in shock from the change, so have a meal with chicken, turkey or fish.
-If you’re skeptical about the health of a vegetarian diet, do some research.  I’m sure you’ll find plenty of evidence that vegetarianism, or at least lower meat intake, has noticeable health benefits.  Check out the link under ‘Chef Education’ on the right to ‘NYTimes Food Article’ to start.
-Here’s what cutting out almost all meat has done for me: weight loss, more energy, clearer skin, improved digestion, improved mental clarity, better elimination of wastes and toxins, lower food bills, more enjoyment of food and taste as I explore all the amazing spices, herbs and vegetables there are out there.  With the cost of food rising and the resources we use to raise food lessening, this is a great time to make these changes.  You’ll spend less, eat more interesting stuff (if you make sure to try new things and get variety) and probably feel better.

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If all that didn’t convince you, then how about this: Try it for one week.  If that’s not so bad, then try two.  Then maybe a month.  Now just check in and see how you feel.  Listen to your body’s real needs instead of what your mind wants.  If it’s not for you, that’s okay.  But you might feel great.  Thanks for listening.