I’ve often been struck by 2 things reading about your voyage from vegetarianism raising your own meat: 1)it takes courage to change our convictions and admit we were wrong .2) I come at this particular issue from *such a different background, as I grew up with my family farming small-scale arable and raising beef (never more than 30 head at a time), that to me Of Course it made sense to eat meat. It was when I left home and realised how the majority of meat sold in supermarkets is raised that I cut back big time on my meat consumption…
I so appreciate this. Last night I was thinking of taking this post down because I was worried it would either upset people, look like I was bragging about not flying for a decade (?!) or sound like scolding people - and honestly all I want is for people that think I'm a monster to understand why I do this. People don't make space for people anymore.
Externalities! I sure wish more people thought about them. Thank you for poetically bringing them to people’s minds. No salad is worth a thousand songbirds. And while those Boca Burgers might be “cheap” at the store compared to the locally raised chickens at the farmers market, what doesn’t factor into the fake food price is the costs of producing it and shipping it hundreds of miles. Keep your money and your stomach as local as possible!
I went on a very similar philosophical journey myself, over the decades - vegetarian to vegan, first gardening then raising and butchering my own animals. Right now I'm not raising any, but I still try to get local whatever I can. It's always been about the animals, the ethics, and the impacts, to me. Thanks, this is also very well-written.
Jenna, thank you for this brilliant metaphor.
I’ve often been struck by 2 things reading about your voyage from vegetarianism raising your own meat: 1)it takes courage to change our convictions and admit we were wrong .2) I come at this particular issue from *such a different background, as I grew up with my family farming small-scale arable and raising beef (never more than 30 head at a time), that to me Of Course it made sense to eat meat. It was when I left home and realised how the majority of meat sold in supermarkets is raised that I cut back big time on my meat consumption…
I so appreciate this. Last night I was thinking of taking this post down because I was worried it would either upset people, look like I was bragging about not flying for a decade (?!) or sound like scolding people - and honestly all I want is for people that think I'm a monster to understand why I do this. People don't make space for people anymore.
Externalities! I sure wish more people thought about them. Thank you for poetically bringing them to people’s minds. No salad is worth a thousand songbirds. And while those Boca Burgers might be “cheap” at the store compared to the locally raised chickens at the farmers market, what doesn’t factor into the fake food price is the costs of producing it and shipping it hundreds of miles. Keep your money and your stomach as local as possible!
That is so kind. I so appreciate it.
I went on a very similar philosophical journey myself, over the decades - vegetarian to vegan, first gardening then raising and butchering my own animals. Right now I'm not raising any, but I still try to get local whatever I can. It's always been about the animals, the ethics, and the impacts, to me. Thanks, this is also very well-written.
Really well written Jenna!!
Thank you!!!
Well said Jenna...well and beautifully said!