This comes with some irony, as I myself am vegetarian.
Well, not really. I am technically what is called "pescetarian." That's with a "sk" sound. Don't believe me? Here's the Wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pescetarianism
Basically, I eat fish and shellfish. Yes, I know, I am a sinner in the eyes of "true" vegetarians everywhere. It's just awful, I'm a terrible person, I'm a liar, yes, yes, I don't care.
I call myself vegetarian because people know what that is. Few people know what pescetarianism is. In fact, even SpellCheck doesn't know what it is. Hence why I go with vegetarian. I just call myself a lazy vegetarian. It works.
I really am a lazy pescetarian, actually, because I (gasp) eat things that contain gelatin. Yes, I know, yet again, I am a horrible person. Whatever. Bother someone else with your silly PETA crap.
The drawback from associating yourself with being vegetarian is that, like calling yourself a Satanist, people immediately view you in a certain light. Especially if you're from Idaho. Idaho is an agriculture state. Yes, it has Micron, and some other dandy things, but let us face the music; we are known for our cows and our spuds. When I call myself a vegetarian, I can almost see the other person thinking this over. He's thinking about that hamburger he ate for lunch and wondering how soon I'll start ranting about animal rights.
Happily, he'll discover that I'm not going to do that. Why? I'm not a vegetarian for the reasons that most people are vegetarians. I'm not interested in saving animal lives. I mean, don't get me wrong, I like baby animals just as much as the next schmuck, but saving them is not my top priority.
We all know now that I like Portland. It's a great place. However, the amount of crazed PETA fans that reside here is astounding. And let me tell you, the amount of misinformation they spew is just as bad as Faux News.
"Humans aren't supposed to eat meat."
WRONG. We have been eating meat since antiquity, you fool. We are omnivores. Omni- means everything. We eat meat, we eat fish, we eat plants, we eat grains. Welcome to science. Put down the clipboard and go back to school.
"We have no right to eat animals."
WRONG. We are omnivores. We eat meat; this is inevitable. We need protein, and it is a hell of a lot easier for us to get those from flesh than from a wide variety of nuts and grains. Most people on this planet do not have access to a Whole Foods store. We have as much right to eat animals as any other omnivore/carnivore species.
The truth is, supporting animal rights and eating meat are not mutually exclusive. A person can enjoy a steak and still believe animals deserve to be treated humanely. We eat meat, and eating meat is not bad. If you think that it is wrong for anything to eat meat, you are a loony.
The problem is not eating meat; it is our culture surrounding the processing of meat. We are an industrialized country. In fact, we are a hyper-industrialized country. Our schools are built like factories. And, unfortunately, so is our food production. We don't treat animals like living, breathing beings; we treat them like bits of plastic. Whether or not you support baby bunnies, does factory-produced food sound appetizing? Cars should come from factories, not food. No creature's last moments of life should be in a machine. This is as far as my poetic animal rights self goes.
The traditional attitude towards livestock is that they are a source of well-being. Most cultures regard animals as income, as assets, and as a source of food. I prefer this cultural attitude towards meat over one that wants meat to be completely separate from its original form- chicken nuggets are a form of meat that does not remotely resemble a chicken. We have essentially taken the meat out of meat; people are disgusted when their food still has eyes or a face because most people in America don't think of their food in terms of a living thing with which we share a few traits. I've eaten shrimp with their heads attached, and I've had fish that still had eyes. It doesn't gross me out simply because when I think of fish or shrimp or shellfish, I think of them as living things, not as nicely-shaped patties. My mandate, as both an anthropology student and a vegetarian, is that I will eat meat while in the field, simply because most cultures think of meat in terms of the living animal, not in terms of a shaped and processed thing. People who live closer to livestock better appreciate the meat they eat. I think this is where meat in America should go- people should become more involved in their food, whether that means we all should keep chickens in the back yard, or we should at least bring back more traditionally-modeled butcher shops. I want to see whole birds and halves of beef in a shop window because I will appreciate its origins. When we see a carrot, we can appreciate its origins as a root. When we see a steak, we should be able to appreciate its origins as well.
So, you see, I'm not a bleeding heart like some of the nutters over at PETA. I'm not interested in running about naked holding a fake hatchet to make a statement. This doesn't cause people to be better educated on your position, it makes people feel alienated. Stop lecturing people on why they shouldn't eat. Try, instead, to modify your behavior. This is the only thing any of us really can do to create change. I'm not interested in saving a bunch of domestic cows only to have them die of natural causes a few years later because of the way they've been bred. All I'm interested in is addressing the culture that has made it okay not to care where our food started in life. This is what has led to our "obesity crisis." People are okay with putting vile chemicals in their bodies simply because they don't understand where it came from, and needn't be bothered with how their food was processed. This isn't an issue about whether or not to eat meat, or about animal rights- this is about people who are obsessed with eating, but don't care about food.
I realize I've been incredibly long-winded about this, but this is a genuine issue to me. Food is vital, (I mean, hello?) but we don't care about the preparation of it. We've become such a specialized society that we cannot even be bothered with doing our own food production. If everyone lived with just a little bit more awareness of their food, we would all be a little bit healthier. It astounds me when people say they cannot cook- I mean, how does one feed oneself if one cannot cook? Food is simple, or at least, it can be. All we have to do is gain a little bit more personal interest in it.
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