I can't sleep for reasons I won't go into right now and am waiting for the phone to ring (it's 2 am on Sunday morning) and I'm blogging to stop my anxiety getting out of control...I've just finished reading a great book by Liz Jones called "The Exmoor Files" I only started it this afternoon. Liz writes about moving out of London to Exmoor where she buys a large crumbling farm with lots of land and promptly starts aquiring animals - a couple of rescued horses, ponies, lambs, ex-battery chickens, an abandoned sheepdog...and also about trying to get over her failed marriage.
Reading what she says about cruelty to animals ( I SO agree with almost everything she says) I find my own guilt about eating animals raising its head. I became a vegetarian a few months after I married (poor Phil could probably have got a divorce on the grounds of unreasonable ruelty as I then promptly stopped cooking any meat at all!) and remained so until I was pregnant with Sian and succumbed to a bacon buttie. Even after that lapse, I stayed mainly veggie for quite a long time but finaly realised that the lure of meat was too great. I remember, vividly, sinking my teeth into a fabulous beefburger on my first trip to NYC; the taste after so many years of strict vegetarianism, followed by only eating fish andchicken, was so overwhelmingly intense I almost fainted with pleasure.
I still can't bear the look or smell of steak and loathe the smell of a butcher's shop. I prefer not to think of exactly what meat is - flesh of a formerly living animal. Kate & I both stopped eating lamb because we both really like sheep (see picture above!) I'm not so fond of cows but oh, I do love chickens and I feel so guilty eating them!
Here's my dilemma; I'm not sure I can face going veggie again. My family are all carnivores which means I'd often be cooking separate meals. Veggie food is quite labour intensive - you have to think more about what you're cooking if you're not going to end up on a very dull and repetitive regime. On the other hand, I don't want to eat animals so much any more.
For the moment I think I'll compromise by cooking more fish and veggie meals and trying to play down the meat content.
7 comments:
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Hope the problem that's keeping you awake sorts itself out OK. I think the idea of compromising on the vegetarian front is the best approach. Trying to be strictly vegetarian deprives one of the occasional meal that you enjoy and is also hard to do when others in the household eat meat. In my experience the others gradually eat less meat as the vegetarian demonstrates that the options can be equally tasy, enjoyable and good for you. They even do some brilliant vegetarian black puddings and haggis. Manufacturer's have come a long way from the original soya based sausages that tasted like cardboard.
I could never be a vegetarian I love meat too much but quite often we do have vegetarian meals for a change. You could just have meat occasionally to satisfy your cravings.
I hope whatever is keeping you awake at night is resolved soon. x
The Native Americans (Sioux) always prayed for the animals before they killed them for their meat, hide, etc. They thanked the animal for what it was about to sacrafice. The natives realized that life sustains life. The natives had a respect for it, as do you.
I think that's what the difference is......
I have cut my meat intake down to next to nothing
If I was a better cook and researcher and more disciplined I would go veggie completely
I love Quiet Rage's comment
she is so right about the lack of care and respect these days
I hope things are OK
Its a healthy lifestyle but my family just loves meat too much to change. At a restaurant I usually choose chicken or fish for myself. Hope your phonecall will sooth your mind and you sleep better.
I can't sleep for reasons I won't go into right now and am waiting for the phone to ring (it's 2 am on Sunday morning) and I'm blogging to stop my anxiety getting out of control...
I guess that's why you've never changed the name of your photo blog, eh?
Love the lambs, they look to be smiling contentedly.
I have no help in the meat area, I'm an omnivore and haven't tried vegetarianism, but my oldest daughter was for a while, and you're right, it's a LOT of work.
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