I'm not talking diet as in trying to lose weight, but as in a way of living. It seems as if the whole universe is trying to make me change my eating habits. I've been health conscious most of my life. I have been jogging since college. I have paid attention to what I eat since I left home and got married in my early twenties. Tried to become a vegetarian many times...but hamburgers always did me in. Even in failure I still did my best to eat lots of fruits, veggies, and whole grains.
Now the pressure is on. Why? I don't know. Maybe because my cholesterol isn't where it should be, as well as my blood pressure. How is that possible, I ask my doc? I take really good care of myself. Apparently not. The figures don't lie. Something has to change.
Books start calling for me to read them. Fine. First, The Way We Eat: Why Our Food Choices Matter, by Peter Singer and Jim Mason. Yes, I would really like to be a vegetarian. I don't like the idea of eating animals and fish. I don't believe animal products are good for me. I don't like big business farming and all of the pollution and waste of resources.
Well, Singer and Mason pull no punches. This is why our food choices matter:
1. Cattle, pigs, chickens, and fish suffer horrible deaths because of our choice to eat them. Most of them suffer their whole lives, too (except non-farmed fish). It isn't just disgusting what happens to them, it is immoral and perverse. Factory farming is much more horrible than you have been led to believe. They do not want you to know about this.
2. The production of meat, fish (including shellfish), dairy (eggs and milk), contribute enormously to the pollution and destruction of our environment through volumes of waste and consumption of fossil fuel. You would not believe how much oil goes into raising a cow. If Al Gore really wants to do something about global warming besides buying energy credits he should go on a diet (vegetarian, that is)
I have spared you the details. If you really want to do something helpful for yourself and the planet, read this book. It will inspire you.
Next time I will share with you what I've learned about eating now that I choose to stop killing animals. I know this is not going to be easy. I can't imagine a world without burgers and fries, but maybe it's time to stop ignoring the facts.
Now the pressure is on. Why? I don't know. Maybe because my cholesterol isn't where it should be, as well as my blood pressure. How is that possible, I ask my doc? I take really good care of myself. Apparently not. The figures don't lie. Something has to change.
Books start calling for me to read them. Fine. First, The Way We Eat: Why Our Food Choices Matter, by Peter Singer and Jim Mason. Yes, I would really like to be a vegetarian. I don't like the idea of eating animals and fish. I don't believe animal products are good for me. I don't like big business farming and all of the pollution and waste of resources.
Well, Singer and Mason pull no punches. This is why our food choices matter:
1. Cattle, pigs, chickens, and fish suffer horrible deaths because of our choice to eat them. Most of them suffer their whole lives, too (except non-farmed fish). It isn't just disgusting what happens to them, it is immoral and perverse. Factory farming is much more horrible than you have been led to believe. They do not want you to know about this.
2. The production of meat, fish (including shellfish), dairy (eggs and milk), contribute enormously to the pollution and destruction of our environment through volumes of waste and consumption of fossil fuel. You would not believe how much oil goes into raising a cow. If Al Gore really wants to do something about global warming besides buying energy credits he should go on a diet (vegetarian, that is)
I have spared you the details. If you really want to do something helpful for yourself and the planet, read this book. It will inspire you.
Next time I will share with you what I've learned about eating now that I choose to stop killing animals. I know this is not going to be easy. I can't imagine a world without burgers and fries, but maybe it's time to stop ignoring the facts.
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