by Amy » June 1st, 2009, 6:23 pm
I don't have much to add, seems like it's mostly been said already.
There is nothing wrong with either eating or not eating meat. You can be a vegetarian or even vegan without consuming mass quantities of soy. Food should not become a god.
The big issue I see is not whether a person makes an individual choice about food for him/herself or his/her family (I am responsible for my kids' eating habits, for example). The problem I see is when it becomes:
1. Joyless (no pleasure in preparing and eating the food)
2. All-consuming (you are so busy concentrating particularly on what you can't or believe you can't/shouldn't eat that you do little else with your time)
3. A way to pass judgment on others
I have known several people who fall into the last trap, referring to vegetarians as "better" than meat-eaters. It's annoying, but I believe those people will eventually gravitate towards others who share that view or will drive friends away and realize their error. But sadder still are people who do the first two things. What a terrible way to live. It's almost like food becomes not only an obsession but a fear. This can happen whether one's dietary choices are vegetarian, low-carb, gluten-free, or any number of other things. (I realize that some things are a matter of allergies/sensitivities/intolerance, rather than choice. However, I met one woman who claimed that eliminating a particular food did far more than it possibly could have, along with a judgment that people who eat said food are "addicted" to it.)
Amy
****
Live in such a way that you would not be ashamed to sell your parrot to the town gossip. ~Will Rogers