Could we be cuter than this?













In case anyone needs another good reason to give up meat......

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My husband is eating a lot less meat these days, and it’s not by choice.
But consider this: in a family of five, all of whom are nearly adults, we have three vegetarians and one virtual health nut. Then there is my husband.
Now, I don’t mean to reveal too deeply that, without my influence, he would eat mostly things that contain mostly a lot of chemicals, sugar and fat.
I won’t name names of such food, which would not be fair to makers of things that come with meat, sauce and tomatoes already mixed together. Let’s just say much of it would come out of cans.
I, however, happily do the majority of food shopping for the family and am happy to note that, but for items such as black and red beans, and some diced tomatoes, I limit the number canned items I purchase.
I also limit the quantity of meat I purchase. That said, many might wonder how it is a vegetarian buys meat in the first place.
It isn’t easy.
I know modern supermarkets package it all up in a very sanitary way that makes us forget exactly from where all that flesh comes. To me it still is a constant reminder of the reason I became a vegetarian in the first place: to get dead animals out of my diet. (And, of course, because more people could eat if more people were to become vegetarians: It takes about 23 gallons of water “to produce a pound of tomatoes. Compare that to the estimated 2,000 gallons of water used to produce a pound of beef,” says Rudy Hadisentosa, in “How to Successfully Become a Vegetarian.”)
But, I admit it; I was never very good and choosing cuts of meat. I was not very good at home economics at Clymer Central School and who knew a porterhouse from a New York strip? A fryer from any kind of fowl? Even back in the day, it was catch-as-catch-can when it came to me and buying anything from a butcher.
Now, as the rows and rows of breasts, chops and steaks stretch out before me, I wonder from where it all came and what kind of life any of those animals had. I know how silly that would sound to most people, that most people would not hear the bleating, clucking and mooing that I do in the meat aisle.
Ok, I don’t really hear any of those sounds, but I might as well. I’ve seen the PETA video and let’s admit it, whether a burger is yummy to us, or not, the end of life is no picnic for the majority of animals in the worldwide food chain. The rest of their lives likely weren’t too much fun, either.
So picture me there, amid all that flesh, what’s a vegetarian to do? Pick fast, don’t browse and bury it under other stuff in the wagon, preferably lots of fruits and vegetables.
It’s a sham, I know.
The alternative? More stuff in a can for my husband.

It can't hurt to check out vegetarian Web sites, for everything from advice to recipes (especially recipes) and here are a few that might be useful:



The Vegetarian Resource Group: http://www.vrg.org/


Vegetarian Times: http://www.vegetariantimes.com/


And, for a free book on How to Successfully Become a Vegetarian: http://www.veggie123.com/

Who knew?

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My co-workers sometimes make fun of my food choices. This is not offensive, as I fully understand how much most people love to eat meat, poultry and fish. I don’t object directly to those habits other people have, I simply let it be known, diplomatically, that I am a vegetarian, and why.
Meat eaters mostly just don’t get it and I don’t try to brow beat anyone. Often, however, I do have to explain that you can’t be a vegetarian if you eat fish or if you eat chicken. Why some people consider their fish-eating friends to be vegetarians is as much a mystery to me as why it is that so many people can’t seem to drive well on Interstate 95.
But I digress, this is not about poor driving habits, it is about pure joy. Pure vegetarian joy, many of us know, can be found in the substance of chocolate. I need not wax poetic about this, it is a centuries, if not millennia old, habit of mankind to indulge.
But indulgence, it seems, does not come without a price. And by price I don’t mean the cost of a grande Mint Mocha Chip Frappuccino® blended coffee with Chocolate Whipped Cream.
What I do mean is the concern that cocoa production in some areas of world comes at the price of forced labor, sometimes by children. Check out various Web sites on the topic and the evidence is there – at least to investigate – that not all is fair (trade) in the love of chocolate wars. Some companies, likewise, go out of their way to assure consumers that they do their best to obtain cocoa from a source where there is no forced, or slave labor, and children are not abused.
As with so many issues, the reality is likely somewhere in the middle.
But along with the growing levels of social consciousness worldwide, there comes cocoa production that says it comes fairly traded – or in fair trade – and that means no child labor allowed and it means that prices paid for the product are supposed to promote sustainability, self sufficiency and environmental standards. I acknowledge that even these notions take hits from some quarters.
Yet, if we are willing to spend $3.50 for a tall and chocolaty coffee drink (fair trade says Starbucks!!) why can’t we also be willing to shell out a little extra for a chocolate bar that is guaranteed to come without the blood, sweat and tears of children attached? I know it does not, but everything we buy should have such a guarantee.
Now back to one of my co-workers. This specific individual does not poke fun at vegetarians – he’s married to one. But what he did take aim at is the notion of fair trade. It is, he posited to me, a practice that people of privilege can enjoy – a construction that belongs to people who think the way they buy chocolate (or coffee?) can make any real change.
I would ask, however, why people of so-called privilege, (or anyone, for that matter as I certainly can’t define what privilege really means) should not be willing to take the small steps that might lead to a stampede?
Who will it hurt to use some of that to help (not subsidize) farmers worldwide that guarantee no child is forced into back breaking labor to harvest the beans that bring us so much pleasure?
I have found fair trade chocolate at Trader Joe’s, at Edge of the Woods and in Newman’s Own Organics chocolate products.
We know we are not going to give up chocolate. But maybe we can start making purchases that are fair from field to feeding time.