pondering meat...

[kpete]

image from: http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2011/11/01/maira-kalman-food-rules/

Eating meat in small doses — around once a week — gives me a deep sense of appreciation for it, too. I doubt this would be the case if my palate were weakened by its constant presence in my meals. Absence makes the taste buds grow fonder. Studies have been showing that Americans are eating less and less meat today, and while there are differing takes on why this might be, there is a growing indifference about the necessity of meat on every plate. This is surely good news for the environment. But what about the average household? Maybe they’re also rediscovering a simple rule: We appreciate meat more when we can’t have it all the time.

http://grist.org/sustainable-food/when-it-comes-to-meat-absence-makes-the-taste-buds-grow-fonder-recipes/
?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+andrewsullivan%2FrApM+%28The+Daily+Dish%29

[lonestarnot]

1. I just don't want it as much as I used to, don't know why.

Could be an imbedded feeling of mistreatment of both the environment and the animals every time I eat a bite.

[B2G]

2. That's because it's delicious

I didn't fight my way to the top of the foodchain to be a vegetarian.

[hlthe2b]

5. And what, exactly, did you do to "fight your [sic] way to the top of the foodchain"?

Just curious. Most of us never had to fight other predators growing up, so I'm interested to hear. Were you possibly raised by wolves?

[Fla_Democrat]

11. You've obviously never met my brothers....

Wolves would have been a step up in my house at dinner time.

[MADem]

14. It's nice to know I am not the only one who came from a home where the dinner hour was a bit of a

free-for-all.

Only the strong survive!

[a la izquierda]

7. Unless you're a million years old...

or a mountain man, I'm pretty sure you've done zero to get to the top of the food chain except be born of woman.

[veganlush]

3. The Simple truth is

...that if you are a consumer of meat and/or dairy (or most other animal products) then you are directly supporting and through your dollars condoning and voting in favor of, the systematic institutional torture of animals, all so that you can have a diet that is much less healthy than a plant-based one.

[JSnuffy]

12. All those people...

... on the planet eating meat for past few thousand years. How did we survive? *shock*

Honestly though, I can't take you seriously when you say things like "much less healthy." Semantically null.

[orpupilofnature57]

4. I was a vegetarian for about a year , until

one day while standing next to my mom making hamburgers ,I started stuffing raw hamburger in my mouth and didn't even realize it until she shrieked my name. My wife and I eat meat about twice a week ,usally chicken lots of fish and tossed salad for the last 30 yrs .

[glowing]

6. Its just not necessary for every meal and it doesn't need to be the biggest portion

on the plate by a long shot. I only wish the portion size in the store would decrease... I don't like to freeze meat at all... But having 3 breasts of chicken in 1 package is wayyyy too much. If I'm at Publix, I can take the package up to the meat guys, and they will take out the extra's I don't need and re-package... Mostly, I try to go to the meat market... Better selections from local vendor's and their chicken is free-range, and they will trim the fat or what not (often times they are cheaper) and nothing is pre-packaged.. u pick what you need and how much... However, I don't always have the time to make extra stops on a busy day, so I don't go as often as I'd prefer.

A meal will normally consist of 2 veggies, 1 starch (rice or potato or corn) and a small portion of meat.... However 2 nights out of the week, we normally have a pasta dish... I make my own sauce, and I do freeze the extra's when I make the big pot of it. And normally have a side salad and maybe some garlic bread.

There are nights though, that I just do a soup up in the crock pot and maybe have some home-made fresh bread or grilled cheese sandwiches to go with it. Living in FL, I only like to do this on days it gets cold enough to appreciate a warm soup.

Often in the summer, its so hot, our appetites are just so small. I'll make a large salad (many veggies coming straight out of my own garden), and grill some shrimp or 1 chicken breast and stick it on top, toss with some greek salad dressing, and that's dinner... I don't like turning on the oven at all in the summer.... too damned hot.

I enjoy meat in small amounts. I enjoy fixing dishes in different manners; trying different stuff. However, if I had to choose between veggies and meat, veggies wins out every time. And I don't make them bland nor do I make them unhealthy by making them taste delicious. Herbs and spices and a few other little tricks makes veggies so tasty... People are always asking me to make certain veggies with my dishes when they come to visit because they taste better than they've had in a any restaurant and they cannot figure out what I do to make them better LOL. And I tell them every time how to do it. Its not some secret. LOL.

[a la izquierda]

8. I haven't eaten meat in about 13 years.

Don't miss it at all.

[RebelOne]

17. 15 years for me. Don't miss meat either. n/t

[HopeHoops]

9. Keep going. Eventually the smell will make you feel sick.

[unblock]

10. we've been pescatarians for about a year and a half now, and i don't miss it

we're not super-strict about it; we don't bring it home, but if we're at a friend's house and they serve meat or if the restaurant puts a little bit of bacon in the clam chower we'll go ahead and eat it.

but i feel much better, my digestive system is much nicer to me, and i've dropped 20 pounds without even trying.

mini-unblock has never eaten meat. though i heave my doubts as to whether the chik'n nugget soy substitutes are any healthier...

[kpete]

18. unblock

great name

pescatarian, great way to eat!

peace, kpete

[Swede]

13. I am on a low carb diet and eat more meat then I used to.

The weight is not where I want it yet,but this low carb diet is working.

[slackmaster]

15. K&R - I had to reduce meat consumption and have switched to better quality meats due to my age

In my early 40s my digestion changed so that I can no longer tolerate eating a large serving of meat (or anything else. At the moment my freezer contains the following animal products:

One 8-ounce prime ribeye beef steak,
Two swordfish steals,
Two pounds of salmon filets,
Two pounds of thresher shark,
Four pounds of shrimp,
One pound of ground venison,
Two pounds of ground elk
One package of butter.

But what about the average household? Maybe they’re also rediscovering a simple rule: We appreciate meat more when we can’t have it all the time.

I CAN have it all the time, I just CHOOSE not to. I've found the very lean farmed elk and venison to be very tasty and easy to digest.

[alphafemale]

16. I was a short term vegetarian

The running with the wolves tearing flesh with my teeth dreams began shortly after.

Sorry. Some of us NEED meat.

[Zorra]

19. I've been a vegetarian for 20 years.

Very, very occasionally I eat fish.

After 12 years of not having any medical tests done, I just recently went and had extensive testing done a few months ago.

My blood pressure was 117/74. Pulse 65. Cholesterol normal. All organ functions normal. All bloodwork normal, etc. Weight "normal' for height.

Everything was normal or better. I have not had a cold or flu for over 3 years.

I don't smoke, rarely drink, don't use drugs, drink lots of pure water, take multi vitamins and an EFA oil complex as recommended, don't eat artificial chemical junk unless it's totally unavoidable, get enough sleep, exercise some - but not nearly as much as a few years ago. I have lots of energy all the time. This is what seems to work for me.

In my younger days, however, I ate tons of meat of every kind, and greasy fried fatty foods, was the consummate party animal, smoked cigarettes habitually periodically, chronic the herb, frequently, (but not habitually) drank a lot, and did just about every substance (sometimes very excessively) known to humankind except for heroin and jimson weed. Years of rock & roll and late nights, and late mornings watching the sun rise thinking "oh, no...not again". Ouch.

I quit doing most all of that about 20 years ago, almost all of it by 12 years ago, all of it now. Except for coffee (not negotiable) and very moderate alcohol use.

I honestly have no idea why it appears that I'm so healthy right now after what I did to myself for many years, but I think maybe a good vegetarian diet, lots of water, and (formerly) lots of exercise helped heal and clean my body out from the devastation I mercilessly wrought upon it. (The brain damage probably can't be repaired; you can't have everything )

Whatever, I'm surely not going to change the current program (except for more exercise, I'll start tomorrow, for sure, it could happen).

You never know what tomorrow might bring, but I'm totally grateful for every sunrise that I find myself healthy. (Not that I see many sunrises anymore, why do they have to happen so darn early?)

Anyway, this vegetarian diet and reasonably healthy lifestyle hasn't killed me yet. I'd definitely recommend it to a friend.

[rainbow4321]

20. I've been a vegetarian for 2 years now

Experience much of the same as you...except I still need to lose more pounds. I have lost 40 pounds in those two years, though. I was out of control with fast food places and was buying too many processed/frozen crap that never really filled me up very long. I decided I needed a drastic change in my habits and becoming a vegatarian is something I wanted to explore. Started it and never looked back
But my BP has been well within normal limits (it had gotten pretty high along with the weight gain from fast food intake several times a week), my resting heart rate is in the low 60's, and I don't have that "I just ate 2 hours ago and now am going on a carb binge" craving.

I am one of 2 vegetarians in my workplace..every time they have a " boss brings food for a lunch buffet for everyone" I go thru the same thing---"ooohhhh, we know you can't eat anything back there, but, um, yeah, you can go look if you want". Been there a year now and they do it everytime. This time around they said I could "probably go put lettuce and tomato on one the hamburger buns and eat that" or "go eat some of the chips for lunch". Usually the offer is in a snarky you are a freak kind of way. Yeah, no thanks. I just went down and got me a baked potato and a side of macaroni salad from the cafe. When it is a "employees bringing stuff for a buffet" they are quick to corner you and ask what you are going to bring (even though they know I won't be going to the buffet).
Thinking the next time they try to pressure me into bringing something for any buffet I am going to tell them that I don't partake in the buffet so, no, I will not be bringing anything...or I may go ahead and bring a bowl of tofu chunks from Whole Foods but even that seems like a waste of my money because I can see them taking some and just tossing it out.