…a vegetarian.

I am serious. I wish for moral and environmental reasons that I thought I could reasonably convert to be a vegetarian. It takes SOOO much water to raise cattle and most of the animals raised for meat are treated so poorly. Those are the main two reasons I would make the conversion. I have seriously considered it, but I just don’t think I can live without some meat (especially chicken and fish).

What got me writing about this? A Facebook friend posted a photo of him eating pork chops from pigs he raised last year. All I could think was I could not do it. When I really started thinking about it though that pig was raised super humanely and the meat is clean. It is the responsible way to raise and consume meat. But still I could not do it – which is silly. I know where meat comes from and I know how it comes. It is just so different when I put the thought of killing it myself in (especially if I raised it). It’s probably the biggest contradiction in my life.

However, this doesn’t mean that meat can’t be responsibly obtained. It takes effort and money (much less convenient). That is a huge hurdle for most of us. So how do we make responsibly and humanely raised meat accessible to all?

My biggest thought is to reform the process as a whole with new standards including humane treatment standards. You might think I am nuts but I swear humanely raised and slaughtered meat and eggs just taste better. Maybe lessening my guilt tastes better?

Vegan is out – I need cheese in my life – not nut cheese. How can you check if your cheese is responsibly sourced from a place that treats their livestock humanely? I worry if I were to switch to a vegetarian lifestyle I would be much less healthy and my carb intake would go though the roof. This is a common mistake new vegetarians makes.

Any good tips for responsible meat consumption?