Why Vegetarians are Eating Meat

Food and Wine ^ | Aug 2007 | Christine Lennon

[kalee]

A growing number of vegetarians are starting to eat humanely raised meat. Christine Lennon talks to a few converts— including her husband and famed author Mollie Katzen.

To a die-hard meat eater, there's nothing more irritating than a smug vegetarian. I feel at liberty to say this because I am one (a steak lover) and I married the other (a vegetarian with a pulpit). For me, "Do you now, or would you ever, eat meat?" has always been a question on par with "Do you ever want to get married?" and "Do you want children?" The answer to one reveals as much about a person's interior life, and our compatibility, as the response to the others. My husband Andrew's reply to all of those questions when I asked him three years ago was, "No."

Obviously, we're now married. We had twins earlier this year. And somewhere in between those two events, the answer to the third question was also re-evaluated, and the vegetarian soapbox was put to rest, too.

Yes, my husband has started eating meat again after a seven-year hiatus as an ethically motivated and health-conscious vegetarian.

[festus]

Apparently.

Time for Hank Williams Jr.’s “We are the coalition to end coalitions” tune to be played again.

[Lucas McCain]

If God wanted us all to be vegetarians, why did he make animals out of meat?

[ari-freedom]

Mollie Katzen of Moosewood fame is a convert? oh my

As a Jew, I’m glad the 9 days http://www.aish.com/tishaBavOverview/tishaBavOverviewDefault/The_Three_Weeks.asp

are over so we can have meat again soon. Most Orthodox Jews agree-it is really hard to go 9 days without meat even if it means you can have fish.

[MinuteGal]

I'm glad I don't know airheads like all the self-absorbed, holier-than-thou utopians infesting this article.

I like lusty people.

They wouldn't last two minutes in my three-hand cutthroat-pinochle club.

Leni

[paltz]

yeah, these guys are total anti-PETA, political conservative/christian types and are annoyed that militant libs are identified with the way they eat.

[webstersII]

“the corporate farms they love to trash allow food production on such a scale that one farm can send food around the entire world instead of just their community.”

You may not agree with their politics, but the following paragraph from the article makes a good point. Small family farms make more sense in many ways and, generally speaking, produce a higher quality product.

“Pollan extols the virtues of independent, small-scale food producers who raise pasture-fed livestock in a sustainable and ethical manner. In contrast, he provides a compelling critique of factory farms, which cram thousands of cows, pigs or chickens into rows of cages in warehouses, feed them drugs to plump up their meat and fight off the illnesses caused by these inhumane conditions, and produce innumerable tons of environmentally destructive animal waste.”

[mnehring]

I agree as a personal choice, but in the article in the magazine, and similar articles, they have mentioned wanting to ‘take down corporate farming’..

The problem is they are trying to put their personal standards on everyone.. Yes, organic food is better (as a foodie) but the person who normally cannot even buy corn doesn’t care how it was grown, they just need food.. There is the market for both, with out having to ‘take out’ the other..

[webstersII]

“As a Ph.D. in Human Nutrition/Nutritional Biology, I can say that someone can be a completely health-conscious and healthy omnivore.”

What do you think of Weston A. Price’s research?

[SamAdams76]

This is the best marinade I've ever tasted...

I go through about 20 of these bottles every summer.

Now I get all my steaks at the local butcher shop. Forget about the supermarket stuff. I get porterhouse, T-bone, ribeye, etc. at the butcher shop. I'll pay about $15 for a thick porterhouse steak with no problem because it is so much cheaper than going to an expensive steakhouse.

I'll put the steaks on the grill after being soaked in the above marinade for about 4-6 hours. On the grill, I'll add more seasoning. Goes really well with grilled jalapeno, mushrooms and onions.

[LexBaird]

Vegetables are there to soak up gravy. See my tag for further comment.

[webstersII]

I see your point.

[paltz]

Christian vegetarians will call their diet the “Genesis 1:29 Diet”

[ari-freedom]

too bad they didn’t get up to chapter 9

[TexConfederate1861]

BEEF...it’s what’s for dinner! :)

[theymakemesick]

"To a die-hard meat eater, there's nothing more irritating than a smug vegetarian."

That's ridiculous. Die-hard meat eaters could not care less about vegetarians, quite the opposite as far as I'm concerned, I irritate them by smugly displaying the enjoyment I get from a rare rib eye. They seem to have a pretty tough time displaying the same enjoyment from their broccoli and rice.

[Freedom'sWorthIt]

Ok. Steak lover here also - plus eat plenty of chicken,turkey. But have a friend who just got a report of high cholesteroal and super high triglycerides. The physician who got this report went nuts about putting my friend on no red meat diet. This person now eats ground beef, beef roasts, some steak, regularly! The spouse will NOT eat chicken or fish. Friend is on medication for the cholesterol but these levels still went up - zoomed up.

Any reasonable ideas to help this friend's health "emergency" (according to the doctor)?

[shield]

I tried eating vegs only for a short time. I found the more vegs I ate the unhealthier I got. I’ll take a good steak any day.

[AnalogReigns]

Vegetarianism, nudism, and pacifism all have this in common: They ignore or underestimate the effect of living in a fallen world.

Ideally, we’d all live in harmony and no death would occur. However, since Adam and Eve, the cycle of lust, violence, and death are facts of life in this world.

Anyone who lives their life pretending that SIN is not a part of our world....with its effects of lust, violence and death, among other sorrows, is a fool, and deserves to be treated as such.

[epow]

"Why Vegetarians are Eating meat".

Let me guess. Because it tastes great and is a healthy food for humans?

If I couldn't get myself around a good 1/2 slab of barbecued ribs with extra red sauce now and then I would probably shrivel up and blow away.

[theymakemesick]

From http://www.bbqdan.com/grilling/charcoal_faq.html

Q: Exactly what are charcoal briquettes? A: Charcoal briquettes are produced by crushing charcoal and mixing in additives, such as nitrates (to make them burn better), and clays and starches (as binders to allow pressing into the traditional shape) and other additives. Some charcoal briquette manufacturers pride themselves on making a briquette out of almost pure wood charcoal, using only starch as a binder to hold the charcoal in shape. Other manufacturers make no secret that they use a wide variety of additives. A Kingsford Company spokeswoman stated: "Briquettes are preferred by Americans for their uniform size and stable heat." She pooh-poohs concerns about their ingredients, which include: powdered charcoal, anthracite coal for long burning, limestone to create ash, starch as binders, and sawdust and sodium nitrate for quick lighting. "The starch is perfectly natural and the coal is high-quality."

I'll stick with my gas grill.