We know. We’ve heard. Six acres of corn to raise a pound of beef. The best diet for a sustainable planet is plants. Eating meat is mean to animals. So is eating eggs and milk. So why, Enviro-Girl and Recycla, you say you care about the planet. Why do you keep eating meat?
Enviro-Girl: I’ll be honest, it tastes really good. I mean, hot dogs at a baseball game, a steak sizzling on a charcoal grill, beer-battered fish, bacon with a side of eggs over easy and toast. There is simply no substitute. I grew up with meat-eaters and married a meat-eater and (gasp!) a man who hunts. Everything he shoots gets eaten, it’s not done for sporting purposes only. But I also realize too much meat makes for an unhealthy diet and an unhealthy planet, so I eat it one meal a day usually.
Recycla: I’ll just say here that I can’t imagine giving up meat either. In general, my family eats meat only once or perhaps twice a week and then chicken two or three times a month. Fish is an infrequent food for us — maybe four times a year. One of my daughters needs extra protein for health reasons, so going vegan isn’t even an option for her. Yes, she could eat more beans, soy, and tofu, but she’s only seven and I’m not going to ask her to give up cheese and yogurt.
Enviro-Girl: Studies show that a low-meat diet has the same health benefits as a no-meat diet — meat can be a healthy part of a diet. It provides protein, which I’m partial to since I’m hypoglycemic and require protein to process sugars and carbohydrates. Vegetarian diets are difficult to balance out — I have three sons and since it feels like I’m constantly feeding them as it is, I admittedly take the easiest course of action. They eat a lot of peanut butter, pasta and cereal–but they also eat a lot of cheese, hot dogs and pepperoni pizza. We live in the dairy state and enjoy ice cream, milk, sour cream and cheese.
Yet for all of my posturing as a carnivore, I’m proud to say my beef comes from a butcher down the road — the cow comes from a farmer up the road. I know my beef isn’t from a slaughterhouse or a cow dosed with copious amounts of antibiotics. I buy my fish, pork and chicken with the same conscience. My milk is from dairies that don’t use bovine grown hormones and I buy from the local guys so I know their cows are treated humanely. These choices are not only better for the animals, they’re better for my children’s health, too.
Recycla: We buy only organic, hormone-free milk too and have recently changed the kind of beef and chicken we eat. As the mother of two daughters, I’ve read the studies. There is a very real chance that hormone-laden animal products is causing earlier puberty in girls.
Enviro-Girl: I know a lot of self-proclaimed vegetarians, and I’m glad they have the discipline to stick to that diet. I don’t. I also own leather shoes, wool sweaters and two leather chairs. Some vegetarians have no qualm using animal products for those purposes.
We all have our weaknesses when it comes to our commitment to a sustainable, healthy planet. My family doesn’t drink bottled water, abstains from eating at fast food and franchise restaurants, has invested in the restoration of native habitats on over 50 acres of land, and buy locally produced food and goods whenever possible. We also eat meat, drive 2 non-hybrid vehicles (a momvan and a Taurus), and buy juice boxes when it’s our turn to supply the treat for the soccer team.
The attitude at Eco Women is that we’re doing our best, but we’re not martyrs either. We’re taking the greenest course of action available most of the time, but we’re guilty of offenses against the planet, too. The important thing is that we all do what we can — in whatever ways work for us — to help Save Planet Earth.
