i vowed to have a no meat week after that chapter, and guess what.

i failed.

hahahahaha. i had meat once a day every. single. day. this week

epic fail.

maybe i was thinking about it too much, and maybe i was just acknowledging how easily available it is to eat meat, instead of going ‘vegetarian’. i did it once for an entire month last year whilst in culinary school — i shall do it again! 

i will be completely honest here, because it is really hard, and there should be more support for these kinds of efforts! 

choosing the right amount of veg, fruits, legumes, nuts, raisins, bread, grains, and all such other examples of whole foods is really hard, that and learning to combine them all and get your varieties in everyday in order to actually feed yourself is a feat! but a celebratory one at that! sure i have to go out of the way to get my whole foods, sure i have to actively think about what i should eat, put more time into my preparation to make it yummy, but it cannnn be done!!! i must publicly vow now -

tomorrow is sunday - 

i shall begin my actual no meat week.

because i will be the first to admit, my biggest vice in life: GLUTTONY. 

i will gorge and gorge on yummy fatty things if it makes me happy. and why not right? life is short! but it’s also balanced with care and love for those around you, the home you keep, the pets you have, and the environment in which all your waste goes back into, never minding the entire food chain you even think you are remotely ‘connected’ to — (news flash! humans aren’t and never were evolutionarily on top of the food chain! we’re mammals that prey and feast on the scavenger behaviour to boost our egos and testosterone levels, we love to think we control POWER, grunt grunt grunt, so manly man to eat MEEEAATTTTT — myth myth myth, we are and always were gatherers…all the way. woot woot! women did most of the food picking within the communities back then, cuz how often did man really kill for food? i’m not talking about wild fish here, i’m talking about all those images we grew up withof tarzan and bushmen meandering about in the jungle with bamboo spears and loin cloths made from fur…

why do you think it’s so primal to eat bone marrow? we are scavengers, because great great great (times three) grandpa was one too. haaa! imagine that! 

but now, the fact is raising meat in north america is ruining our health and our environment no matter how good or yummy it may seem. and no matter how much more of those myths we want to buy into. animals are getting sick on these farms, their waste ends up in our water and soils, the people who live around these gianormous agribusiness farms are sick because of the porximity to these power plants, and because ‘you are what you eat’, our health is also affected by these tortured animal’s health — yea you think we really got rid of mad cow? we’re the ones as humans who are mad

c’est fou!

“but meat’s so tasty!” (yes, even i’ve said it)

– real carnivores eat RAW meat, does the idea of a bloody bloody raw decaying animal sound yummy to you? (no heat, no seasoning, no added flavours)

i know my stomach turns imagining a raw and bloody rabbit or chicken — but try feeding your dog raw meat. omg, you WILL be his forever best friend. (you think dogs actually like kibble? kibble is actually what makes dogs smell like dogggg :P)

Factoid: Eating less meat is better for the environment. whether we like that reality or not.  growing vegetables requires less space, less energy, less water, produces more food a year, feeds more people, and is way more sustainable. (ooh i know buzz words used nowadays with the whole ‘go green’ movement because when you really start researching agribusiness practices, you too will grimace, hopefully) 

so here i am giving PROPS to all the vegetarians, vegans, and 100 day LOCAL diet from 100 miles folks today who put these things into practice EVERYDAY.

so what are you going to do about it? 

i have a lot to learn still about choosing where my food comes from. and i have a lot of practicing to do, i guess as a foodie and a chef, i was fully able to appreciate all the delicious meat i did have that was seasoned and cooked perfectly (whether the beef, chicken, lamb, or pork this week was raised “organically” or not) but still, it’s time to take care of more than myself now that i am aware of creatures that sacrifice their lives and well being for my benefit. 

for all the animals that died in the process this week for my benefit, i am forever grateful. 

viva la revolution!

carrots anyone?