Throughout the past couple weeks, I have been continuing to work on eating vegetarian. I shared this video with some of my friends and family. I think it explains well that eating even partially vegetarian can make a difference. The video talks about a movement towards making vegetables and grains a center of the meal rather than a large piece of meat.
I recalled voting that occurred last year in Massachusetts when I watched this video. I remember discussing in some of my high school classes the different laws that we were voting for in Massachusetts. Question three was passed and prohibited farmers from raising animals in confined spaces that prevented lying down or turning around and the sale of products from animals confined in that way. I remember arguing that this bill may not be good because it would raise costs for local farmers and simply cause us to import more meat rather than raise it within the state. Now that I look at the bill from another view point. I think it is a great movement towards protecting animals and giving them a right to living comfortably.
I have begun to lean towards the viewpoint that people do not need to be completely vegetarian to improve the quality that animals are living in. This is a larger lifestyle change that in which some people are not ready to commit. Perhaps what is needed is a larger emphasis on eating dishes that are vegetable and grain centered and working on limiting meat intake. I am thinking of sharing vegetable and grain centered recipes with friends and family to help them practice the habit of eating less meat.
Sources:
The Humane Society of the United States. 2017. “Working to Protect Farm Animals” Filmed September 2017, Video. 2:49. http://www.humanesociety.org/issues/campaigns/factory_farming/
WBUR. 2016. “Mass. Voters Approve Question 3, Banning Certain Farm Animal Confinement Processes.” Accessed October 22, 2018. http://www.wbur.org/politicker/2016/11/08/question-three-animal-confinement-results
Hi Kristen!
I appreciate your approach to national vegetarianism very much. I too believe that it is very impractical to believe that the majority of the US will become complete vegetarians at some point soon or even ever. It is much more realistic for us to push people in our country to slowly but surely begin to incorporate less and less meat into our diets, rather than say it is either all or nothing. As you mentioned, I think it comes down to putting more emphasis on grains and veggies through the sharing of recipes and promotion of delicious alternatives to meat. I also think a step towards a less violent society is simply to try and push people towards primarily purchasing meat from companies who treat their animals properly, prior to death. When it comes down to the actual eating of meat, I feel much far guilty if I know that the meat I’m eating was treated with respect when it was alive, rather than eating meat that went through a painful death. I think in transitioning the US into a more vegetarian based country it takes baby steps. I would love to hear about a few of the recipes you shared with your family, and what their thoughts were!