Two days ago, before meeting up with a friend, I stopped into a pizza place to grab supper. (don't worry, I don't normally eat pizza for dinner). Choices for pizza: cheese, pepperoni, veggie, lots of meat. I knew that I should pick cheese, or veggies with no meat, but I went with pepperoni. This happens to me pretty much every time I go to a restaurant. And every time, I feel guilty about it, but I never eat meat at home, so I always see it as a rare treat. I'm tired of feeling bad about it, and I know I should do better.
New challenge: Factory Farm Meatless May. I can eat hunted, ethically raised local and organic meat, but no conventional, factory farm meat for the whole month of May.
I have to admit something embarrassing: I LOVE the taste of processed meats. I rarely eat a steak or a hamburger, but I could probably eat a hot dog every day. I know, I know: hotdogs, saussages, bacon, lunch meat...these are disgusting. But they taste amazing, and occasionally I indulge at restaurants.
I'm not really a vegetarian (I think in moderation, it's good to eat hunted or ethical, organic, local meat is okay) and I eat meat at a restaurant maybe once every week or two. At home, I'm a veg stir fry or pasta salad kind of girl. It's silly that I only eat meat at restaurants - if I'm going to purchase meat, shouldn't it be the kind of meat that I want to support, not from a factory farm? I kind of rationalize it by saying that I don't eat meat in the other 85 meals in the month, so 1 chicken quesadilla, 2 ham sandwiches, 1 hotdog, and 1 steak in a month isn't that bad. Lame excuse.
I had a really good experience with the Zero Waste Challenge for the month of March. My friends and family knew that I was doing it, my blog readers (...crickets chirping) knew that I was doing it, and I even got some random comments that people thought it was a good idea or that they were inspired to cut down on their garbage too. I already do most of the things environmentalists are "supposed" to do: eat organic and local, reduce packaging, turn down the heat, take a short shower, walk or take public transportation everywhere. So how can I keep raising the bar, especially without banning everything suddenly and making myself seem like an eco-nut? (Actually, I may have already reached that distinction.)
Bring on the month-long challenges. Two documentaries that I've seen lately have made me think that this kind of project can get people talking, and show others that another way is possible:
New challenge: Factory Farm Meatless May. I can eat hunted, ethically raised local and organic meat, but no conventional, factory farm meat for the whole month of May.
I have to admit something embarrassing: I LOVE the taste of processed meats. I rarely eat a steak or a hamburger, but I could probably eat a hot dog every day. I know, I know: hotdogs, saussages, bacon, lunch meat...these are disgusting. But they taste amazing, and occasionally I indulge at restaurants.
I'm not really a vegetarian (I think in moderation, it's good to eat hunted or ethical, organic, local meat is okay) and I eat meat at a restaurant maybe once every week or two. At home, I'm a veg stir fry or pasta salad kind of girl. It's silly that I only eat meat at restaurants - if I'm going to purchase meat, shouldn't it be the kind of meat that I want to support, not from a factory farm? I kind of rationalize it by saying that I don't eat meat in the other 85 meals in the month, so 1 chicken quesadilla, 2 ham sandwiches, 1 hotdog, and 1 steak in a month isn't that bad. Lame excuse.
I had a really good experience with the Zero Waste Challenge for the month of March. My friends and family knew that I was doing it, my blog readers (...crickets chirping) knew that I was doing it, and I even got some random comments that people thought it was a good idea or that they were inspired to cut down on their garbage too. I already do most of the things environmentalists are "supposed" to do: eat organic and local, reduce packaging, turn down the heat, take a short shower, walk or take public transportation everywhere. So how can I keep raising the bar, especially without banning everything suddenly and making myself seem like an eco-nut? (Actually, I may have already reached that distinction.)
Bring on the month-long challenges. Two documentaries that I've seen lately have made me think that this kind of project can get people talking, and show others that another way is possible:
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