Giving up vegetarianism - Page 2

[MamaPrincess]

Here is a drawing of the mound for storing vegetables over the winter safely and energy-free:

scroll down to the second drawing on this page:

http://urbanext.illinois.edu/tog/storing.cfm

my note: it says in the article for mild temperatures - and my grand parents as all people

in France in their area were doing it - it is not for mild temperatures only. a heavy snow

and super cold winter can't and won't touch veggies kept that way. I remember

winters when only chimney were sticking out and yet veggies were just fine.

once you have thick layer of straw and soil, nothing can penetrate it.

[pokeyAC]

I never tried to push my vegetarianism on others, but when I first became a vegetarian, I was very passionate about it. I lived in Ohio, and when I was 13, there weren't many other vegetarians around. I often had to defend my choice. I joined PETA, I was very against hunting and any kind of animal cruelty. As I grew older, my opinions evolved and my hard line softened. I got more into food and went to culinary school for baking & pastry. I started to feel like I was missing out on some delicious foods. It was a slow evolution for me. I thought about it for a long time, and I eased back into eating meat one food at a time. I was a vegetarian for 20 years. I feel like that made an impact. I eat healthier and more local and organic than I ever did in the past. These choices make an impact too. If I lived in an area where it was more difficult to find sustainably and humanely produced meats, I would eat vegetarian more often. I try to be flexible. I would love to be able to raise my own chickens, but it wouldn't work where I live. I would like to have goats too. I think if you raise the animal yourself, it would be ok to eat it. I can see your argument about the grain having a high environmental cost though. I think it also makes sense to only include certain meats in your diet based on their impact on the environment if that's a big concern. Basically, I believe it is up to each individual to decide how they want to eat. They shouldn't feel pressured into eating any certain way. You have shown your commitment by being a vegetarian for 10 years. It's obvious that you care about animals and the environment and are trying to be responsible.

[dovey]

I hear what you're saying about the grains to feed animals in the winter too.  We feed our chickens organic layer feed, and they go through a lot of it during the time when they are producing no eggs.  However, they also eat all of our household scraps, which I think is much better than composting them.  They produce the manure which goes into next year's garden. 

That being said, from what I've seen, eggs are definitely not an environmentally friendly food.  Especially in the months when there is no significant forage for the chickens.  But personally, I would never butcher our chickens just because they needed to eat over the winter.  Just like I would not butcher the dog because he needs to eat.  They are our friends as well giving us food.  I respect them for their sweet chickenyness.  Probably if we didn't have children, we wouldn't have chickens, but it is important to my daughter to raise chickens, and I've grown to appreciate them too. 

I think another interesting question to ask is this:  Should the top priority of animal agriculture be sustainability and efficiency?  Or are there more important ethical considerations when we are using animals for food?