Why We Should All Eat Less Meat

Estimated Reading Time: 4 Minutes

If you'd asked me four years ago I would have laughed at the idea of becoming vegetarian, saying something like:

"I love meat, how could I give that up?"

Three years ago, I'd probably laugh again, draw upon college experience and say

"Human teeth were shaped by evolution to eat both meat and plants. Being a vegetarian is against human nature."

Yet for the last two years I've consciously made the decision to eat less and less meat. At first it was meat two or three times a week, then it dropped to once a week, once every two weeks, and then to about once a month. How could this happen?

Turns out I have a girl to blame. And science. The usual suspects.

Flexitarians

Although it sounds a bit like a yoga expert, a flexitarian is someone who chooses not to eat meat when possible, but will eat meat on special occasions (when it's already prepared by friends, or a goat is slaughtered in your honor, etc). The frequency of meat eating is really up to the person, but it's normally pretty infrequent. When I started dating a flexitarian, I was intrigued by this idea, but didn't really have any good reasons for reducing my meat consumption. I love meat! Why would I eat less of something I love?

Then I read Michael Pollan's "Omnivores Dilemma" and started thinking about not only what I ate but the conditions in which it was produced. 

Learning that eating less meat would have a positive impact on my health, and less meat production would be better for the environment (data here), I made the decision to start reducing my meat consumption.

Life without Meat*

*Almost without meat.

For two years, things have been wonderful. I've been able to eat meat when needed and abstain when possible. I thought I'd miss meat a lot more than I actually do. I was also worried about supplementing the protein in my diet, which has turned out to be easy (beans, lentils, soy, quinoa, spinach, eggs, lots of nuts). 

Currently I'm working out around 1 hour per day, six days a week,  and eating meat once a month. I'm in the best all-around shape of my life and have never eaten healthier. Up until two weeks ago, I figured this would go on for the rest of my life. Meat when necessary, but 99% without.

The Ethical Component

As explained,  my decision was entirely personally and environmentally oriented. Better for me, and better for the planet. Easy. And the animals killed to make meat? Pssh, they aren't important. As I'd told people, 

"I'm not one of those people doing it for the animals" 

To tell you the truth, I had never really thought about the animals involved in the meat industry. I only knew that factory farms were awful for the environment, and yes, animals were held in terrible conditions. But when I realized the truth, it rocked the foundations of my former certainty.

Please watch this documentary, "Earthlings", which offers a uncompromising view of human relations with animals.  It's tough to get through, but worth it. I guess like most things. It's split into five parts, Pets, Food, Clothes, Entertainment, Scientific Research, and talks about treatment of animals in each industry. I had to take an emotional break halfway though. It's powerful, and startling.

WARNING: This video is extremely graphic in it's depiction of the state of animals in various industries.

So What Now?
 
Well I'm torn. And shocked. And saddened. Now that I've seen the suffering of such animals, it only adds to the evidence about the health and environmental impact of meat.  Should I become a full vegetarian, forever? Should I eat meat once or twice a year? Can I eat meat again? (I haven't since watching the documentary, and won't for a while). I've still got many things to puzzle out. But one thing is clear. 

"And if you've come this far, maybe you're willing to come a little further."
-Shawshank Redemption

It's time for our society to make a change. It's time that we all take action to eat significantly less meat. 

Progress Update - 2015

I decided to try out being Vegetarian for all of 2013. Read about that experience here "A Year Without Meat" Given that the same problems with meat are inherent to cheese, eggs, and dairy, I decided to try out a Vegan diet for 2014. I'm planning to stay Vegan for the foreseeable future. 

New inspiration from Jonathan Safran Foer with his book Eating Animals, and his NY Times article.

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Kurt Berning

Hug the Rhino
For a better life

Also check out another documentary, "Forks Over Knives", which covers the quest to eat healthier through a plant based diet. 

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The Power of Empathy

If we can clear space in our lives by caring less about things that aren't important (see Power of Apathy), it's possible to fill that space with life-giving relationships and meaningful actions. This is precisely what I mean by the "The Power of Empathy".

To start, it's required that you watch the following video. It's an RSA production that features professor and philosopher Roman Krznaric discussing empathy and how we can expand our empathetic potential.  It's brilliant, and I'll use themes from the video to frame the discussion on empathy. 

*** The rest of the blog assumes you have watched the video. Which of course, you should because it's fabulous. 

Creating Mass Empathy Museums

Aren't empathy museums a genius idea? Wow! Roman, you had me at "A place which is not about dusty exhibits ... but an experiential and conversational public space!" Such potential!

Roman mentioned learning how sweatshops work, checking people out for conversations, etc. But I've thought of heaps of other ideas, and the possibilities are lacking in ends! In one room you could play the part of a teacher with 25 teenage students trying to impart a science lesson, in another you could be a waiter/waitress and spend 15 minutes trying to keep up with orders and balance plates and fill water glasses and remember orders  and have people complain! In another room, you could be tasked with picking strawberries in a room heated to 35 degrees (100 F) and have to fill a crate and then get paid 10 pence/cents for it. This is one of those ideas where I just want to say, well, what are we all waiting for? Let's release our horses and go for it.

Even in the 80's this was a tough job. 

If you have more Empathy museum ideas, please post them as comments on this blog. I'd love to hear them, and let me know if you'd like to collaborate on opening one of these museums in the future. Pssh. The Lourve is great, but what does it teach about The Love? Learning to love and care about a diverse range of individuals through a museum? Wow. Wow. Woah-wow. 

So now that I'm done gushing about that idea...

We can build our empathetic capacity. 

How? Well through museums. Wow! (See Above). Roman also mentions sensitive listening. Basically don't text while someone is talking, don't interrupt, focus on what other people are saying and show them that you truly care. And when necessary, share something about yourself, make yourself vulnerable and open up so that people know you are genuine. Do that, and you'll be amazed at what people tell you. 

I love spending time with you...

Of course, sometimes it's proper to grease the conversation a bit with a few weighty queries. You can connect to people by asking powerful, specific questions that are significant without being invasive. What is your family like? How close are you to your family? How is your relationship with your Dad different than with your Mom? Have you ever read "A Life of Learning and Activism?". What's your favorite post? You know, these are just suggestions. 

Flowering of Mass Empathy

If events like the Abolition of Slavery, Civil Rights, Women's Suffrage tell us anything, it's that such flowering can happen. I think the next great movement is developing our empathy across time, and in doing so taking meaningful action to prevent climate change. That's the great challenge of the modern world, and history tells us that's it's extremely and tantalizingly possible. 

Such an event might even be as beautiful as Oregon, but likely not. 

I'll end with wise words from one of my favorite books, Tuesdays with Morrie. 

"The problem is that we don’t believe we are as much alike as we are. If we saw each other as more alike, we might be eager to join in one big human family in this world, and to care about that family the way that we care about our own. Invest in the human family. Invest in people. Build a little community of those you love and those who love you.”

And empathy is how we make that happen. 

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Kurt Berning

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