https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SzkBEAVb6Hs
About a month ago I decided to experiment with eating meat again. Since then I’ve dreaded writing this post. However, many people consult with me on dietary advice so I guess it’s about time I write it.
Before anything else though I want to make something clear. I don’t eat food in order to gain affiliation with other people. I don’t care what meat-eaters, or vegans, or vegetarians, or paleoists think about my diet.
I eat food in order to produce results. If eating cardboard was discovered to be the healthiest diet that’s what I’d do. If being a breathatarian led to optimal performance, I’d stop eating food. I’m going to do whatever it takes for me to best contribute to the collective consciousness of the world.
But, What About Ethics?
Honestly, I think on an ethical level there are a lot of gray areas in diet. Do animals feel pain? I think so. Are they conscious like humans? Probably to some degree, but maybe just not as much as humans. So, maybe you could use that as justification in eating animals.
However doesn’t it also appear likely that a horse has more awareness than a human baby? If so, couldn’t you ethically eat a human baby?
The point I’m trying to make is that regardless of what you believe you’re going to find all kinds of retarded rationalizations for your belief. Things aren’t black and white with diet. A little ethical judge angel isn’t going to descend from the sky and confirm that what you’re doing is right or wrong.
Some things we can reasonably agree on such as not eating human babies, but to some extent the rest is going to have to be a leap of faith on your part.
With gray areas make your best guess given the information you have and then move on. Experiencing anxiety over whether you made the optimal decisions, and dwelling on the past isn’t productive.
Instead focus that energy, on making sure you’re on the proper side of everything that has a clearly correct decision.
My Specific, “Rationalization”
I’m not going to point fingers at anyone who disagrees with me, because any ethical arguments here are merely rationalizations. They allow my brain to feel justified in what it’s doing. If you disagree with me you’ll have different arguments and rationalizations, but ultimately be engaging in the same process.
I see diet as having two different levels. On one level there’s things like calories, protein, vitamins, etc, but on another level I believe food also has energetic properties to it.
Dr. Masaru Emoto conducted an experiment in the 1990s showing that the chemical properties of water responded to positivity, and negativity. I believe that to some extent everything is part of the same collective consciousness, so the manner in which food is prepared is often as important as the food itself.
Animals in slaughterhouses, who’ve been tortured and trapped in small cages their entire lives have been exposed to negative energies their entire lives, and as a result your consumption of them will in turn make you more negative. (Obviously being unable to exercise and fed unnatural diets causes them to be less nutritional on a macronutrient level as well.)
On the other hand animals that have been treated well, or naturally grown plants treated with love will emanate a more positive energy, and in turn the consumption of them will make you a more positive person. (As well as being more nutritional on a macronutrient level.)
In short, I believe that both macronutrients, as well as the energetic properties of food are important. Just as there’s unethically raised meat, there’s also unethically raised plants, so instead of pointing fingers, I’m simply going to center my diet around food which has been raised/grown with love.
Is this solid proof that eating ethically raised meats is the optimal, perfect, unarguably best diet? Of course not, but it’s the best I’ve got so I’m going to roll with it, move on, and focus on more important things.
Identification
Isn’t switching your diet unloyal to other vegans? You’ve been a vegan for a while now, shouldn’t you just always be the vegan now? Peyton Manning is the football guy, Eminem is the rap guy, and you’re the vegan guy! You can’t just stop being the vegan guy because that would mess with my model of reality.
People always resist change in others because if others are allowed to change we must either admit our laziness, or begin changing ourselves.
We also resist change in ourselves, because staying the same is easier. One of my problems with veganism was that I identified with it. I AM a vegan, as if being a vegan was all I ever was or ever would be.
I never want to identify with specific beliefs, because at some point they inevitably become outdated. If you were a loser in high school a belief that popular people are douchebags may have preserved your confidence and served you at some point. However, when you become identified with a belief you hold it past it’s usefulness expiration date.
One of my biggest problems with veganism was that I identified with it and tried to obtain my sense of self from it. I felt threatened when other people criticized it, and that was one of the biggest indicators I had to change my model of reality, and at least become open to the possibility of change.
My Experiences Of The Last Month
Eating meat for the first time again was among the weirdest things I’ve ever done. I felt a little light headed a couple hours after eating, but for the most part it was a relatively smooth transition.
The only meat I’ve eaten thus far has been Chipotle as the meat my family eats is questionable, and there’s no other ethically considerate restaurants around here.
I eat chicken in my burritos once a week from Chipotle, but other than that I eat pretty much solely plants. I still find dairy in general to be completely unappealing (as well as being much more questionable in regards to health), and I have little interest in having anything to do with it.
I haven’t been very social this month, but it’s nice knowing there’s a restaurant I can eat at with my friends, and I’m super excited to know that traveling seems much more doable after high school.
I’m excited to know that the foods I allow myself to consume aren’t going to restrict my life, and growth experiences going forward. Because socializing and travel are expected to be my focus, and biggest leverages for growth over the next couple years I’m excited to see this new avenue make them more accessible.
Maybe I’m going to get roasted myself in the comments for this post, but as of now, I’m quite happy with my diet, and eating ethically raised animals.
[grwebform url=”http://app.getresponse.com/view_webform.js?wid=12610802&u=BS1kr” css=”on” center=”off” center_margin=”200″/]
Comments are closed, but trackbacks and pingbacks are open.