Lovely. Found out via a post on Well that two out of three broiler chickens (which are pretty much any chicken raised for consumption) are contaminated with either salmonella or campylobacter bacteria, which can both cause food poisoning, but the latter can lead to "meningitis, arthritis, and Guillain-Barré syndrome, a severe neurological condition." (Read the rest of the post here.)
Argh. This is pretty much why I've cut back on meat in the past year or so. I mean not just bacteria; there are other factors too, particularly that raising animals for human consumption requires so much more energy--both in feed and fossil fuels--than just growing plants. But I haven't become a vegetarian yet because... well I guess because I don't believe in diets (and vegetarianism or veganism is a form of a restrictive diet.) Because I know myself too well: if I want to eat meat, I will. And anyway, it's not the meat itself I disagree with--it's the way it's raised, butchered, transported, etc. (If, years after declaring vegetarianism, I was at a small farm and they butchered a chicken that they raised from an egg--you'd better believe I'd want some.)
And it doesn't matter to me to be able to say "Oooo I'm a vegetarian/vegan," like it's some sort of a badge to wear. And I know it's not to everyone; to some it is a deeply personal and value-laden commitment. But I can't help thinking that to some, the trendy aspect is a bit too alluring....
Oh, of COURSE there are people who wear their vegetarianism/veganism as some sort of badge of honor. I can't say with absolute, undoubtable confidence that there are people who become vegetarians/vegans solely for the title because that's a pretty hefty lifestyle change and no one would admit to doing that, but I expect there are such tools out there. And even if such a tool was vegetarian/vegan for some greater purpose, the fact that they're parading it around shows how cosmetic that aspect of their life is.
ReplyDeleteAnyway. Your post kind of brings up a tangential but relevant point about globalism, namely with the bacteria chickens.
...actually, it's almost completely unrelated to your post, but I'm going to write something about it on my blog. Maybe once I'm less tired and less hungover. Sorry if this comment was incoherant or ridden with errors.