what would you do?
My eldest daughter just sent me this essay and I am wondering what you would do if you got an e-mail like this from your kid (?). Please note that we are not big carnivores over here; we do eat chicken a few nights a week and red meat when its on sale. When I claim I’m going to get a bumper sticker that reads: animals are food, it really is a joke. I just like to be ANTI every now and then. Mostly, every now.
Meatless Madness:
An essay by SJ Kerwin on why vegetarianism is right for Sarah Jane and why her parents should allow it.
Meals in most homes around the country generally contain a great deal of meat, and our home is no exception. Maybe we have a bit less than in some homes, but there still is a great deal of dead animal in our diet. Chicken. Turkey. Salami. Chicken. Burgers. Ham. And did I mention chicken? Yeah, we eat our fair share, and I, Sarah Jane Kerwin, feel like I no longer want to continue this practice by becoming a vegetarian.
Probably your first question is why. Why would she want to give up that succulent meat? Well, there’s always the standard: I like animals, and I don’t think the way they are treated is fair, especially on factory farms. I mean, how different are dogs from cows, budgies from chickens, cats from pigs? Or, if you prefer, whales to cows, monkeys to chickens, sloths to pigs? They’re all animals! And the animals we eat are not treated well at all.
In the United States alone, over 6 billion animals are slaughtered for food, and 90% of those are raised in confinement. The factory chickens eaten alone could stretch to the moon and back twice if you laid them out beak to toe. They are crowded together on the floors of factories, while egg-laying hens are stuck together in tiny cages where they get about 1/2 a square foot each. And you know what else? Free range just means they weren’t caged, it doesn’t state that they ever lived outside. Perhaps they only saw daylight on the way to the slaughterhouse. Pigs live in tiny pens and are referred to as “crops”, “downer” cattle (the ones with problems) are still sold to humans, and dairy cows produce up to 10 times the milk they would naturally. Not to mention that even though the animals are supposed to be unconscious before they are killed, the law doesn’t apply to poultry and is rarely enforced.
Maybe you’re thinking, “So? Just get “happy” meat!” But really, why should humans be able to dominate like that? Along with that, I don’t think it’s right to eat something you couldn’t kill yourself. No WAY could I ever kill any of the animals we eat unless the situation was dire, so I don’t feel right eating them.
http://www.peta.org/
and for a specific video
http://www.petatv.com/tvpopup/Prefs.asp?video=meet_your_meatNot convinced yet? Fine. There are other reasons. Did you know that being a vegetarian could help globally? Meat wastes land, grain (7 pounds of grain is required to get just 1 pound of pork, 5/1 beef, 3/1 chicken), water (on average, it takes 2,500 gallons for a single pound of beef). It also pollutes, loses topsoil crucial for plants (for every pound of beef, 35 pounds of topsoil erode yet it takes 200-1000 years for the earth to produce just an inch.), increases desertification, and clears forests! Some people think that if everyone in the world gave up meat, world hunger would end. Now I don’t know about that, but I do know that it would help get a good start on the problem!
Of course there’s always the selfish reason, too. Not the one I’m going for, but it’s a perk: health! Vegetarians are (overall) healthy. It reduces the chances of heart disease and some kinds of cancer, and is just all around less fatty (even though I don’t really care about that).
Most parents who are against vegetarianism are because they are afraid of the loss of Protein and Iron. But there are many other sources, even WITH the small amounts of dairy I get, to get these important dietary elements. Protein is present in legumes, soy foods, vegetables, nuts, seeds, and eggs. Iron is found in beans, figs, apricots, spinach, seeds, raisins, and tofu. Also, you can increase the Vitamin C increase to help absorb the non-heme iron (iron from plants, versus heme iron from meat). Cranberry juice actually has MORE Vitamin C than orange juice, and some other good sources include red peppers, strawberries, kiwi, broccoli, raspberries, and sweet potatoes. By eating a balanced diet and adding some soy products, I can make it fine.
Yes, I have a habit of being picky. But my palate is developing and maturing, and I would be willing to try a lot more international and interesting cuisine. I’ll make sure my diet is full of all the colors of the rainbow, and eat plenty of vitamins. Other cultures have more vegetarian lifestyles and I could pick up a few things, and I think I could find a great deal of good veggie recipes in basic cookbooks ranging from The Joy of Cooking to Vegetables Every Day.
Recipes…that brings me to the cooking and shopping bit. My diet shouldn’t make more work for YOU, and it won’t. I’ll cook every bit of my dinner if I have to, and go shopping after Weaver Street every Sunday for my weekly ingredients. Maybe I’ll even cook for you sometimes! Don’t worry about that. You’ll barely notice the difference, except for the fact that when I ask what’s for dinner, it’ll be to find out whether I have the night off because you’re cooking, say, pasta. I just hope you don’t mind sharing the kitchen!
I have a couple good friends who can help give me tips on this kind of thing: Galen who used to be vegan (as you know), and Josh, who’s been vegetarian for 9 months. They can give me recipes, brand names, and moral support. That way, I’ll be able to get underway with assistance from someone who knows what they’re doing.
By the way, I hope all this time you weren’t thinking that I’m trying to convince you to change anything in your lifestyle or say eating meat is bad. I just don’t have the desire to eat it anymore. I don’t care what you eat, and I hope you don’t care what I eat. You know I have a healthy, balanced diet already. I’m just replacing meat with soy and other substitutes and I’ll eat a vitamin every day!
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
I checked a book out of the library for you to look at if you desire called Help! My Child Has Stopped Eating Meat by Carol J. Adams
Also, here are some more resources:
A Teen’s Guide to Going Vegetarian by Judy Krizmanic (This is where I got a lot of my information)
http://www.peta.org/ (as listed above)
http://www.goveg.com/
There is a vegetarian starter ‘kit’ downloadable or orderable from goveg.com or outside the Chapel Hill public library.
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That’s a well-written essay! Both my sister and I went through vegetarian phases (up to 10+ years) before we went back to eating meat for health reasons. There are much worse things your child could be than a vegetarian!
Comment by Alison — 4/5/2007 @ 8:53 pm
Hi, I found your blog through a link on “Speedy Geoff’s blog” and have been enjoying reading since.
If my child wrote this in the first instance I’d be very impressed. Structurally it is a perfect essay, I know a little about this as I teach essay writing.
As for content I’d say you’d have to be proud. Your child has come to this decision and then gone out and researched how to do this while considering all the problems associated with it.
You know if your daughter does the same with every decision she makes she’ll have a good life that is a recipe for winning.
By the way your blog is a great read and I reckon your daughter is making the right decision on becoming a vegetarian. It’s something that I aspire to, although at 42 I’ve still not got it all together. Still, nobody has ever accused me of being smart or fast.
All tyhe best with your training , running and blog.
http://the-long.blogspot.com/
Comment by Scott Brown — 4/5/2007 @ 11:49 pm
Personally, I believe that vegetarianism, at least in the lacto-ovo version is fairly easy to follow and be healthy with. I am not, nor have I ever been a vegetarian, but issues like the ethical issue of animals, especially beef, consuming a disproportionate number of resources rings true to me. Also, the suspected link between feed lots and e. coli H157:O34 (don’t know if that number is right) makes me feel more concerned. I’d allow it and encourage her to go the lacto-ovo route, but I’d also question her a bit about some related issues, perhaps including Jewish and Muslim (kosher and halal) slaughter. These dietary laws apear to have been based on health issues, and might, with her concerns about animal welfare, keep her eating some meat.
She did a good job of expressing her views, but I wonder if she wrote it, or was simply sending on a prepared statement, perhaps with minor modifications. Regardless of what may be decided, it may well pose an opportunity for some learning throughout the family. Best of luck with this situation.
Comment by Scooter — 4/6/2007 @ 6:14 am
Her dad asked her the same thing (he’s a Shakespeare professor, by the way; wise to undergraduate internet tricks of plagiarism). He asked, “Did you copy and paste any of it?” And she said she wrote every word herself!
I like that she realizes it’s a whole family decision.
Thanks for your comment, Wayne!
Comment by Joan — 4/6/2007 @ 7:48 am
I have a few responses.
First, her argument is weaker because it uses evidence from PETA. The entire organization is founded on hypocrisy and I tend to discount anything that they support or that is supported with evidence provided by them. I fail to see how taking animals out of shelters by telling the shelters you will find homes for them and then killing the dogs and cats and leaving their carcasses in public parks on a regular basis is very ethical, and that is just the most recent atrocity that I have heard from that organization.
Second, it is a very well written and well thought out essay. However, the decision does not necessarily have to effect the entire family.
Everybody is entitled to eat whatever they want. Technically, your daughter lives under your roof and should abide by your rules, but my wife’s family had to go through a similar situation when she was growing up. Her sister decided to become a vegetarian and refused to eat the family meals. Their solution was to allow her to cook her own meals while they just made less of what they were eating or had more left overs. Problem solved.
If she can find a diet that fits her lifestyle and allows her to be healthy, then there really should be no problems. She does not insist that you change your habits (which I wouldn’t put up with if it happened in my household; I don’t put up with it when it happens to me outside of my household), only that you respect her decision to change her habits.
I joke with my wife about becoming a vegetarian for health reasons, but while I am actively consuming more vegetarian meals (at least 3 or 4 per week now) I have no intention of ever giving up fish (unless I for some reason move away from the ocean) and probably would not give up poultry.
I also have no problems with the way that animals are grown and slaughtered in order to feed me, and that argument would never sway my line of thinking. I respect others to not wish to support the practice, as long as they respect my right to not be bothered by it. As for comparing cats to pigs and dogs to cows, they can all be eaten. I have never eaten a cat or a dog, but there are plenty of cultures that consider them a source of food.
Comment by Blaine Moore (Run to Win) — 4/6/2007 @ 8:35 am
Wonderful essay!
I think you should let her experiment with this lifestyle as long as she explains the health benefits of each and every meal that she cooks in lieu of partaking in what you have made for the family. If she gives a logical argument for what she is eating, why not let her skip the meat?
As long as she does not get lazy and start eating cereal for every meal, I think she will be fine choosing soy over chicken. SJ just needs to make sure that she remains vigilant in giving her body what it needs to grow healthy and strong. Ignoring much needed protein and iron in the diet can lead to serious problems, so a life decision such as this cannot be made lightly.
It appears that SJ has done her research, and truly feels as though this is the right thing for her to do. When you consider the petty things that most teenage girls are worried about at her age, the fact that she has concerned herself with this decision speaks volumes about her character.
I wish you all the best of luck!
Comment by JOCKO — 4/6/2007 @ 9:37 am
What a cool kid! You should be beaming.
Comment by Tara — 4/7/2007 @ 6:23 am
A well written essay that she obviously put a lot of thought and effort into.
I have a running partner that is vegetarian and she is perfectly healthy.
I eat much meat and we get along just fine; I respect ehr decision and she respects mine, even though I am constantly picking on her about it.
I would be concerned about the PETA reference. They are a fanatical group that has proven support to many “terror” organizations in the US.
Comment by jd — 4/8/2007 @ 9:28 am
Hmmm….the “sentient beings, not food choices” is a bit suspect; you’re free to call a chicken “sentient” if you wish, but it will leave me doubting your sentience
….I’ve gone mostly flexitarian myself, but not from any ethical or religious reasons; my own push in that direction came from a New York Times article published in January:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/28/magazine/28nutritionism.t.html?ex=1176264000&en=92b8c4a2994cb1a3&ei=5070
However - while I certainly agree that anybody can eat whatever they want, I’m not about to let a child in my home dictate the family menu. Nor am I going to support exceptions; my first wife made her meal, then she cooked whatever the boys wanted to eat individually. Not only was this a bit of an unnecessary hardship; it also allowed the boys to grow up with a very restrictive diet (what they WANTED) and a sense of entitlement.
Comment by thronedoggie — 4/9/2007 @ 12:28 pm
Your daughter is well-informed about vegetarianism. As a college sophomore in 1973, I became a vegetarian for similar reasons (ethical, ecological, health–in that order). I’m still a vegetarian (and a runner) with no regrets about my decision. See a recent book co-written by Peter Singer (Why We Eat) for a thorough discussion of the meaning and consequences of our dietary choices. At first my family tolerated my “odd” decision, later they supported it, still later they too began shifting towards a plant-based diet.
Comment by David Black — 4/13/2007 @ 12:54 pm
I think Sarah’s essay is terrific, and she has obviously put a lot of thought into her decision. My daughter, who is also 14 and also an 8th-grade runner, has been a vegetarian since September. Her reasons were exactly the same as the reasons Sarah has presented you in this essay (but unfortunately she didn’t write me such a wonderful essay!) Initially I thought she would only last a week or two, but it proved to be a real lifestyle change.
I’ve changed my cooking somewhat, eat more vegetarian (and healthier ) myself, and the whole family eats more vegetables than we used to. I think you should let Sarah give it a try, if you haven’t already. I also think you should definitely take her up on her offer to cook for herself and share the kitchen with you. You may find that a whole new world opens up of healthy cooking and sharing meal planning with her. It’s really not as hard as it may seem. Good luck (and let me know if you need any recipes or cookbook recommendations… ) See you at the McDougle-Phillips track meet?
Comment by Lori Carswell — 4/15/2007 @ 8:04 am
If my daughter wrote an essay like that I’d be THRILLED that she was such a great and thoughtful writer! I think her arguments are very sound and well thought out. Kudos to her and to you for raising such a smart kid!
Comment by jeanne — 5/2/2007 @ 9:57 pm
This is Lori Carswell’s daughter. (I ran XC and track at Phillips and i came across this online). Vegetarianism isn’t hard at all, in many ways it is actually easier. YOU SHOULD LET HER GO VEGGIE! I became vegetarianism for the same reasons as Sarah Jane, and they are very good reasons indeed.
Advice; I really like the Morning Star brand patties as an alternative to the meat the rest of the family is eating. I easily get enough protein, but I always take a vitamin with iron in it, just in case.
Comment by Alison S — 5/16/2007 @ 4:45 pm