I am probably navigating through my first day back to school as you read this. But two nutrition classes are sure to make my semester more enjoyable! One of the classes has a lab with it…so maybe we get to cook??
I have some guest posts for you the next couple of weeks so that I can focus on school AND moving to the city that I’m attending school in, but I will be posting Wednesday for WIAW Iowa fun!
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Hello all! My name is Alex, and I blog at Alex Tries it Out. I’m a graphic designer, runner, and blogger living in central Iowa and (attempting to) live a healthy lifestyle.
I ‘virtually’ met Amanda when I got serious about blogging and started researching what other bloggers were doing (AKA, creeping on everyone I could find) and coming upon a bunch of bloggers that had attended Blend Retreat. Amanda’s blog was one of the first I found!
(As a sidenote, I think I’m attending Blend 2013. So if you’re going, see you there!)
Today I thought I’d share a story of mine that I seem to tell frequently in real life, but haven’t ever shared on my blog.
Growing up, I didn’t really enjoy eating meat. Rather than having to take another bite of my veggies, my parents had to make me take another bite of chicken. I always thought I was weird – I mean, who didn’t like KFC? But by the time I turned 16, I realized that there were others out there who didn’t eat meat, and I decided to join their ranks.
After becoming vegetarian, I wanted to fit in with other vegetarians, so I tried out the whole ‘vegetarian-for-a-good-cause’ stance. Although it was nice being in a group, I never wholeheartedly got behind it. Don’t get me wrong, I love animals. I just never cared about eating them. I flitted between true vegetarian (no meat or seafood) and pescetarianism (eating seafood, but no meat) but stuck with pescetarianism longer.
I stayed away from meat for six years, until the summer after college. As I was watching my boyfriend make a turkey sandwich one day, I decided that I really wanted to try it. The feeling was a out of the blue, but it made me think. Why not try it again?
That night, he cooked me up some pork chops, and I haven’t looked back. I guess my taste buds changed over the years, and I liked meat again!
Six years is a long time, and being vegetarian was a pretty strong part of my identity. It took quite a while to consciously remember to eat meat, and going out to eat is still a little overwhelming. It was a big change for me.
Ultimately, I’m glad I was a vegetarian: I tried foods I never would have sampled otherwise. When you go someplace that offers one or two vegetarian meals (which happens a lot in Iowa), your selections are pretty limited. Not eating meat forced me out of my comfort zone with food.
It also made me sensitive to other’s diets. There’s nothing worse than being excluded, or treated differently because you have made a different lifestyle decision. Although it didn’t happen often, I did have that happen. And it sucked! I can’t even imagine what it must feel like if you were forced to make that decision for your health.
Last, it made me a healthier individual overall. Getting my veggies in is a no-brainer for me now. I love vegetables, and I can’t say that I would have otherwise. I also now chose some healthier items because I enjoyed eating them as a vegetarian.
Have you ever changed something that seemed fundamental to your identity? What did you learn from your experiences?
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This sounds like my experience with meat, and I still go back and forth. I just read “the omnivore’s dilemma” and am going back to not eating meat — mostly — unless it’s meat that I know comes from an animal that was humanely treated and killed swiftly and as painlessly as possible.
Also, I found out that laying chickens are treated the WORST of every farm animal (in my opinion). I’m making the switch to a local farm that treats their chickens with respect and paying an extra buck for their eggs (and also, their eggs are more nutritious and delicious — added bonus!)
That’s a good stance; plus you benefit from being more conscious about where your meat comes from for sure. I should do more research into it because I’m betting it would make me change my mind if I knew more about how the animals were treated.
That’s interesting about chickens though – never heard that. What local farm are you purchasing from?
Soooo chickens … beaks cut off, toes cut off, and male laying-type chickens are ground into bits as chicks sometimes (alive … because who needs a male laying chicken?).
TJ Eggs (you can get them at wheatsfield … they’re like $1.50 more expensive than regular eggs). They come from a farm that does farming right. I would like to get more stuff from their farm but i can’t find anything anywhere.
Um this weirds me out. And I’m from Nebraska!! The state of corn and cows and farmers! Just tell me what brands to buy from now on Calee!!
Holy crap that’s gross. I don’t even understand why they would do that! I second Amanda’s comment. Haha!
I know! My butt is sitting in a seat that was funded by Monsanto, so I get it. 🙂
Just know that “organic” doesn’t necessarily mean it’s ethically treated or not treated like big agriculture. Big organic farms use almost as much fossil fuel to operate as big agriculture farms do (except they don’t use pesticides or fossil fuel in fertilizer). And “organic” ” free range” chicken could mean that it’s fed organic food (corn, or whatever) and has access to the outdoors, but a lot of the bigger organic farms have the doors shut the first several weeks of the chicken’s life so they don’t want to (or know they can) go outside when the door is finally opened.
I guess it’s just a matter of doing a little bit of research. It’s a pain in the ass,and you have to pick your battles. Obviously you can’t do everything — it’s impossible. I’m focusing on buying better animal products from farmers that treat their animals well. Organic veggies and fruit aren’t as important to me, though it bothers me that I’m eating a bunch of pesticides, and production of these things can dump lots of toxins into the environment (ugh).
So I guess, don’t eat? lol
Who needs to eat anyway? Lol. Pesticides and thinking about those things bothers me a lot, actually. I find it majorly creepy that something as natural as fruit can have stuff put on it/in it to make it “better”. I want to do more research into that kind of stuff. I wish they’d just leave stuff alone!
Calee, do you use any local CSAs? Just curious.
We did Farm to Folk last year and signed up for the small partial share thing, but it wasn’t worth it. However, they do a la carte items each week on their website. Pickup is Tuesday.
I’ll check that out. I kind of wondered about getting a share being worth it, especially since my bf doesn’t eat a whole lot of veggies. Was just reading about a CSA on Back to her Roots – do you read her blog? Hers has meat, eggs, dairy & veggies. Sounds awesome! She’s down south, though.
This sounds like my experience with meat, and I still go back and forth. I just read “the omnivore’s dilemma” and am going back to not eating meat — mostly — unless it’s meat that I know comes from an animal that was humanely treated and killed swiftly and as painlessly as possible.
Also, I found out that laying chickens are treated the WORST of every farm animal (in my opinion). I’m making the switch to a local farm that treats their chickens with respect and paying an extra buck for their eggs (and also, their eggs are more nutritious and delicious — added bonus!)
I’ve never been a huge meat eater either. I like it, it’s just not my favorite. Meatless Monday (or any other day of the week) is no big deal for me!
Haha I know what you mean! It’s never been a big deal for me to give it up. I was raised Catholic, and actually loved Lent because I had an easy excuse not to eat meat (prior to being vegetarian).
I’ve never been a huge meat eater either. I like it, it’s just not my favorite. Meatless Monday (or any other day of the week) is no big deal for me!
I have to say, as a ‘vegan with benefits’ now, that I can totally understand your position. When I call myself I vegan, I feel a bit judged by both sides, since I don’t have the strongest moral stance on the whole thing, I just happen to like eating vegan. So, I don’t feel like I ‘fit in’ with the thoroughbred vegans. I also really enjoyed meat when I ate it. I still like hearing about it, seeing how it is prepared, and believe you can have a very healthy diet while still eating meat. I just don’t really fit into a box, and so I agree that the best thing to do is just not judge ANYONE for their choices, unless they seek out advice or suggestions from you willingly. 🙂
It’s tough being judged! I felt like I was constantly being judged from both meat eaters (why don’t you eat meat?) and vegetarians (you shouldn’t eat fish!). Who needs a box, anyway? Life’s much more fun outside of it :).
I have to say, as a ‘vegan with benefits’ now, that I can totally understand your position. When I call myself I vegan, I feel a bit judged by both sides, since I don’t have the strongest moral stance on the whole thing, I just happen to like eating vegan. So, I don’t feel like I ‘fit in’ with the thoroughbred vegans. I also really enjoyed meat when I ate it. I still like hearing about it, seeing how it is prepared, and believe you can have a very healthy diet while still eating meat. I just don’t really fit into a box, and so I agree that the best thing to do is just not judge ANYONE for their choices, unless they seek out advice or suggestions from you willingly. 🙂
It’s tough being judged! I felt like I was constantly being judged from both meat eaters (why don’t you eat meat?) and vegetarians (you shouldn’t eat fish!). Who needs a box, anyway? Life’s much more fun outside of it :).
Haha I know what you mean! It’s never been a big deal for me to give it up. I was raised Catholic, and actually loved Lent because I had an easy excuse not to eat meat (prior to being vegetarian).
That’s a good stance; plus you benefit from being more conscious about where your meat comes from for sure. I should do more research into it because I’m betting it would make me change my mind if I knew more about how the animals were treated.
That’s interesting about chickens though – never heard that. What local farm are you purchasing from?
Soooo chickens … beaks cut off, toes cut off, and male laying-type chickens are ground into bits as chicks sometimes (alive … because who needs a male laying chicken?).
TJ Eggs (you can get them at wheatsfield … they’re like $1.50 more expensive than regular eggs). They come from a farm that does farming right. I would like to get more stuff from their farm but i can’t find anything anywhere.
Holy crap that’s gross. I don’t even understand why they would do that! I second Amanda’s comment. Haha!
I know! My butt is sitting in a seat that was funded by Monsanto, so I get it. 🙂
Just know that “organic” doesn’t necessarily mean it’s ethically treated or not treated like big agriculture. Big organic farms use almost as much fossil fuel to operate as big agriculture farms do (except they don’t use pesticides or fossil fuel in fertilizer). And “organic” ” free range” chicken could mean that it’s fed organic food (corn, or whatever) and has access to the outdoors, but a lot of the bigger organic farms have the doors shut the first several weeks of the chicken’s life so they don’t want to (or know they can) go outside when the door is finally opened.
I guess it’s just a matter of doing a little bit of research. It’s a pain in the ass,and you have to pick your battles. Obviously you can’t do everything — it’s impossible. I’m focusing on buying better animal products from farmers that treat their animals well. Organic veggies and fruit aren’t as important to me, though it bothers me that I’m eating a bunch of pesticides, and production of these things can dump lots of toxins into the environment (ugh).
So I guess, don’t eat? lol
Um this weirds me out. And I’m from Nebraska!! The state of corn and cows and farmers! Just tell me what brands to buy from now on Calee!!
Who needs to eat anyway? Lol. Pesticides and thinking about those things bothers me a lot, actually. I find it majorly creepy that something as natural as fruit can have stuff put on it/in it to make it “better”. I want to do more research into that kind of stuff. I wish they’d just leave stuff alone!
Calee, do you use any local CSAs? Just curious.
I’ve got a similar story! I was vegetarian for a while, simply wanting to avoid the disgusting meat industry that we have here in the US, but now, finding properly raised meats is A-okay with me, and although it’s still an adjustment for me (sometimes I still feel guilty, although my reason was never purely ethical!), I’m getting used to it. I think my body likes the nutrients.
I’ve got a similar story! I was vegetarian for a while, simply wanting to avoid the disgusting meat industry that we have here in the US, but now, finding properly raised meats is A-okay with me, and although it’s still an adjustment for me (sometimes I still feel guilty, although my reason was never purely ethical!), I’m getting used to it. I think my body likes the nutrients.
We did Farm to Folk last year and signed up for the small partial share thing, but it wasn’t worth it. However, they do a la carte items each week on their website. Pickup is Tuesday.
I’ll check that out. I kind of wondered about getting a share being worth it, especially since my bf doesn’t eat a whole lot of veggies. Was just reading about a CSA on Back to her Roots – do you read her blog? Hers has meat, eggs, dairy & veggies. Sounds awesome! She’s down south, though.