The Meat Debate

As a lifelong vegetarian, I find this one a bit awkward to bring up, but: I am trying to get my head around the concept of eating meat.

This is about a deal that my husband and I struck a long time ago, and thus I feel quite bound to keep. The deal is that if he gives up smoking that I will take up eating (some) meat. My husband loves to cook, and while he has embraced vegetarian cooking and does so amazingly, he does sometimes wish that I would share some of his more meaty creations. I don’t know whether I agreed to this as an alcohol infused challenge (very possibly), or whether I was just making a point about just how much I would like him to give up smoking. This has always been more of a “long term” plan, along the lines of babies and house buying. Things way down the track.

First off let me get this straight. It was more of a “ha ha if you ever stop smoking I’ll take up eating meat. “ more of a “That’ll be the day” conversation. But over time that conversation seems to have become a reality. Now he has started talking about actually stopping smoking (in the soon sense), with all intentions of making sure that I adhere to my side of the agreement. What have I done!

I have never been a staunch political vegetarian, in fact having been raised vegetarian, the political side of the lifestyle is not something to which I have given much thought. I don’t think I have any big issues with meat eating aside from the treatment of the animals involved (most commonly inhumane). It is of most importance to me if I did decide to eat meat, that the animals I ate had lived the happy little lives of creatures in a picture book. Sorry, but that’s the way it has to be.

That being said, when confronted with the idea of “just eating some meat, then” – I do feel a bit queasy. Images of animals being slaughtered and detestable living conditions and what not. I do find it a hard image to set aside!

In the back of my mind I keep thinking that he might not really give up smoking (he has yet to even try) but what if he does? Gulp.

So, in lieu of this, I have been doing some research about free range farming, specifically for pigs. Being the most social (and possibly the most intelligent) of commonly farmed animals, it is horrific that pigs are subjected to the kind of solitary, confined, and cruel lifestyle that is practiced nearly everywhere. This morning I walked past an organic butcher in Grey Lynn, that displayed a “Freedom Farms” logo on the sign outside. I looked up Freedom Farms (http://www.freedomfarms.co.nz/) and had a good read.

Overall I have to say, I was pretty impressed to see that the pigs (or ‘piggies’) seem to be treated very well (SPCA endorsed) – and even seem to be able to have the happy little piggy lives that I like them to have in my head (before they hit the meatworks that it) however I still can’t shake the idea of the actual slaughterhouse.

I really really – really do love the idea of my husband giving up smoking for his own health, but giving up my reasonably clean moral conscious isn’t so appealing!

To be continued!