Subscribe to RSS 2.0Spicy spicy questions of conscience
I've been sort of a vegetarian for about eighteen months now. There's probably a word for it ('piscetarian'?) because I still eat fish and seafood, but not what you might call critters, i.e. cows, chickens, etc. The two things that prompted me to go veggie, were 1) the hypocrisy argument and 2) land use. The hypocrisy argument is when you imagine the waiter in a restaurant bringing out the cow and asking whether you want it killed to provide your steak. I know I would have said 'no' if that had ever happened, but I still ate meat. (My brother, on the other hand, would have said 'yes' and been fine with his choice, so he's not a hypocritical meat-eater like I used to be.) But in the case of fish, I think I could do it. I don't feel that fish have feelings and intelligence the way tasty mammals do and if I was peckish enough, I think I could bump a fish off.
The land use thing is about how growing food and then feeding it to animals, which you then eat, takes vastly more resources than just eating the crops yourself. We might not be able to control how many coal power stations there are in the world but if we all went veggie, you'd be able to see the difference from space. And while fish are farmed, and in the ocean they are fished almost to extinction, there isn't the same argument about the enormous wasting of land and resources.
Anyway, it's all been pretty easy. I never ate loads of meat so I don't miss it that much. Even things like steaks or hamburgers that I thought I'd miss, I don't. And I've never had that craving for bacon that plagues some would-be veggies. The only thing I really miss is pepperoni. Once a month or so, I'd like to be able to eat a pizza with pepperoni on it. So what do you think? Is there such a thing as a peppero-piscaterian? Is it fair enough to just be less of a food hypocrite but not to deal with it completely? What would you do?
Comments: 9
How funny you should mention this -- I just picked up a little treat for you yesterday. I'll bring it over some time next week, if that's okay.
Posted by: Anna on March 31, 2009 03:39 PM
Is it a kitten? No wait. Is it a kind of vegetarian-substitute pizza topping?
Posted by: Rob on March 31, 2009 03:48 PM
You'll just have to wait and see.
Posted by: Anna on March 31, 2009 05:25 PM
Haven't we talked about this before? As long as the pepperoni was free range, organic and had only eaten veggies grown where human food crops couldn't grow, then it's not a BAD THING. I think.
Posted by: john a-w on March 31, 2009 06:04 PM
Hmmm. Pepperoni made from something that doesn't eat human-edible crops. We're talking goat, aren't we. Or maybe catfish.
Posted by: Rob on March 31, 2009 08:40 PM
Surely there must be meat-free pepperoni out there somewhere, I'm imagining soya, a ton of paprika & chillies, plus a dose of some kind of vegetable oil to make sure it's properly unhealthy. I don't know, maybe there's not, but if they can make veggie suet, then surely it has to be possible.
Posted by: Emma H on March 31, 2009 10:06 PM
I've been veggie for most of my life. I suddenly craved burnt chicken breast about five years ago and ate some, it was DELISH. I haven't eaten any for a few yrs now, because I haven't fancied it. I say eat the pepperoni - and just smile sweetly when meat-eaters say 'so you're not a proper vegetarian then...' - they love to say this, give them their pleasure ;)
Posted by: fiona robyn on March 31, 2009 10:35 PM
I find myself leaning towards vegetarian and vegan ways of eating about 80% of the time. But I eat fish a good amount, and I sometimes eat chicken, and rarely beef. My philosophy of diet is more about health, moderation, and what my body seems to need and want than it is about excluding items from my diet on the basis of where they came from. The land use argument is a very good one, though.
Posted by: KatharineC on April 1, 2009 01:34 AM
Thanks for the thoughts. I knew you all were deep. I should probably confess that one of the reasons I want to have easy, strict rules for vegetarianism is because that's what my brain copes best with. If something requires judgement then I'll agonise and dither. E.g. I find having zero drinks sooo much easier than having 'just a couple'.
Posted by: Rob on April 1, 2009 10:04 AM