{"id":1209,"date":"2015-10-06T00:01:23","date_gmt":"2015-10-06T08:01:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/wrestlingwithgod\/?p=1209"},"modified":"2015-10-05T21:39:56","modified_gmt":"2015-10-06T05:39:56","slug":"im-a-carnivore-and-im-ok-with-that-i-think","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wrestlingwithgod\/2015\/10\/im-a-carnivore-and-im-ok-with-that-i-think\/","title":{"rendered":"I’m a Carnivore and I’m OK With That . . . I Think"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>
\n
\"Poultry<\/a>
The meat case of our local grocery store. Photo by Barbara Newhall<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When our kids were little, the pediatrician once suggested\u00a0we cut down the cypress tree in our back yard. Tests had shown\u00a0that our son Peter was allergic to the ancient tree.<\/p>\n

Jon and I thought about it. But not for long. No way would we\u00a0cut down that cypress. It was magnificent \u2013 seven stories tall, with roots growing deep into the soil behind our house, and thick, graceful branches reaching around our deck.<\/p>\n

That tree was a presence, a being. It had been there when we bought the house, it would be there when we left. We had no right to end its life. We\u2019d find another way to address Peter\u2019s allergies.<\/p>\n

Munching on\u00a0Lettuce That\u2019s Still Alive<\/h5>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Like our cypress tree, a head of butter lettuce has a life, a fact driven home to me whenever I buy one of those fancy organic versions sold alive, roots still attached.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>
A cattle feed lot along Highway 5 in California. Photo by Barbara Newhall<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I take the lettuce from its box, ponder the tender leaves and the roots still caked with soil, and think, \u201cThis plant isn\u2019t dead yet. I\u2019m about to rip off its roots and eat it alive.\u201d<\/p>\n

You can see where I\u2019m going with this.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t see a clear difference between slaughtering a pig and cutting down a seven-story tree. Nor between someone netting the wild salmon I eat for dinner and harvesting my breakfast oats. Faced with a choice between killing a pig and killing the tree in our backyard \u2013 I\u2019d kill the pig. (Full disclosure: I\u2019d have the pig slaughtered, just as I\u2019d hire someone else to cut down the tree.)<\/p>\n

Many people differentiate between plant and animal. A Buddhist<\/a> might say one is sentient and the other lacks \u2013 what? The wind poppies growing in our front yard this spring opened their petals to the sun and radiated what felt to me like \u2013 a will to live, an intention to live.<\/p>\n

Some perceive a hierarchy in living things. The more sentient the being (i.e. the more like us humans) the more valuable its life; a mammal is more valuable than a bird.<\/p>\n

Eating Meat\u00a0in Sikkim<\/h5>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

But not everyone thinks that way. During a trip to Sikkim my husband and I engaged a Buddhist guide who told us, yes, many of the local people were vegetarians. But others occasionally ate meat.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen they do,\u201d he said, \u201cthey might slaughter a single ox instead of many chickens. One ox will feed as many people as a flock of chickens \u2013 but only one creature dies.\u201d<\/p>\n

We are all destined to die \u2013 the cypress tree, the pig, my breakfast oats, the chickens. But meanwhile we live, and in order to live, we eat. Humans and pigs eat other living things. And that has to be okay.<\/p>\n

Carnivore, Vegetarian, Vegan, Fruitarian<\/h5>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

The ethical high road might be to go, not vegetarian, not vegan, but fruitarian \u2013 living on fruits alone, consuming only the seed-bearing part of the plant not essential to its survival.<\/p>\n

I for one am not willing to live the constricted life of a fruitarian. And I don\u2019t think my<\/p>\n

\"Artichokes<\/a>
Artichokes stacked in our Whole Foods produce department. Photo by Barbara Newhall<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

body is set up to subsist on fruits alone, which is maybe too bad for all the turkeys and carrots and spinach I\u2019ll be consuming until my own time comes to feed the worms. But that\u2019s the way it is, and it has to be okay, it has to be\u00a0ethical<\/em>.<\/p>\n

I care deeply about how farm animals are treated. I care about the toll our meat-eating habits take on the planet and our bodies. I don\u2019t need slabs of meat on my plate, but I do like a little chicken broth in my lentil soup. And I try to stay aware of the creatures \u2013 the butter lettuce, the pig, the artichoke \u2013 whose lives have come to an end so that I can keep mine. For now.<\/p>\n

Barbara Falconer Newhall is the author of \u201cWrestling with God: Stories of Doubt and Faith\u201d<\/a> from Patheos Press.\u00a0<\/em>A version of this post appeared on her website BarbaraFalconerNewhall.com<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

If you enjoyed this post you might like \u201cImpermanence: Nothing Lasts \u2014 Except My Wish That Everything Would Stay the Same.\u201d<\/a> \u00a0Also,\u00a0\u201cThe Sad State of the Supermarket Strawberry.\u201d<\/a>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Our<\/a>
Our cypress tree \u2014 part of it anyway. Photo by Barbara Newhall<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When our kids were little, the pediatrician once suggested\u00a0we cut down the cypress tree in our back yard. Tests had shown\u00a0that our son Peter was allergic to the ancient tree. Jon and I thought about it. But not for long. No way would we\u00a0cut down that cypress. It was magnificent \u2013 seven stories tall, with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2144,"featured_media":1217,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[345,351,350,348,349,347,346],"class_list":["post-1209","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-carnivores","tag-cattle-feed-lots","tag-ethical-eating","tag-fruitarians","tag-meat-eaters","tag-vegans","tag-vegetarians"],"yoast_head":"\nI'm a Carnivore and I'm OK With That . . . 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