Carnivore vs. herbivore: No judgments - just a preference for plants

When I was 9 or 10, I saw the live action “He-Man” movie. Skeletor was great, but the part that stuck with me was when the Eternia residents somehow made it back to our present day (OK, 1987’s present day) and ended up near a fried-chicken joint. The Masters of the Universe were totally grossed out by the fact that Earth people in our dimension eat meat.

Recently, a friend of mine said he couldn’t believe people still smoked cigarettes. I replied that I can’t believe that people still eat meat. I guess the truth is, we have so many other options. I’m not a proselytizer, but since I became a vegetarian in mid-2001, I haven’t missed much of anything.

There are Reubens with no meat from Shapiro’s; there is Sawasdee on the Northside; there’s Ethiopian food at Abyssinia or Major Restaurant; there are tons of meat replacers at Saraga International Market and countless restaurants – even in Indy – that don’t hate on people just because they eschew the flesh.

With so many choices – not to mention the fact that I leave all that extra meat for folks who choose to gobble it down – I don’t know why my choices offend. I’ve received sneers when I ask if something is vegetarian; I have encountered blank looks when I ask if mashed potatoes have chicken stock in them, and I get derision when I ask someone to hold the meat. But I abide.

People ask why I became a vegetarian in the first place. (Yes, I’m a vegetarian. I don’t eat fish; I do eat eggs and cheese, even though I try to go easy on the cheese.) And I can’t completely explain why.

Partly, it’s an adventure – a chance to think about food differently. Partly, I feel better and lost a lot of post-college flab (of course, you can still be a pudgy vegetarian or vegan). Partly, it’s an environmentally sound decision (it takes a ton of energy to feed cattle, chickens and pigs). And yes, I do anthropomorphize animals – I also have some beefs with the meat industry and the way it treats both its animals and its employees (if you think I’m off-base here, check out the stories about Henry’s Turkey Service in Iowa).

But, as I said, I’m not an evangelist. I just know that if you’ve got a problem with my not eating meat, chances are you think I’m judging you and your eating habits. You think I’m analyzing every morsel of meat you take in, and think you’re a bad person for your chicken wings, your veal cutlets and your foie gras. I’m not judging you. I’m just thinking about what I’m going to eat from the veggie side at the India Garden buffet.

Read Konrad Marshall’s meat-eating perspective:

http://www.indy.com/posts/carnivore-vs-herbivore-two-usda-choice-words-for-vegetarians-bite-me