I love meat. Though I'm a picky eater, I've always loved steak and hamburgers, and when I lived in Argentina, I ate red meat almost every day (how could you not?). I never really thought about where it comes from or questioned how it got on my plate, and used to view vegetarians with skepticism and vegans with disdain.
My dad, in the meantime, has been a vegetarian for a long time--originally, he says, for health reasons. I would see him order the vegetarian option on airplanes, or scour the menu for something without meat at restaurants, and shrug. Sucks to be you, I'd think.
Then, my cousin, who is something of a vacuum when it comes to food, read The Omnivore's Dilemma, and stopped eating anything that isn't organic (including meat and chicken) and anything with corn syrup (candy, soda, anything produced in the US). This, for him, being a food machine, was a very big deal. Unbelievably, the former eat-now-think-later carnivore has stuck to his healthy diet. I read the book too, but I couldn't believe my cousin took it to heart.
Over the past few months, though, something changed. A few days before I left Brazil, Eli and I went to our favorite churrascaria, and I could barely eat the meat. The steak was especially rare, and my stomach turned at the sight of the blood oozing from the meat. I was oddly grossed out, even though I used to love nothing more than a salty slice of picanha. I flipped my meat button to red, "Nao, obrigado," and hit the salad bar.
A few weeks later, I had a little "30 Days" marathon, and the episode below really got to me.
So I decided to stop eating red meat, and get my protein from fish, poultry, and beans instead. At first, I thought it would be hard, especially in the summer during barbecue season. But surprisingly, it hasn't been. Once and awhile I'll gaze longingly at Eli's filet mignon or wonder if I'll be able to resist eating my mom's brisket, but ever since I've started in June, I've stuck with it. There is no way I will ever be able to become a full-fledged vegetarian, and giving up corn syrup is out of the question (I'm a Coke addict--Diet Coke, that is). Being that I eat a lot of unhealthy food when I'm stateside, I decided I might as well take one beneficial step in the right direction, Let's just hope I'm not in Buenos Aires any time soon.
