Yep, you read that right--"Eat less meat." First off, if you've opened up this post and are reading this now, let me just say, "Thank you, for still being here with me. I know the thought of cutting back on our main protein source and 'most everybody's favorite part of every meal is really daunting, so thanks for giving me the chance to explain myself. (Also, read about the first change I made to my diet here.)
There are many reasons for cutting back on meat both for our bodies and for the environment, but before I go into all of that, let me show you what our diet looked like before I began cutting meat out. I'm sure it looks pretty familiar to a lot of you--
Our Diet Before:
- Breakfast
- Eggs
- Bacon
- Sausage
- Lunch
- Sandwiches with deli meat, canned tuna, or eggs
- Dinner
- Large portions of roast, pork chops, chicken breasts, you name it
"Yea, flesh also of beasts and of the fowls of the air, I, the Lord, have ordained for the use of man with thanksgiving; nevertheless, they are to be used sparingly;"
And I would say, "See, it says right there that men are to eat meat." And then I'd sit back with my arms folded and nose in the air as though the conversation were closed.
But there are a lot of questions that are now raised in my mind when I read that verse. #1-What does "sparingly" mean? Does that mean three times a day? Does that mean it should be the focal-point of every meal? Hundreds of pounds of it a year?
Hmm. I'm inclined to say, "I don't think so."
The next question arises from the punctuation used at the end of sentence--a semi-colon. Which every good English major knows means that the sentence doesn't end there. It continues on in the next verse. Maybe it will have an answer to my first question. Let's see:
"And it is pleasing unto me that they should not be used, only in times of winter, or of cold, or famine."
Uh-oh.
So I guess "sparingly" doesn't mean huge chunks of it at every single meal, every single day for our entire lives. And just to make sure the Lord gets His point across, he reiterates it again in verse 15:
"And these hath God made for the use of man only in times of famine or excess of hunger."
I know what you're thinking because I thought it, too, and I'm going to be bold enough to say it out loud--veganism. The Lord wants us to be vegans! Or vegetarians at the least. Except for lean times. But let's face it, in our country in this day and age, there is no famine. For certain individuals due to lack of funds, maybe, but certainly not for lack of food. Not with preservation techniques and free trade. There is always an abundance of food available. Which means no famine. Which, according to this scripture, also means no meat.
I couldn't believe it when I realized this and fought the idea for a long time (and by "a long time", I mean "a couple of days") until I saw a certain Dr. Joel Fuhrman talking about his diet plan on several of the documentaries I saw. In one of his interviews, he showed the following chart and talked about his patients with diabetes. He said that these patients had tried several different diets to try to control their blood sugars and none of them really worked but this one:
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As you can see, it's high in plant-based foods, low in meat, dairy, sugar, and processed foods. I found it so interesting at the time because I have an uncle who was just talking at Christmas about how he is borderline Type II Diabetes, and he's having a hard time bringing his levels down away from it.
Now this guy is one of those go-getters who never sits down, is always moving, and makes you feel lazy no matter what the subject may be. He's 70-years-old and walks every day and is super-slim and agile. His mind is sharp and he takes care of himself. His wife and he have even been eliminating fats and sugars from their diets for at least a couple of years as far as I know (Thanksgiving mashed potatoes with no butter. Yeah-no. Not so good).
So how the heck is he borderline diabetes? I was really shocked to hear him say that. And then I started learning all of these things and saw this chart and thought, "Ah. Meat. The man loves his meat."
I truly believe that if he would cut back on the amount of meat he eats, he could get away from that danger zone and not have to worry about diabetes anymore.
If you still need convincing that veganism is the way to go, watch Food, Inc. or Vegucated. They go into a lot of the gory details about how animals are raised for food, so I'm not going to do that here. I will say this: Have you ever seen Hoarders where the animal control officers come in and charge the owners with animal abuse and take all of the animals away? Well, they would have a hay-day in any and every single animal "farm" (more like "factory") across the country if they could. But they can't because animals raised for food are not protected under the same laws as pets. It's bogus and it's not right, but most of all, it comes back to my third question raised from two words in Section 89 of the Doctrine and Covenants, "with thanksgiving."
"With thanksgiving." When I think of that, I think of the Native Americans and how they thank the beasts they kill for giving up their lives that man might live. Hunting seems to be a very spiritual experience for them, and it comes from a place of respect and gratitude.
That is not how "farming" is anymore. Stuffing animals into these houses where they have no room to move, where they never see sunlight or feel grass under their feet, live in their own poop, eat food that's not healthy for them, their babies are instantly dragged away from them never to be seen by them again and then they're artificially insiminated again just to go through the whole process again, being genetically and hormonally modified to become bigger or produce more quicker, faster...I know I'm ranting, but it's enough to make anybody really mad. I don't consider myself a "bunny-hugger" in any way, and I love eating meat, but I don't feel right doing it that way. Treating animals as part of a machine instead of as fellow God-created members of this earth is not respectful, and it most certainly is not "with thanksgiving." Instead they are taken for granted and objectified. It's just not right.
Now for the big question you're all thinking: Are you a vegan, Trisha? To that I must say, No, friend. No, I am not. And here's why--
#1-I have a family. I cook not only for myself but for others, and I don't have the time or money to make double the meals every single day to make everybody happy. Because my family loves meat, just as much if not more than I do, and any parent of little kids knows that if your children will eat something, anything, with nutrients in it, you do not take that away from them!
#2-I don't know how to cook vegan! I grew up with meat and potatoes and to expect me to just out of the blue cook all veggies and make sure we leave the dinner table with our taste buds and tummies satisfied is just ridiculous! It's hard enough when you try a new recipe and it's a total flop. Imagine taking that risk every single day because you're working with ingredients and recipes with which you are not familiar. If that thought isn't enough to send anybody running to the nearest McDonald's, I don't know what is.
So no, I'm not a vegan. But I'll tell you what--I'm learning how to be.
It comes back to the subtle changes I've made over the last year. And those changes would be--
Our Diet After
- Breakfast
- Little to no meat (rarely we'll have egg omelettes or breakfast burritos, but mostly the only meat we have are the eggs in our pancakes or muffins)
- Lunch
- Bean and cheese burritos
- Grilled cheese without meat (I used to insist on having deli meat)
- Chicken sandwiches and salads (I try to have a vegetarian meal for lunch, but we do have meat sometimes. I've tried to replace store-bought deli meat for a healthier and less-processed alternative, though)
- Salads and sandwiches with eggs or tuna (again, not vegan, but they do fit under the "vegetarian" label)
- Dinner
- Small (4 oz) servings of meat (I simply cut back on the meat in our favorite recipes and add more vegetables)
- Vegetarian meals twice a week (I usually use beans instead)
Goals You Could Set
- Simply try cutting back on the amount of meat you use in your dishes. It's really easy to do this with casseroles; for example, instead of using four chicken breasts for a recipe, use three then add more vegetables to make up the difference.
- Break out of your comfort zone and try something new! Someone said that becoming a vegan doesn't limit your diet but actually opens it up more than ever before. I believe that to be true! Since I started this, I have tried fruits and veggies that I never would have dared to try including kale, leeks, turnips, jicama, dragonfruit, and pomegranates. Being willing to add new plant-based foods to your diet will keep things interesting and avoid feeling like all you eat anymore are carrot and celery sticks.
- Try a new vegetarian or vegan recipe every week. Of course there are a ton of plant-based recipes online, but I'll share a couple of my favorite with you. Nikki Dinki was a contestant on The Next Food Network Star, and she serves her meat "on-the-side", meaning that she uses 4 oz of meat or less in all of her meals. This Veggie Bolognese is to die for! And it took me over a year to get up the courage to try tofu, but this Raise the Roof Sweet Potato Lasagna from The Engine 2 Diet has it in it, and it is a new favorite of my meat-loving husband! (I wouldn't recommend tofu as a substitute for chucken nuggets, though. The texture just isn't there). And yes, the ground cashews on top really do taste like cheese!
- Try making breakfast vegan or vegetarian and save the meat for just two meals a day. Then try having meat just once a day. Then work up to having whole days that are completely meat-free. The more recipes you learn, the easier this will become, and it's actually really fun learning new ways to cook and trying new things!
- Try substituting a different protein source for meat in some of your favorite recipes. You don't have to think completely out of the box when it comes to going meat-free. For instance, I have often made nachos, tacos, and taco salad sans the ground beef. I use black beans or refried beans instead. Another protein source I want to try is quinoa. I want to sub it for rice in an Asian dish or something. It's on my to-do list, anyway.
- As for dairy, there are plenty of vegan choices of, I think, everything--milk, cheeses (even cream cheese), butter, you name it. And there are simple substitutions you can make for eggs even in your baked goods. I've heard lots of good things about almond milk and would love to try it, but it's a bit out of my budget right now. Maybe later when I can put more towards food (a.k.a. when my kids grow up and move out and no longer eat me out of house and home), I'll give it a try.
Again, as I said in my last post, it doesn't have to be all or nothing. If you want to go completely meat and dairy-free in your diet but are so overwhelmed by that prospect, then don't feel bad about doing what you can when you can do it. Just start somewhere and that'll be a lot better than doing nothing. I mean, if everyone in the United States cut back to eating meat just once a day, then there probably wouldn't be a need for "factory farms" anymore which would have a major impact on the way animals are treated. It would also probably have a major impact on your heart health, too. Just like the Lord said, "By small and simple things are great things brought to pass," (Alma 37:6).
For Further Study--
Hungry for Change
Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead
Food, Inc.
Foodmatters
The Gerson Miracle
The Engine 2 Diet
Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead 2
Vegucated
GMO OMG
Ted Talks
Killer at Large
Forks Over Knives
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