Carnivores, Omnivores, and Herbivores, Oh My!

As if my teammates didn't have enough things to "argue" about! Most items on our group email list need to stay private, lest wives, parents, and children find out how incredibly immature we really are... but one recent topic of discussion deserves some publicity. It seems that our ranks include a few strict vegetarians at one end, and some die-hard meat eaters (and meat hunters!) at the other. (We even have the ex-owner of the best Steak restaurant that ever existed in Goleta--oh how I miss Jaspers.) The meat-eaters question the manhood of the veges, and the veges wish the meat-eaters enjoyment in consuming their fecal-encrusted chicken nuggets. Ahhh, love the team chemistry! Actually, everyone truly does respect the other guy's choices and it's really all in fun.

But if you'll allow me to get serious for a minute, and veer off in a related direction... Isn't it true that as a species, we have evolved eating meat? I assume that our incisors are evidence of that. Yet still, people become vegetarians, and certainly they have a wide variety of reasons. Some are disgusted by the inhumane conditions with which livestock are raised and slaughtered. Others are justifiably concerned about all the chemicals that are used to quicken the animals' growth and artificially enlarge them. Some just want to eat "lower on the food chain" and avoid the accumulation of environmental poisons that inevitably build up in the tissue of animals higher on the food chain. These are all valid concerns.

But there is another way, which addresses at least some of these problems.

Eat Local and support your Local Agriculture. The benefits are huge. You keep money in the local economy; you support sustainable farming practices; you discourage the pollution resulting from transporting food thousands of miles; you encourage the growing of a large genetic variety of crops; on and on.

And most importantly, you reestablish a more visceral connection to your food. What you eat comes from the dirt. It shouldn't come from Von's wrapped in plastic and pumped full of preservatives.

Now I must admit that my family and I do not 100% practice what I'm spewing forth here. But we are working toward it. Most of our fruit and veggies are either organic, locally grown, or come directly from our backyard. I have a goal someday to personally grow almost all of the produce we consume.

Well, thanks for the opportunity to rant. I'll close with something I find very satisfying and refreshing--you can ride your bike all around Goleta and see local farms. So of course I take pictures. Most of these places use sustainable farming practices, and you can buy their produce at local fruit stands and farmers markets. Remember, Eat Local!!