I’ve been dairy, beef, and pork free for almost the entire spring semester. I have a couple of motivations for cutting these foods out of my diet. The first is that cows give off a lot of methane, which is a much more potent green house gas than carbon dioxide. Also, cow and pig manure both contribute to releasing green house gases. Another reason is because I don’t know the living standards of the animals or how humanely they are slaughtered. I miss cheese especially, but overall I am glad with what I’ve been doing.
I was a little hesitant to sign up for Chili Fest because I thought being surrounded by slow cooked animal products would be a temptation too great to turn down. But then I thought more and more of how Ithaca seems, for the most part, pretty progressive. This made me think that there might be a chance at plant-based options. I would say more than half of the stands there did not disappoint me, and all of the samples I tasted were pretty awesome. But when you only eat fruits and vegetables, I guess your standards may tend to lower a little.
Apparently only around 3.2 percent of Americans are vegetarian and only 0.5 percent of them are vegan. While this number is small, it seems like more restaurants are offering options for those with dietary restrictions. I know how good meat can taste, so I can’t really be mad at people who eat it, plus I still eat chicken sometimes. But I will say that sustainability and humane treatment of animals are pretty important issues, and even just cutting the amount of animal product you eat can make a difference.
Last semester, I took the Introduction to Oceanography courses here and I learned a lot about the negative effects of consuming meat on the environment. Though I haven’t completely cut out meat from my life, ever since taking the class I have become more conscious of the amount of meat I am consuming and I am trying to slowly reduce my intake of it! I definitely agree with you that we should take into account how our food is produced before consuming it.