I'm not a vegan, and I don't find meat-consumption immoral. This is important! Humans are opportunistic omnivores: meat tastes good to us. Our tree-ape brains crave it as a ready source of protein, vitamin B12 and omega fatty acids.
Consuming less meat is better for the environment. It takes a lot of land, water and fuel to raise beef cattle, so cutting your consumption even a little is a positive step.
How does one commit to vegetarianism when meat is so damn tasty?
- Accept that you're not perfect. You will make mistakes, you might give in to a craving, you don't have to give up because you've eaten a marshmallow or bought a leather jacket. Look at the big picture: you're already consuming fewer resources!
- Acknowledge your cravings, there's almost always a reason for them. Craving a rare steak? You may need more iron and protein.
- Enjoy vegetables. I can go on at length about the perfection in a bell pepper, the virtues of radishes, and the juicy crunch of perfectly-steamed carrots, but I'll save those for other entries. Explore the produce section, sample new things.
- Dietary supplements. You need B12 to function. This is only found in animal-products. Vegetarians find it in milk and eggs, Vegans need to take supplements or eat foods fortified with it. I also recommend flax seed or flax seed oil for the various omega fatty acids. Flax seeds taste good in salads and soups, it's easy to include them in your cooking.
- Sample foreign foods. American food tends to treat meat as the dish, whereas many other parts of the world treat it as flavoring. Italian food is a good place to start: accessible to the American palate, easy to find. I love Thai, Chinese and Indian, and I'm making good inroads on a Lebanese cookbook.
- Take up cooking. Trust me on this one. You'll love your food more when you know what goes into it.
