Less Meat

Sometimes people ask me if I'm a vegetarian. I do eat less meat than some, perhaps, but I'm not a vegetarian. I simply don't eat meat at every meal. It would seem that most people feel that every meal has to have meat or else it's missing something. Others might believe that there's no reason to eat a meal without meat unless one is a vegetarian. Well, as shocking as it is, sometimes I don't eat meat simply because I don't want to and don't have to.

There are several reasons why I don't eat meat at every meal. First of all, it's not economical to eat meat at every meal. Meat is expensive. Throughout large portions of history it would have been seen as an extravagant luxury to eat meat at every meal. Most common people just ate bread. More of us can afford to eat meat at every meal nowadays, but it's still unnecessary. A second reason I don't eat meat at every meal is because it's not healthy to do so. Americans eat too much meat. The amount of meat I eat in one meal is probably enough to give me the animal protein and vitamin b12 I need for the day, so why eat meat three times a day? It just piles on saturated fats and cholesterol I don't need. A third reason I don't always eat meat is religious. I abstain from meat on Friday. Catholics are required to abstain from meat on Friday or to choose something else as a penance. Since most Catholics have forgotten about this altogether (or never learned about it in the first place), and give up nothing on Fridays, I have decided to take on the traditional penance. It helps me to see Friday as a day set aside from the other weekdays - the day Our Lord died for our sins. An additional advantage in this is the aspect of accountability. I stay in contact with other Catholics who don't eat meat of Friday, and if we eat lunch or dinner together on that day we can remind each other not to eat meat. It works out nicely.

There's also another simple reason I don't always eat meat: I simply get tired of it. Beef. Chicken. Beef. Chicken. etc., etc. ... It all gets old after a while. There are so many options and varieties with vegetables. It's very exciting for me to try them all.