This morning, I got stuck into a conversation about where sheep came from and how they’ve survived so long since they’re fairly easy prey. It started with my justification for becoming vegetarian (again).
Me: We don’t eat cats and dogs, so why is it okay for us to eat cows or sheep?
Him: Cats and dogs are intelligent, and cows are stupid.
Me: Just ’cause they’re stupid, doesn’t mean they don’t feel pain.
Him: Plants feel pain, too.
Me: Yeah… but I have to draw the line somewhere.
This led to a Wikipedia spiral looking at the evolutionary history of bovine and sheep, and a general rejection of the evolution from fish to human. But the point of this conversation was that I’m becoming a vegetarian.
I’ve done it before. When I was fourteen, I became a strict vegetarian for just over two years. Then, my partner at the time was basically a carnivore and I started eating some meat again. I converted to Islam for several years, and during this time it was easier to just not eat meat than to consider what was halal, so I was mostly vegetarian. For the past few years, I’ve been ‘mostly vegetarian’ – so I tend to eat meat once or twice a week.
The other weekend, at the Orewa Craft Market, I was talking with the market manager about veganism (her family have recently become mostly vegan. The children were allowed to make the choice on their own). She sent me a huge amount of information, some sensational and some more matter-of-fact, and this reminded me why I’d become a vegetarian in the first place.
You see,ย I never really wanted to give up vegetarianism. The other night, I was watchingย Come Dine With Me and one of the hosts was ‘spatchcock poussin’ which the narrator explained was a chicken younger than 28 days old, with its spine removed. This was the last straw, and I decided then that I needed to make some changes.
I’m giving myself a week or so to divulge in meat-eating (lamb shanks, anyone?) and then I’ll make the cut.
I posted about sheep this today also, only I still eat them. By the way, you were out near where I live when you were at the Orewa market.
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So you did! I usually spot heaps of sheep up around Cornwall Park, but since you mentioned it, I’m not sure if I’ve ever spotted a black one…
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