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[OM] Re: Forced Poverty

Subject: [OM] Re: Forced Poverty
From: Jan Steinman <Jan@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Mon, 21 Apr 2003 11:59:33 -0700
>From: chris@xxxxxxxxx
>
>On 21 Apr 2003 at 6:28, AG Schnozz wrote:
>
> > I would like a simpler life, but I don't want to starve getting it.
>
>Starving isn't the point.  Believe me, I *like* eating and I'm NOT
>striving for that Ethiopian look.  :-)  I'm just substituting hamburger
>for steak so that I can enjoy life a little more.

Consider vegetarianism. With a well-balanced, un-processed vegetarian diet, you 
can eat well for a small fraction of what it costs for a relatively unhealthy 
typical US meat diet.

You don't have to do it all at once. First, cut out red meat, replacing it with 
various legumes and rice, NOT with chicken or turkey! Then if you feel up to 
it, progress by eliminating other sorts of meat. Or not -- stop the process and 
"plateau" where you feel comfortable.

Somewhat synonymous with vegetarianism is reducing or eliminating heavily 
processed food, which is also a big money saver. Don't go from a ham/bacon 
breakfast to sugary boxed cold cereal -- cook up some oatmeal with ground flax 
seed and raisins for all the nutritional value of a salmon fillet, for under 20 
cents a serving!

You may disagree with any of the below, but it is difficult to disagree with 
ALL of them!

1) kinder to animals (to some, this is irrelevant)

2) cheaper (unless you live off of highly-processed "veggie burger" pseudo-food)

3) kinder to the environment -- making animal protein is a waste-intensive, 
inefficient process

4) less selfish -- there is NO WAY 6 billion people can "enjoy" the typical US 
meat-rich diet

5) healthier -- greatly reduced risk of "killer" diseases, like heart disease, 
stroke, colon disease, etc., but also reduced risk of non-killer "quality of 
life" diseases like gout, diabetes, skin disorders, auto-immune disorders, etc.

So why not? Well, it seems to come down to two arguments: 1) meat tastes good, 
and 2) jobs.

If you really, really, really like the taste of meat so much that you'll risk 
your health for it, I guess that's your choice. You can get over if it you are 
motivated. The odor of cooking meat, which used to smell good to me, now seems 
un-pleasant.

The second argument is held by the meat processing industry. This industry has 
one of the worst safety records, and low wages. It is repetitive, gory, 
demeaning work. In my opinion, we don't need these kinds of jobs. I can't see 
vast damage to our economy happening if fewer people eat meat.

Now I know one or two of you are going to get all defensive. I'm not saying you 
are a bad person if you eat meat; I'm just saying vegetarianism has a lot to 
offer, especially to those who find themselves, by choice or chance, pursuing a 
simpler life-style. You can use that pursuit to do something positive for the 
world!

-- 
: Jan Steinman -- nature Transography(TM): <http://www.Bytesmiths.com>
: Bytesmiths -- artists' services: <http://www.Bytesmiths.com/Services>

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