Being Vegetarian

Exhibit A: Pinakbet, note the shrimp

First, a disclaimer: je ne suis pas vegetarien. I invite you to view Exhibit A, a dish I made for tonight's invitation-only Filipina Mafia Dinner: it has shrimp. Ergo, I'm not a vegetarian.

But!

It's been weeks since I watched Cowspiracy and I still hear Howard Lyman's words: "You can't be an environmentalist and eat animal products." It makes sense, given the nature of agribusiness. Growing livestock takes too much land and water; catching fish results in too many by-kills. Et cetera.

So I looked up the vegetarian food pyramid, drank less milk, and continued not buying beef (we stopped maybe a year ago, because reasons).

But!!

I still eat eggs, cheese, chicken, pork, and fish. I agree that drastically reducing meat consumption can make a dent in the fight against climate change, but transforming from a voracious pork-devourer into a lentil- and chickpea-chewer is a slow process. In fact, back in grad school, when my homegirl Shaffo said she was going vegetarian, I replied: "I have a moral objection to that." Those were my exact words. I was close-minded. But I had a tummy full of iron, protein, and vitamin B12!

Also, please note: "I have a moral objection to that" = "I vehemently disapprove of your rejection of bacon, why have you done this, you must be shunnnnnnned." 

Bacon is still my jam.

But!!!

I am a secret Planeteer and I will do my part for mother Earth!

TL;DR: Being a vegetarian is hard but I think I can do it with enough garlic chili sauce.

This post brought to you by butt-cold rain!