The food system: a video and a ramble

Bittman's point about preaching to the converted is interesting. If you're offended by whale meat, why keep eating other unsustainable meat, he asks? You've changed your light bulb, he says--now eat a freakin' salad.

He really is preaching to the choir. In fact, I deliberately didn't go to the lecture because I suspected that he wouldn't tell me anything I don't already know (and I was right: I heard that lecture--without a celebrity delivery system--twenty years ago, and haven't eaten meat since). I'm happy to listen online, for free, nonetheless. But his bigger point is this: it's not enough for only those of us who care to eat less (or no) meat: there needs to be system change.

In my search for vegan recipes, I come across vegan blogs that often have a point of view (beyond that related to flavor). One blogger--I can't find the post--slammed Alicia Silverstone (author of "The Kind Diet") for (1) arguing the health angle for convincing people to eschew animal products and (2) occasionally cheating. This blogger felt that people should just do things for ethical reasons--no selfish impetus like health should be needed. It's like people who think that people should donate with or without the tax breaks. Fair enough, but you do realize that what matters is the impact, and not the purity of the ideology? People not buying animal products for 'selfish' reasons contribute to less global demand for animal products just as much as heroic, selfless, ideologically pure vegans. And look--as much as I dislike imitation meat now, knowing that it was there helped me become a vegetarian. I was convinced about the need to not eat meat when I came to understand the impact on the environment--nothing like videos of dead rain forest creatures to bring the point home--but I was convinced I could actually do it when I tried a vegetarian 'meat'ball.

As for cheating, do what you need to do as long as you're being honest with yourself. You've heard me say this before: your personal food system has to be personally sustainable for you. Now, that doesn't mean you can't make adjustments, but you have to want to, for whatever reason. Otherwise, it's not going to happen, because you're setting yourself up for failure. I read in Rebecca Mead's profile of Lena Dunham that Dunham said she lost fifteen pounds once she stopped being a vegan, because all the sudden, the whole world was open to her. If that about describes your attitude about plant-based eating--if you feel that the world is closed to you--you're not going to change the way you eat without dealing first with that attitude. Consider what Mark Bittman said at the end--someone tried a plant-based diet for the summer, and stuck with it, because she didn't want to go back to eating the way she did. If you're committed to eating differently, don't adopt a martyr mentality about it. Focus on the personal and environmental benefits--focus on all the amazing things you can and should eat--and make changes at the level at which you're comfortable.