I have been a BBQ judge for over 10 years and a meat-eater all my 60 years; however, I am beginning to get qualms about eating meat, which I eat much less often than I used to. Primarily my considerations have to do with health, but I also have concerns about the torture and death of live animals which is beginning to bother me. |
Personal Choices
"Sustainability and fair trade are the most important things to me. I cringe when I hear about people who only want pure things (organic food) to go into their bodies. We don't see the effects here in the USA because our waste stream often ends in majority world countries."
|
A Lifelong Process
"I used to think that there was little to no connection between my faith and how I ate (and ultimately treated my body). I've grown to realize that was wrong."
|
Neither Created or Destroyed
"With every breath I take and meal I eat, I change, slightly, the makeup of that which I understand as my Self."
|
Corporate Power
"I believe we should be as concerned with corporate behavior that pollutes our bodies the same way we are concerned with corporate behavior that poisons our environment."
|
|
|
As an obese person, my relationship with food is ambivalent. I need the nurturance and health from food, yet have no idea how to regulate the intake — even after being on more diets than I can remember. It's a paradoxical relationship. The only time I feel good about eating is when I say my grandmother's blessing before I eat. This happens all too infrequently. |
A Lifelong Process
"This has been a life-long process for me and no one should pass judgment on people who choose to eat meat or a different kind of diet. Everyone does this according to what they have learned and lived and what they have come to believe (if they give it any thought)."
|
Juxtaposition
"Imagine:
a summer of salads from farmers' markets
vine ripened tomatoes
fresh dug scallions
clean washed mesclun
—succulent fare"
|
Direct Communication
"I choose foods which assist my self-healing abilities and assist my spiritual growth. I choose foods which I can make and bless and feed to others in a heart-filled way, knowing this food will assist them in many ways. And sometimes God, in the form of food, chooses me."
|
|
|
Believing in the stewardship of all creation I try to choose locally grown foods: farm and ocean. I was raised on Cape Cod in a fishing family so our meals were often the "catch of the day." I now try to use under-utilized species so that the well harvested species (especially in the ocean) have an opportunity to restock. |
A Source of Meaning and Value
"Our eating inevitably involves us in the lives of people, animals, plants, and the soil. We cannot opt out, nor can we exercise full control over all these connections. But rather than seeing this as a burden, I suggest that we see it as one of the most significant opportunities with which we are presented."
|
Potential for Divine Meaning and Purpose
"…my everyday reality has the potential for divine meaning and purpose. While I believe there is spiritual potential in everything we do, I am especially aware of a divine presence in all things involving food and meals. For me, food has tremendous spiritual importance: it brings people together, allows human beings to feel satisfied and comfortable, connects us with the earth, provides us with health, and is basic for life."
|
We Must Be Wise In Our Choices
"I believe that every choice that we make, whether the job we chose or the meal we eat should be affected by our faith. God desires us to seek Him in all the areas of our life. Whether big or small, He is interested."
|
|
