The Power of Meat

Eating is a way of life. Many social experiences center around food, especially in America. When it comes to celebrating, it's not a party unless you have food and alcohol. Growing up in the south, people showed their love by cooking. The one who dispensed the biggest spread was the one we all loved the most. Saturday night dancing in the basement led to Sunday afternoon around the kitchen. I am no different from the average person who grew up with meat being the centerpiece of every meal. As a matter of fact, many of my meals were strictly meat. I could go weeks without eating a single vegetable. Actually, I can't think of a single vegetable that I liked prior to my post college years.


What I did not know until recently is that my love of meat was slowly bringing me down. I have gone through many days where I was just too tired to do anything without really having done anything to make me so tired. Although I am pretty skinny, many days I felt like I was carrying the weight of three people, but no one took me seriously because I was so small. A few months ago I read "By Any Greens Necessary" by Tracye Lynn McQuirter and have not eaten meat since. It was March 17, 2014 to be exact; St. Patrick's Day. I didn't make a public announcement that day because I wasn't so sure that at some point I would cave in to meat but at that time, there was nothing you could tell me to get me to eat a piece of meat.


Here we are six months later and (with the exception of fish) I am still meat free. I have learned so much since that day that I declared I was done with chicken. I absorb just about any piece of material I can get my hands on that deals with the foods that we eat as well as the effects that our lifestyles have on the environment. Like the fact that the whole process of getting meat on the grocery shelves is killing our planet more than any thing else.


I have so much information that I feel the need to share with anyone who would listened which is why I am beginning to write down the various things I am learning along the way. I hope to use this space as a journal and information hub for those who, like me, would like to live a more conscious life where we care about our environment as well as our bodies. I believe, meat is a major source of what ails us. I pray that I am able to convey to others the importance of cutting back (or totally cutting out) meat from the diet.