Saturday, October 5, 2013

To eat or not to eat


5 years ago I decided to cut meat out of my diet: no beef, no chicken, no fish. Many reasons lead me towards that decision. To reduce environmental footprint, animal cruelty and improve my health, to say the least in a very simplistic kind of way. 


I wouldn't have considered including chicken back to my diet, but in the past month we've been dealing with baby Matia's acid reflux. If you've ever had to deal with this kind of situation you know it can be very frustrating, stressful and tiring.


According to the research I've done, to help determine what is causing the reflux, a breast feeding mother has to go on an elimination diet. No dairy, no gluten and no acidic food. Instead, the consumption of blend food is encourage, like rice, quinoa, sweet potato and chicken. The last one is especially recommended for good fat and protein. Every mom I've talked to says it's the best for this kind of thing. Now I'm having to do the necessary adjustments to meet my high standards of good nutrition and health.


We have a few chickens we raise ourselves, not really for the meat, but because we love chickens and all animals. We enjoy their company, we give them names and a pretty good life: the best organic grains, lots of vegetation, a flock to socialize with and a free range lifestyle. Sometimes we eat their eggs, if we can find them in the bushes, but it's not a prerequisite for living here free and being fed with the best food. It's clear we love our chickens, all of them: Chicko, Gandalf the Gray, Bleu, Nina, Speckles, Adriana, Anastasia and The Wife.



I know that if we were to raise our own chickens for meat, we wouldn't be contributing to the carbon footprint the meat industry is responsible for (meat causes more emissions than all transportation combined), neither would we follow the animal cruelty procedures and conditions that factory farms apply to the 10 billion animals who are raise for meat every year. No, we don't support those practice. Yet, there's still something that feels off when you eat someone you love, someone with a name, and a personality you know so well. 

So what to do when all culinary and nutritional circumstances point in that direction? Is this just an overly thought question, typical from my human condition? I honestly doubt the eagles that fly every day in the search for prey have such dilemmas on a daily basis, or ever.

So what should one do with these questions? Should I just eat chicken from a local sustainable farm that treats their animals with the same love we do, to avoid eating the ones we love? If so, should I justify killing an animal just because I'm not attached to it emotionally? 
To eat or not to eat chicken: that is the question. 


5 comments:

  1. Dear Cla... I love you so much:.
    If I were in your situation, which I can´t imagine myself in...
    I would try as hard as I can to find a different alternative. There are countless people bringing up their kids in a total vegan style... There has to be a way! Only very few people know it...
    I wouldnt recommend you to eat something you dont feel good about. There must be a way...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. There are many ways, you are right, there's never only one way. I guess this is just one alternative to the necessary healing. We'll give it a try, along with all the other ways that we've found in research, like chiropractor, etc etc... All we can do will be done to help our little Matia. Thanks for your thoughtful concern <3

      Delete
  2. Clau from my standpoint, I'm omnivorous. I'm more concerned with how the animal lives and dies than to eat it or not. So I would go with the farm, if animals there live free and kinda wild, and I would take advantage of everything, so good bone broth is a must! also another question, would you dare to kill one of your chickens?

    ReplyDelete
  3. Yes D. I usually don't feel very comfortable eating animals, but coming from a farm like you and I described, could help the little guy to heal, so we are giving it a try. I don't think I would dare to kill any of my chickens, it would be like killing my dog... sort of.
    Thanks for your sweet input :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Oh my goodness - the little angel is finally out !!! belated welcome to Earth, baby Matia. The only time I met the little chap was a long moon ago at Nina's when he was still swaddled in your belly. For someone I love, I'd probably be capable of eating my own arm. So if a few chickens must be eaten, and you're emotionally invested in all animals, then the only way to soothe your soul is to make sure your local farms are raising and preparing them kindly. But fo sho, chickens lose, Matia's needs win. From the date of this entry, you've been at this new regime for a hot minute... how goes it? xx Alex

    ReplyDelete