Belief System

So what are my beliefs regarding the food I fuel my body with?

It's simple. Whole foods, as locally sourced as possible, and nutrient dense.

I've done the vegan thing, the vegetarian thing, and the low carb thing. As a teen I even did the junk food and Taco Bell thing - ha. But honestly, I've found what works best for myself, and that is a bit of anything that is healthy, so long as it's come about ethically. I don't follow any style of eating, or any diet, religiously. I truly admire Weston A Price beliefs and I see a lot I like in the primal/paleo diets, but I just can't bring myself to eat that much meat.

I love animals, and I am a strong and active advocate for animal rights, and humane treatment of animals. I do allow (minimal) amounts of meat and animal products into my diet. Although I firmly believe that people should not EVER buy meat from factory farmed sources (and if the poor and inexcusable treatment of the animals are not reason enough, perhaps the fact that 1 in 4 packages of conventionally raised meat contain antibiotic resistant bacteria is enough to convince you). In this country though, money talks. I've come to the realization that financially supporting farmers, by purchasing their products, when they treat the animals the way they deserve to be treated, goes much further than simply not buying the product at all.

Don't get me wrong here. I fully support and admire people that consume no animal products, and I also believe that the amount of animal products consumed in our society is disgustingly verging on obscenity. I fully believe that meat should really a side dish, and vegetables should be the main course. But I also believe that a 3oz serving of beef that came from a cow that was allowed to roam freely on pasture and fully engage in natural behaviors and live a happy and cruelty free life, can be a part of a healthful diet. The nutrients in that are astronomically different from that of a 3oz serving of beef from a cow that was raised on grains, scraps, and medicines, and a cow that was brought up in inhumane and confined circumstances. It is not even comparable. And, nutrition aside, it is not RIGHT.

When you buy cheap meat from animals raised in awful circumstances, ask yourself - is the couple of dollars you saved worth the pain and suffering of a living creature? Could you, with your own hands, treat a living creature the way those animals have been treated? If you cannot, then you should not partake of the meat that is a product of those circumstances.