Calling All Carnivores:

If you believe you have a right to safe and delicious meat & poultry, then stop eating factory-farmed animals!

Ok, so I feel the need to clarify the motives behind my decision to become a vegetarian when I get back to the States.

First of all, it's not spurred by some bleeding-heart PETA crusade. It's not that I believe that animals shouldn't be eaten by humans. I'm very secure in my link in the food-chain. I love meat. That's why I'm doing this. I believe that the animals I eat should not be fed -insert the most disgusting thing you can think of here-. Nor do I believe that I should have to eat my burger or steak medium-well instead of rare out of fear of e. coli or salmonella just because the beef industry doesn't want to operate in a responsible manner.

I also realize that the chances of getting e. coli or salmonella are fairly slim, but it's not just illness or death that has put me off factory-farmed meat and poultry, but the idea of what's in there. I'll spare you the details, but just knowing of what's in there disgusts me. There are those who say, "Oh, it won't kill you." Well, neither will licking a subway pole, but that doesn't mean I'd want to do it.

Plus, living in Tuscany for two and a half years has afforded me the opportunity to eat non-factory farmed meat and poultry on a regular basis. Now that I know what meat should really taste like, I can't go back.

My biggest reason for going vegie is out of protest. Most Americans have grown so complacent about the quality of the food available to us. They either believe that the USDA and FDA are genuinely doing a good job of quality control, or have just surrendered to the notion that factory-farming is here to stay. But ask yourselves this: Why should we pay for food that must be handled like a biohazard when raw? The feed lots, slaughter houses, and meat-packers would all change their practices pretty fast if we all just put our foot down and declared that we will not buy their shit anymore. These, afterall, are people who must listen to their consumers.

I don't care what you put into your body. That's your choice. But I do believe in spreading the truth about how food's being raised and processed. I do this in hopes of reaching people who do give a shit, and will demand reform of the industry.

So, next month as I eat my last (or at least the last for quite a while) rare T-bone steak from a grass-fed, free-range, Chianina cow, I'll shed a tear for my seitan-filled, meat-less days to come when I move back to the U.S.

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