Menu
Sustainability

Unpopular opinions

Boy wasn’t my life so much simpler when I believed that feminists are hairy and unhappy women and the ones who always have a date on Valentine’s have nothing to do with it. Life was so much simpler when I closed my eyes to whatever is happening outside of my bubble. I was definitely more popular when I believed that sapiens have only made it so far because of eating meat. Why did I have to find out that 90% of the big animals on the planet are domesticated? And these domesticated animals are living the shortest most miserable lives. 

Damn it, I want to write about this for so long, but I just can’t stand to be so annoying. For some reason whenever I post something online, I always imagine the handful of people who might be reading it and think: would they roll their eyes reading it? Especially the people that I used to crack jokes with about anything and anyone. Would they still think I am funny? I know we haven’t spent a lot of time together in the last four years because I am living in a goddamn paradise at the end of the world, but I promise you, I am still the same idiot that I was before when it comes to all the inappropriate jokes. I still love getting drunk, I still occasionally roll a joint when my daughter goes to sleep. I still dance when making breakfast, I still browse 9gag and find memes to be relevant form of communication. 

But yes I am a mother and I feel like I have this responsibility now to not take shortcuts at the expense of the planet or our wellbeing. This has nothing to do with motherhood, it’s just what really brought it onto the surface in me personally. It’s an uncontrollable urge thought. So here we go, here’s a blog about our plant based diet. We have been eating like this for 10 months, which I realise is nothing, but it also means the passion is still there.

It started in a totally innocent way. I wanted Lukas to do the whole30 diet with me and he kept telling me that eating so much meat just doesn’t agree with him and that he feels too heavy. Nonsense I told him, we need meat, it’s super important. And I started doing a bit of a research to prove it. Instead I proved myself wrong. This is what happens when you dive too deep into an actual research. I felt so cheated by all the propaganda. I thought when I stopped with the dairy and sugar few years ago that I knew it all. I silently laughed at everyone who told me they have strong bones because they drink so much milk.

So we gradually stopped eating meat every day and soon we were only eating it once a week. Then the Game Changers came out, or in other name the Vegan propaganda. Lukas suggested we try it for a month in November. A month has gone by without us noticing and it has become the new norm. It’s really interesting how once you start doing something slightly better, it’s almost impossible to go back into your old habits without feeling totally guilty. It doesn’t matter if it’s something small like not using plastic shampoo bottles or something big like trying to avoid the industry that’s responsible for an incredible water use, pollution, deforestation and a noticeable percentage of human produced greenhouse gases. There’s definitely a lot of vegan propaganda that greatly exaggerates these statistics.

Nevertheless the one thing that nobody can deny is the struggle of the animals farmed for meat and dairy. They have the most miserable lives, which have kept me emotionless for many years. Partly because I hadn’t a clue and partly because since becoming a mum I am definitely a lot more emotional. Meaning when somebody tells me: It’s been scientifically proven that cows form a bond with their calf right at birth and when they get separated, they struggle, it moves me a lot more than it used to. Yes I can see the fact that I have just compared myself to a cow. I have no regrets.

The information continues and I find out that lot of the calves are kept unfed for 24-48 hours and then slaughtered. I will stop right here. There’s actually a lot more information and a lot of horrible videos that can stick with a person for life. I did this research when I was breastfeeding and my friend said: “I don’t think there’s anything wrong with drinking cow’s milk unless you have an intolerance.” This simple comment has sent me into a spiral of research and ironically it has caused me to lose my own milk and Lukas had to forbid me to use the internet for a few days so I cold keep my sanity and our daughter fed.

I just want to clarify that by no means I think that extreme veganism is the only way. I think that any lifestyle has to be sustainable. Therefore if you are having trouble sustaining it or struggling with it, you are likely going to snap one day or another. And I know it will happen one day or another, on occasion or once a year that I will do something contrary to my belief. Although the more time goes on, the less inclined I am to wanting to eat meat.

Also the information is never black and white. There will be further studies using the arguments that land needs to be grazed by livestock and they will also have a point. However spending some time reading both sides of the story, my conclusion and moral values still incline towards less meat and dairy consumption.

Since we have stopped eating meat as a regular item on our menu, we have still had it a few times. There was one occasion when me and Lukas were on our own in our favourite brunch place and I couldn’t resist the bacon and egg roll. When we were feeling under the weather, I made chicken soup because I didn’t know what else to make. I have had real ice cream (not sorbet) twice. I definitely had some cheese as a part of some dining out meal. So what. At home we eat about 95% plant based and I think it’s great.

The other day my friend was telling me that he loves nothing more than a good BBQ, but he only has it once a week and that’s still great too.

I think what bothers me the most is the whole propaganda around meat industry. I honestly wish, I knew a little bit sooner. It’s incredible how much judgement we have received from friends and family for feeding our daughter plant based meals, wholefood plant based to be clear. We had to go to a nutritionist, not because we were unsure about what we are doing – god knows we have spent hours reading scientific papers, but because we wanted a proof for our families from a professional. It’s crazy how this meat industry propaganda has driven people (including me) to really believe that you need meat for iron, to be healthy, for energy and strength. It’s absolutely distorted that you get more judged more for cooking every single meal from scratch plant based than for taking a child to McDonald’s.

Not to mention that Josie is the healthiest kid, thousand times knock on wood! I am really a big believer that what you eat is what you are. With so much extensive scientific research available that proves how what you eat can deter so many illnesses, I think it’s really worth doing the effort. At least it definitely opened doors for me to see the variety in cooking, using ingredients that I didn’t know existed and I have to say – I am a pretty good chef.

Anyway all these things that we do, that are an “inconvenience” in our lives, always come down to one thing. When Josefina asks me one day if I knew what was happening with the world, I will be able to say yes and I really did try to do my best to create a better one for you. Unfortunately I am not a sexy activist so here, eat your chilly sin carne.

No Comments

    Leave a Reply