Food Balance

Illustration drawn in Photoshop

By admitting this, I know I risk not being taken seriously, but, it's the truth: Avatar made me vegetarian.

Embarrassment over, I was pretty amazed at how I felt so revolutionized after a movie with terribly one-side bad guys and somewhat self-indulgant dialogue, but here I am. I've already learned about the facts of mass cow farms and chicken coops, the antibiotics and monotonous corn feed meant to produce the most pounds of meat in the shortest amount of time possible. If living in Berkeley didn't eventually teach you this, my introduction to environmental science class did. Yet, I had been taking the Michael Pollan approach -- yes some meat is produced in a manner I would not approve, but it is so so yummy.

When I told my brother about my vegetarian consideration, he scoffed and reminded me that I am the one that L-O-V-E-S meat. I am the one he used to buy a quarter pound of roast beef for from Cheese n' Stuff, and who would eat it in one sitting. I am the one who he bought a pillow in the shape of a t-bone steak for and who really likes it. By all means, I am one who has always loved her steaks, chicken and bacon.

What Avatar did, I suppose, was remind me to look at myself as part of a network. Even in my cold, empty Berkeley apartment, I am participating in a larger system, especially in what I eat. There are probably a lot of things I do that are not the best for the environment: use my computer a lot, take long hot showers, or throw away dozens of disposable contact lens cases, but eating meat connects to a living animal and a slaughter. I really doubt that I would be able to morally kill all of the animals I have eaten. The distance we have from our food makes me trigger happy in all the meat I consume. It's pretty difficult to remember that those chicken nuggets and patties were actually parts of animals. So, thank you Avatar, for the reminder.

While I was preparing for a final which involved potentially creating a guideline for a more eco-friendly city, I proposed having visible landfills, so that we could all see what happens to the trash we throw away. The smell and the general nastiness will probably make this an unpopular idea, but the question remains, how do we make the consequences of our actions more visible?

Perhaps, we can reverse the reminder and the motivation. Perhaps by becoming vegetarian, I am giving myself the reminder that I am responsible for things outside of my daily view. Thought follows action, my social psychology class taught me. And action derives from will, so I will go to sleep hugging my steak pillow, and choose tofu in the morning.