Roxilla

“Working, working in the islands, working from dusk til dawn…”

I’ve been having something of a relevation recently about food, and the thought we put into what we’re eating. As a lifelong vegetarian, I was raised a bit differently, and I guess as one of my bosses likes to point out, I’m a hippy. Even so, most of my adult years, other than not eating meat, I never really thought much about food issues. A few years ago however, I started pondering the introduction of fish into my diet. It took another 5 year or so for me to actually try and start eating fish, but from December last year I began to eat it in small doses. I developed a strong like for sushi, a fair liking to praws (especially tempura ones with chili sauce), seared tuna was pretty good, didn’t dig dorado that much, and totally loved mussels. It was all slowly getting there… until a month or two ago, when I began to think about things a bit more.

It’s hard to explain how I felt, but basically, I started wondering what really separated fish or prawns or whatever from chickens, or cows or pigs. Yes, fish are cold blooded, and yes, they don’t have proper nervous systems. Yes, I didn’t feel as bad about something like shell fish, which my sister once drunkenly compared to nuts. But at the end of the day, I decided that I needed to trust my feelings and stop the fish eating process, while it was still early enough to not be a big deal. So it was back to square one, I was a vegetarian again, all under control. Then the other night, I happened to watched a factory farming video on Peta, and my perceptions were blown out of the water once again.

This video, Meet Your Meat, took a look inside everyday factory farms, where animals are crammed into cages to produce meat, eggs and milk for us. I’m not going to get into ‘activist’ mode and upset anyone, and if I do piss anyone off, that’s not my aim here – the point is that it made me think of the moon bears that I had been crying my eyes about just days before, and the lab animals that I wish I could free, and the cats and dogs and other animals in Chinese markets and fur farms, and all the other atrocities I’ve read about in the years that I have been ‘aware’… and I couldn’t see any difference when it came to the animals and their crappy existence to serve a purpose other than just being a product there for us to take. The reports of the conditions on these places are so shocking, the most hectic of these being that in the states, dairy cows are so buggered up and diseased from chronic milk production, that the milk they produce has a certain amount of pus from infections, and the government even allows a certain level into the milk that is sold. The mind boggles, and fuck am I glad to not be American! At least here things haven’t gotten that bad.

Anyway, my hippy upbringing kicked into action, and I started thinking some more. Knowledge can sometimes be a curse, and you can’t unknow things once your awareness shifts. I could either decided (even if it was just to decide not to decide, which would make it a decision by default) to carry on as I was, or I could decide if I really needed dairy and eggs that much. It wasn’t a hard choice, even if I know it may not be the easiest thing to get used to for a bit, but I think my hippiness is deeply set enough to give veganism a go. I’m not going to be anal about it, and I’m not going to preach what I practice, and if I do have a major yen for dairy or chocolate, then at least I know that there are free range options that are least enviro friendly… but I’m going to give it a try and see how it goes. I still have a lot of challenges ahead, what with Seattle coffee and pizza, but we shall see.

Again, I’m not trying to make a point here – this is just a personal ‘revelation’ that’s made me think a lot about my lifestyle. Hell, I’m even signed up at Ethical Co-op so I can get eco friendly veggies and stuff, lol. I guess you can say I’m embracing my inner hippy.

P.S. I went to the Wellness Center in Lifestyles on Kloof today at lunchtime to have a look at their non-dairy milk alternatives, fuck that place is awesome! It’s massive, and the prices aren’t all high. Lots of yummy bath goodies for R30 – R40, which is way cheap. I got some soymilk, but it’s not all that, and soya isn’t the healthiest option anyway, so will have to continue my search for a decent option for coffee. Til then, and til I find a non-dairy chocolate alternative or crack and get Woolies organic dark chocolate with orange, I guess I’ll be drinking rooibos. Or Powerade. Or water. Or, or, wine!