To veg, or not to veg...that is the question

We are hit on all sides by this one. Many in the survivalist community, whether peak oilers or Christian, advocate switching to a vegetarian diet because they fear a lack of meat in the future. Environmentalists blame the past heating of the earth not on the sun, they blame it on cow farts and lamb burps....sorry, I didn't know that cow farts and lamb burps were also heating up the atmospheres of Mars and Jupiter as well.

But the question remains...should one become a vegetarian...or better yet, a vegan?

A guest on Cordite Country (weekend afternoons on Oracle broadcasting) put it simply. If you couldn't fish, kill, and butcher the animal yourself, you probably shouldn't be eating it. Which, of course, means that you should load up on beans and add to the cow farts and lamb burps. Isn't being human grand.

Of course, my grandfather was a stock man. Pigs, chickens, cattle... I grew up knowing where grandma's fried chicken and ham came from. I probably chased a couple of those chickens. I have gone fishing (even recently), and I have had to touch dead animals out of necessity. Being a tiny delicate thing....okay, maybe just tiny....I wouldn't be able to butcher something large on my own. But I would have no problem with fish, birds, or other small animals.

Then another thing struck me. The teen and I were watching "The Colony". In their struggle to find food, the colonists captured and began raising some rats in their warehouse. Before you get ill, think of it this way...most wild rats are a brownish, grayish color. These rats were black and white. They were obviously domesticated, and thus disease free. But then, the one vegetarian in the group grabbed the last peice of rat, surmising that the lack of food he was use to eating would cause him malnutrition if he didn't get at least some protein.

All philosophies go out the window when you are starving.

*

Now, the same should go for my peaknik friends who are animal lovers. They imagine a world where everyone left after the oil spike is living in tiny hamlets or on small farms. Great. Now here comes that bobcat to eat your poodle. Yes, my dear, it can happen. Just five miles down the road, my mother's upscale community has been harassed the past few years by bobcats...and they don't live that close to farms. Wild animals aren't as cute and fuzzy as they seem. There have been several instances lately where people who live with bears have been eaten by the very same bears they nearly worshipped. You might imagine bambi all sweet and innocent out in the woods...until bambi grows up and attacks you simply because its mating season.

Never say never.

Just a thought I had this morning. Thank you for putting up with my waxing.