My husband, Rob Rosenbloom, wrote this guest post as he starts his journey into changing food habits. It probably isn’t what you think!
I grew up in New Jersey in the 50s and 60s and like many families back in the day, family meals were commonplace, and it was expected that you ate what was put in front of you. Our meals were meat-based with a few typical sides. Breakfast, especially on the weekends, included bacon and sausage. Lunches included my favorite baloney and cheese on white bread and dinners showcased all beef, pork, and poultry varieties. Pot roasts, meatloaf, and steaks were the favorites. Eating out while rare, included hamburgers, steaks, and pork chops. My mother’s family owned a Jewish deli and what delights were on the menu! I love Jewish deli food with overstuffed sandwiches of all kinds. You love what you grow up eating and the habits and tastes stay with you a lifetime.
Some of our lifetimes were probably shortened by the fatty, heavy meat-focused meals, but only after a cardiologist and dietitian recommended better choices (and for some, after the coronary bypass surgery) did we even try to change. Usually, our meat-heavy diets won out and returned to what we loved best. MEAT! Now being married to a dietitian has worn off on me, but moderation and not food denial is her mantra, so I reduced my fatty meat intake but still enjoyed most of my favorites during my life. Now at 70 plus and retired and being curious about religions and philosophies that differ from my own, I started thinking about my overall approach to life and happiness. What I did not expect is how it might impact my thinking about my food choices,
So, I started exploring Buddhism and it has been an interesting journey so far. Without getting into the details of the practice, there is one key principle that stands out, do no harm to other living beings. This leads many Buddhists to become vegetarians. Of course, individuals have the freedom to make other choices within the doctrine and I have now made one. I have decided to become a vegetarian but will continue to eat seafood. I guess you’d call that a pescatarian. Yes, I know that fish and other seafood are living beings, but I am rationalizing my choice so as not to go “cold turkey” (pun intended). I have also excluded octopus, having seen many documentaries on their amazing abilities. Now there are many reasons to be a vegetarian, including a focus on a plant-based diet, and being married to a dietitian, I am well indoctrinated in those choices. Disclaimer, my wife Chris did not prescribe this choice for me but is supportive of it
Now a month into this choice I have been faithful to it, but it is not without some sacrifice. This cost became even more evident on a recent visit with a friend to a traditional diner, the kind we grew up with. Looking over the menu, full of the foods I love, I would have had a hard time choosing a delicious meal. It hit me how many foods I was giving up. Corned beef, pastrami, chicken salad, chicken soup, and my favorite comfort food, meatloaf! The list goes on, but you get the point. A sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach set in as I could now see clearly what my new choice meant for the remaining years I have left. I immediately felt a sense of loss and a diminished quality of life. No more “pigs in a blanket” for the Super Bowl party, no more barbeque ribs and brisket, and being reduced to celebrating the special events and holidays munching on veggies or soy nuts. Yikes! What have I done?
As my decision to eschew meat is an ethical choice, it leaves no room for occasionally “cheating.” If this was a choice for healthy eating, the act of cheating occasionally would be less difficult. Violating an ethical choice simply because I miss eating my favorite foods, has more of an impact. In essence, I would be cheating myself and our choices reveal character or lack thereof. A self-imposed responsibility is sometimes harder to ignore than one imposed by others.
Life is full of choices and life is also subject to the inevitability of change. I am early in this choice and after 70 years of eating whatever I wanted (mostly when Chris wasn’t looking) adapting to plant-based substitutes for meat may take a while to get used to. I may always long for a good hamburger, but if I stick to this path, I will have to find other options. I will instead look at my choice as simply that, a choice. I don’t “have” to give up meat, I choose to do so.
Epilogue by Chris Rosenbloom. We live in a country where we are blessed to have so many choices (too many food choices one might argue). You will read headlines saying meat will kill you and the planet followed by another article saying meat increases your longevity. I’ll be writing about the role of meat in the diet in the next post so stay tuned and follow my blog by clicking here.
