69/90, hidden animals

While it would be easy to use this post to continue the cucumber theme from 68/90, I'm going another direction but continuing the discussion of food.

I am a vegetarian. Ok, a "flexitarian." The pain-in-the-ass of the Grass-eating Snobs movement. Here's my beef: I don't want to eat any animal that has had to stand in its own shit or eat food that isn't contributing to its health.

So yes. On ocassion, I eat steak. I buy it from local producers, who raise the animal and feed it well and have it slaughtered locally, following strict health regulations. This does not mean certified organic. This means being conscious of what you're putting in your body. Think about it: what happens when you don't nourish your body? You get sick. You lose your vitamin and antibody balance.

So why eat food that was living in these conditions?

Now. That was a clarification for this next bit. I've been reading a lot... and finding a long list of foods that I should not be eating. Not because I am vegan. Not because I am crazy about saving all animals. Not because I want to be a strict vegetarian. But because I support local food organizations and because I despise, with every cell of my small body, the food industry.

So, here is a list of foods that contain animal products that you know are coming from some nasty  CAFO cows:

1. Snickers: Okay, mass-produced caramels and/or nougats in general. They use gelatin.
2. Along with number one are: ice cream, marshmallows, any cereal with a frosted coated (read: any children's cereal), and some yogurts.
3. Chewing gum: This one's getting picky. Some of them contain lanolin.
4. Margarine: (and if I were a small child I'd count crayons, wax paper, soap and rubber cement) This "vegetable spread" (1) will be the death of you and (2) can contain tallow, which is from animal's connective tissue. Just eat the butter. Please.

So that's my list for today. Now, to share a list that's bit more inspiring. Check out these people who are eating (and not eating) cool things:

1. Food, Inc.
2. The Cove
3. Slow Food International
4. Local Harvest food cooperatives
5. Your neighbor, parent, grandparent, spouse, best friend with the cool garden
6. You. Grow something.