I love eating meat. Like a LOT. If you know me, you know this to be true. And really any kind will do, although a thick juicy medium rare Scotch Fillet would go down a treat. Or grilled lamb chops. Or chicken kiev with lots of garlic and butter. Or bacon. Mmmmm bacon.
So it might come as somewhat of a shock to find that currently I am a virtual vegetarian. Now I know that there are many reasons for becoming a vegetarian, many of which I find confounding (I know that there are foods I don't like but how can anyone not like meat?!) but I can't say that I've stopped eating meat for such altruistic reasons as saving the cute little goats that I see on the side of the road, or to stop the slaughter of innocent cows. I'm not for inhumane treatment of animals but I guess I like meat more than I like them (and if there is a piece of meat on a foam tray covered in plastic wrap how I am to know how it died - the ignorance plea). However in the almost nine months since I've been living in this apartment (and therefore buying my own food) I've bought meat products maybe four times. Mince that went into a spaghetti bolognaise, one packet of bacon and chorizo a couple of times. And come to think of it the first three months when I didn't have a fridge I didn't buy any meat.
An unsuspecting cow. Kibogo village, 2008
Really my lack of meat consumption is all about lack of convenience. Laziness and tight purse strings on my part really. The only place I know that I can buy single person proportioned cuts of meat sells that meat at a premium price and I'm not willing to pay that much.
Butchery Ugandan style
That's not to say when I eat out that I don't try and always order something meaty. And when that meal costs somewhere between eighty cents and two dollars it's much more affordable than the nicely packaged alternative. Of course it's still not a steak…
The classic street food ‘meat on a stick’ and the grandest roast chicken ever!
Meat consumption is a privilege of the rich. For most Australians who are vegetarian it is a lifestyle choice. But here around me I see people who are vegetarians by circumstance. Who wish to be habitual rather than occasional omnivores. And as a meat lover I can't blame them.
I have started to see some articles (maybe they were always there and now I've started looking for them) about the growing middle class in China and India and how the growing economic stability of these rather large groups of people is starting to change their meat consumption habits. Most of the articles i read were looking at the long term (and not so long term) global effects, as the land once used for cereal crops (that feeds the majority of the worlds population) is sought after for pastureland and as a food source for livestock. This has caused me to think about my own meat consumption habits (pre Uganda) and whether my privilege entitles me to dismiss these concerns.
Does thinking about the effect that my meat consumption has on the world make me consider not eating meat. Not really. It seems I'm not that noble. But if a healthier, more globally sustainable diet is a by product of sacrificing my eating of animals then I'm also okay with that.
On the other hand, if you would like to support families here in Uganda and DR Congo by supplying them with breeding goats, chickens, pigs or cows (thus giving them an opportunity to raise their family income and eat meat if they would like to), check out Jambo Sana and buy an Australia HOPE International gift card.
Blessings
bron
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