Evil propaganda

Some of you are going to be mad at me. I can feel it. So I’m just going to say it, bluntly, much like a bandage getting ripped off.

Want to know one of my money-saving food tips? I’m a vegetarian.

I want to be very, very clear: I am not telling you you shouldn’t eat meat. I have chosen not to – and for me, that choice feels right and good in every way I can express. Not only do I find that my personal food choice centers me and reminds me that I am capable of compassion (something about which I must occasionally be reminded), but I feel better and healthier. I know that my personal environmental impact is minimized that much more. And it’s cheaper.

Is this the right choice for everyone? Well, judging from the number of people out there who eat meat, obviously not. Certainly I do not, and cannot, expect everyone to do as I do. As Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “If two people are thinking the same thing, one of them isn’t thinking.”

Here is my challenge. No, not a challenge. In the spirit of my laissez-faire attitude toward personal food habits, I’ll call it a suggestion. If you are a meat-eater, try eating vegetarian for just one day a week. Or two or three -- whatever your lifestyle might accommodate. Make sure you do this with your brain engaged. Include a protein source such as tofu or beans with at least two meals a day (three if you’re feeding children); and add something high in iron and B vitamins such as lentils, spinach, or kale. And make sure you heap on calcium-rich vegetables such as broccoli if you’re going vegan, especially if you’re a woman.

So do this for a day, and then look at your receipt. Do you see a difference? I can get tofu for $1.99 a pound, much cheaper than I can find chicken breasts. And it can’t be a bad thing, healthwise, that I do much of my grocery shopping in the produce aisle. Right?