Texas Steak CookOff = Texas Cattle Massacre

My family wants me to go to a steak cookoff in Hico, Texas, that my cousin is competing in. I've gone in past years, when I was pre-vegan, but now all I'd be able to think about is how many cows were massacred for some little podunk town to draw in some tourists. Besides, I'm not sure I could stand the smell - blech!

No, I believe I'll pass this year - and every year - in the interest of family harmony, and my own sanity. I'd just spend the day getting more disgusted and angry by the minute. And they're not going to change, so why waste my energy on something so futile? I could be blogging instead!

Cooking Meat Smells Gross

I always used to think I loved the smell of meat cooking. I've discovered that it's really just the spices I love the smell of - the garlic, rosemary, pepper, etc... The smell of plain unadorned meat truly grosses me out now. And eggs always did smell gross while cooking. When I used to eat eggs, I put so much other stuff in them (onion, garlic, etc...) that it covered the smell. But someone was frying eggs the other day, and I had to leave the room.

I've recently heard the argument that because humans are actually plant-eaters, we are naturally disgusted by the look, feel, smell and taste of meat. This is why we have to change it so much in order to be able to eat it. We remove it as far from its original source as possible. We cut it into small pieces that in no way resemble the animal it came from. We cover it in spices (made from plants) to cover the taste, and we cook it to change the texture from squishy and slimy to a firmer texture and consistency that is closer to that of plants.

The longer I'm vegan, the more I re-sensitize to my natural disgust at the sight and smell of animal flesh. I recently saw a tape of knife demonstration that was very disturbing. The demonstrator had a huge slab of cow flesh hung from a hook and was slashing and stabbing at it to show how "effective" each of the knives were. After just a few moments of watching him slash these gaping wounds, into what was once a beautiful and gentle creature, I got nauseous and had to turn away.

Vegan For Life

I love being vegan. I eat so much more interesting food than I ever did as an omnivore, and definitely more healthy food. The best part is that I feel light, as if a burden has been lifted. I don't have the constant inner struggle with the guilt of knowing living beings were being killed and tortured merely for the pleasure of my tastebuds. I wrote a poem almost two years ago after seeing dairy cows in small muddy lots all across California. Let's just say they didn't look like happy cows to me...

California Dairy Cows

Black and white

milk machines bred for

my dining pleasure. Standing

foot deep in mud and

urine. Udders swollen with

food for stolen calves you will

never see again.

For my mint-chocolate-chip, you

will never graze green pastures. For

sour cream on a baked potato, you

sleep in shit. Buttering my toast

is cruel and unusual

punishment.

I don't have that guilt anymore and it feels wonderful. Franz Kafka is said to have summed it up very well while looking at fish in an aquarium...

"Now I can look at you in peace; I don't eat you any more."