Friday
May302008
Vegetarian or Locavore?
Friday, May 30, 2008 at 12:11PM 
In seventh grade, I made a moral decision to cease and desist with consuming meat.
Until my sophomore year in college, I held to that diet and have been a meat eater only in spells since. In four years together, Joe and I had cooked meat only once and that was a young, superfluous rooster from my uncle's farm served for the benefit of guests.
Eating Alabama does not offer opportunities to eat a variety of beans, previously a staple in our diet. More importantly, part of this endeavor is supporting local famers or farmers who are forging the way with healthier and more sustainable practices. So, we have bought some steak knives and a smorgasbord of pasture raised meats and for two months have been eating bacon and hamburgers, venison tenderloin and smoked turkey, pork chops and chicken. I even went so far as to help gut the chickens myself.
While many of these dishes have been delicious and nutritious, I am not sold on a return to a omnivorous lifestyle. And, I desperately miss veggie burgers, black bean burritos, and tofu stir fry. Empowered by acquisition of two bushels of soybeans, we attempted to resurrect the delicacies of the vegetarian diet. Joe tried to make homemade tofu. Alas, it was a failed effort. Following that, I experimented with homemade soybean burgers. Success was mine. Here, you can see them frying in the skillet.
I soaked and then boiled 1 1/2cups soy beans and ran them through the food processor with chopped onion, zucchini, olive oil, salt, cilantro, and 1 egg.
Certainly you could vary this combo or add another vegetable. Once ground, it is easy to form the mixture into patties for frying.
We did not have any buns or ketchup or mayo. So, I topped the burgers with roasted tomatoes and goats cheese. See the end product here with sauteed squash. Yummy!!
Reader Comments (5)
That does look yummy with the roasted potatoes and squash! Of course, your project is addressing just one aspect of sustainability and ethical eating - food miles, or to some extent, a local foodshed, however you want to define that. But in terms of the energy it takes to produce different foods, plants have less intensive needs than animals. So are you consuming more energy by eating beans grown in North Dakota, or beef grown in Alabama? If it's grass fed beef then maybe the beef wins, but I don't know the answer to that question for sure.
It's unclear how the ethics of eating local mean that it's OK to kill and consume other living creatures with developed nervous systems. Seems like "eating local" can pretty easily become an excuse for participation in the flesh consumption death economy. I guess as long as it's "sustainable" and doesn't leave a big carbon footprint, torture and murder are just fine.
bobdobbs - As I'm sure you recognize, people have different criteria for making food choices, and have different understandings of what is ethical. Yours is one. However, other people who raise animals humanely, give them loving care, and then eat them, also feel that they are making deeply ethical decisions about their food. The issue of what is sustainable is the most relevant question, and the moral issues of meat consumption aren't, IMO, pertinent. As I was implying in my comment, a vegetarian diet might well be more sustainable than a meat-based one (though I know there are those who would argue otherwise); I think the ethics of sustainability should include questions of how many resources an individual should consume.
i am also uncomfortable eating meat, for a variety of reasons - after being a vegetarian for so long, i can honestly say that i don't much like it or crave it when it's not there. i think there are good ethical arguments against it, both from an animal rights point of view and when considering resource use. most people either don't agree with this or they don't care, evidently, since most americans eat loads of meat. or they see the opposite side: some meats can be produced ethically by treating the animals with respect and local meats support the local economy, which means livelihoods for people and variety on the table. people are even http://http://www.southernbbqtrail.com/alabamabbq_intro.shtml" REL="nofollow">writing poetry about barbecue now so it must have some cultural and community value as well. i don't buy bbq poetry but some people find it inspiring and/or mouthwatering.
part of my decision to eat local meat during this project is to make the point that we can all - all of us, including carnivores - choose local for our food, and local food has many advantages*.
most people concerned with animal rights would probably argue that it remains unclear whether and how 'ethical treatment' can include death. that seems a personal decision.** for people who are most concerned about the resource use or local agriculture, the situation is less clear.***
ultimately i would argue that, if one is concerned about the resource use and ethics of his or her diet, s/he should start by trying to figure out where and how ALL of her food is produced. that's what we've done, and it's been a wonderful series of discoveries that has made us more aware of all the issues at stake which are, on close inspection, incredibly complex and present ethical dilemmas and contradictions at every turn. the "local omnivore versus global vegetarian" debate just scratches the surface. wait until you start debating your neighbors once-sprayed bibb lettuce that was grown from organic seed versus organic arugula grown from conventional seed produced in texas and available for sale at whole foods 30 miles away in mountain brook. you are now considering taste and variety, pesticide use, carbon footprint, local economy, transport, your friendship with your neighbor and your support of his or her lifestyle/livelihood, supporting a corporation and the corporate agribusiness conglomerate who may or may not have produced the arugula (and how they treat their workers), what is means to be "USDA certified organic", cost, your neighbor's growing practices - including details and risks of the specific fertilizers/chemicals used, packaging, etc. there are no clear choices. but asking these questions and researching information makes us aware of the issues at play here. it's empowering if a little overwhelming.
things are indeed simpler in monochrome: "meat is always bad" or "local is always better". our project is less about setting a justifiable ethical standard and then trying to adhere to it and more about pointing out the challenges, contradictions, advantages, and (yes) ethical dilemmas associated with a return to local food****.
*maybe my next project will be to only eat local and vegetarian, but that would only be inspiring to the other vegetarians in alabama who get all their organic tofu from california. i can tell you this is a small demographic, as you might imagine.
**jellyfish don't have central nervous systems and are edible. they're popular in cambodia and i got a chance to try them there. a little tough, actually. very yang i'm told. also part of the death economy?
***production of beef, even grass fed, requires 500 - 2500 gallons of water per pound. during our multi-year continuing drought, grains have played a large role in feeding livestock, even those whose normal diet is mostly grass. lots of resources go into slaughtering and packaging, shipping (even locally), etc. i haven't seen a good analysis of the relative benefits there. grass and surface/rain water/shallow groundwater (i.e., renewable resources) are usable for the production of meat.
****speaking of complicating factors, i should mention that i am currently in africa where monkey and gorilla are on the menu (and local!); so these choices are not always clear cut. everyone is dealing (or blissfully not dealing) with the complex ethical calculus inherent in food choices, and as andy points out, these choices are highly individualized. and depend on the context.
Yum - Sarah, that does look really good. I love sauteing the squash with some onions too. I always have an overabundance of squash from my little garden, and try to fit it into as many meals as possible during the summer!