Victory for Cows Everywhere!!

So a couple of months ago I saw the movie "Food Inc." which completely disturbed me, to say the least.  There were so many things that were unsettling that I can't even begin to write it all down.  But my main issue was seeing the sickening animal cruelty.  I CANNOT HANDLE IT.  Lots of other things were upsetting as well- like the hormones given to the animals, their terrible unnatural diets, the diseases and filth that can be passed on to the consumers.  But nothing made me as ill or sad as the animal treatment.  So since I watched the movie, I've been wrestling with how to be practical and really apply what I took away from the movie.  Honestly, I felt like they basically were telling me to move to a farm, grow my own organic vegetables and fruits, raise and slaughter my own animals, never buy from grocery stores, and totally give up all processed food.  But that's probably not going to happen :).  So I've just tried to be much more conscious of what I'm buying- looking for organic produce and free range meat, and not ordering meat when I go to restaurants or fast food.  It hasn't been too hard though- the number of times I've eaten meat (besides fish) since the movie I could definitely count on 1 hand, and that's usually just when I get in a tricky situation where I have no other choice or don't want to offend the cook :)  I definitely don't think vegetarian is for everybody (and I'm not even going totally vegetarian anyway)- and I've had to be much more careful of getting protein from other sources, like beans and nuts (I've made a ridiculous amount of bean burritos and PB&Js lately.)  But I just haven't felt right about eating much meat since the movie (except fish- I've been eating tuna, cod, salmon, mahi mahi, etc. like crazy!!  I know that sounds doesn't make much sense, but I feel like fish get a pretty good life out there swimming around in lakes and oceans. Still weird- I know.) 

Here's my request- just let the animals have a good, happy life before their time comes.  That's it!!  And I don't think that's too much to ask!!  It's not that I'm against the idea of eating meat all together- I just hate the thought of the cows and chickens suffering for me.  (I realize this isn't an issue for most people- and that's totally OK!!  Nick is still definitely a fan of meat in any shape or form.  This is just a personal dilemma I'm trying to wrestle with.)

So...... (I'm now stepping down from my soapbox- I apologize for all that) tonight I tried something new and I'm so excited for how it went over!!!  I made taco soup for dinner for Nick and me tonight, and Craig, my brother-in-law, was over here too.  So without saying anything, I used Morning Star's vegetable crumbles instead of hamburger meat- and both guys LOVED it!!!!  I was so excited to tell them that it wasn't actually meat- yesss!!  (I realize it may sound terrible that I tricked them, but I need to experiment!)  So now, I have a great meal that me and my meat-lovin' husband can both enjoy- and I can feel free of guilt while we're eating it!!!  I don't feel guilty for hurting the animals, AND I don't feel guilty that my husband is stuck with a weirdo, hippie wife who won't cook him something he likes :)  Victory!!!!  Nick is definitely not a fan otherMorning Star products that I eat, but at least we have 1!! :)

If you haven't seen "Food Inc.", I would totally recommend it.  Not that I think everyone needs a guilt trip, but it's so eye-opening and exposes a lot of problems that we never hear about and need to be aware of.  As the idea of kids has starting coming onto my radar, I feel like there's a few changes that need to be made.  And if I just suddenly do that once a kid gets here, I'm afraid my body will go into shock :)  So I figure I may as well start making adjustments now and be careful of the choices we're making so that it's just natural when that time comes to think about my child's nutrition.