The Prince of Not Eating Meat

Reading my boy Nate's blog today, I remembered something I wanted to write the other day. The other day there was some sort of Toss Up or Role Play on PTI that had to do with whether or not Prince Fielder's much talked about vegetarian lifestyle choice has adversely affected his power (since, then, he hadn't hit one out in, like, 46 at bats).

Now to get in the Wayback Machine, for those that don't know, Prince's wife slid him a book about the horrors of factory farming and slaughterhouses and he swore off meat as a result. Everybody then started wondering if the lack of delicious meats would compromise his mighty swing. The thing I thought then (and still think now) is that there's a much more responsible decision that the Fielders could make that would still allow for Prince to mau on a porterhouse: eat locally, humanely raised and slaughtered meats. Sure, that means no steaks from Grizzlebees on road trips, but finding grass fed, pasture raised beef in southeastern Wisconsin should be no problem.

In fact, I think every vegetarian or vegan that chooses their diet for ethical reasons (and not food allergies or whatever) should do this. And here's why:

(Sweeping generalization alert.)

People that are likely to give up meat due to concerns for animal well being are also people that would be likely to buy meat and dairy from small, local farmers who are likely to raise and slaughter their animals more humanely than gigantor meat and dairy producers.

Most people that consume meat and dairy products don't think about the animals from which their food comes and get their meat and dairy from supermarkets.

People who are going to be convinced to give up meat aren't John and Jane Q. Public, they're Jonathan and Jane Q. Public Radio. So when an animal rights type convinces somebody to quit meat or dairy instead of convincing that person to make better decisions about the meat or dairy they buy, they're not convincing the Super Walmart grocery shoppers, they're convincing the farmer's market shoppers and, by the transitive property of...transitiveness, taking away money from farmer's that actually give a rip about their animals while doing nothing to Global Meat Corp.'s bottom line.

So there you have it.

Grass fed burgers with organic aged cheddar for everyone!

(If you want a better laid out explanation of this stuff - I'm looking at you, Prince Fielder's wife - try The Omnivore's Dilemma.)