Judge John Hodgman on Haphazardly Abandoning Vegetarianism

[conuly]

Garrett writes: My wife and I have been vegetarians since we met in 2001. I brought home burrito bowls tonight, and the order was wrong: One bowl contained chicken. I want to go ahead and eat it rather than throw it away. She thinks I’m giving up on years of dedication too easily.

This kind of error is exactly why all vegetarians should have dogs. Morally speaking, nothing will bring that particular chicken back to life. Ethically, you’re right that food waste is irresponsible. Personally, my guess is that after 18 years of no-chicken, you really want to eat that chicken. I think you’ve earned this transgression, but I am not the one who has to kiss your chickeny mouth after. For sake of marital harmony, I would suggest picking out the chicken and feeding it to your or another vegetarian’s dog. But now that you’ve waited two weeks for my reply in a print magazine, both bowls are garbage. Toss ’em.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/19/magazine/judge-john-hodgman-on-haphazardly-abandoning-vegetarianism.html

Comments

[tielan]

I always find these 'ethical questions' kind of amusing. I'm a permaculture/regenerative gardener (or I try to be) and it's fascinating the hoops that people make themselves jump through and then beat themselves up for failing to clear.

(Less amusing: the hoops that people make others jump through, and then heap scorn upon for failing to clear.)

It's like...you gotta find your own line of contentment and you gotta know the reasons why you're doing it yourself, and then you can make decisions on which is more important.

Did they go vegetarian to reduce their ethical footprint? Is it to do with their desire not to support the commerical meat industry and its cruelty? Are they PETA-type absolutists where MEAT IS MURDER NO MATTER WHAT? Or were there health reasons for going vego? The answer to those questions will inform the decision they make - and the decision may not be the same for the two of them, even if they've been together 18 years.

But, yeah, that chicken is dead and isn't going to live again. It has been paid for, from the burrito bowl to the supplier, to the farmer, so refusing the chicken is useless to avoid supporting commercial meat stock treatment. Do they care about food waste? Do they, perhaps, have chickens themselves that they could feed the (cooked) chicken to? (Some people baulk at this; I don't. I'm not feeding them meat every day, just when it's bits and bones, or has gone to the edge of human-edible.) Which principles do they hold to, or don't they hold to any, they're just vegetarian for being vegetarian's sake.

The only major concern I can see that isn't related to personal ethics/moral code is that they're obviously dedicated vegos because they've been doing this for eighteen years, though, so there may be an issue with meat suddenly back in his digestive system. *shrugs*

[minoanmiss]

"Giving up on years of dedication too easily"?! Would one burrito bowl really make 18 years absolutely null and void? That sounds so... fundamentalist to me.

[tiamatschild]

I mean, after eighteen years of vegetarianism, his body's probably not gonna thank him if he randomly eats a bunch of chicken. Like. Digestive system wise. Maybe he'd get lucky and be one of the people who don't have an unpleasant bodily response, but plenty of people do.

[lemonsharks]

Yeeeeeup

[conuly]

Also, I can't see how it's her concern unless she really doesn't associate with anybody who eats meat for whatever reason. (In which case, okay.)

[lemonsharks]

If vegetarianism is a HUGE part of her identity and she'd previously thought of meat eating as an absolute dealbreaker she may be questioning whether she really wants to divorce over a burrito bowl, which may be having an effect of cascading existensial crises.

[lilysea]

Do they, perhaps, have chickens themselves that they could feed the (cooked) chicken to? (Some people baulk at this; I don't. I'm not feeding them meat every day, just when it's bits and bones, or has gone to the edge of human-edible.)

I wouldn't feed chicken to chickens that I was keeping, but not for ethical reasons. I'd be concerned about the risk of chicken-to-chicken disease transmission.

Less worry about that if you're feeding your chickens beef or fish.

[lilysea]

Also, I can't see how it's her concern unless she really doesn't associate with anybody who eats meat for whatever reason. (In which case, okay.)

Yeah, I know someone who demanded that all her boyfriends convert to veganism as a condition of dating her...

[cimorene]

That was my thought too. If you stop being vegetarian, your best bet is to go very gradually, not to dive in with a burrito bowl.

[metawidget]

Heck, after a few months of vegetarianism my body wished to register some digestive complaints after I had a meal with meat in it.