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I remember a couple of months ago, standing in the crisps aisle of my local Asda store and thinking: “What a waste of human and natural resource”.
I actually found myself lost for words at how much crap was in this store. I don’t mean Asda specifically, of course. I usually enjoy shopping there (never again on a Saturday). Just generally we waste so much effort and resource in producing that which has no real value.
I might read more into it and say that this was an epiphany about life in general and wasted effort, but in this case, I was really just thinking about food. You might argue that gaining pleasure from food is a worthwhile use of resource. I watch a young girl stuff a fist full of chips in her mouth and think, yes, but it’s the type of greedy pleasure that is too close to gluttony to be cherished.
I love to cook, and I love food. I enjoy my fat and sugar as much as anyone. In recent years information has trickled into my consciousness that is changing the way I look at these things though. The above video is from a talk given four years ago. I can’t remember if I’ve seen it before but it reminded me of a whimsical statement I made after seeing another of these talks about becoming a ‘weekday vegetarian’.
I am renewing this now as a commitment on the public forum. Five days a week, I can reduce or remove my consumption of animal products and feast on flesh on my days off. Seems achievable and, if enough people take up this crazy habit, we are essentially cutting the demand for animal products by about 70%. Good for us, good for the environment.
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off the plate 