Reintroducing Meat: An Act of Compassion
For the past nine years, I was a vegetarian. People often asked me why. It was a question that could’ve been my claim to fame at the dinner table — anecdotes about my selfless acts for the planet, or stories about Beyond Burgers that tasted better than meat. A vegetarian’s dream.
But I hated that question.
And last month I asked myself why. This led me to start eating meat again.
I recently decided to make positive changes to my life - very quarter-life crisis of me. And after waging an inner war, I was introduced to compassion. Not eating meat became a contention in my mind. Was it a compassionate choice?
I became a vegetarian in 2016. It was the height of the Victoria’s Secret fashion show and “pro-ana” was rising on Tumblr. After watching Food, Inc. in my high school health class, I got the idea to use vegetarianism to restrict. It was a decision made for the wrong reasons.
I healed my relationship with food. But the world around me entered a pandemic of raw balls and açai bowls. By 2019, the number of vegans had tripled since 2004. Cutting meat had become a trend instead of a diet. I was part of that trend.
Last month, I went to Beans and Bagels, my favourite brunch spot in Gothenburg — seconds away from being spoiled by The New York Times food guide. To my surprise, they had removed my hangover favourite from their menu: peanut butter and Nutella.
“Nobody wants it anymore. We threw it out, along with the Leah (the name of their bagel with hummus), and everyone’s vegan phase,” the owner, Niclas, told me. His hands flaring after saying the word ‘vegan’.
He’s not wrong. Vegetarianism is declining in big cities like Gothenburg. Last year, two of its most renowned vegetarian restaurants started serving meat. One of them told the Gothenburg Post that after making the switch, their bookings have nearly doubled.
I thought about my friends, three of whom reintroduced meat in the past year. I asked them why:
Alice said, “You only live once”. Followed by an explanation of how a charcuterie board isn’t complete without salami.
Chi told me she kept ordering phở with Vietnamese sausage and eating hot dogs.
“My boyfriend teased me, so I gave in,” she said, quickly adding that she never eats red meat.
Evelyn stopped eating meat because of her ex-boyfriend.
“I broke up with my ex,” she said.
— always on trend.
Finally, I asked myself, “Why don’t I eat meat?”.
I came up with two reasons: I loved the banter that came with defending vegetarianism on Hinge dates and the illusion of being sustainable. But I’ve given up on dating, and I’m a prime example of greenwashing — buying avocados despite their massive carbon footprint. Not to mention my iced coffee addiction, with plastic cups being among the biggest contributors to pollution in the UK.
I missed meat, or rather the social aspect like sharing meals with friends on holiday or eating my mother’s meatballs on Christmas. The label didn’t add anything to my life. Instead, it contributed to a sense of unworthiness. I decided it was time to reintroduce meat — an act of self-compassion. It’s the latest trend.