I’m grateful, as an omnivore, that there are neighbors who raise beef, and that I’m able to contribute to their well-being and my own by purchasing their grass-fed, homegrown meat. I wish I could be a vegetarian, sometimes, because it’s better for the planet. But I need meat, and I like it cooked just so, with a little salt. Tonight I’m grateful for the last filet of some grass-fed, grass-finished beef I bought from Wrich Ranch just down the road. And yesterday, I was grateful for ground-beef of the same caliber from right next door, which I buy for Stellar’s homemade dog food, and grateful for the neighbor who delivered it in the snow and packed down the driveway. I don’t eat meat often, but when I do it’s only locally and humanely raised, purchased from people I trust.
The problem with red meat isn’t red meat, it’s our culture’s insatiable appetite for it. We all know that our bodies are healthier with occasional beef than with daily doses, and that factory farming is unsustainable for the planet. Eat less meat less often, savor it more, and grow your own or support local farmers and ranchers whenever possible. I’m grateful it’s so easy and so reasonable in this valley to satisfy my meager, and my dog’s eager, appetites for meat.
I’m grateful we are not experiencing here the catastrophic cold front that has much of the country in its grip, and is devastating cities like Houston. This freak weather pattern, which will become more common, and this freak pandemic, which won’t be gone soon, are both linked to the problem of our gluttony, and not just for meat. We quit calling it global warming years ago when climate change was deemed more accurate, and now it’s time to officially label it climate chaos. We are all connected, all humans, all species, every inhabitant of this earth depends upon the rest. It is my fervent wish that everyone wake up to this simple truth, and start to cultivate more gratitude for what we have and less grasping for what we want. Only through a change in human consciousness will the world be transformed, and thereby saved.
Good blog. They’re all good! It occurs to me that your gratitude blogs force you to be vulnerable to others and I wonder if this gives you pause while writing them?
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How thoughtful. Yes, sometimes. But I try to set that aside. It’s an egoic concern, and my aspiration is to let go of those. What’s important to me about this daily practice is that my commitment to myself to post daily, and loving responses from you and other readers, both keep gratitude front and center in my awareness through each day. And that helps me keep mental and emotional balance in this crazy world, which has many known and as-yet-unknown benefits for me and for others. I’m grateful for your steadfast support! xo
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As a member of a family that raises cattle, which in the end must be taken for beef, I am very grateful that you recognize the big difference between animals raised with care and love and those which are factory farmed. This includes cattle, chickens, etc. Sending our cattle to market is the absolute worst thing, and tears are often shed. The answer is not vegan. Ranches are the cattle’ s home. I can’t imagine America or anywhere providing resources/zoos to coddle cattle if they are not raised for beef. It is the essential dilemma of all life, that life feeds on life. So, again, another thoughtful post on this good blog.
Thank you, Karen! I value this input from one on the ground in the beef world. For the past thirty years, my motto has been “I eat meat if I know who killed it.” You guys have been doing it the right way for generations, and I’m grateful for you!
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