vegetarian? low iron? hm.

After dog sitting for some people who were vegetarians, we started thinking about it more.  Chickens are very cruelly treated, they are stuffed in these little wire cages all stacked on top of each other with their beaks shaved off (see http://www.all-creatures.org/anex/chicken.html for more info).  I’ve been to dairy farms and the conditions are not as bad for the cows, but the cattle industry produces way more CO2 than all the cars in the world.  It is possible to capture gasses and refine them and sell the product back to the grid, but this is not very common yet.  Another problem though is that cows are fed artificial hormones, which is a little unsettling as well. 

Solution:  Eat only cage-free chickens
Problem with solution:  I’m in debt and cannot afford cage-free chicken
Solution: Don’t eat chicken
Problem with second solution: I’m really low on iron, and meat is a great source of iron
Solution: be vegetarian and know what you are doing and make sure you have all your nutrients
Problem:  I’m a grad student and have no time to do that

My solution for now, buy cage-free eggs at whole foods, they don’t really cost much more there.  Try to come up with one vegetarian meal a week, making sure I have all the right nutrients.  Might have to eat more red meat though to get my iron back up (less chicken), I could really notice the difference in college when I didn’t eat red meat for a long time and then had some, energy was way up. 

So anyway, I know I’m not stopping the industry with my half-ass solution, but it’s a start I guess. 

Last week we made sweet potato enchiladas with black beans.  They were really good.  If anyone has suggestions for meals, I'm all ears. 

Last day of classes!  Presentation.  Then finals.