To V or not to V?

One of Pandora's Preferred Blogs - All Naturale - features actress Kate Winslet exposing the cruelty of Foie Gras. Mainly out of curiosity to find out just what the heck Foie Gras was, I watched the video explaining about the goose liver and how it's made. Not pretty, not pretty at all. Force-feeding geese (gavage) to enlarge their livers with a metal tube 3x a day is just wrong. Plain and simple.
Under the video's comments, "Powers of Nature" suggested that one look at the alternative, humane, way to make foie gras. PON included a link to TED, so once again out of curiosity I clicked.

TED is an acronym for Technology, Entertainment, and Design and is a small nonprofit whose tag line is Ideas Worth Sharing. I'm all about sharing ideas. Thus the blog. Granted, I may be sharing ideas with myself initially. But the whole point of writing in Pandora's Box is to have an outlet that allows me to express my thoughts and ideas freely.

Back on the Farm... I watched Dan Barber's foie gras parable. To quote TED's website, "Dan Barber is a chef and a scholar -- relentlessly pursuing the stories and reason behind the foods we grow and eat". Barber's interview with the "goose whisperer" is testament that there are humane alternatives to produce food for those who choose to consume meat. My hubby eats meat and I have no quams buying it for him, as long as I know where the meat came from. Before going to the Austin Downtown Farmer's Market last weekend, I did my homework and got to "know" my farmers beforehand.

I purchased:
1 lb of breakfast sausage from Kocurek Family Charcuterir
1 lb. of ground beef from Homestead Farm located in Waco and
1 N.Y. Strip and 1 lb. ofChili Meat from SMS Ranch in Fredricksburg

Happy Meat = Happy Wife = Happy Husband.

I respectfully found Barber's talk at the Taste3 conference, hopeful. Hopeful on many levels. Hopeful for humans, hopeful for animals, and hopeful for the future of this planet.After listening to both sides of the issue, Kate's and Dan's, I wanted to know the opinions of others, so I read the comments. Amazing, but not surprising.

As a newbie to vegetarianism, I have learned that being one brings out a defense mechanism in many who are not. The V's vs O's (Vegans vs Omnivores) debate is all too reminiscent, especially the tone, of religious or political debate. Everyone trying to prove that they alone possess absolute sovereignty on THE truth. As Winnie the Pooh would say, "Oh bother".

My philosophy guides me to believe that every individual is on their own path to enlightenment. Don't rush me on my journey, and I won't rush you. Diversity is necessary to accomplish balance. There will always be two extremes but I believe that polar opposites create harmony. The whole yin and yang thing.

So, for today I am a vegan. I've always found my balance by beginning at an extreme. Then by weighing outside information with my inner-being , I find my center. Wonder if being a Libra has anything to do with this whole balance act? Hummm....

Peace Out ~ Carla Jean