Vegetarian Vegan Omnivore

I am a vegetarian; or more exactly, an ovo/lacto/pescatarian.  That means I eat dairy, eggs and cold blooded sea and river animals (fish, prawns etc).

I have eaten like this for 2/3 of my lifetime.  I became vegetarian when I was in my late teens and got involved with an animal and environmental rights group who profoundly influenced me.

My undergraduate degree further influenced me by helping me sort out the self-awareness in warm and cold blooded animals.  

Since then, I have progressed towards my own version of eating ... that is; organic if possible and sustainably and ethically bred or grown.  I try to eat as healthily as possible; simply because I feel better for it (besides a few glasses of wine, coffee and too much chocolate - fair trade of course).

I will cook meat for friends and family; even hand roll meat balls.  My dog is a carnivore.  I collected the heads from road kill as part of my university course.  In my past I have shot, skinned and eaten a rabbit.  I have sampled snake, croc and  emu and various insects.   Even now I fish, and gut and scale my catch. I have evolved my own ethics on my eating, but I try not to force my ethos onto others. 

I follow Sarah Wilson's blog, and she recently wrote about her visit to an abattoir (yes I have also visited an abattoir, several times, and a veal and a pig farm, and a cage chicken farm also ... experiences I would not like to repeat).  

It is a thoughtful read, with this quote by Sarah resonating with me... 

'i saw the fullness of life on display. the tenacity of life. it quivered and bucked on the production line as the nerves held on longer than consciousness'

One of her readers then commented ...  

"I think one of the biggest issues both with food production and personal health is that people are completely disassociated from their food source. There is no respect for the life that is sacrificed in order to sustain us. No participation in the reality of survival."

I 100% agree with the above comment.  I want to expand this philosophy further however.  

I believe our attitude towards everything in our lives, our decisions on what we eat, how we live, how we interact with others and our environment (in our homes and in the wider world) reflects the level of respect we show.  Respect for ourselves, respect for others, respect and appreciation for what we have, what we give and what we receive .  

A lack of respect is negative on everyone and everything around you.  

Perhaps, ultimately, that is what is 'wrong' in the world, why so much seems dark and hopeless, why the younger generation are so negative.  They seem to have little respect for anyone or anything, not even themselves, so see only the disassociation with the world.  This is perpetuated by media... especially as the 'bad news' sells; good news fails.

Is there a market for a happy newspaper or a happy tv station?