Food from Oz has been silent for nearly four months. Something happened in August which has taken quite a bit of thinking about - including thinking about where Food from Oz fits.
In August, Miss Eagle went to the desert. See more about it on To the Desert (linked on the sidebar). Miss Eagle was visiting a sheep station when she came across a situation which struck her, shocked her to the core of her being.
Why this should have been so, Miss Eagle doesn't know. Miss Eagle has worked in a meatworks and continued to eat meat. Miss Eagle is not naive in regard to the realities of agriculture and raising animals for food. About ten years ago, she was even vegetarian for a period as a response to the inhumane inclusion of animal products in feed for herbivores.
The current situation, however, struck deeper, penetrated spiritually. This was the line in the sand. Enough was enough. The word that came out of this was "Respect". Miss Eagle, when she returned home, blogged the word and it was met with another word "Ahimsa". Miss Eagle remembered this word. Miss Eagle is a scholar of religion and she knew what ahimsa meant. Again, for some strange reason, this had not connected with the original event and the emergence of the word "Respect". Now it all sunk in. It all came together. And issues of respect kept coming into her life and consciousness.
Firstly, there was the elimination of all animal flesh with the exception of food from the sea. The exception was because of certain health necessities but Miss Eagle is keeping a watching brief and - if it is possible - seafood will be eliminated too. Miss Eagle has taken care for some time with the species of fish eaten and the quantities because of the stripping of our oceans and poor fishery practices.
Secondly, Miss Eagle is endeavouring - with mixed success - to eliminate eggs and dairy products from the menu. Difficulties here are finding a reasonable and palatable substitute for cheese and the needs of others in Miss Eagle's life. It is early days though and Miss Eagle is reasonably hopeful of sorting out this situation.
So why has Miss Eagle not edited her blog to take into account this new respect for ALL life.
For two reasons: firstly, in a time when people are generally ignorant of their food - where it comes from, its history, how to prepare it - Food from Oz has tried to address this situation in a traditional manner. This general principle will continue with the provision of cooking tips and recipes. Miss Eagle is learning herself - although off an extensive base - and would welcome input of an instructive and constructive nature from others walking the same path. Secondly, it is good to remember from where once has come. That is one of the values of a blog - one can return to former thoughts and consider how much has changed on the way to the present.
So, dear Reader, Miss Eagle hopes you will bear with her. It would be nice to have you on the journey too.
Animals Australia: the voice for animals
Love life? Love all of life
Tuesday, November 07, 2006
My life: it is a'changing
Food from Oz has been silent for nearly four months. Something happened in August which has taken quite a bit of thinking about - including thinking about where Food from Oz fits.
In August, Miss Eagle went to the desert. See more about it on To the Desert (linked on the sidebar). Miss Eagle was visiting a sheep station when she came across a situation which struck her, shocked her to the core of her being.
Why this should have been so, Miss Eagle doesn't know. Miss Eagle has worked in a meatworks and continued to eat meat. Miss Eagle is not naive in regard to the realities of agriculture and raising animals for food. About ten years ago, she was even vegetarian for a period as a response to the inhumane inclusion of animal products in feed for herbivores.
The current situation, however, struck deeper, penetrated spiritually. This was the line in the sand. Enough was enough. The word that came out of this was "Respect". Miss Eagle, when she returned home, blogged the word and it was met with another word "Ahimsa". Miss Eagle remembered this word. Miss Eagle is a scholar of religion and she knew what ahimsa meant. Again, for some strange reason, this had not connected with the original event and the emergence of the word "Respect". Now it all sunk in. It all came together. And issues of respect kept coming into her life and consciousness.
Firstly, there was the elimination of all animal flesh with the exception of food from the sea. The exception was because of certain health necessities but Miss Eagle is keeping a watching brief and - if it is possible - seafood will be eliminated too. Miss Eagle has taken care for some time with the species of fish eaten and the quantities because of the stripping of our oceans and poor fishery practices.
Secondly, Miss Eagle is endeavouring - with mixed success - to eliminate eggs and dairy products from the menu. Difficulties here are finding a reasonable and palatable substitute for cheese and the needs of others in Miss Eagle's life. It is early days though and Miss Eagle is reasonably hopeful of sorting out this situation.
So why has Miss Eagle not edited her blog to take into account this new respect for ALL life.
For two reasons: firstly, in a time when people are generally ignorant of their food - where it comes from, its history, how to prepare it - Food from Oz has tried to address this situation in a traditional manner. This general principle will continue with the provision of cooking tips and recipes. Miss Eagle is learning herself - although off an extensive base - and would welcome input of an instructive and constructive nature from others walking the same path. Secondly, it is good to remember from where once has come. That is one of the values of a blog - one can return to former thoughts and consider how much has changed on the way to the present.
So, dear Reader, Miss Eagle hopes you will bear with her. It would be nice to have you on the journey too.
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4 comments:
All the best to you in this new phase, Miss Eagle! Thanks for the link too. :-)
Thank you for dropping by Cindy. Enjoyed your blog. Please come by again and check out my experiences.
I am so glad to see you posting again. I can relate to this post, but it doesn't mean you stop blogging, it means you blog about it all, or blog vegan, or blog about alternatives. When I was in third grade, a cow came to school to show us city (well, suburb) kids where all these packages of food came from. Some movie was shown which I have thankfully forgotten, about meat. I was traumatized. I stopped eating meat for years and years. I still only eat it on occasion, but never beef and never fish (I don't like the later. My dad was a fisherman, and that created its own traumas). I'm sure kids growing up on farms don't get my revulsion. But respect really is an excellent word. My understanding is that, in Genesis, when God tells man to take dominion over the earth, dominion means "care for" Not use, not disrespect, not abuse. Care. I don't understand the cruelties of the animal kingdom. All I know is I think we should be smart enough to see it's wrong to kill, to overuse, to kill inhumanely. I don't see anything wrong with eating dairy or honey as long as the animals are housed in ethical ways. Obviously you struck a nerve here.
Thank you, Barb, for your - as ever - thoughtful response. Respect is the key motivation in all this and is extending in to many areas of my life apart from food. I am trying to steer clear of dairy but I am not being uptight about it. As for honey - not yet got my head around that. I hear that some people even refuse animal-origin capsules in which medication comes. I am not in that space at this time. I think some things are consequential - in other words as we eat less animal flesh and, hopefully, contribute to lessening demand for it, then - over time - change will take place with things like the capsules. I am ambivalent about the honey issue - but that could be because I have got proper connections for the reason for avoiding it. I do know that a lot of people recommend gradual changes in adopting a vegetarian/vegan lifestyle. I think they have a point. So, being a week off three months into this new way of life, I still have a lot to adapt to and think about. Thank you for your empathy and understanding.
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