A fond farewell to meat

I spent my lunch break reading the first chapter of Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer and feeling as though I was reading my own story.

“Mark Twain said that quitting smoking is among the easiest things one can do/ he did it all the time. I would add vegetarianism to the list of easy things. In high school I became a vegetarian more times than I can now remember, most often as an effort to claim some identity in a world of people whose identities seemed to come effortlessly. (p7)”

Um, hello, SELF. This is absolutely me. I even went through a phase where I was a vegetarian except for Fridays, I kid you not. It was a catchphrase, not a lifestyle choice.
I felt equally called out on the next page, where, in reference to his wife’s “history with meat,” Foer writes:

“There were things she believed while lying in bed at night, and there were choices made at the breakfast table the next morning…Like me, she had intuitions that were very strong, but apparently not strong enough. (p8)”

Yes, hello, me again. I’ve sort of got the ominous feeling that, as I read further in this book, I’m never going to eat meat again. I do have plans to try out the Paleo Diet and the Blood Type Diet, both of which I’m assuming (admittedly without having researched either very thoroughly) will encourage meat-eating as a part of their framework. I guess that’s just a bridge I’ll have to cross when I come to it - after all, this is meant to be an experiment in finding my own healthiest lifestyle.

Anyway - as I was reading JSF’s food-related memories, I realized that there are some meals I’m really going to miss after I say goodbye to meat for the next few months, at least.

1. Twice baked potatoes topped with bacon crumbles.
2. Bacon in its every delicious form. There is no substitute. I’ve had tofu bacon, and I don’t think it should even be allowed to have “bacon” in its name. It has NOTHING in common with that crispy, delicious delicacy.
3. (Family Friend) Mildred’s Chicken ‘n Dumplings. Ooooooh, Mildred’s Chicken ‘n Dumplings. I think I may miss you most of all.
4. Baseball food. I’m doing myself no favors by abandoning meat during the prettiest days of baseball season. Hamburgers, hot dogs, while often imitated, are never really deliciously replicated.

I started to add pork fried rice to this list, but I realized that I won’t miss the actual PORK at all, and I can still have rice and vegetables - I had one of those lightbulb moments. I’m tying a lot of these foods to memories or feelings associated with the atmosphere I’ve eaten in and not the actual taste of the meat. I think a lot of us do that - do you? Is there one food that you remember SO FONDLY that you couldn’t consider living without it? Is it the actual food that resonates so deeply in your bones, or is it the feeling you get when you eat it? I’d love to hear your thoughts.