It was a cool winter day about a week ago when a friend got his new grill.  He invited a number of us over for breakfast to break it in.  I stopped by and enjoyed some grilled bacon and eggs.

After breakfast, my friend entered with a plate overflowing with meat.  Hamburgers, chicken breasts, and pork tenderloin teetered on the plate.  One false move and the mountain of meat would come crashing down.  He set it down and proudly proclaimed, “This should last about a week.”

As I laughed, I thought back to an article I read in the New York Times called Rethinking the Meat-Guzzler.  It was your typical article about how much meat people eat, where it all comes from, and how many resources it takes to produce.  It was the kind of article I would normally assume is written by some vegetarian hippie, and thus totally discredit in my mind.  However, that combined with the mammoth plate of meat my friend had just produced, got me thinking.

I hatched an idea so crazy, that it needed to be tried.  The unwilling victim of my experiment would be me.  I decided then that I would give up meat for lent.

Those that know me probably think someone has “borrowed” my computer and is writing this.  First off, I’m not catholic, and thus do not celebrate lent.  However, in my mind it’s an excuse (like New Years) where people try to do something to improve their lives.

Second, I would never say that to stop eating meat would in any way, shape or form improve life.  In fact, I would argue it restricts and makes life worse.   I would be the first person to ridicule a person for giving up meat.  I think vegetarians have a screw loose, and would never want to be one myself full time.  Well, yea.  However, I’ve lived without meat before without even thinking about it, so it’s worth a shot.

Here is the thing.  I grew up in a farm area.  We raised cows and slaughtered them for food.  We hunted deer and other animals.  We had a garden.  I’ve never been this dependant on the supermarket for food as I am now.  Because I am dependant  for my meat, I have no idea where it is coming from.

This is a large part of the reason for my decision.  I’ve heard about the shitty conditions that meat comes from.  This is what I eat.  Sure, other products aren’t much better, but the combination of everything I’ve previously mentioned made the idea of being a veg head for a month seem like a good idea.

I’m really not sure if I will make it or not, and to be quite honest, if I do break down and have meat, it won’t bother me that much.  I just decided to give a go and see how it affects me.  It should be fairly easy I think in a town like Madison.  Keep an eye on this post to see how it’s going.