Food For Thought

Last night we went to the Upright Citizens Brigade to see my Goddaughter perform with her sketch troupe. Her mother lives in Ashland, Oregon and came to see the show as well.

I had not seen Leslie for some time.  In the dim light of the club she said to me, "Are you okay... your eyes seem a little red."  

Although there could be certain indulgences that might cause that condition, I had not partaken of any recreational stimulants in some time.  I realized it was probably my glasses.  

My regular glasses were being repaired and I was wearing an older pair from decades ago that had a slight rose tint to the lens. It was the style at the time and I am betting that it comes back into fashion, at least until my newer pair is fixed. 

I began to explain that my red eyes were probably caused by the tint. I reassure her I was okay, I took off my glasses and blinked at Leslie.  She examined me like a cop at a traffic stop and determined I was fine. As I put the glasses back on I poked myself in the eye, which began to turn red and water.  Without missing a beat she said, "Yep...I think it is the glasses that are making your eyes red." I laughed so hard my other eye teared up and turned red. 

Leslie is also the one who once wrote a punchline for which there is no joke.  The punchline:

"No... but my goats are kidding." 

And another think...

No dogs were harmed in the production of this
Photo.

This week a hamburger was served using meat that had been grown from beef stem cells.  It was a publicity stunt since the beef cost nearly 30k to produce in this manner.  Reviews of the taste were mixed and the researchers said it might be twenty years before this type of food can be produced. So... here is my question to any vegetarian/vegan reading. Does the prospect of processing meat this way change the status of what is acceptable in a vegan diet?  

I don't understand the political reasons but have heard that vegans object to any form of life being killed for consumption. I totally get that and while my Texas heritage will not let me completely eliminate beef from my diet, I can understand. There is a lot of cruelty that goes into a Big Mac from a cow's point of view, not to mention the treatment of chickens.  But... if in twenty years we can process beef and chicken without having to destroy a cow or clucker to do it... does that change the reason not to eat meat?

Eddie Izzard suggested that if God didn't want us to eat meat, he would have made every species of life vegetarian.  If we were never exposed to a food chain and never observed animals eating other animals to survive we might never have invented the Barbecue. Food for thought.   

As you were,

Jay