I’m going vegetarian

By Matt Weafer
The Broadcast
Column

Owensboro is not keen on vegetarians, nor does it support organic, healthy food. Grocery stores sell processed meat and refined grains and sugars. And everything is jammed full of sodium.

In the past few weeks I’ve decided to become a vegetarian for two reasons. The first reason is because it’s healthier. The other reason is because I fervently oppose the cruel treatment the majority of animals experience in the concentrated feed farms and in aquaculture. The process is brutal and hazardous to ecosystems across the world. And in the long run, who knows what will evolve from pumping our food full of antibiotics, steroids and other unnatural chemicals.

Maintaining my vegetarian status and still consuming a balanced diet is difficult in this town. Restaurants offer meager options to vegetarians, and what they do offer generally tastes like crap because none of the employees will eat it, so none of them can prepare it properly.

Health-conscious people in this town, like me, are chastised for their caution. On several occasions, I’ve been informed that I am too skinny and need to “get some meat on my bones.”

What people don’t realize is that the average Owensboroan’s concept of healthy is actually overweight. Part of the source of this problem falls on society’s negligence to educate itself about health. Instead, corporations focused on food preservation, presentation, and taste. Those are important, but not more important than health. It wasn’t until a few years ago that the food pyramid was adjusted to accurately display what’s healthy and what’s not. For decades the food pyramid was telling people to eat red meat. Last year, I read in a health magazine that the average American has fifteen pounds of undigested red meat in their bodies at death.

I’m afraid the mass produced, highly processed Owensboro society may have the upper hand against my fight for organic and healthy foods. With a hectic college and work schedule, I struggle to balance my diet with the appropriate nutrients.

I’m not trying to convince everyone to be vegetarians, but perhaps it’s time that as a society we can open our eyes to the fact that this city is not healthy. And out of all the restaurants in this town, probably only ten percent of them offer vegetarian options. And even less than that offer organic foods.