The Spirituality of the Dinner Menu

Let me begin by saying that I am a meat eater. I grew up in the South when a meal was not a meal without meat. With that full disclosure out of the way, I need also say that I do not eat as much meat now as I used to and eat substantially less red meat now; both choices made for health reasons. In fact, for the last few years, Vicki and I have been using soy milk almost exclusively at home – again as a way to have a healthier diet and lifestyle.

In the January 27 issue of the online New York Times, Mark Bittman has an article dealing with the some of the issues surrounding the world’s increasing demand for meat. Many of which I had never considered. For example, beef requires about 16 times the amount of fossil fuel to produce compared to a comparable amount of vegetables; beef produces 24 times the amount of greenhouse gases as the vegetables; the livestock in America produces 900 million tons of waste annually (and it has to go somewhere); 30% of the earth’s ice-free land is involved in the production of livestock. This does not even address a host of other issues dealing with growing grain that is used to feed the livestock, solely for the purpose of quickly fattening up the animal, and the consumption of grain fed animals may contribute to deleterious health effects in human beings like diabetes, heart disease, and some types of cancer.

Why did I entitle this, “The Spirituality of a Dinner Menu”? As a person of faith, I believe that my faith should have an impact on the decisions I make on a daily basis. Obviously, what I choose to eat is a daily decision. So, if I am concerned with the issues of the proper stewardship of the earth, of eating in a way to promote health, and of not consuming more than my share of resources – most Americans consume 110 grams of protein (75 grams of it from animal products) when we should eat no more than 55 grams of protein total - doesn’t making dinner choices become something of a spiritual matter? It should, it seems.

I know that during World War II many days were designated as ‘meatless’ days in order to conserve and to save meat for the troops. That designation was a matter of law, based on rationing books, but it was also a matter of patriotic pride.

Join with me in declaring meatless days in your household now. Make it a matter of the growing depth of your spirituality.