re-committment to vegetarianism.

Those of you who know me and my family, know that we have issues with food. Not as in, we don't eat it or we eat too much of it. I think we eat an average amount for an American family. I don't really worry much about calories, or about fat grams or any of that sort of obsessive stuff. I just try to cook as healthy as possible, and at the back of my mind is always that little ticker that makes sure we get enough fat, protien, and oils. Because "we're" vegetarians.

That's in quotes becuase I have had struggles with vegetarianism. My retreat from animal products started about five years ago when I began getting recurring ear infections... yada yada yada several months later found out it was because I'd been eating too much dairy. And then I met DH, who had been a vegetarian, nearly vegan, for seven years before he met me. We talked a lot, and what he believed resonated with me because I have always felt that the standard american diet containes way, way too much meat.

As a Mormon, I think I have always felt the cognitive dissonance associated with Mormon Culture and meat eating. On the one hand, the D&C 89 clearly states that meat should be a sparing part of our meals. ON the other hand, meat-eating is a very ingrained, deeply-rooted part of diet and meals. Likely this is because of where a lot of us come from; Europe. England, Norway, Sweden, Denmark. I don't know if any of you have visited Europe, but if you do you'll notice that meals are very meat-oriented, and scarce of vegetables. It is because Europe has traditionally been a nation in power, and so, culturually, they could afford to eat a lot of meat. It was a sign of affluence to serve meats at a meal.

I think we feel that way in our culture, too... a meal is not "complete" without meat as the main helping.

Now, here comes the diverging of doctrines. Some Mormons feel strongly that eating meat "sparingly, during winter and times of cold or famine," means meat is only one course of the meal... you need to include lots of other items, too, and that diversity of nutrients is what was meant. Others say that the verse, which reads, "And it is pleasing unto me that they should not be used, only in times of winter, or of cold, or famine," literally means what it reads: that God wants us to use it as more than a suppliment in those stated times.

However, if you read the previous several verses, I think the message is pretty clear.

So as a society, do LDS people follow that facet of the Word of Wisdom? What does "sparing" mean to you? What does "cold or famine" mean to you?

For me, it has been a difficult call. I have not been able to entirely divorce myself from regular meat eating during certain events in my life; eg, pregnancy. I'm an iron-deficient type. Meat is the way I've learned to cope, instead of turning to other, perhaps even more efficient sources such as prune juice, green drinks, or unrefined grains. My body has learned an association: a certain irritable, weak feeling means I need meat. Therefore, I have eaten it.

But the more I learn, the more I read, and the more I take in what effect our cumulative diet has had on my husband (the introduction of more dairy, and more oils, for instance, has caused him to gain a lot of weight where, before, he was very fit) I realize that I might need to keep reindoctrinating myself.

Meat, only in times of winter, cold, or famine. Sparingly. I need to recommit to this. To me it means, you only eat meat every once in a while. Every once in a while, to me, means it is a treat. A special occasion. Something to be grateful for and not wasted, or thought of as the usual fare.

So now I'm reccommitting. My goal: now that the extended family's Thanksgiving turkey is all gone, I am going to abstain from meat (except for the occasional meal of fish) until at least March of this year, when traditionally I make corned beef and cabbage for St. Patrick's Day. (The only meat I ever cook in our house.) Because I"m still nursing my baby boy a lot, I'm going to make a conscious effort to seek out sources of iron and protien outside of animal products, so that I don't feel drained and tired and grumpy all the time, and try to make it a good experience. I'm going to try to re-convert myself to total meat-abstention.

I know that some of you don't feel as I do, and have other ideas of what the WOW means. That's OK. We don't have to agree. The reason why I'm posting this is because it's much more likely that I will achieve my goal if there are others around who know that I am working on it, and who might check in on me.

And if you want, this can turn into a WOW discussion... let's just keep it openminded and non-accusatory. :) I'm always interested in a discussion of this, because it seems like one of those things that most people aren't really sure about. Discussion could do a lot of good here, I think.