From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 2002:

Meat
After more than a quarter of a century as a vegetarian,
then vegan, I feel a need to expand that commitment, because my
sorrow and horror about the abusive treatment, genetic altering,
and cruel confinement, transport and slaughter of farmed animals has
only intensified over the years. When meat is served in my presence,
I now feel the need to somehow symbolically honor and acknowledge the
immense suffering that animal endured.
“Where there’s meat, I don’t eat,” came to me suddenly. I
will never again eat in a room in which meat is being served.
Know-ing this has brought me some measure of inner peace. I’m not
sure it is a politically sound decision, for it is surely wise to
encourage the offering of vegetarian/vegan alternatives. Yet to eat
contentedly in the presence of meat now feels to me like a betrayal
of the animal sacrificed.
“Where there’s meat, I don’t eat” is a one-person protest,
on behalf of those whose cries of protest were never heard, never
heeded. Even more so, this is something I am doing for myself.
When meat is present, I will still sit at the table and enjoy
myself and my friends, but I can only do so knowing that by not
eating, I am symbolically and publicly acknowledging the pain I
feel on behalf of those who suffered unspeakable and enduring horrors
to become the feast.
–Patty Finch
Phoenix, Arizona
<pfinch@Vview.org>
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