Pass The Tofu

I glanced at the company logo on the truck that passed my car the other day.  It was of a cartoon pig sporting a little hat and bow tie. I smiled and then realized that the product inside was pork BBQ. So, why was the pig smiling?

There used to be a TV commercial for bacon where a chorus line of pigs danced and kicked their chubby legs to a catchy tune. I think they wore tutus and, of course, big smiles on their little piggy faces.

I see it all the time-cartoon chickens wearing funny hats, cows holding signs reading "Eat More Chicken!" All adorable. Cute. Fun. Selling meat. Selling themselves.

Andy and I raise Black Angus cattle and I don't like to think about what happens when they leave our farm. I expressed this to him once and he said "They have a happy life with us with plenty to eat and fresh water. They roam the pastures, mate and have calves, run, and eat some more. We take good care of them."

That is all true, we treat them like our pets. Maybe that is why I hate to think about their fate when they leave our care.

A few years ago when my mother was living, a calf was born on her birthday and I called to tell her. Mother thought that was so wonderful and I asked if the little female could be named Colleen after her. She was delighted to have a little bovine namesake and would ask about little Colleen every time we spoke on the phone. A year later when Colleen the Cow wasn't so tiny anymore, Andy took her to market over my protests and when my mother asked about her I said: "She was such a beautiful heifer that we sold her to a farmer who wanted to upgrade his herd. She will live many happy years on his farm." Mother was so happy and never knew I had just told her a big fib.

My lie made my mother happy. Some whoppers may be justified. It also may be true. A nice farmer could have purchased her to go live happily there after on his idyllic farm with butterflies fluttering and bunnies hopping..... well, you get the picture. There go those cartoon animals again.

If I dwell on all of this I begin to remember my "vegetarian years" of long ago when I swore off meat because of some Peta pamphlets I happened to see. When I would visit my mother (the same before mentioned "Colleen") in Kansas, she would worry about what to feed me.

"What can I cook for you?" She would ask.

"I will eat everything but the meat." I would answer.

She worried about my protein intake, which was never at risk.

So now, I wonder if eating meat is right for me. I do love BBQ ribs, roasted chicken and beef brisket. My husband would NEVER give up meat.

And yet, when I look into our cow's big brown eyes and watch them care for their babies I wonder if they can imagine their future. And.........

I write TOFU on my grocery list.