I’ve been a vegetarian longer than I’ve been a wine lover.
This has meant almost a whole life of never knowing what a great Cabernet tastes like with a porterhouse, being unaware of the pleasures of a Vouvray with a nice piece of roast chicken or a Riesling with some spicy, sizzling scallops.
And while my love of animals has not tempted me away, nor has the love affair with meat affected the way millions of Americans view the most basic dietary staple of our daily lives.
Yet, the environmental impacts of meat consumption are getting hard to simply reconcile with an uneducated trip to the supermarket or local McDonald’s. Its been reported by the UN that the greenhouse gas emissions emitted by the world’s meat production industry exceeds that of every car, truck, bus, train and plane on the planet. Yikes…
I’ve never been a militant vegetarian. I like to joke that the cuter a creature is, the more likely my wife is to eat it. This said, I’ve never once thrown blood on her or accused her of being a murderer. I’ve sat stoically while she ordered pigeon (okay, *not* a cute animal) in Paris, while my declaration of, “Je suis vegetarian” was met with questions of what fish I eat.
But I’ve not gone thirsty for wine in any of these culinary minefields (and in fairness, restaurants having a few non-meat choices on the menu has become much more common over the last fifteen years). In this time, I’ve discovered that really good wine goes almost perfectly with really good food, no matter the combination. Yes, sweet wines do pair well with spicy food but you know what, so does Pinot Noir.
Maybe it’s as simple as the old commercial for Reeses Peanut Butter Cups. No one thought of putting them together until two unsuspecting souls rushing somewhere, one with a jar of peanut butter (because who doesn’t carry a whole jar around with them to the office), the other with a chocolate bar, collided in the hallway, thereby creating the candy juggernaut we know and love today.
And I certainly don’t mean to suggest that a well thought out wine/food pairing can not be transcendent. I’ve been lucky enough to have chefs create full course vegetarian pairings that made me feel like ever the gourmand my dining companions were.
Once again the theme is all about finding ways to get along. Not only with those of us who share different feelings about the food we eat, but also just our relationship with the rest of the world’s creatures too.
Maybe I’m being a bit high handed here (though it wasn’t my intention going in) but if you’re an animal lover or maybe you just want the air we breath to be clean enough for your grandkids to enjoy one day, the next time you think about ordering a big, fat, juicy steak to go along with your Cabernet why not give the globe a break and order the pasta instead…
It’s not often that you see such thoughtful and practical considerations about how meat consumption relates to the culture we live in – I think that it’s extremely important to think about this when dealing with how to reduce excessive meat consumption.
I actually work for a public health campaign called Meatless Monday – we advocate going meatless one day a week to reduce your saturated fat intake (by 15%) and thereby lower your risk of heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and cancer. The effects of meat consumption on the environment are also shocking and another reason to cut back when we can – you might be interested in an article we wrote about this issue: http://www.meatlessmonday.com/dyk_environment
Also as a side note – Surrey University in the UK recommended a few weeks ago that the government begin rationing out meat and dairy as a way to slow global warming – It just makes you wonder what policies, if any, will be implemented on this issue and how extreme they might be.
I appreciate the thoughtful comments and the link to your cool website. I’m looking forward to reading more. And even if for me everyday is meatless, I’ll pass along the information to those who would surely find it worthwhile.