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I like Driving, and I like Meat

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Yet I prefer to dine vegan and move human-powered. But I have become less dogmatic about it.

In Berlin I was fine without driving (apart from when I needed to move, which was kind of a hassle...), I got by well by bike and public transport. But when I moved to the country, it became clear it was time to get my drivers license, and I have to say I enjoy driving. That is not to say that I am now suddenly less green, embracing our culture of one-man-cars. No, it just means that when it comes to going by car, I prefer being the driver, but I still try to avoid the car if possible.

Similarly, I am not per se against eating meat. Humans have eaten meat for a long time, depending on your worldview basically from the beginning. But the meat mostly eaten today has only been invented in the last century: The meat of factory farmed animals, whose livelihood is not honored anymore and who are stuffed with the cheapest fodder and drugs.

/That/ is why I don't want to eat as much meat, or animal produce in general. If the butter is from a lowing cow on an irish meadow, why not? Eggs from the chickens of my mom, who sometimes seem to get more attention than my siblings, sure! Meat from farmers who honor their livestock as living entities and not only products, ensuring a good and healthy life for them? Count me in!

These traditionally obtained products are not only good for my conscience, but also for my body: Animals need to live properly so they can nourish us properly. But I am also just fine living without car and meat, that is where social factors come into play.

In Berlin I was fully vegan for a while, now I eat meat rather regularly - back then I was around many hipsters (as is common in Berlin), and my body was telling me that I don't need meat, even when I was offered quality. Now it is tougher, I can hardly reject what is regularly offered to me, just as I am more often around in a car - but either because somebody else would be driving anyways, or because I am picking up food whose saving more than compensates the used gas.

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