As mentioned, Thanksgiving was just our 6 and lots of sniffles. It was simple and early and we tried smoking turkey again this year. It turned out excellent.

That said and shown, I feel weird posting that photo. Is it just me?

Something about a living thing showed in its death. I mean, to me it looks yummy and amazing, but I have met so many of late who are vegetarian or vegan. Is this upsetting to some?

I’ve also been listening to a lot of CBC radio of late, a few Canadian friends suggested it would be a great way for me to get acquainted with my new roots. It has made for a good listen. It reminds me of NPR in the states, or at least the way I remember it. I think NPR is no longer federally funded, so I’m sure its changed.

On CBC I’ve heard several shows, and even parts of a documentary, where they are discussing our food. They’re discussing the way its affecting the planet and our health. It has me thinking a lot about food.

Now I’ll be the first to say that I don’t think I’ll ever be 100% vegetarian, but it has made this born Texan reconsider how much meat our household eats. The cost of meat is high, at the grocery store, in land use, in water use, and it seems in our health.

We have been having about 60% of all our meals vegetarian, mostly for financial reasons. Again, meat is expensive. I’d say 4 out of 7 breakfasts in our house are vegetarian, and the same 4 out of 7 for lunch too. Dinner is more 3 out of 7 meals, though all our snacks are vegetarian. Could we make that 80%? I think yes, pretty easily.

I’ve even been toying with the idea of having big Sunday meals where we eat meat, and then any meals containing meat for the week are purely leftovers from that. Then having 100% of our other meals vegetarian.

I don’t know what I will do, but since moving to Canada we have noticed we consume more preserved foods and more foods with additives in general. Now I don’t think that’s because there are more additives here, there’s actually a lot less from what I can tell in my research. But having moved from Texas, where there is a long growing season. The season is almost twice as long there! So we just had availability to fresh foods for a longer time.

And while farm to table restaurants are expensive, there were plenty in Texas that were somewhat affordable. And even the inexpensive restaurants took pride in showing how close and fresh their produce was. That isn’t a thing in small town Ontario. I’m not saying it doesn’t exist at all, I’m just saying they are far and few between.

Oh, and don’t get me started on the cost of beef! I know what it takes to grow beef, but I have never lived in a place where beef cost so very much. It has made me ask a lot of questions. How much land to beef cattle need? How are they treated? How much beef should we eat in a year? What are the trade offs for dairy cows? Pork? Chicken?

I’m not going to figure this out today, but I am going to keep listening. And for dinner tonight, there will be cake.