Interview - Mr Meat

Jarrod Clyne is a friend of mine who I once watched eat his way through a kilo of fillet steak, all in one sitting.  So you can imagine my surprise when Phil told me that Jarrod was, at one stage, a vegetarian.  Jarrod has an excellent sense of humour and he reminds me of all of the good things about people from the country, only he is really smart and has good taste.  Basically he is a stand up bloke.  He kindly agreed to share his story which, to me, just gets more and more interesting.

 

I was vegetarian for a year when I was at university, in 2004. I had thought about being a vegetarian for quite a while, and had long since decided that it was immoral to eat meat. I was practicing Zen Buddhism, and this was a major factor in my decision. Zen Buddhism doesn't focus very much on the moral precepts of Buddhism, and apparently the Buddha did occasionally eat meat, and he did not categorically forbid his disciples to eat meat. As a monastic religion relying on donations the monks were to gratefully receive and consume all food they were given, including meat. Consequently I was able to rationalise being Buddhist and eating meat for a long time, but eventually I felt that since I was not relying on alms (does living with your parents at the age of 23 count?) I should faithfully follow the first precept of Buddhism - 'Do not kill'. The Buddha told his followers not to kill, participate in killing or cause to have any living thing killed. A demand for meat obviously causes animals to be killed. I stopped eating all meat, including fish.

 

I had been on one week Zen Buddhist retreats with only vegetarian meals and hadn't found it particularly difficult. I was also already eating vegetarian meals for lunch, due to the University Hare Krisna Society serving delicious meals for $2 (all you can eat for $3!). Dinner was therefore the main challenge. I would describe myself as a very lazy vegetarian - I would just exclude the meat from a meal and subsitute a handful of peanuts, some eggs, or occasionally some chickpeas. I also ate an absurdly high amount of vegetarian pies. I ate hot chips pretty regularly too. Unsurprisingly I was fatter and less healthy as a consequence.

 

About one year and a quarter after my original decision I was travelling in Europe and Japan. My desire to eat meat returned quite strongly. I kept thinking of my old rationalisations as to why it was acceptable to eat meat. Vanity was also a factor, I felt that I would rather look good (eat protein, go to gym = more attractive) than be moral. The fork in the road came at a dinner at a bohemian buffet restaurant. The restaurant prided itself on a very extensive selection of vegetarian food, but also had a decent selection of meat dishes. I chose the meat and it was amazing.

 

I haven't ever seriously considered returning to being vegetarian. During a gym 'bulking' regime perhaps 90% of my food intake was red meat and I felt awesome. Eating meat is is very enjoyable, and and I find that if I don't eat any meat for dinner then I don't feel satiated at all. I still believe that it is morally wrong to eat meat - to cause suffering to living beings - but I'm relatively comfortable with that immorality, and the cost of being moral is just too high.

 

I like this part of The Prophet, by Kahlil Gibran. I think he's talking to a sheep he has just killed and will eat:

 

"By the same power that slays you, I
too am slain; and I too shall be consumed.
For the law that delivered you into my
hand shall deliver me into a mightier hand."

 

I believe that the most important goal in life is simply to enjoy your life. That may sound trite, selfish, or even unacceptably nihilisitc. I don't think that it is, and while I am mindful of the immorality of consuming meat, I do so because it helps me enjoy my life, and after all, eventually we too will all be consumed.