Jaime Mathis and The Words

To Our Dear Fellow Human Beings: This year has been a time to reflect upon what our deepest commonalities truly are. We have been forced to acknowledge that there are differences between ourselves and people we thought we shared values, political leanings or global sentiments with. We have seen relationships go through growing pains and in some cases, detach. We have had our feet held to the fire as we wrestle with the question, “What happens now?” In the Eld-Mathis family, we have found ourselves confronted with choices about how we eat and how we treat people we differ wildly in opinion with. Just a few months ago, Tobias and I watched a documentary called Cowspiracy which talks about the environmental impact of the animal agriculture business and were compelled to admit that we needed to move towards a more plant based diet. That is, IF we wanted to exercise our finite ability to make a positive impact on the planet we all share. It is not easy to shift in that direction...

I taught my body to digest meat in my 20's. It turns out that if you aren't fed animal proteins in meat as a kid, your body doesn't produce certain enzymes for doing the job. Meaning, the second I tried a hamburger, my intestines went into emergency evacuation mode and my "adventure" turned gnarly, pronto.   I took this as a personal failing due to my religiously motivated upbringing as a vegetarian. Seventh-day Adventism had screwed me out of the enjoyment of travel through cuisine and I was upset. And motivated. Bone broths and digestive enzyme supplements took over my home after college. I was willing to do whatever it took to reboot my poor, ethically vegetarianized guts. Slowly, my body began to accept meats without violent retaliation. And then I started practicing yoga daily. In and of itself, this would have only supported my meat-quest, but like the questioner I am, I started delving into the philosophy behind the physical movement. For eating me...