I Too Am Fed Up With Gluttony

I've given a lot of thought to "gluttony" lately. I have friends who talk about food, usually meat, as if they are describing a Picasso. They search the globe for the most exotic meats and attend private suppers in underground locations. I see others who don't look to food as an elitist club, but instead gorge on snacks and meals that can tally more calories and fat than I consume in a day.

Today I wondered why I get so emotional about this. I wondered if part of me is angry that I live such a clean life (low-fat, vegetarian diet, no alcohol, no cigarettes, workout most days of the week), while my friends consume gobs of grease, sugar, fat, and alcohol, and yet I'm the one with cancer. I'm fighting for my life with every bite I take and every ounce of sweat and the rest of the country is either obese or well on their way to becoming obese. And if I'm being honest, I am angry. It's not that I wish everyone else had cancer; it's that I wish they appreciated their bodies more. I'm frustrated that my friends will discover what mortality means, and it will be too late -- they will have slothed themselves into an early grave. (I did, in fact, just turn "sloth" into a verb. I'm standing behind it.)

I also get angry, though, on behalf of the animals. I've said it over and over and over again, but if we can live our lives in such a way that does not harm another life, why on earth would we not choose to do so? It just seems so selfish to me to murder animals for food, when the evidence is showing more and more that not only can we live without animal protein, but we're actually healthier without it.

Right after I discussed with Tommie this afternoon my concerns about being so angry about gluttony, his March issue of The Atlantic magazine arrived in our mailbox with a teaser on the front cover that reads: "Tasteless: The Moral Case Against Foodies." Kismet!

B.R. Myers' book review, "Gluttony Dressed Up As Foodie-ism Is Still Gluttony," has given me the validation that I truly needed today. I'll let you read the article for yourself and draw your own conclusions, but for me, it felt so wonderful to read this artfully crafted argument against this world of high-brow gluttony.