Saturday afternoon was a big moment for anyone who knows me. Ok so maybe it was not my first burger ever, but it was my first burger–shoutout to Knight Farm–in four years. When I was a junior in high school I made the choice to become a vegetarian. I made this choice after watching a documentary called Cowspiracy. This documentary follows an environmentalist who researches the environmental impacts of the meat and fish industry. After watching, I thought to myself, “Why not?” Here I am, four years later I have no regrets, even after eating a burger.
One of my best friends, and fellow HerCampus member Mimi Knight, lives on a farm in Maine. Her family raises their own animals on the farm and when the time comes they send them to a meat processing plant–this is so the meat can be FDA approved. During my sophomore year of college I made a promise to Mimi, if her parents ever brought Knight Farm Meat to Holy Cross I would eat it. When I told people this I was met with confused looks. I made the promise because I knew the Knight family treated their animals with great care, they are grass-fed and free-range. When Mr. Knight started grilling the burgers he said, “Our cows live a great life and only have one bad day.” I knew exactly where my food was coming from and I knew that the environmental impact of this burger was significantly less than buying meat from a grocery store.
Being a vegetarian for environmental purposes is not always black and white. While all meat, fish, and dairy contribute to some amount of global warming, when you know the name of the cow you are eating there are far less impacts. Truth betold, I do not have any guilt about eating this burger. I am not sure if that makes me less of an environmentalist, but I stand by it. If every person ate less meat we would be much better off, so after not eating meat for four years I feel okay about eating my ethically sourced burger.
THANK YOU KNIGHT FARM!