diet decisions

For the past seven-plus years, my not eating red meat, and my usually not eating pig-products or lamb, and my occasional rejection of any meat or fish whatsoever has been a fairly easy and "just understood" sort of choice. Everyone who knows me knows I don't eat these things, and most of my friends are vegetarian anyway, so it's not an issue. And if it, for any reason, becomes a not-so-easy choice and I run out of ways to explain it or I'm just not feeling it anymore, I'll adjust my dietary constraints accordingly. I started eating poultry instead of being a vegetarian, I started eating pig-products and fish in Spain, and now, while I still eat poultry and fish and shellfish and don't eat red meat or any other strange kinds of meat, I will occasionally have a piece of good Spanish ham, or prosciutto, or a piece of bacon on a sandwich.

Lately, however, I have been thinking about becoming an occasional beef-eater, making it an occasional treat like prosciutto or good Spanish ham. I don't think I'll ever be the type to eat a steak, or even ever really order beef at a restaurant or make it at home, but it might be nice to eat a real meatball every once in awhile, have a real hamburger, try a bite of corned beef or pastrami, eat a famous Chicago hot dog... I feel there are some culinary delights out there that I have never tried, and maybe should before I decide to reject them.

That said, there were a few times this weekend when I could have eaten a bite of beef. Corned beef, which frankly looked delicious on marble rye, pastrami on a novel pretzel-style roll at one of my favorite sandwich restaurants in Chicago, veal-that-looked-like-chicken at a German restaurant in my neighborhood (Now that I think about it, though, I don't think I'll ever want to even try veal, judging from the bad things my parents have said about it my whole life, being that it's from a baby cow and all). Even though I had the opportunity to become a full-fledged meat eater this weekend, I didn't. My excuse was what it normally is: "I haven't eaten beef for seven years and I don't know how my stomach would react." This time my theory was debunked by a doctor who insisted that a human stomach is equipped to digest meat, whether or not it has been getting the practice.

Regardless, though I'm curious about certain beef-based items, I realize the reason I rejected my opportunities to taste is because I don't actually want to become a beef eater. After reading The Jungle, after recently becoming more and more concerned with the environment, I don't need it and I don't really want it.

Strangely enough, in the same train of thought that I think about eating beef occasionally, I also think about becoming vegetarian again. Or "fishatarian." I rarely ever make meat of any sort at home, so it wouldn't really be too much of a change. But maybe I like having the freedom to eat the occasional turkey sandwich, chicken tortilla soup... philly cheese steak?

Evidently, I'm no closer to a decision.