Impact Man

I was just perusing No Impact Man, the blog about a family who attempted a year with zero environmental impact. A movie of the same name is due out momentarily. I know that eating beef is not great for the health the environment, to say nothing of the health of the cow. But carne asada is delicious. Cutting out beef is the first in No Impact Man’s list of guidelines for a low impact life. The second is not buying water, particularly imported water, which is a lot easier than cutting out carne asada. A few days ago I made Boeuf Bourguignon because Julia Child took the time to show me how on her PBS show, The French Chef. Julia makes everything seem ok, even ignoring the environmental impact of one’s eating habits. The Boeuf was pretty good by the way – I think the fact that it was cooked in almost an entire bottle of red wine helped. But I still felt awkward buying such a large hunk of meat. I don’t think I have every done that before. Yet, for some reason it is easy for me to suspend personal concerns about where my food comes from, what its effect on my body is, and it’s environmental impact when I patronize a taco truck. I am not about to stop eating at taco trucks. These are simply thoughts that occur to me and they fit perfectly with the rest of my hypocritical life. I drive more than I should. I almost always forget to bring bags with me to the grocery store. I eat beef.

Starting today, I am not going to accept bags at the grocery store.