Breaking out

Young people have a much cleaner slate than adults. They’ve never had any freedom to choose their food so their conscience is clearer. Parents do everything for them. And when in their twenties they start living independently, the guilt over food may not have bitten too deeply, so they’re freer to try new foods, even to try out a vegan diet. There’s an added advantage. By taking this step they can literally move away from the old fashioned habits of their parent’s generation. Physically less heavy and less narrow of mind. For these reasons alone they may want to experiment to the point where they take on a whole new lifestyle.
Small children, before they’re got at, often express horror at the way animals are treated. They want to say something, do something, insist on something. But at each meal their resistance wears down until they let it drop. But for that short while, when ideals sprang up before being swamped by reality, a remembrance takes place and re-emerges later, when as independent adults the conscience awakens from a long sleep.

If conscience is the most important sense we have, if it is our most delicate sensor of the world outside, then why don’t we refer to it constantly. If we don’t exercise our conscience daily, especially about the animals we eat, we’ll probably sail on forever, consuming what ever we like until our body can stand it no longer, our health goes down the tube, or until we are so ashamed that we can’t get our life back on track. It’s embarrassing to think our food habits can be left unchecked, and we still eat what our mothers fed us. Without question. And we don’t move on. We fail to set our own agenda.