Sorry, you are a “semi”-vegetarian?

To understand this week’s blog entry, you must first understand the prefix “semi-”.  Draw a circle on a piece of paper.  Now draw a line down the middle, cutting it in half.  You now have two semi-circles.  So “semi-something” means half-something or part-something.  If you are a semi-skilled worker then you are less skilled than a “skilled worker”, and more skilled than an “unskilled worker”. 

What got me thinking about this prefix was telling someone that I had become a “semi-vegetarian”.  He laughed.  I think I can see why.  He felt that I should either be a vegetarian or not be one. 

But let me explain myself.  First, I don’t eat meat at home.  If I go to a restaurant and all of the dishes contain meat then I will just eat meat instead of trying to find another restaurant.  My own convenience is also important.  I am sure I would eat my own students if I was hungry enough and there was no tofu around! 

Also, I eat fish.  I am not against eating animals.  Humans are omnivores, and we evolved eating animals.  But the way we usually farm food like chickens and cows is so terrible for the animals that it is no longer natural.  It is a kind of cruel torture.  I would be happy if animals could be farmed more expensively, giving them enough space to move around and the chance to live without too much suffering.  Meat would then be very expensive but perhaps we could eat less of it. 

If fish are not farmed, and are caught directly from the ocean, I feel that they had some chance to live life naturally before being eaten to sustain another’s life.  So I don’t object to eating fish.  If meat, eggs etc. are clearly labelled “free range”, then I think that is okay too, but it is usually very difficult to tell how meat products were produced. 

I am not trying to campaign on this issue.  I don’t get angry about other people’s opinions on eating meat.  I am just a semi-writer giving a semi-opinion.

 

Vocabulary:

a prefix – Something which is added to the start of a word to change its meaning.  For example, “unclear” contains the prefix “un”.

an omnivore – An omnivore is an animal which eats both plants and meat.  A carnivore eats only meat and a herbivore eats only plants.

torture – Extreme pain which is caused deliberately.

to sustain something – To support something; to enable it to continue.

free range – In free range animal products, the animals were given enough space to walk around freely.  Most meat is factory farmed.  That means that the animals cannot move, probably for their whole life.