Food, Inc.

JennMarieFitz

Hi. I'm not sure if this is the right place to ask, but I was hoping for a little help. A friend of mine had me watch "Food, Inc." yesterday, and I've watched a few videos and read a few articles that have stated a lot of similar things about the meat industry. I've cut down the meat consumption in my family by more than half, and we only eat organic dairy products. However, I'm aware that it isn't enough.

I'm very interested in becoming a vegetarian, but I know it is not the easiest thing in the world, especially for people who have very avid meat eating families.

Do you have any resources that I could use? Any articles on how to stay healthy while cutting out such a large source of food from my diet? I also have a toddler, and I am worried about all of the chemicals and additives that are in meat. Is it healthy to reduce his intake of meat? I would never force such a way of life on my family, but I also would like to reduce/ eliminate the amount of unnatural things that they could be eating without knowing.

I live in Italy on a US Air Force base. My resources for food are limited, so I don't really have the option of going to a whole foods store or anything special. I shop in Italian grocery stores sometimes, but I have also read articles stating that the way Italians process their meat is similar to the way the US does it.