Vegetarianism

A few notes after eating a LOT of meat in Italy (and France).

I guess I'm no longer a vegetarian, as I've eaten a lot of meat since I've been here. And I think that's acceptable in some ways because I'm somewhat certain that the meat isn't industrial, and is probably pretty healthy. The more I read (and I read a lot), the more I realize that eliminating an entire category of food from my diet isn't necessarily the way to be healthier, or promote a healthier planet (read The Omnivore's Dilemma, among other things, to get an idea of what I mean). On the other hand, I still prefer a diet with more vegetables, and some days here I almost don't eat vegetables at all, which upsets my stomach and feels like a very heavy diet indeed. It's always amazing to me to see a culture which criticizes the US so much eat meat twice a day, every day of the week. Most of the meat that I've eaten here has been delicious, to the point where I'd consider adding it back to my diet. But then I run into this issue: should I buy Italian meat in California, so I know it came from a good meat-raising system? Or should I buy Californian meat, avoiding the preserving and shipping process, but potentially buying into the industrialized system? This is why I generally avoid meat when possible, especially in restaurants. After I learned that much of the meat in Corsica is not only industrialized, but actually imported(!), I feel like the only way to venture into such a situation is to do it myself. Although that's the general rule in life, right? If you want something done right, do it yourself.