Manmade Constellations by Misha Lazzara

Author:Misha Lazzara
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Blackstone Publishing
Published: 2022-05-16T22:06:08+00:00

Lo and Raul got into another disagreement during dinner, but the drinks helped to lubricate Lo into the discussion with less abrasiveness than usual. It all started when he told Lo that he was glad to have another vegetarian to cook for.

“I’m not a vegetarian,” she responded, too assertively. “Vegetarianism is like a religion. It’s a myth that makes people feel better about themselves so they can pretend they have some control over the state of the world.”

Raul had his drink to his lips and almost choked on it. John looked at her for a second and then laughed to himself, shaking his head at his plate of food, which he had barely touched.

Deb, of course, responded graciously. “What? Lo! Tell us exactly what you mean.” She looked luminous in the light of half a dozen candles burning in the center of the table. Her lavender hair was pulled back into barrettes decorated with white daisies.

“I mean, this food is really good. And, yes, the factory farming industry is destroying the planet, but so is industrial agriculture. And people can pretend that doesn’t happen since they’ve already given up meat. But entire wolf packs have died because of wheat farming. And bunnies in lettuce fields! And the dead fish or pigeons that go into the soil of all their precious vegetables. If not dead animals, then petroleum-based fertilizers, which harm the environment and the soil and the food and the humans. Vegan organic farming is cool but so hard to do on a large scale. Plus, it’s all so expensive. And plants are alive, by the way! They’re just not anthropomorphized like animals. It’s all a myth, like religion.” Lo could tell she wasn’t being as coherent as she normally might be. She’d also never articulated this particular argument before; it was a far leap beyond the perfunctory explanations of anticonsumerism that she repeated robotically whenever asked about her lifestyle around Elysian.

Raul crossed himself, scoffing. “Okay. Well, what about all the corn fields and pesticides and herbicides that are only used to feed cows that should be eating grass? What about cow methane? If everyone would stop eating beef, that would do some real good, right?” Lo shrugged, refusing to give an inch.

“I mean, maybe. But they’d eat something else shitty. Replace it with what? More wheat fields that destroy more wildlife habitats, killing off species after species? Oh god, or should we plant soybeans everywhere? And then spend the entire budget of a small country just to tinker with it in a lab, using a ton of carbon, all so it can taste just like meat? That money would be better spent doing good somewhere else. And don’t get me started on palm oil! I’m just saying—” she slurred, taking another sip of her margarita. “The answer is sustainability, regeneration. It’s a circle. Death. Life. We only pretend we can escape it.” She took her finger and made a wobbly circle.

“Like The Lion King?” John asked.

“Don’t get smart with me, mister.

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