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My awful wedding food experience is a good lesson for all!

I went for a tasting about 2 months before the wedding. We were married a restaurant renowned for good food, because good food was a must for us!

Anyways, a week before the wedding the managers changed. I met with the new person, who was nice enough. We went over the menu and costs and all was good.

The day of the way, our food was half the size as what it was on the night of the tasting and one of the items was totally different (and not as good) as what we requested. People ended up ordering food from the restaurant. It was horrid!!!

I assumed the chef was the same, but, I guess not.

So, if anything changes with your caterers or planners DEMAND a new tasting - free of charge of course!

Unfortunately, it's very difficult to know how "humanely" the animals we eat are raised, and what they're actually fed. Because Big Food is constantly lobbying the government (quite successfully) to get standards lowered for things like organic, humane, cage-free, you can never be sure that the "organic, grass-fed, humanely pastured" beef you're eating is following the spirit of those adjectives, or simply the letter, and living perhaps less miserably than the factory-farm cows, but certainly not healthfully or happily.

The best way to avoid this possibility, as well as to avoid the myriad diseases and bacteria only spread through meat consumption is to be a vegetarian (or better yet, a vegan, though I haven't been able to do it yet). A plant-based diet is also, as has come into focus a lot recently, much better for the planet in terms of greenhouse gases, water usage, and soil health. But it's true that a moderate amount of high-quality meat is unlikely to have long-term negative effects on one's health. Everyone's priorities are different - if you're truly concerned with animal welfare, it's naive to justify eating meat/dairy/eggs with the idea that you only purchase the "right" types. However, if that's not your concern, then eating meat doesn't pose problems. Perhaps I would have the same inner turmoil as Mr. Slater if I enjoyed eating meat more, but vegetarianism doesn't seem at all restrictive to me. It undoubtedly would be for many others. (On the same token, veganism, which is easy for many people, is out of reach for me at this point.)