This shot was taken during the last meal I ate in the United States back in 2022. Strange the things we remember. Airports fade. Hotels blur. Entire conversations fade into white noise. But a meal? A proper meal? Those linger.

For years, I danced around the meat question. On and off vegetarian. Then pescatarian for five solid years. Fish, seafood, olive oil, vegetables, all very civilized and ambitious. The sort of diet that makes me feel morally superior while secretly fantasizing about pork chops, ribs and beef burgers.

And now? At 62, I find myself drifting back toward carnivorism with the enthusiasm of a man who no longer believes salvation lies hidden in a quinoa salad or a bowl full of sawdust (couscous)

That’s not cynicism exactly. More resignation mixed with honey-baked honesty.

At some point, I simply stopped believing that my personal abstinence from a beef burger was going to alter the trajectory of humanity. or impact my health negatively.

The world continued overheating. Billionaires continued billionaire-ing. Factory farms kept factory farming. Wars rolled on uninterrupted. Meanwhile I was sitting there chewing ethically sourced lentils.

I exercise regularly, walk a lot, train hard enough, and remain reasonably functional. The machinery still works. And frankly, my inner caveman occasionally demands something chewy and unapologetically primitive.

There’s also something deeply human about meat that is difficult to replicate. Not nutritionally, perhaps. Philosophically. Viscerally. The tearing, chewing and slight barbarism of it all. Chicken comes close. Fish never really does. Tofu certainly doesn’t.

I know all the arguments. Health. Ethics. Climate. Longevity. I’ve made many of them myself over the years. Some are entirely valid. But age has made me suspicious of absolutism in all forms, dietary or otherwise.

Most people are improvising their way through existence anyway. We create systems and identities around food the same way we do around politics, religion, and love. Divisiveness. Polarization.

Maybe balance is the only sane position left.

Eat thoughtfully. Move your body. Try not to be cruel. Don’t bore everyone at dinner with nutritional evangelism. And if a good steak occasionally lands in front of you, perhaps the wisest response is simply:

Pass the sauce.