Live and learn

One interesting side effect of having this blog is that I'm finding myself taking a closer look at the things I buy. In general, lately, I find I'm trying harder to make informed, conscientious decisions about where I spend my money and thinking more about the animals or resources that were required for me to be able to buy the food or item at hand. I still have a very long way to go before I can look at my consumption and feel fine about it, but I'm going to examine anyway. For example, we all know where fur comes from. There's no gray area there: you either still dig it or are disgusted by it. But did you know that shearling is actually sheepskin, not just wool? Or that kid leather comes from the skin of a young goat? I didn't know these things until relatively recently. It's surprisingly easy to get around, I think, without having to think about where your food or your clothes come from, but I do think it's important to examine these things every once in a while. To ask yourself some questions, and if you can't come up with immediate answers, to seek out those answers. Which is not to say that we will all do the same things with this information, but I think it's important to be informed.
Well, the point of this whole side-trip is that I learned recently that my beloved panang curry contains fish sauce. Who knew? Not me. But now I do know, so the next question for me is, what will I do with this information? Oddly, I think it will be harder for me to give up panang curry than it was for me to decide that I wouldn't buy myself Uggs (on account of the shearling thing). I adore panang curry, but can I call myself a vegetarian and knowingly consume fish sauce? Zut alors.