Moral Dilema

So, we had a wonderful weekend full of hanging out with the neighbors and it really was a blast. I am so blessed to have such an array of great neighbors! On Saturday, the hub and I cooked for everyone - Jamaican black bean burgers, roasted mixed potatoes and grilled zucchini - Yum! (all organic of course) I even got some meat lovers to eat my veggie burgers - and they liked them - Gasp! Of course they did - they're delicious! Unfortunately, I was so busy cooking and flitting around and yappin' away that I didn't get any pics of the food, so the recipe for the burgers will come at a later date. (PLEASE tell me you don't need a recipe for roasting potatoes and zucchini... you do? Oh... well, I'll post that too!)

The moral dilemma came on Sunday. Our neighbors across the street wanted to reciprocate our cookout for one of their own. Nice, eh? And it was. I went over to help Her make a salad tossed with vinegar (organic) and oil (she grows her own lettuce in the kitchen - genius!) and mac & cheese (Annie's) while He started the grill for the MEAT (fillets for the adults and pork chops for the kiddos).

Now, I ate everything - including a fillet, which was DELICIOUS might I add - and my moral dilemma is this: the MEAT was not organic. That means, basically, that the whole time I was eating the delicious hunk of charred goodness all I could think was "I hope the stunner killed the cow" among other things. (Gross, I know.... so are most of the thoughts in my head!) Now... for in the future- do I suck it up and eat the meat to be polite (I don't expect everyone else to shell out extra $$ for humanely treated meat for me... though they should!!), do I bring my own meat, or should I just eat the sides???

I know most vegetarians or vegans would choose the latter two, but I don't know... it seems kindof rude to me not to eat what people have kindly (or not so kindly for the cow) prepared for me. I mean, if it was disgusting I would still choke it down, if I didn't like it would still eat it... it's how I was raised (I know, politeness is a fastly dying art)! And plus, more than likely, the sides are not going to be of local, organic or non-overly-processed origin anyway... do I eat nothing?

So, basically, I think the answer I've decided is: err on the side of politeness. Because, if you offend someone they may not invite you back or ever cook for you again - and it's not really fair to expect someone to cook for you following your exact dietary specifications, no matter how noble they are.