Is A Vegetarian/Vegan Middle Way "Good" Enough?

Last fall, after watching Food Inc., and reading The Kind Diet and Eating Animals, I began reducing the amount of animal products I eat substantially. By January, or February I was practically vegan, until I started craving cheese, eggs, and fish. Now I eat them here and there, especially when I go to someone's house, or out to a restaurant, and I don't feel like making a big fuss by asking for something special, or if I'm really hungry and the vegetarian/vegan option is lame (e.g. a plate of vegetables).

I feel badly for falling off the vegetarian/vegan wagon, especially after watching videos like the one below of Emily Deschanel talking about factory farming, and the work of Farm Sanctuary (via Ecorazzi ):




But then I remember what Dr. Jane Goodall said on a Daily Show episode that aired around the time I started eating less meat and dairy that makes me feel like being somewhere in the middle is OK:

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Jane Goodall
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Tea Party

"There's an awful lot of extremists and fundamentalists, and you would agree, that's really what's gone wrong with the planet right now. It's the fundamentalists, whether they're right, left, center, whatever they are, if they're fundamentalists, they're dangerous."

At the moment, I'm wrestling with what is the best way for me to eat ethically and nutritionally. On the one hand, I feel like there is a lot wrong ethically, environmentally, and nutritionally about how we raise, kill, and process animals for food in the United States. On the other hand, anything that is too extreme one way, or the other sends up little warning flags for me. Plus, sometimes I just want some cheese, or a piece of bacon, or a California roll!

I was relieved to find that I wasn't the only one who is struggling with the best way to eat when I watched the video below of a TED Talk by TreeHugger founder, Graham Hill, about being a "weekday vegetarian," (also via Ecorazzi):



How do you decide what to eat?

Do you think it is it better to live from the middle, or is real progress only made through extreme action?

Cross-posted from BlogHer.com.