After a long holiday with family and friends it’s always nice to wake up to bacon and eggs with butter toast on the side. This traditional breakfast meal got me thinking about why we always focus on meat first. I am not a huge consumer of meat but lately, I started to realize how many times meat takes center stage to every meal combination.

Just think, there is chicken and dumplings, steak and eggs, turkey and dressing, ham and eggs, ham and cheese,  pork and beans, steak and potatoes, Chicken Alfredo, Chicken Marsala and the list goes on and on. Of course there are times when this is not the case as with spaghetti and meatballs but for the most part, old man “meat” seems to jump to the head of the table every time.

I never really paid attention to how vegetarian meals are labeled, but I think that’s because nothing really takes center stage, right? What would happen if we stopped letting meat take the spotlight and just brought out a plate piled sky high with scrambled eggs and a 2 ounce piece of Filet Mignon. Do you think we would be any healthier focusing on the side kick? (Not that eggs are all that healthy) I think the pork and bean company got it right, particularly since you have to almost have a magnifying glass to locate the pork in the can of beans. I often wondered why they even bothered to put that fatty piece of piglet in the can, there was never enough to go around.

Do you think renaming foods and giving meat the opportunity to play second fiddle might have some bearing on not only what we eat but how much? I am just trying to make sense of the psychology behind placing the horse before the cart, no pun intended. Would it matter to you if the menu featured Hash Browns, Stewed Apples, Biscuits and a side of Country Fried Steak? Is not mentioning the meat first a turn off or disappointment? True carnivores, let me hear from you.