A Pack of Smokes vs. Smoked Meat

I admit that I love a good smoked meat sandwich. I rarely have one, but I have been know, when the opportunity presents itself, to have a huge sandwich piled a mile high with smoked meat. I remember my first trip to Montreal to visit my brother who was doing a theatre production. One of the things I had to do that weekend was to visit an old famous smoked meat restaurant. It was certainly old, had very little in terms of decor and ambiance except for old pictures and news clippings of famous guests who had also made this smoked meat pilgrimage. Most of the pictures looked like they were from the 1970's, but without actually checking the date it was hard to tell as I am sure the grease filled air had prematurely aged the pictures to a greasy, faded, sepia tone. I was warned not to wear white as my shirt may face the same fate. I am still not sure whether that was just a joke or not. On arrival we were greeted by the surly man in a (yellowed) white apron who came out from behind the counter, seated us at a table with other guests that we had never met and asked in a very matter of fact grunt "what do you want." After ordering quickly, my brother told me the story about his last trip there with one of his more particular friends who apparently took too long to decide from the menue. Tired of waiting, the waiter just took the menue from him and told the friend what he would be having. It is certainly an experience eating there, all of which had a certain charm. Of course, if it were any other restaurant, no one would be calling it charm but rather sharing some choice words about the experience. But I think that just goes to show what an amazing smoked meat sandwich they must be serving.
What is with the stroll down memory lane? Well, knowing my affection for smoked meat, my wife and my children just couldn't wait to lovingly tease me about the news that they had heard last week. Harvard was releasing the findings of a long, large and exhaustive study that they had undertaken about meat. They were trying to study the effects of red meat on health. Well, they did not find any definitive links between red meat and heart disease. What they did discover, however, was just how bad processed meat products are for our health. The amount of salt that is used in these processed products make them a serious health risk. The results of the study were so shocking that it led some to suggest that processed meat consumption will become the new tobacco smoking in terms of its effects on human health and the needed societal response. One direct simile used was that eating a smoked meat sandwich was the same as...you guessed it...smoking a pack of cigarettes.
This, of course, got me thinking. I have to admit that when I see a parent smoking in a car with children, or pushing a stroller with a butt hanging out of their mouth I almost always have an initial flash of judgementalism during which I think "seriously? are you that...(inject adjective of the day here)." It is hard sometimes to separate the truth of the situation from a judgemental spirit. Then I started wondering, if I don't stop my smoked meat thing cold turkey (is that a pun?) how long will it be before people see me in a restaurant with my kids and think that I am a terrible parent because of the example I am setting. And smoked meat is hardly addictive! But what about this...how long will it be before we start looking at a ham sandwich as the devil's food and that anyone serving it to a child must be under demonic influence! And really how many of us have not fed our children a ham sandwich (or turkey or roast beef or salami etc.) And then there is the question that if peanut butter is out, and processed meats are out what are we possibly going to be able to send our kids to school with for lunch?
I wonder whether society will really change on this or is it such an ingrained part of our culture (not to mention economy) that we will sort of turn a blind eye to it because it is easier. Or maybe we will just talk about how bad it is, tax the heck out of it but then never really do anything to get rid of it but rather become dependent upon it as a revenue stream and then ignore the conflict of interest. Or maybe we will come to see it as significant enough of a health issue to do something about it at which time I wonder how we can seek to make the changes necessary without falling into being judgemental. Can we get to a place where we speak the truth in love?
Once again lots of questions, but not too many answers. Maybe you have some...feel free to post below. Meanwhile I will be grieving the loss of smoked meat!