FROM READER KT:
jordan, i’m curious about your foodie thoughts on meat-eating. it would be great if you could devote a post or two to it. you post all the time about delicious meat dishes you’ve eaten, and it’s also clear from your blog that you love your pet animals… so i’d like to hear how you reconcile those two passions.
i ask as a person who thinks meat is delicious, but recently stopped eating it. i read jonathan safran foer’s book on factory farming when it came out in november (your “pescatarian” business partner posted about it, it’s called Eating Animals). anyway, after reading it i made a commitment to stop eating factory farmed meat and to seek out local, cruelty free sources for dairy products and eggs. i live in rural ohio (not far from berlin, actually) so i have some good options nearby. but because just about all the meat available in this country is raised and slaughtered in astonishingly inhumane conditions, i’ve given it up.
as someone who clearly loves and respects animals, have you done any research into meat farming? how do you make decisions about the kind of meat you eat? is it something you just try not think about?
i hope you won’t be offended by the questions i’m asking. i’d like to know what you think.
MY REPLY:
Totally interesting question, and of course I’m not offended! I guess this is one of those topics about which I’m somewhat (very?) hypocritical. Animals - and especially animals in need - absolutely break my heart, and yet I frequently bypass the free-range organic chicken breasts in favor of Perdue when my bank account dictates that I should go for the cheaper stuff. When I do this, do I think about how many of these animals are treated (in your accurate words, they are “raised and slaughtered in astonishingly inhumane conditions”)? Yes. And do I sometimes buy it anyway? Yes.
I don’t think that eating meat is a bad thing (although it’s not for everybody), and I don’t think that it’s particularly realistic to expect all meat-eaters to choose cruelty-free brands — because lots of people simply can’t afford that stuff, and, as you said, it’s not available everywhere you go. Also, I don’t draw a moral divide between different types of meat; to me, fish is the same as beef is the same as chicken is the same as lamb (although I wouldn’t eat dog or cat, and I’m still exploring why I feel one way about some animals and a different way about others; I just don’t know). For me, what works is to be aware of my choices, and to choose correctly whenever possible. Basically, just to do the best I can.
Next week, I’m butchering a pig at Ottomanelli Bros (not slaughtering, just learning about different parts and how to cut them). I’ve thought a lot about how I feel about doing this, and the conclusion I arrived at is that while I may be uncomfortable with the idea, it’s my very discomfort that makes doing this so important. I want to know what it is that I’m eating, because I’m as guilty as anyone of dehumanizing the plate of prosciutto (or whatever) that’s set before me.
Thanks for asking me about this - it’s such an important question, and one that I absolutely want to explore going forward.
Tell me: what are your thoughts on this subject?
