So, Food, Inc.
Here are a few reviews that sum it up way better than I could.
I spent a few portions of the movie with my hands over my eyes … and I left feeling like I might never be able to eat again … but it was fabulous. I highly, highly recommend it.
One unintended consequence – it brought the internal struggle I have re: meat/animal products to the surface. I eat meat now and I like it … mostly. I don’t eat meat off of bones (and just recently even relinquished and started being ok with meat on bones, in general) and I don’t eat anything that looks like its source.
I essentially need to be able to pretend that what I’m eating wasn’t once a living/breathing creature. If I can do that – I can handle it.
I’m not really proud of that. In fact, it sort of disgusts me. I think about it quite a bit … especially when I’m confronted with the realities of meat production/processing … but I don’t know what to do about it. I know I’m choosing to stick my head in the sand just so my needs are met. I’m not ok with that … but I do nothing.
We go way out of our way to buy meat that is grass-fed/natural/organic and all that jazz – which is good, I guess – but again … it’s mostly about my needs. When I think about it on a very basic level, everything I look for – grass-fed, organic, free range, local farms, etc. – it all has to do with my nutritional needs and/or guilt. I mean, really … inhumane treatment is not ok, but killing the animal and eating it is?
Guilt.
I’m (probably) not going to stop eating meat – these feelings have been around for a while – I’m just very conflicted and haven’t reconciled a lot of things yet. I don’t even know how to adequately describe what it is that bothers me (obviously) … I just know I feel as if I’m doing something wrong when I eat meat – I know better (?) and I choose to ignore that.
(What’s the deal with so many grocery stores/markets calling meat ‘protein’ these days? One place I saw actually had a list of their ‘protein options’ listed along with ‘dairy options’ etc. I guess I’m not the only person who recognizes/desires some disconnecting … )
Uhhh … anyway …
Breakfast was the same as always:
Lunch was VERY quick. I mixed tuna with 2T buttermilk dill dressing and the rest of a red onion and plopped all of that on top of lettuce. I threw in a babybel cheese and some pistachios, too.
It occurred to me today that I never photograph what I drink – for good reason, I guess – it’s boring. I drink 2 things: water and black coffee. I will occasionally get (unsweetened) tea at a restaurant … and I sometimes feel rebellious enough to drink a coke … but not often at all – can’t even remember the last time.
We skipped pilates and stayed home to work on yard stuff, so we had another quick dinner. Jon picked up a chicken from a nearby restaurant (not a rotisserie chicken, but similar – a whole smoked chicken).
My version:
His version – and a perfect example of what I CAN’T eat:
My snack tonight = a few of these pecans. I love them so much I just barely rolled my eyes at the ‘evaporated cane juice.’
Our first harvest!
I’m at 1,841 calories, 113g fat, 97g carbs, 123g fat – and I’m done for the day.
I don’t understand the ‘I can’t eat things that look like the original organism’ – my boyfriend is also a sufferer (I use that word with my tongue firmly lodged in my cheek). But then, I grew up on a farm, where whole beasts were routinely sawed into pieces on my kitchen table, then bagged and put in the huge freezer, also in the kitchen. Wonderful meat, and all red!
I guess the part that clashes with my understanding is that you seem to be only affected by fauna looking like its live existence. Why not flora? Biologically, plants and animals are equally alive; they stop ‘breathing’ when ripped from their roots. This isn’t a hippy thing about ‘life essence’ – it’s a simple fact. The edible parts of large plants are there to support new growth, and yet we rip that away from the larger bush/tree – we’re literally stealing the plant’s chance of successful reproduction. Smaller plants (i.e. carrots), we kill whole.
I think your conundrum can’t be much more than queasiness – you see the head (etc) and think of the immediacy of life that was stolen (or, as I think of it, transferred to us!), you think of the pain expressed by the creature in ways we can comprehend (unlike any reaction plants may or may not experience), and you think about how you would feel if the same was done for you. Without diminishing your issue, it’s probably best described as selfish pseudo-ethics. Or, at least that’s the best I can think of on an empty stomach
This is one of the beefs I hold against vegetarian activism, with their soppy posters features cuddly baby lambs. If their problem is killing, then why is it so ok to kill plants? Do they consider plants inferior to animals? They’re both alive, and they’re both equipped with self defense – and yet humans are only equipped to tackle the defenses of animals: we’re designed to run down animals, grab them, use tools, etc. Plants employ biological warfare which our system cannot completely resist, and provide nutrients which we cannot adequately digest.
So, I’ll wrap up my rant by putting it to you to try this:
Next time you are faced with an animal bit that is not sufficiently disguised, think about the fact that (at least in the wild) you had to hunt down and kill this animal, and that your system desires it for propagation of your species. It’s an animal, you’re an animal, its natural and necessary… Then look at your veggies and wonder how well scientists have bred out the toxins lying in wait to discourage future consumption…
Maybe your neurosis requires a trip to a market, where you will buy an entire lamb, take it home, cut it up yourself, and appreciate its value fully!
Good luck!
(And thanks for giving me a way to fill my lunch break – I ate my lunch at recess, and am hungry!)
Oh, and I can’t wait to see Food, Inc. although I don’t think it holds any surprises in store for me… We’ll see how hardened a farm girl I really am!
I’m afraid to see Food, Inc. I was a vegetarian for years, because of my distaste for factory farming. I did eventually supplement my diet with seafood after a few years, but I didn’t eat red meat or pork or poultry or wild game for 7 years. I developed hypothyroid (nothing to do with vegetarianism), which leaves one prone to anemia. Even though I’d been eating at least a bag or two of spinach a week, not to mention beans and other iron-rich foods, I became anemic. Supplements didn’t work, as plant-derived iron is harder for the body to absorb, and my body already had an absorption issue. I felt horrible and looked like a corpse, so I decided I would start eating meat again. I got better almost immediately. I’m glad it took this long to have to start eating meat, because there are many more options of “humane” companies. Are they perfect? No. But because I feel I need to eat meat for my health, I’m afraid to watch a movie that will scare me so much about food.