Sunday, February 10, 2008
Question 6
Throughout the book, Pollan makes a case for the importance of knowing where your food comes from (i.e. become a vegetarian, remain in a state of ignorance of how our meat is slaughtered, or take a hard look at how your food is produced- then make a decision as to whether or not you can in good conscious eat it.) The premise of his mission to hunt and gather his own food is to eat a meal “in full consciousness of what [is] involved.” p. 281. On the flip-side, Pollan claims that “our food system depends on consumers’ not knowing much about it beyond the price disclosed by the checkout scanner.” p.245 Does this make you feel morally compelled to identify where your food is coming from? Do you feel the need to clear your consciousness by knowing “what it is we’re eating. Where it came from. How it found its way to our table. And what, in a true accounting, it really cost.” p. 411
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8 comments:
I think that it is desperately important to be aware of how our actions, in whatever form, are affecting the world and the people who live on it. I would go so far as to say that it is irresponsible to not want to know your impact. Right before we started the book club Sam and I were talking about how weird it is that we don't actually know what is in our food. I am so happy to know now. The old cliche that "knowledge is power" really rings true in this situation. I now want to make some definitive actions about what kind of industry I want to support through the way I eat.
So would you go so far as witnessing your meat being slaughtered before eating it? Pollan basically says we should all at least witness the killing before we can eat it in full consciousness of our decision. I have no plans to see my chicken's throat getting slit before eating it, yet I'll be grilling up some tonight. I guess that's an issue, according to Pollan, but I'm not all that guilt-ridden since I don't think I have many other options than the good old grocery store...
Actually I have witnessed chicken slaughtering before (not in an industrial setting) and participated in plucking it and eating it. Goat, too, though I didn't witness the actual killing. If given the opportunity I guess I might witness meat being slaughtered again because I feel like it is part of being aware of what is actually happening in the world. I am sort of a glutton for punishment in that way I guess (you are talking to a girl who regularly took classes about genocide and colonization in college). But ask me again after I have actually been offered the chance to see a cow killed, and maybe I'll have changed my mind . . .
Blair, I really like your first comment. You know, after James and I read Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser (it's really good - especially if you liked Omnivore's Dilemma) we decided that we couldn't, with a clear conscience, support ConAgra Foods. After reading about how disgustingly they treat the animals in their plants and the employees that work there, we decided we would not support their company. It has been annoying sometimes because they have like 50 different product names and many times they are the cheapest brand, but I think it's worth it. Even if millions of others buy their products, we're using what minscule "buying power" we have to show what kind of company we will and will not support. And after reading this book I have realized that there are more changes I need to make in order to be able to eat things with a clear conscience. I need to find some locally farmed eggs, for starters.
This isn't something I had thought a lot about until I read this book, and it was one of the things that I really appreciated about the author. I don't know if I feel as strongly about it as he does. I don't, for example, feel the need to hunt my own food to understand the relationship between people and animals. Maybe eating for me is not quite as spiritual for me as it seems to be for him. I would be prepared, though, to watch my food being slaughtered. I agree with him in this sense. If I am not prepared to be fully aware of the processes and industries that I am actively supporting and participating in, then I shouldn't support or participate in them. In other words, if seeing an animal get slaughtered is so terrible that I have to be separated from it, then I shouldn't support it (not that I think watching an animal get slaughtered would ever be pleasant, but I don't think it has to be inhumane).
As Blair mentioned, I can't remember what exactly I was eating as I looked down at it and said, "I have no idea what I'm eating." After reading the book (OK, most of it. I'll get there.), this probably has more to do with the fact that apparently everything I eat is corn. Actually, I think it was a Frosty - so, yes, corn. Personally, I feel more of a strong curiosity than a moral obligation to know where my food comes from. Really, people are not going to consider their world impact with every spoonful of Frosty. People are just hungry. There needs to be some way to connect the world to the food we eat in order for people to make choices based on the effect they are having. And I guess that's the point Pollan makes, that the "military-industrial complex" has worked so hard to separate the food we eat from its source. I don't have an answer . . .
This is a very interesting topic. I have noticed a natural tendency for people in general to avoid and delegate personal responsibility to a small few. By doing so we give up much of our own agency in these matters so as to avoid doing the 'dirty work.' Although I understand that slaughtering our own meat and harvesting our own grain is an absurd notion for most of us, our lack of involvement on the ground level makes it easier for those willing to do the 'dirty work' to pull one over on us. I also think that this attitude has moved far beyond our food, into many other aspects of American (and European) life, from the way we (again 'we' being a very generic term) deal with our trash to the way we run our government.
I think the food industry would be very different if we were more personally involved, instead of allowing government subsidised monopolies and duopolies to 'take care' of it for us. We have chosen the course of least resistance and now we have the wool over our heads.
It is interesting to note that when Brigham Young was governor of (the newly formed Utah) he continually urged the saints that they each should be willing to personally carry out every law that was passed (from trash collecting to the death penalty).
Hey you Portland people gotta feel good about your frequent visits to Voodoo Doughnuts...a quote from their website says "Famous for their girth, our doughnuts are made fresh with love and care. You can pay us more for our product which is locally made, locally owned, and an honest dream come true, or you can buy cheaper, megalacorp, machine cut, rebaked, defrozen, warehouse doughnuts and pastries"...eat up, guilt-free, oh except for the 4000 calories you are consuming per doughnut!
xomoogie
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