There Marquez made me realize the importance of our food system. It seems that the global purpose of giant food producers is that of maximizing the profits at the cost of the consumers' health. We must take serious steps toward fixing this situation before it's too late. Carla Trianz
Mark: Thanks for letting me know about one I missed. But remember the criteria for being included on the list? The examples have to be from movies that most people have either seen or heard of. Zombieland? I don't think so. ;-)
Upon further review of the tape, what Belushi puts into his mouth was from his tray, and it appears to be something round, white, and fairly firm, as it retains its shape when he picks it up with his fingers. I would guess it's a cream-filled pastry of some kind, perhaps a small doughnut. But I suppose it is possible that it is a scoop of mashed potatoes, or some very, very dry cottage cheese. The text of the blog stands corrected. :-) Thanks, Kate.
"Why demand that the job of butcher be treated differently than the job of, say, Web application project manager? I don't demand you to be able to write a data dictionary as the price of using the Internets."
Butchers simply prepare the meat for sale; slaughterhouse workers do the killing. I'm not saying that everyone should be able to do every job, I'm saying that people should be willing to witness and/or inflict the pain and suffering their dietary preferences necessitate.
Personally, I'd like to see people get more involved in the actual slaughtering because meat consumption inherently requires and encourages the violent deaths of sentient beings; it's very far from being something as cut and dry as data and/or the internet. Allowing people to become detached from where their food comes from is unfair to both humans and the creatures they're slathering in gravy and hoisting onto their plates.
At the bottom line, there really is no such thing as truly "decent" animal husbandry, only "slightly less awful" -- anything more than minuscule-scale meat production is an egregious waste of resources/grain/land, and while I know that people truly do feel this way, it's a bit impossible for me to comprehend the idea that anyone would feel better thinking that the animal s/he is eating was "happy" before it had its throat slit or a bolt shot through its brain.
(I'm not trying to be Preachy Vegan, here... I'm speaking more as someone who grew up in exceedingly rural Wisconsin farmland than anything else.)
"Here there has been a real willingness - even a desire - on the part of many of us to overlook (deny?) what we know to be true when we're at the grocery store. (Q: Want to know about how our food is made? A: No way!)
Reading the book, I couldn't help but wonder how people would shop if the labels made this more clear:
Would we still seek out the least expensive option? Maybe, but it'd be harder to deny what we were doing."
I do so love and applaud all of this.
Good discussion!
I love them all!! Great choices, but if memory serves me, in 'Animal House' it wasn't a twinkie that Bluto put in his mouth, it was a mound of cottage cheese that he scooped up with his fingers from one of the girls tray. Either way, those eyebrows made the scene.
Ethiopian yirgacheffe from The Bean Factory in Saint Paul is the best coffee I have tried around the cities. I have tried it from other places too and The Beat Factory seems to have the best.
Wow, great discussion, thanks folks. Kris, thanks - I agree! Stephanie, I applaud your willingness to take a stand and make tough decisions, and I thank you for saying so. Amy, I agree with lots of what you wrote too.
I'm especially interested in the point about our collective creation of a system that allows such mistreatment of animals as part of the process, simply - or largely - so we can eat less expensive food (the idea of feeding the world with this kind of food has been discredited so many times that I won't give it an airing here). Here there has been a real willingness - even a desire - on the part of many of us to overlook (deny?) what we know to be true when we're at the grocery store. (Q: Want to know about how our food is made? A: No way!)
Reading the book, I couldn't help but wonder how people would shop if the labels made this more clear:
FRESH! Chicken tortured terribly: $2.99/lb
FRESH! Chicken tortured slightly: $4.99/lb
FRESH! Chicken slaughtered quickly: $6.59/lb
Would we still seek out the least expensive option? Maybe, but it'd be harder to deny what we were doing.
Y'know, I don't think meat eaters necessarily need to experience a slaughterhouse or be comfortable dealing a death blow themselves. We're social animals. We have specialized roles. Why demand that the job of butcher be treated differently than the job of, say, Web application project manager? I don't demand you to be able to write a data dictionary as the price of using the Internets.
Yes, if I had to raise/kill the pig myself, I would never eat bacon again. But that's the beauty of a market economy: I don't have to. I will pay farmers and meat packers to do something I'm unwilling or unable to do myself.
I do agree, though, that everyone who eats meat should be willing to shoulder the responsibility of decent animal husbandry. I think it's the right thing to keep food animals healthy and happy while they're raised and to kill them as quickly and painlessly as possible. I am willing and able to pay what it costs to do this for the meat I buy.
Now: why is it possible to buy, for a lesser price, meat that was raised and slaughtered to a lesser standard of quality? What makes it possible to take these shortcuts? Are consumers bearing the true costs anyway in the form of subsidies and tax breaks for giant farms? Are some costs, i.e. the costs of environmental stewardship, simply not being paid because no one makes or enforces effective laws against pollution? And what can an individual consumer do about it?
There Marquez made me realize
There Marquez made me realize the importance of our food system. It seems that the global purpose of giant food producers is that of maximizing the profits at the cost of the consumers' health. We must take serious steps toward fixing this situation before it's too late. Carla Trianz
Mark: Thanks for letting me
Mark: Thanks for letting me know about one I missed. But remember the criteria for being included on the list? The examples have to be from movies that most people have either seen or heard of. Zombieland? I don't think so. ;-)
I'm disappointed that you
I'm disappointed that you left out the scene of Woody Harrelson eating the Twinkie at the end of Zombieland. The entire film built up to it!
Upon further review of the
Upon further review of the tape, what Belushi puts into his mouth was from his tray, and it appears to be something round, white, and fairly firm, as it retains its shape when he picks it up with his fingers. I would guess it's a cream-filled pastry of some kind, perhaps a small doughnut. But I suppose it is possible that it is a scoop of mashed potatoes, or some very, very dry cottage cheese. The text of the blog stands corrected. :-) Thanks, Kate.
"Why demand that the job of
"Why demand that the job of butcher be treated differently than the job of, say, Web application project manager? I don't demand you to be able to write a data dictionary as the price of using the Internets."
Butchers simply prepare the meat for sale; slaughterhouse workers do the killing. I'm not saying that everyone should be able to do every job, I'm saying that people should be willing to witness and/or inflict the pain and suffering their dietary preferences necessitate.
Personally, I'd like to see people get more involved in the actual slaughtering because meat consumption inherently requires and encourages the violent deaths of sentient beings; it's very far from being something as cut and dry as data and/or the internet. Allowing people to become detached from where their food comes from is unfair to both humans and the creatures they're slathering in gravy and hoisting onto their plates.
At the bottom line, there really is no such thing as truly "decent" animal husbandry, only "slightly less awful" -- anything more than minuscule-scale meat production is an egregious waste of resources/grain/land, and while I know that people truly do feel this way, it's a bit impossible for me to comprehend the idea that anyone would feel better thinking that the animal s/he is eating was "happy" before it had its throat slit or a bolt shot through its brain.
(I'm not trying to be Preachy Vegan, here... I'm speaking more as someone who grew up in exceedingly rural Wisconsin farmland than anything else.)
"Here there has been a real willingness - even a desire - on the part of many of us to overlook (deny?) what we know to be true when we're at the grocery store. (Q: Want to know about how our food is made? A: No way!)
Reading the book, I couldn't help but wonder how people would shop if the labels made this more clear:
* FRESH! Chicken tortured terribly: $2.99/lb
* FRESH! Chicken tortured slightly: $4.99/lb
* FRESH! Chicken slaughtered quickly: $6.59/lb
Would we still seek out the least expensive option? Maybe, but it'd be harder to deny what we were doing."
I do so love and applaud all of this.
Good discussion!
I love them all!! Great
I love them all!! Great choices, but if memory serves me, in 'Animal House' it wasn't a twinkie that Bluto put in his mouth, it was a mound of cottage cheese that he scooped up with his fingers from one of the girls tray. Either way, those eyebrows made the scene.
Ethiopian yirgacheffe from
Ethiopian yirgacheffe from The Bean Factory in Saint Paul is the best coffee I have tried around the cities. I have tried it from other places too and The Beat Factory seems to have the best.
Good one, Kate! And thanks
Good one, Kate! And thanks Rashmi, I hope you like the movie, even if you don't quite "enjoy" it. It's well worth watching.
Wow, great discussion, thanks
Wow, great discussion, thanks folks. Kris, thanks - I agree! Stephanie, I applaud your willingness to take a stand and make tough decisions, and I thank you for saying so. Amy, I agree with lots of what you wrote too.
I'm especially interested in the point about our collective creation of a system that allows such mistreatment of animals as part of the process, simply - or largely - so we can eat less expensive food (the idea of feeding the world with this kind of food has been discredited so many times that I won't give it an airing here). Here there has been a real willingness - even a desire - on the part of many of us to overlook (deny?) what we know to be true when we're at the grocery store. (Q: Want to know about how our food is made? A: No way!)
Reading the book, I couldn't help but wonder how people would shop if the labels made this more clear:
Would we still seek out the least expensive option? Maybe, but it'd be harder to deny what we were doing.
Y'know, I don't think meat
Y'know, I don't think meat eaters necessarily need to experience a slaughterhouse or be comfortable dealing a death blow themselves. We're social animals. We have specialized roles. Why demand that the job of butcher be treated differently than the job of, say, Web application project manager? I don't demand you to be able to write a data dictionary as the price of using the Internets.
Yes, if I had to raise/kill the pig myself, I would never eat bacon again. But that's the beauty of a market economy: I don't have to. I will pay farmers and meat packers to do something I'm unwilling or unable to do myself.
I do agree, though, that everyone who eats meat should be willing to shoulder the responsibility of decent animal husbandry. I think it's the right thing to keep food animals healthy and happy while they're raised and to kill them as quickly and painlessly as possible. I am willing and able to pay what it costs to do this for the meat I buy.
Now: why is it possible to buy, for a lesser price, meat that was raised and slaughtered to a lesser standard of quality? What makes it possible to take these shortcuts? Are consumers bearing the true costs anyway in the form of subsidies and tax breaks for giant farms? Are some costs, i.e. the costs of environmental stewardship, simply not being paid because no one makes or enforces effective laws against pollution? And what can an individual consumer do about it?