Hunting, Eating and Vegetarianism

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But perhaps the most shocking lesson I have learnt this past month is the sinister impact of “The Politics of Sight”, a theme all the writers I have read, have echoed in one form or the other. Pollan comments, “Part of the appeal of hamburgers and nuggets is that their boneless abstractions allow us to forget we’re eating animals.” (Pollan, 114) and, “That perhaps is what the industrial food chain does best: obscure the histories of the food it produces by processing them to such an extent that they appear as pure products of culture rather than nature- things made from plants and animals.” (Pollan, 115) It is appalling to learn that all the facts regarding the food that reaches my plate are hidden from me, and that too by design, and not out of sympathy. The CAFO and slaughterhouses, with the backing of influential economic power brokers have put in place a “system that authorizes physical, linguistic and social concealment to allow those who consume the products of this violence to remain blind to it.” (Pachirat, 146) How many bouts of ruminal acidosis and/or mastitis did the cow suffer from for the glass of milk to reach my table, I did not know. But now I have become more aware and will take care of such issues whenever I will sit down for a meal.

Even if hunting and slaughter were to continue, the people involved need to redefine their attitudes. As one of the consumers, I must realize that my eating choices carry much more impact that I previously thought they did. Berry exhorts us to give up being what he calls the “Industrial Eater…. who does not know that eating is an agricultural act, who no longer knows or imagines the connections between eating and the land, and who is therefore necessarily passive and uncritical” (Berry, 228) His list of seven recommended actions provide us with a blueprint of how to start with it. In the same manner, hunting will never cease to harm, so if one must hunt, they must do so with principle and show dignity to the animals involved. For Richard, that realization came from a year of vegetarianism: “He didn’t recall any moment of grand revelation, just the gradual realization that, for him, it felt hypocritical to pretend that he wasn’t causing any harm. For him, the solution was to accept the harm, to refrain from causing it unnecessarily, to avoid wasting anything. Vegetarianism helped Richard see that, for him, hunting was part of the balance, part of the Buddha’s Middle Way.” (Cerulli, 220)

I seek to become aware of my connection with the food and, ultimately, the natural world, through the lessons I will learn. Berry concludes, “When food, in the minds of eaters, is no longer associated with farming and with the land, then the eaters are suffering a kind of cultural amnesia that is misleading and dangerous.” (Berry, 228-229) and Cerulli remarks, “The four of us- land, deer, uncle, and nephew- were linked.” (Cerulli, 238) This is the link I hope to become more conscientious about and further my understanding of this complex issue through my further readings in this course. This understanding will allow me to cement my views on this issue and then undertake a more robust plan of action that will make a difference.

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