Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Eating Animals

I became a vegetarian after my friend, Carol Berger, asked me if I wanted to hurt animals. I said "no" and that was that. But I moved to Austin about eight years later and got corrupted by a Zen Priest. If she could vow not to kill... and eat meat, then I could too. Or could I?

I'm reading a book, Eating Animals, (sign in "kimmosley" / "kimmosley") by Jonathan Safran Foer. He talks a lot about the fishing and farming industries. He paints pictures very different from the romantic epic of the hunter with the bow and arrow. He mentions how we've reduced the fish population 50x in recent years. He mentions how chickens never see daylight, and live in a space smaller than a sheet of typing paper. And he estimates that the chickens used by KFC in a year would fill up Manhattan... and would hang out from the tallest buildings.

Tomorrow or Thursday I'm going to take back my cans of tuna and salmon to Costco. I'm wondering whether I should tell them that I couldn't participate anymore in the murder of these beautiful animals... or whether I should lie and say that they just didn't taste good. Or maybe I should say nothing.

My recommendation to you. Don't even get near this book if you want to enjoy meat again. And don't watch this video of the author with Stephen Colbert:  http://www.facebook.com/l/ff219;www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/264043/february-08-2010/jonathan-safran-foer " (thanks to B.Q.)

3 comments:

Dana said...

I tried this one summer as a teen...but then my mom made barbequed brisket- the only red meat that still calls my name. So thirty years later I'm still debating giving it up. I can be vegetarian 90% of the time-right?

Melanie said...

I can't wrap my mind/emotions around this trend in yoga concerning food/meat:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/27/dining/27yoga.html

"Ahimsa is now interpreted by some American yogis to allow meat, if it is humanely slaughtered."...

'“This is the hottest of all hot-button issues in yoga,” said Dayna Macy, a managing editor of Yoga Journal, who recently attended the slaughter of five steer at Prather Ranch, an organic, certified-humane cattle ranch in Northern California, in an attempt to resolve her inner turmoil about eating beef.'

I imagine you would have to disconnect and detach from your feelings in order to attend a slaughter in order to keep eating beef, no matter how "humane".

Kim Mosley said...

How turkeys reproduce (or how turkeys are reproduced?

Reflections on Talks on Buddha's Lists

During a recent Appamada Intensive our students gave talks on Buddha's lists. Here are my reflections on their talks.