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.)