Have you ever snapped a chicken’s neck in half? I’m guessing most people have not, nor could most people fathom performing such a task; however, we have all eaten chicken, right? Okay, then can we say we all depend upon someone else to snap a chicken’s neck for us? We have shifted to an urban culture that completely depends on others to do the unthinkable, which translates to us becoming completely disconnected.
The inability to harm animals is a big reason I am largely, a vegetarian. I had a hunter friend once describe to me his experience of going out and killing a mountain goat, and that he “stared the beast in its eyes,” before he shot it in its head. My guttural response was “Why the F are you telling me this? I do not even eat meat?” I’m certain he was not killing this animal for the meat, and more for the “sport,” whatever that is. I would be more sympathetic to the sport if it was for the sake of survival, & if that was the method of choice to replace factory farms.
Not being able to harm animals (even as a food source) seems quite common among many humans, and historically, required the head(s) of the household to axe off an animal’s head. Another trend that occurs is a swapping of the family cow. In this instance, two families raise their pet cow for years, only to trade it with another family in order to slaughter it (for food). Intuitively, I understand this, as it is generally more difficult to get rid of (nevermind, kill) something that you are attached to. However, this should be a tremendous flag that, maybe, you should not be eating the animal altogether if you cannot kill it yourself.
Also, I challenge either how many, or as to what age, people realized that meat is predominately the muscle of the animal (not some accessory product of the animal). I asked my 9 year old sister, “where meat comes from?” Answer: “chicken.” I next asked her, “what part of the chicken does its meat come from.” Answer: “on the outside of its body.” I’m curious how many kids have thought this one through & to what age we become aware of both where our meat comes from, and the pure biology of animal parts & what we eat. I assume this disconnect arises from being raised in a city &/or being hundreds of miles from any version of farm culture.
One approach that attempts to make us more connected to what we eat, is a social shift in how we eat, in creating a slow culture. By taking more time to eat, we establish relationships with both the cook and the people we are eating with, and eat healthier as we digest our food slower, as we’re not trying to cram down a super size me meal in the matter of minutes. To facilitate a slow culture, San Luis Obispo (SLO) does not allow drive through windows, and subsequently, fast food chains have been less successful.
No matter where you stand, in regards to your diet, food systems are analogous to every other system in our lives, such as from where our water & energy comes from, & where our toilet water goes, etc. These are all complex systems, but are ultimately fueled by capitalistic society, is the system to which we live, and culturally is the only world to which we know, so I do not believe we will change the mindset, otherwise. However if we live in a city that seems so far removed from, or depends so much on tremendous infrastructures, that the city could not persist on its own, then we must question, not how to make the city more sustainable, but rather, should we even be here to begin with?
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